Charlton: Pizza the action or pie’ning for a change ?

First many thanks to Charlton Casualty and fellow Charlton fans that read my Charlton to Greenwich pub crawl article and gave me a few more places to visit on my trek back from the Valley.  I’ve been sworn to secrecy on the actual venues but can confirm that the ones I have visited so far have been excellent and look forward to visiting the others over the next few weeks.

Well for once I can’t moan about the quality of the play on the field against Huddersfield in the Capital One Cup.  Chris Powell took the plunge and switched to his 5-3-2 formation with marauding wing backs that worked so well in pre-season and it looks like we were unlucky not to come away with something.  From various accounts Joe Pigott again played in an unselfish manner and set up Marvin Sordell to allow him to get off the mark.  I hope the game has provided the manager with some food for thought for Saturday's tough encounter against Leicester.  While I expect to see Kermorgant and Church return up front, I wouldn't be surprised to see some changes further back in the field.  However today  I have a different gripe to raise.

I see that Charlton fans have the chance to vote on how we get a half price pizza from the League’s official pizza sponsor.  Personally I’m more concerned about the pies at the Valley.  Rumours abound that our very own Breton, Yann Kermorgant has been tucking in and carrying a bit more weight around him than he should but if it’s true I don’t think the pies are to blame.  I’m not sure what the fayre is like at the John Smith's stadium (I suspect the names says it all and Al Gordon's excellent blog piece on the match sums it up perfectly for me algordoncafc.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-capital-one-at-john-smiths.html) but the Valley appears to actually be abandoning our pies in favour of what I understand is called a slice!  Sorry guys but we want a pie with proper walls of pastry and a deep filling.  I’m assuming that this is one of those ploys where the price stays the same and the contents shrink.

There’s nothing wrong with the food and drink at Charlton.  It’s just that with the advent of real street food and the explosion of news London breweries offering craft beer, the staple offering of slices together with Fosters and John Smith's Smooth really doesn’t cut the mustard any more.  Having seen the fast food offerings at Truck Stop London and the Real Street Food Festival, London has a lot to offer by way of quality local food and drink and I think we should be taking advantage of it.

To make matters worse, Crystal Palace have jumped on the band wagon and revamped their range of pies and now get to enjoy our local Goddard’s Pies in with steak and ale pie using beer from the first commercial brewery in Croydon, The Cronx.  For once I am extremely jealous of the Nigels.  Many of us enjoy a decent pie and mash from Goddards in Greenwich (www.pieshop.co.uk), and when combined with locally produced real ale this must be heaven in a pastry shell!

Leyton Orient have had their skin in the game for even longer with a fantastic bar in the Matchroom Stadium that has won numerous CAMRA awards for their fine real ale offering.  Their latest line up includes local ales from East London Brewery and Hackney Brewery.

So what can we at Charlton do to up the game and provide some decent locally produced food to its fans?

On the beer front, many of you will know that I have written about various local breweries including the Kernel in Bermondsey and Meantime Brewery in the Greenwich area.  As mainly kegged craft beers these should keep longer than some of the real ale offerings.  There is also the Brick Brewery a new micro brewery in Peckham Rye, which I have to admit I have only recently discovered and know very little about.

However, the Kernel is too near our other South London rivals and appear to be targeting a premium market, although Bromley football club appear to be well stocked up on a good selection from their range according to an article on their website*

Meantime would be a good commercial partner for Charlton.  The brand is well known over London and they have a good range so there is something for everyone.  Without getting too esoteric, I’d personally recommend their London Lager and Pale Ale as standard replacements for the current big brewery offerings at the Valley.

However, there is a new player in town in the form of Woolwich’s first and only brewery.  James at Hop Stuff Brewery has been extremely busy over the last few months promoting the company and recently raised £58,000 on crowd funding site Crowdcube.  He’s also appeared in the Greenwich Visitor and made a presentation to South East London CAMRA on his efforts (hopstuffbrewery.wordpress.com)

Full scale production is a little way off with full scale production kicking off in the autumn but they have ambitious plans and having this local producer at the Valley would be a coup and there would be plenty of scope for a special Charlton own label (thinking caps on please chaps but keep it clean and positive).

In terms of food one is pushed to find a more authentic product than Goddard's pies but if I was to compile a wish list of goodies I would like to see Heaps in Greenwich produce a decent sausage roll for match days with one of their award winning recipes.

Of course, I am writing this as a foodie that likes his real ale and I have no concept of the commercial realities of catering at a major sporting event but it would be good to see a nod to local produce with a bit of thought into the ingredients.  Now, does anyone in South East London produce an alternative to Mars Bars?

Article reference

*http://www.bromleyfc.tv/season1011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1880:bromley-v-cray-wanderers&catid=42:news&Itemid=309