Music merchandise has gone way beyond the realm of the humble button badge. Beyonce has her own highly lucrative perfume range. Should any Beliebers feel the urge to see Justin’s image on a shower curtain they need only whip out the credit card. And the rock band Kiss released a customized coffin emblazoned with their imagery all over it.

Putting singer songwriter Frank Turner’s wheat beer into that context doesn’t actually make his product sound too odd. But considering he is an ex graduate of the London School of Economics, is this brew part of his corporate masterplan for world domination? “I learned nothing of economics in college! The Signature Brew Company approached me about the concept of releasing a beer together, what guy in the world would say no to that?” To add to that dream partnership, the flavouring selection for the beer was actually done in a boozer. “The master brewer met me in a pub and presented me with a massive array of beers. We opted for a Belgian style wheat beer that has a big citrus kick off it.” Named after his 2010 single, “I Still Believe” Frank’s Wheat Beer Believe is not just a tasty beverage; he assures me that it can be utilized very well for cooking with too. You just have to make certain that you don’t consume them all before you get any into the food.

PORK SHOULDER COOKED IN FRANK TURNER’S BEER

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder

1 bottle of Frank Turner’s Believe or any other good wheat beer

500 ml of good chicken stock
12 garlic cloves

2 shallots
3 bay leaves

1/2 tablespoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary cut finely
1 teaspoon of dried sage

2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in a pot and set your oven to 120 degrees. Remove any rind off the shoulder and discard it. Cut the pork into fist sized pieces and brown them off in small batches. Remove them with a slotted spoon to keep the fat in the pot. After you’ve browned the pork, peel the shallots and garlic. Slice the shallots into rings and coarsely chop up the garlic. Fry them for 30 seconds before adding in the rosemary, sage, salt and pepper and fry for just a few seconds. Then add in the beer, stock, honey, cranberries, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and sugar and give it a good stir. Raise the heat and when it comes to the boil, throw in the bay leaves, put the lid on the pot and stick it in the oven.

Leave it in for 2 hours, then take it out and give it a stir. Then stick it in for another 1.5 hours. Serve with some buttered baby potatoes and of course, plenty of Frank Turner’s Believe Wheat Beer.

Frank Turner plays The Academy on May 11^th

^{This piece is also available to read in The Irish Times.}

TUNA ORECCHIETTE BY BLOODY BEETROOTS

It should come as no surprise, that when I first set out to document recipes given to me by bands and entertainers, I had a nerdy urge to feature acts whose names were actual food items. And while I have yet to interview Meatloaf or The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, back in December we ran a piece with Ham Sandwich and this month we’re featuring The Bloody Beetroots. Hey, we all have lists and that’s two notched off mine.

The opportunity for me to contact the Italian electronic maestro Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (aka The Bloody Beetroots) came about through his upcoming Olympia gig in March. After doing a summer of DJ sets, he’s on the road again but this time with a stomper of a live set. First things first I thought, do you actually like Beetroots? “I always detoxify before and after I go on tour. I always drink a lot of vegetable and fruit juices – I love ginger, orange, carrots, apple and sometimes, beetroots….”

With that elephant in the room firmly displaced, we got on to other topics, like tipples. Sir Bob is a Prosecco man, whether as an aperitif or at other occasions. In true Rock n Roll style, it almost never brings on a hangover for him but he does say, “I do get the munchies in the morning and if that happens, I eat pizza.” That’s all well and good when the tour is in full swing but when he’s kicking back in the gaff, Sir Bob likes to chow down on his world famous tuna pasta. Initially, he wanted to keep this recipe a secret. But after a week of emails, he finally capitulated and decided to share it with us. So that means we’ve covered two acts in this column whose names feature foodstuffs and had one world exclusive. Living the dream folks…

Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo’s Tuna Orecchiette For 4

500 grams of orecchiette pasta

Half a white onion

One clove of garlic

Salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese (an older cheese is always better)

Half an anchovy

One large tin of  good canned tuna in olive oil

A handful of fresh basil

A jar of tomato passata

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Dice the onion and gently fry it in a until slightly transparent, using a splash of extra virgin olive oil.  Chop the garlic and add this into the pan, at this point you can add a bit of butter. Whilst the garlic and onion are simmering, remove the tuna from the can and drain the olive oil.  Then add in the full bottle of tomato sauce, the tuna and the fresh basil into the pan. Cook this over a low heat for at least 30 minutes.

Whilst the sauce is cooking, boil the pasta until it is al dente. Make sure you add a little bit of salt and extra virgin olive oil into the water. Once it has cooked through, drain the pasta, allow it to rest and dry. Then serve it with a large spoonful of sauce dolloped on the top,  accompanied by a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and a basil leaf. Voila.

The Bloody Beetroots play The Olympia on Friday March 8th.

This piece was originally written for The Ticket in The Irish Times on February 22nd.