I chose to do this dish as it is a great autumn style dish but can also be served as a warm salad in the summer so its a all versatile dish.It uses really great south african ingredients like karoo lamb and butternut but also the pearl barley is a under used ingredient that most people don’t know how to use but it is a great starch substitute

It also uses a great technique with the salting of the cucumbers that gives them an amazing texture change and shows that cucumbers are not just for serving raw

Karoo lamb rump,roasted butternut pearl barley,pickled cucumber,fig compote

- 1 lamb rump

- diced butternut

- 60 g pearl barley

- 50 ml lamb stock (I used nomu)

- 10 g diced butter

- 3 baby figs quartered

- 40 g brown sugar

- 30 ml balsamic vinegar

- olive oil for cooking and for finishing (I used willow creek)

- half a large cucumber

- salt to coat the cucumber at least 10g …this seems like alot but you wash it off

- Place the lamb rump fat side down in a warm pan and render the fat down till crispy then turn over and seal the flesh side remove from the pan and place in a pre heated oven 180 degrees c for 12 mins then rest for at least 12 mins

- In the same pan place the diced butternut and saute until soft but not falling apart

Barley

- boil the barley in salted water until soft

- drain and then add the lamb stock and reduce until almost gone then add the cold butter to form a risotto like consistency

Figs

- place the sugar in a sauce pot and cook over a medium heat until it forms a caramel then add the balsamic

- add the figs and cook until it forms a compote

Cucumbers

- cut the cucumber into quarters and remove the pips

- peel with a peeler into strips and then rub the salt onto them

- leave for 30 mins then wash under cold water for 5 mins

- squeeze of any excess water and then place on paper towel to dry

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Pickled Mackerel with Crab Toast

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This is the first contribution from our Cape Town based Taste Detective Neill Anthony – Check out his bio & link to his own blog on our Taste Detectives page

Lightly curried roasted monkfish, leek fondue, pickles,  baby mushrooms & capers

Roasted Curried Monkfish

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Guest blog by Jean Crous from CtheChange.com >>

About a week ago I found myself in Oxford, UK on a chilly winter’s night with a rumbling tummy & a thirsty throat.  As I was walking through Summertown I stumbled upon the Summertown Wine Café – and what a find it was.

They are an independent wine shop / café / wine bar in Oxford – a second branch has recently opened in London.  If you know where please leave a comment below with the London location!  They’re not a restaurant but I was  quickly pointed to the Mamma Mia pizzeria across the road.  For a £2 corkage fee you can get a great pizza / pasta from there to enjoy with the Wine Cafe selection of wines.

I ordered my pizza and decided to put the Summertown Wine Café to the test.  I told Francois what pizza I had ordered and he suggested I try a red wine to compliment it.  So far so good.  I thought he would give me a glass of his choice & that would be it.  Oh no.  Francois looked at my pizza and paraded 4 choices of red before me.  I had the opportunity to taste each wine, be my own judge and decide on a winner!

These were my options – numbers 1 to 3 were on the money but the Laibach was not to my taste

Wine Cafe Selection

1 Lazy Monkey – Cabernet Sauvignon. A Cult Californian Cabernet.

2 Escarpment Estate Pinot Noir 2008. Rated up there with the Ata Rangi as one of New Zealand’s finest Pinots

3 Shaw & Smith Shiraz 2008 Wonderfully balanced elegant shiraz

4 Laibach Merlot 2008 A smooth Cape classic, brimming with black cherry, clove and chocolate

I decided to go for the Lazy Monkey – such a delight!  Apparently they only produce 600 cases of 12 bottles each per year. Wow – truly a rare find.  Three glasses later my tummy was satisfied and my palette delighted.

But this was not the end of the night.  Francois then brought out the big guns.  There was a drop or 2 left in a bottle that they don’t sell by the glass so I was offered a taste of Alpha Zeta Amarone, 2007.

Alpha-Zeta-Amarone

That settled it – next time I’m going for the whole bottle – super rich and concentrated, but alive with a dark brooding beauty - I can always take the leftover home to enjoy the next day.

The Summertown Wine Café offers excellent value for money.  Just because they source their produce from small independent vineyards does not mean that they charge boutique prices.  The wines are very affordable but also unique in a high street with bland carbon copy wine offerings.

So if you find yourself in Oxford be sure to pop into Summertown Wine Café for great affordable wine, impressive wine knowledge and super friendly & efficient staff.

Wine Cafe Interior

Lazy Monkey Cabernet Sauvignon

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Guest post by Stefan Ferreira from CtheChange.com >>

Let’s face it, many of us struggle to discover new wines, either due to a lack of knowledge or because it’s just easier to walk down the isle in our local supermarket that leads straight to our trusted favourites.

Being a faithful member of InspectorGrape.com has helped me become more adventurous, and led me to discover treats such as Riesling from the Alsace which I would never have tried myself, given my previous obsession with Sauvignon Blanc. This idea of being part of a wine community really works for me!

That’s why I was delighted to discover Snooth. For those of you who don’t know it already, Snooth is an extensive, well-established website designed to help you discover better wines. They have a huge, user-friendly database that allows searches by region, varietals, wine stores, and more. On top of that they offer a community of wine lovers who actively contribute to the forums on their website, and they allow you to get social by connecting with wine lovers from all over the world.

iPhone wine app lets you explore wine on the go

Still, we often discover the best new wines when we’re away from our computers – either at a friend’s place for dinner or when trying out the hot new restaurant down the road. The good news is that you no longer have to scribble the name of that tasty red on a napkin or on the back of your credit card receipt. With Snooth’s free iPhone wine app, you can do a search right there at the table, read all of the background information and user reviews and even get a list of local shops that stock it.

You can add your wines to an Amazon-style wish list to purchase later, so you don’t have to be too unsociable at the table. For those lazy ones amongst us, the paid-for Snooth Wine Pro includes clever image recognition technology, so you simply take a photo of the wine label and let the app do the matching and searching.

I’ve been snapping away whenever someone puts a new bottle of wine in front of me, and even if the wine isn’t always in stock at a shop near me, it’s a great way to build up a database of wines you like, and to learn more about them along the way.

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Add some colourful veg of your choice – I would prefer carrots but as you can see from the pic we only had pees – a very green dish then!

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As you know by now I am living in Asia, so there is a lot to get used to, learn, see, smell, try, drink, eat and taste! A lot is of course familiar thanks too TV, holidays, X Asian boyfriends and of course the lonely planet travel books, but most is still unfamiliar and every now and then one is reminded of the fact that you have left your comfort zone after 15 years and moved continents.

For 38 years the humble carrot has never left my sight. My mom used to crush it into pulp for baby food and right through childhood my grandma used to assure me that if I eat all my carrots I would have good eyesight. Just for the record my reading glasses are as thick as coke bottles and my contact lenses are so specialized “spec savers” find it hard to obtain the right strength for me.

Anyway, so we all know it is only once something is taken away from you that you start to miss it in your life and for the past 60 days I’ve not seen or tasted a sweet carrot …..till yesterday.

Who would have thought that the humble carrot – the food of choice of Bugs Bunny –would turn out to be one of the most important vegetables in present day Thai cooking? To add to the oddity none of it is grown in Thailand and it’s all imported from China, England and France. Why?

The answer is as obvious as to put foam on a cappuccino. Colour!! It adds colour to any dish and makes it more attractive. Another interesting fact is that foods made with carrots are served almost exclusively in Bangkok. Dishes made in other parts of the country are usually local specialities that are innocent of the orange import. Most cooks in regional kitchens stick to local vegetables because people there are satisfied with their food as it is and don’t feel a need to adapt to anything new.

As for the carrot, it first appeared on Thai tables as a colourful garnish on foreign dishes presented in a Thai style. At first it would only be used in stir fried dishes but the carrot has gradually extended its territory and today it appears in almost every kind of dish and curry but only in foods sold in Bangkok.

But I was told not to hold my breath waiting for the carrot to edge its way onto the list of vegetables used in regional dishes. This does not mean the carrot is not good enough or has done something wrong, however, it is just that it is colourful, new, novel and looks good – qualities that gets you places……….. especially in Bangkok!!

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Now that I’m living in Asia I need to get accustomed and familiar with Asian culture and “how it’s done” in Asia. This is not as easy at it sounds but I’ve always seen myself as an open minded individual and I am willing to try everything once!

However it was a bit of a shock when I was told only yesterday that today 21 Nov is the Thai New Year or Loi Krathong. Naturally there will be huge celebrations, regional food displays, music and dancing. This is all great and I’m always up for a good party but it would have been even greater if I had more than one days
notice, however I’m bracing myself and going with the flow, something that does not come naturally to me but I am not living in London any more and the days of careful party planning, handwritten invitations, Waitrose and vintage port is sadly over. Instead it has been replaced with colorful Asian festivals, seafood BBQ’s, full moon parties, white powdery beaches and cheap local whisky.

A hard life all-together.

So what am I exactly getting myself into on this unexpected unplanned New Years Eve? Thai New Year or Loi Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12-month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this falls in November and will be celebrated this year on the 21st, today!

“loi” means “to float” and a “krathong” is a raft. Traditionally this is made from a section of a banana tree trunk. The krathong is then decorated with elaborately folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks.

During the night of the full moon people from all over Thailand will float their krathongs (see photo section) on rivers, lakes and the sea. Thai people believe that floating a raft on the river is to honor and pay respect to the goddess of water. This gesture is also to apologize to the goddess of the water for the bad things they have done to the river during the past year. (They might need a very big krathong!)

However, it is a day of celebrations and I cant wait to see the rivers and the sea lit up with banana rafts and candles. Equally I cant wait to taste food from all over Thailand, a rare occasion to sample dishes sometimes
only to be found in those regions and the only way to do this is to personally travel to the different regions in order to taste their culinary delights but tonight it’s all in one place and I cant wait to taste it all and wash it down with local beer!

Happy New Year or Loi Krathong!!

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Wine with Thai food ? I hear you ask.  By now you should know that at Inspector Grape we always suggest trying local wine with local food.  I am on a mission to change that question into an exclamation –  Wine with Thai food!

As promised in my last blog, I am going to tell you about Thai wine. Now for those of you in the wine industry we are all too familiar with the wines of the Siam winery. I had the unfortunate “pleasure” to be introduced to the dull undrinkable watery bitter wines of the Siam winery about seven years ago, a wine experience I will never forget and certainly never want to repeat.

Till a few weeks ago I thought I was scared for life and had to laugh when I was offered a glass of Thai wine in a very luxury resort on the Andaman coast.

I also firmly believe that one should try every thing once or twice in this case. I forever wanted to put the lid on the mystery and decided to brace myself for another glass of Thai wine.

Well you can probably guess what happened next. Actually I nearly fell of my chair when the glass of Thai Chenin Blanc was drinkable, no let me say that again! It was very pleasant, fruity, smoky and not a bad tipple at all. Was I about to discover the answer to the question – Wine with Thai food?  I immediately needed to know more and the next day I was on the internet researching this interesting concept.

It turns out that’s it’s all due to one visionary entrepreneur, Dr. Plya Bhirombhakdi. Dr. Plya is a man with a great appreciation for the finer things in life.  It all began back in 1989 on a large piece of land with a total area of 320 Ha, surrounded by mountains and a preferred macroclimate for viticulture. This was the birth place of Khao Yai wines!

As a trained viticulturist I can just imagine the hurdles Dr. PB and his team had to over come in order to select the most suitable grape variety that will grow and produce quality grapes in a tropical climate such as Thailand. There was only one way to find out and that was to plant them all!

Yes Dr. PB and his team planted over 50 different grape varieties and after 2 years of testing and tasting decided that shiraz, tempranillo, chenin blanc and colombard were the “stars of the show!”

But its one thing to have the right grapes but another if you don’t have a talented winemaker to make the wine. Again Dr. PB was a step ahead and had sent Mr. Prayut Piangbunta, one of his old Brew Masters from his previous beer company to study Oenology in Weinsberg, Germany.

He returned in 1994 to take his place as chief winemaker in the largest and most technologically advanced winery in South East Asia. The first vintage was produced 4 years later in 1998, and today 12 years later the PB wines of Khoa Yai continues to impress the non believers like myself.

As soon as I have more time I will go and visit the PB winery and hopefully meet the Dr. himself and share a glass of “Thai Tipple” with him .  We are one step closer to shouting Wine with Thai food!

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We’ve found him! Inspector Grape reports from Thailand:

So here I am in the land of powdery white beaches, turquoise blue seas, amazing food and slightly over priced wines.

I am of course in Thailand, again!

Yes I decided to pack my bags and move to Thailand. A lot of you thought it was a crazy idea and a viticultural desert, and maybe it is, but you know what, it is the best thing I’ve ever done.

I am here of course to work as well and it’s not all paradise and Pinot Noir, in many ways it is a wine desert and I cant quickly pop out to try the latest Riesling from NZ or anything else for that matter, but it is so much more in many other ways.

I try a new dish every day! Dishes with names I cant pronounce and they are made from ingredients I’ve never even seen or heard of.

Don’t feel sorry for me at all, I am in heaven and I’m enjoying every minute of it. I have already been invited to 2 wine tastings and I received a personal invitation to become a honorary member of the local wine club, so it’s not as bad as it sounds.

I can honestly say that I’ve tried over 30 new dishes in the last 30 days so in many ways this was such a wake up call. There is more to Thai food than green curry!

Here are just a few of my favorites and don’t be scared to ask your local Thai restaurant in London to make it for you:

Tom-kha-gai
Southern style chicken in coconut milk, fresh tumeric, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime, wild mushroom & coriander

Satays-ruam-mit
Charcoal grilled mixed satay of pork, chicken & beef with peanut sauce

Gaeng-som pla
Sour spicy gypsy style yellow curry with white snapper and coconut palm heart & morning glory

Phad-prik-khing-tao-fak-yang (yes this is the name)
Stir fried long beans with home made bean curd, kaffir limes, salted egg yolk & red curry sauce.

I promise to write about my Thai wine experience next, yes Thai wine!! It’s a revelation and it’s a lot better than some Pinot Grigio’s I’ve had to swallow in the past.

Excellent Thai restaurants in London:
Blue elephant, 3-6 Fulham Broadway, SW6 1AA
Benja, 17 Beak Street, Soho, W1F 9RW
Crazy Bear, 26 Whitfield Street, Bloomsbury, W1T 2RG
Patara, 15 Greek Street, Soho, W1D $DP
Isarn, 119 Upper Street, London, N1 1QP

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Inspector Grape demystifies wine facts & terms people throw around when enjoying wine.

alcohol: The reason we love wine more than grape juice.

aroma: The forward fruit smells of a wine

balance: Harmony and proportion between the acid, alcohol and fruit of a wine – a key quality factor.

barrique: Commonly used wooden barrel (capacity of 225 litres) originally from Bordeaux but now found in the cellars of winemakers worldwide – especially those who produce Bordeaux-style quality blends.

body: How does the wine feel in your mouth from light-bodied to “big” or full-bodied.

botrytis: Basically rotten grapes! Abbreviation for botrytis cinerea, a “good” fungus that concentrates sugar and acidity in affected grapes. It can create great sweet wines, but is also a problem for dry wine production.

bouquet: The more developed and complex, or “secondary”, smells of a mature wine.

breathing: Exposing a wine to oxygen in order to release more of its scent and flavour!

complex: Having many different stages of taste and smell. Not a boring wine. A real sign of quality.

corked: Wine that has been spoilt by a bad cork. Corked wine gives off an unpleasant musty, mouldy smell.

dry: Not sweet -Duh!

faulty: Wine that has been spoilt by a fault! Duh!

fermentation: Process by which grape juice is transformed into wine courtesy of yeasts!

filtration: Wine making process to remove solid unwanted mouse tails and bugs in the un-bottled wine.

finish: The lingering taste of a wine after it has been swallowed – a long or “persistent” finish is a key indicator of quality.

green: Unpleasant character of wine made from under ripe grapes – sometimes even spritzy!

interesting: Polite term used to describe an unpleasant wine that someone else brought to the party – for example Muscadet.

legs: Common term for the tears that form down the inside of a glass of wine after it has been swirled, caused by the more rapid evaporation of alcohol in a wine relative to water. “Legs” do not give any indication of wine quality –merely a rough indication of alcoholic content.

nose: When you stick your nose in the glass and pretend to smell something!

oak: Used to improve the flavour of a wine. There are many different variables in the world. Expensive barrels or cheap oak chips? Old or new oak? Heavy or lightly toasted.

old vines: The Vine is old!What more do you want me to say?

oxidised: A wine was spoilt by exposure to oxygen

phenolics: General term for flavouring, colouring and structuring compounds in a wine.

phylloxera: Microscopic pest that killed almost all vineyards in the world in 18something!

quality: An elusive aspect of wine that can only be judged by tasting the wine.

residual sugar: The amount of sugar left in a wine after fermentation.

sediment: Deposit of solids in the bottle.

tannin: Common name for tannic acid from grape skins, stalks or pips that help to structure and preserve a wine. Found in red wine and white wines aged in oak.

varietal: A wine made from one named grape. The name of a grape is called the variety.

yeast: Organisms that convert sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

yield: The productive capacity of a vine or vineyard.

Sainsbury’s: Good affordable wines down the road!!

Tesco: Massive buying power in the world of wine.

Waitrose: We simply just love it! Amazing wines but you’ll have to pay more for it!

Do you have wine facts & terms to add to this list?  Pop them in a comment below!

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Food and wine recipes can be a complicated issue to tackle.  What to cook, how to prepare it and what wine to best complement your dish – we have the answers.  Just click the links below to see the recipe and watch the step by step video – job done!

Crispy-Oysters

Looking for food and wine recipes for a protein packed easy to prepare snack or starter?  Why not try our Tuna Tartare Recipe?  This dish works really well with a chilled Beaujolais or even a full-bodied Rose. Try any rose made from big grapes such as Cabernet or Merlot or a good full bodied Spanish rose.  In the video we opted for El Prado Tempranillo Rosé.

Rustic food and wine recipes don’t come more rustic & authentic than this one.  We panfried Sardines for a Portuguese flavoured meal and paired it with Vino Verde – as rustic as the food.  The secret here is local food with local wine!

In the mood for food and wine recipes that deliver big time? Try a big juicy steak & a big juicy wine to match. Australia is also known for its top quality beef and traffic stopping red wines so we decided to do a Pepper Steak & Shiraz. There are many versions of this dish but the key elements are top quality meat, peppercorns,cream and brandy.

Want to get your dinner guests talking?  Why not serve black food?! Risotto Nero (black rice) gets its name from the black color the rice acquires when cooked with its signature ingredient, squid ink. It’s a weird and wonderful sensation to be served black food.  Its delicious with any crisp white wine – we picked a Gavi from Piemonte.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip6aKeMmKX0

The word is derived from the name Tartars, an ethnic group from Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. A popular legend is that the Tartars kept raw meat under their saddles and the meat was naturally tenderized after a days riding.

Whatever the case might be, tartare is extremely popular in restaurants all over the world and is best enjoyed with a light red or rosé.

This dish works really well with a chilled Beaujolais or even a full-bodied Rose. Try any rose made from big grapes such as Cabernet or Merlot or a good full bodied Spanish rose.

1 Large tuna steak
Green Tabasco
Fresh Coriander
Dijon Mustard
Olive oil
Soy sauce
Salt & pepper

1. Cut the tuna into small cubes (see podcast)
2. Add all other ingredients to taste. There are no specific measurements for this dish so just add small amounts at a time till you are satisfied with the taste.

Food: £6
Wine: £4.69

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Guest blog by Tilly Walters >>David – thank you for my first lesson in wine. Tasting and talking about summer white wines was so much fun (feeling it this morning). I hope this is the start of many lessons to come. My husband and I are looking forward to polishing them all off this weekend!!

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Guest blog by Neil Anthony Vaughan from 3FIG>>Hi all we have a amazing supper club coming up with a 5 course meal paired with french champagne from cuvees classiques ,follow us on face book under 3 fig for details

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Guest blog by Neil Anthony Vaughan from 3FIG>> I would like to thank tom mills from donier wine estate for the wines last week and also john maython for attending if anyone listened to his show on friday fig street got a great review ,he loved it ,Big thanks to david wibberly from bordouxroom

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Guest blog by Sharon Harkin >>hi dawid, i just watched your risotto demonstration and i thought it was fab! you covered all the key elements for making the peprfect risotto! my belly was rumbling!!! next time im in london ill be goin round yours for din dins!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwFy061QCfE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HIVwlSAT3I

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Pop up restaurants have been done to death!! We need a new word for pop up but then came along the No.68 project!

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We choose a Araldica La Luciana Gavi wine to enjoy with a Risotto Nero and Garlic Squid Recipe (Serves 2)

Risotto Nero (black rice) gets its name from the black color the rice acquires when cooked with its signature ingredient, squid ink. It’s a weird and wonderful sensation to be served black food. I love this dish and I make it regularly with seared garlic squid. It might be difficult to get squid ink but any good Italian delicatessen or decent supermarket will have it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwFy061QCfE

Its delicious with any crisp white wine but if in doubt always opt for something from the same region as the food. I think a Gavi wine from Piemonte will be perfect with this dish. Gavi wine is relatively freely available but I got this little gem from Waitrose.

Always remember to finish your risotto with a little bit of butter to add that last creaminess before serving.

125g Risotto rice (half cup)
1 sachets squid ink
1 small onion, finely diced
100ml white wine
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
500ml fish or light chicken stock
salt and black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan, add onion until it is translucent, add the rice and stir for 3 min.
2. Pour in the wine and stir until the liquid evaporates.
3. Add a ladle of hot stock and the squid ink. Stir over low heat, adding ladles of stock as it absorbs. This will take about 15min
4. Take off the heat when the last liquid is added.
Season to taste and leave covered for a few minutes. You can always add more stock or wine if the risotto is still hard and needs more cooking.

Food: £11
Wine: £5.99

Don’t like seafood?  Try a Vegetarian Risotto – we show you how in this video.

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