Trying Newchurch Pie are, from left, Rachel Burrows, Colin Richards, Keith Newbery, Malc Lawrence, John Hannam and chef Rob Burrows.
THIS ISLAND LIFEMANY older Islanders rue the disappearance of traditional village life. They recall a time when it seemed each home was occupied all year, every year, by the same people; when generations of families provided the backbone of the community; when clubs and organisations thrived and when everyone knew everyone else.
Newchurch has managed to retain many of the above, as Rob and Rachel Burrows discovered when they took over The Pointer Inn earlier this year.
They moved a mile or so up the road from The Fighting Cocks, where they were head chef and bar manager, and immediately set about re-establishing The Pointer at the heart of the village.
One idea was to ask keen gardeners, of whom there are many in the village, to drop off whatever produce they did not require at the pub to make the content of Rob’s exquisite dishes truly local.
The response was immediate and an ever-changing chalk-board roll of honour in the bar shows who has contributed what.
It was then Rob came up with the idea of creating Newchurch Pie in honour of the people who had made him and his wife so welcome.
An official tasting party was quickly assembled, comprising Malc Lawrence, IW Radio’s John Hannam, local councillor and raconteur Colin Richards, your ever-voracious columnist and the mysterious Matt and Cat.
This is the husband and wife team whose website assessing the qualities (or otherwise) of Island eating establishments attracts tens of thousands of hits every month.
The pair struck up an immediate rapport with Mr Hannam and will be appearing on his radio show on September 12 to discuss their Newchurch Pie experience and general gastronomic mission in life.
Meanwhile, Mr Richards immediately engaged me in conversation about slush-holes. I suspected the subject would not be entirely conducive to eating a plateful of grub — and I was right.
"You knows what else they old villagers used to fling in they slush-holes don’t you?"
"No Colin, but I can probably guess …"
"Well, in them days all the cottages had outside privvies and they had to empty the buckets somewhere, so …" Fortunately, Rachel chose this moment to appear with huge platefuls of pie, accompanied by a selection of local vegetables supplied by 'Richard, Dennis, Terry, Karen and Ray’ — to whom, many thanks.
Messrs Lawrence and Hannam eyed the food in mild dismay.
"It’s only just 10.30 in the morning," they wittered. "We are men of delicate constitutions. We can’t possibly eat a huge meal like this."
Mr Richards and I (for whom the word 'delicate’ is an alien concept) nodded happily at each other. We were ready to help out in the event of an emergency.
But a little over 15 minutes later, every plate had been cleared and Newchurch Pie had made its successful entry into the culinary lore of the IW.
"I wasn’t even hungry," said Lawrence, "but that was delicious."
"Neither was I," said Hannam, wiping the last vestiges of gravy from his chin. "I was going for a run but I don’t think I’ll bother now."
Mr Richards and I, who did not have the slightest intention of indulging in anything remotely athletic, exchanged glances of mutual disappointment that our assistance had not been required.
For the record, the pie was superb and consists of local lamb shank, slow-roasted with oak-smoked garlic from the nearby farm, with some of the celebrated village vegetables and a secret selection of home-grown herbs, all encased in shortcrust pastry.
It will be on the menu at The Pointer this weekend and Rob and Rachel intend to include it among their autumn and winter specials.
If you want to find out what Matt and Cat thought of the pie, go to www.mattandcat.co.uk
Incidentally, when I mentioned to a senior member of this newspaper’s editorial staff (THE senior member to be absolutely precise) I intended to write about a new dish called Newchurch Pie, he replied: "What’s it consist of — cold tongue, hard cheese and sour grapes?"
I have no idea what this delightful village has done to upset the doyen of Pyle Street but I can assure him a warm welcome awaits at The Pointer Inn.
Have a laugh and help Wight Jewels
If you’re not doing anything on the evening of Thursday, September 16, you might fancy spending an hour or two in the Regency Suite at Shanklin Conservative Club.
I’ll be giving my talk, 'When newspapers get it badly wrong’, in aid of the Wight Jewels synchronised ice-dancing team, who recently represented this country in the European championships.
Tickets are £10 each — but that includes access to one of Neil Hilson’s famous buffets.
You will have a chuckle or two and all the profits will go to the young women and their parents and friends who work so hard to keep the club thriving.
The evening begins at 7.30pm and tickets are obtainable from the Conservative Club.