Philharmonic Chicken and Mushroom Pie

This weekend I took a trip to Liverpool and titled it “the Beatles.” Yes, you guessed it write, my day and a half trip consisted of me and this girl from my program going around Liverpool visiting the inspirations and important landmarks of Beatles history. We started off the trip by taking off to Liverpool in a delayed coach ride that took 7 painful, sleepy, hours. It took us two stops to pick up people to get there and by the time we got there we were exhausted. We got off the coach and hurriedly made it to the Beatles Story museum where we booked tickets to explore on a self-guided audio tour of the biographies and stories of George, Paul, John, and Ringo. There were lots of artifacts from the four, and I even got to share over Whatsapp a video of the White Room dedicated to John’s famous Imagine music video scene with my grandpa, who loves the song. I thank technology for these moments where I get to share my experience with my grandparents who are halfway across the world. After visiting the gift shop where I reluctantly bought a sweatshirt to combat the 60 degree freeze outside, we headed to our Airbnb to drop off our items. I was surprised to be introduced to our host who is a Liverpool native, and had to carefully dissect her Scouse accent. We then journeyed to the Philharmonic dining hall, the same dining hall Paul McCartney performed at on the James Cordon carpool karaoke show. We had pies, mash, and veg, and by golly was it a better experience than the Sunday roast I had on the first night of my England journey. This meal was hot and filling with a side of gravy to pull all the flavors together. The pie was chicken and mushroom, and although I appreciated the large chunks of chicken, I would have liked to take bigger bites of mushroom as well. I washed it down with a berry rum cocktail. While looking towards the stained glass window where tables blocked the stage that was set up for Paul McCartney to play both his Beatles and Wings classics. I imagined what it would be like if that same stage was set up properly like that day and Paul came out with his solo for Hey Jude or Silly Love Songs. Being in Liverpool made it all the more surreal when we visited various Beatles landmarks the next day.

The Beatles hold a certain place in my heart because they’re songs were part of my childhood the same way that 50 Cent or Bruno Mars does. I grew up listening to their songs on catered CD’s burned by my mom or grandpa, who loved to share the music they loved. Although my name isn’t Jude, I used the Beatles to escape from reality by using their music as a certain comfort as if they wrote the song to help me get through tough times. It’s in the same way I used food to escape through cooking back home. Food has always been a comfort that holds a meaning of family and love, so to keep my head up through cooking meals for myself at home. This reminiscing of home through mashed potatoes and creamy chicken and mushroom, brought me back to my grandma’s cooking, and from this I realized that while trying to experience my own Beatles adventure, how much they have meant to my childhood and it’s almost like taking parts of Liverpool with me to bring back home.