Alan Cookman

visits The Swan at Woore

ON THE day we ate here, the humble carrot was revealed in a survey to be the UK's favourite veg.

Vegetables don't come much humbler than the carrot, so it must have been surprised and delighted to have taken the title.

I expect it wept during the acceptance speech ("and special thanks to Bugs Bunny"), insisting that it didn't really deserve the honour, which, of course, it didn't.

The carrot is a staple, and not a particularly versatile or interesting one; 1001 Ways With Carrots is not a tome that's found on every kitchen bookshelf.

Yet it topped a chart from which the likes of broad beans, runner beans, sprouts, spinach, leeks, avocado, artichoke and courgette were absent.

What tempted me to demand a stewards' enquiry, however, was that cabbage also failed to make the top 10.

I find this depressing because I thought people had overcome their childish aversion to this splendid vegetable – an aversion largely based on aromas associated with careless over-cooking.

Anyway, if reading the vegetable hit parade left me in the slough of despond, reading the menu at The Swan quickly pulled me out of it.

For here, served with the Painswick bacon chop, shallots, sage and cider sauce, and rosti potato was BUTTERED SAVOY CABBAGE.

And if it wasn't chart material I'm a mangel wurzel.

There are, of course, two Swans hereabouts, and this is the one without the spare neck.

The Swan at Woore is a former coaching inn dating from the 16th century. It's an elegant white building with a grand pillared entrance, a bar and reception area, and no fewer than three dining rooms, some of them wood-panelled and all amusingly adorned with pots, prints, memorabilia and bric-a-brac.

At The Swan, the drearily familiar is outlawed. The chef recoils from the predictable and presents dishes that are inventive, intelligent and refreshingly different.

Consider the choice of starters: spring rolls filled with crab, leek, clotted cream and saffron (£4.95); pressed terrine of roasted Mediterranean vegetables and couscous (£4.75); smoked salmon and Cheshire cheese cakes with treacle, sherry and juniper dressing (£5.25); whole Bury black pudding served on pear purée with wholegrain mustard dream and braised baby leeks (£5.25).

If you are not licking your chops, I should seek urgent medical attention.

Mains? Slow-roasted 12oz lamb rump with goats cheese dauphinoise, scorched peppers and garlic juices (£14.25); cassoulet confit duck leg with Toulouse sausage, braised beans, thyme and red wine (£11.95); pan-seared chicken fillet filled with chorizo sausage and goats cheese on sautéed potatoes with a roasted plum tomato ragout.

Although agonisingly spoilt for choice, for my own starter I chose grilled sardines on hot focaccia bread with salsa verde (£4.75), a tasty curtain-raiser to the aforementioned Painswick bacon chop (£10.95) with the shallots, sage and cider sauce, the rosti potato and that lovely buttered Savoy cabbage.

Practically replete after this, I heroically checked out the ginger and black pepper pudding with custard (£4,50), a dessert to bring tears to the eyes. Literally.

Herself started with the thick and creamy cauliflower cheese soup (£3.95) before attacking the grilled lamb's liver with Maynards dry cure bacon, balsamic onions and a bubble and squeak cake (£10.95).

Her considered opinion was that it was the nicest liver she'd ever tasted – pink tasty and tender. The bacon was excellent, too, and the bubble and squeak proved both substantial and flavourful.

She rounded off the meal with a vanilla brûlée (£4.50) in a charming little cup, with scrumptious home-made shortbread that melted in the mouth and a generous dollop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

"You're forgetting carrot cake," she said on the way home, referring to my remarks vis-a-vis the versatility of the nation's favourite veg. "I've never heard of cabbage cake."

"And I've never seen a carrot white butterfly," I replied. Touché.