by Gareth Groves
Good food would choose Bordeaux. Or so the current marketing campaign for the region’s wines would have you believe. To help prove the link between Bordeaux and fine grub, Bordeaux Wines organised a masterchef style cooking competition for members of the trade and press.
The competition was hotly contested. Two heats of six teams were whittled down to six …
By Kat Hounsell
This rich, and slightly naughty Tex-Mex chilli explodes with fiery flavours and is the perfect remedy for warming body and soul.
As a one pot dish it’s simple and quick to put together, perfect for sharing on a night in with friends with a big dish of cheesy nachos!
Warning – Not for the faint hearted!
Serves 4
Prep: 5 minutes
Cooking: 40-45 minutes
Ingredients –
450g British …
by Gareth Groves
I am a sucker for food traditions and am always rather sad that in the UK, Easter has become a celebration of mainstream chocolate bars in ovoid form. Roast lamb is often touted as traditional but it hardly catches the imagination like a Christmas goose, and when was the last time you made a Simnel cake?
All of which makes me love Easter …
by Gareth Groves
Altitude and cabin pressure does funny things to our taste buds, as Heston Blumenthal’s Mission Impossible programme on Channel 4 earlier this year showed when the chef devised a number of umami-heavy dishes for BA customers.
But what about wine? If our taste buds perceive food differently on the ground then surely the same goes for the wine? It …
by Gareth Groves
In an ideal world, I would celebrate tonight with a chilled beer or three and some seriously spicy food at the London fooderati’s Sichuan restaurant of choice: Chilli Cool. Cumin and chilli encrusted mini-lamb skewers? Yes please. Deep fried pigs’ intestines? Hell yeah. Sea-spicy aubergine? Never miss it.
However, owing to a change in recent circumstances, I’ll be at …
By Neil Robertson
If there is one thing that California’s diverse cultural mix is great for, it’s bringing a variety of cuisines from around the world to the fine people of California. Surely the local baseball team in San Francisco, the Giants, is named after the appetite of the local people. Whilst on a recent trip to the state, seven hungry souls headed out to Napa in …
By Willie Lebus
I made this last night. I am gagging to eat it again tonight!
Ingredients -
For 3/4 people
6 plump scallops
5 large squid tubes
350 grams fresh king prawn tails
4 large cloves of garlic
2 red chillies
1 green chilli
2 leeks
2 banana shallots
300 grams of young spinach leaves
300 grams asparagus (I know!)
200 grams trimmed French beans (I know)
Nam Pla
Palo Cortado Sherry
White wine
Hoisin sauce
Groundnut oil
Crushed roasted peanuts
Fresh lime juice
The Method – …
by Gareth Groves
Bollito Misto is one of the great Italian dishes. An (almost) one pot dish, its name can be translated as “Mixed Boiled Dinner”. Luckily, it tastes better than it sounds. It is essentially a big pot of different meats – we used ox tongue, brisket, chicken and cotechino sausage – slowly poached with some vegetables until …
Like the 2004 there is a lots of bright red fruit on the nose and palate but it sits alongside the sort of wildness that comes from a laissez-faire approach to winemaking.The tannins are robust but fine, framing the peppery, floral berry notes but never intruding…
by Rob Pickard
BBQ opportunities on our beloved rain soaked island are few and far between, so if you’re going to do it, make every effort to do it properly! Doing it properly can of course be affected by many factors, from meat, fish and veg selection, salads and accompaniments, pre BBQ beers, and importantly, wine selection. However, what I discovered on a recent trip to Bordeaux …
