Ingredients:

4/5 new potatoes, washed with skin on

Fillet of cod (One of it’s brothers or sisters, such as whiting or pollock would work equally well. See what’s fresh.)

1 medium onion, sliced

Smoked paprika

Small handful of green olives, sliced (Mine were stuffed with garlic and red pepper)

A little white wine or vermouth

Thyme

Parsley

Preheat the grill to high. Place the potatoes in a pan of water with some salt and bring to the boil. Cook for about 10 minutes and refresh in cold water. Slice into discs.

Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan and cook the onion until soft. Remove from the pan and turn up the heat. You may need to add a little more olive oil at this stage. Add the sliced potatoes, along with the thyme, paprika and season with salt and pepper and sautee for 10 mins or until you get a good colour on the spuds. Put the onion back in the mix and add a little white wine or vermouth.

Fetch the fish from the fridge, season with salt and pepper and place the fillet skin side up onto the potatoes. Place the pan under the grill and cook for three minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Keep an eye on the fish – you want the skin to crisp up, but make sure it doesn’t burn.

Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Give the pan a shake to loosen and slide onto a plate in one fell swoop.

I paired this dish with the Chateau de Jurque Juraçon sec. It’s a blend of Gros and Petit Manseng from South West France, an area famous for it’s sweet wines, but with some fantastic dry ones too. It’s got a great citrus feel to it, but with enough body to stand up to the piquant flavours. It’s clean and fresh which nicely tempers the paprika, but not so much as to overpower the delicacy of the fish.

But one thing that won’t ever change is the need to eat out – or should I say want. Local restaurants, which offer convenience and greater affordability are popping up in the suburbs, providing alternatives to another night in.

Season Kitchen & Dining Room in Finsbury Park has recently gotten some good press on their novel approach to wine charges. Rather than focusing on margin, as all restaurants do, they have added what in essence is a ‘corkage’ charge for their wines. Adding the same charge on top of the price of the wine to them, they are able to offer the customer an exceptional wine at a reasonable price. The theory, I am assuming is that the attraction of this offer will bring more people, more frequently, and as most people order the third wine from the top, they will for the most part, still be hitting margin.

And I really hope this works. Transparency in pricing brings good will with customers, and after many years of being dictated to, it’s refreshing to see the tables turned. If more restaurants take note, we all may be able to continue what we have all grown accustom to, drink better wine out, and in turn support small independant restaurants through this time.

Season Kitchen & Dining Room

53 Stroud Green Road, Stroud Green,

London N4 3EF 0207 263 5500

To surmise, it refers to the discovery that drinking red wine is good for your health. A small discovery yet a monumental one. If we go more into the detail, it will lead us into the magnificent world of polyphenols, antioxidants, and most of all, to the French South West.

Despite it is being exceptionally delicious, in theory the French rural cuisine is a dangerous joy. It contains all the nasty materials doctors and healthcare organisations have been witch hunting, excommunicating for years. Salt, saturated fat of animal origin, and all that jazz. It is pure evil from the heart surgeons point of view. The French consume 200% more butter 60% more pork, and 70% more cheese than Americans – and yet they suffer sufficiently less coronary disease.

How do these jolly old men sitting around in the cafe house in the French countryside do it? They are enjoying a glass of this or that, happily puffing smoke, eating plates of cassoulet, that would easily feed the entire SWAT team of the Tokyo police for a whole week. In theory these folks should all be dead long ago. And they are not. They are pretty much alive, enjoying the good things of life, and not really giving a damn for the rest.

Serge Renaud, a hearth surgery professor of the University of Bordeaux spent about 10 years studying this phenomena. He picked one of the most endangered areas of France and took a careful look around in the mortality statistics. What he discovered was that despite an absolutely rich and risky diet, the cases of coronary heart disease were significantly lower to those found in other countries and areas.

His conclusion however, was even more shocking. He came to conclude that it was what was consumed in hand with these rich foods – red wine.  Red wine is full of stuff to neutralize the bad cholesterol and all the the saturated fats. The skin of the red grape is full of antioxidants and color materials, that are all there to protect the pulp. If they get into your body through a good glass of red wine, they are protecting you. Things like resveratrol, procyanidins and other polyphenols.

Procyanids are a great protector for you against cancer, but you need to consume around 20 litres of wine a day to get to the right effect. In a way, it would be a really ‘happy’ way to a health conscious life, but it does not seems to be that practical. The most health benefit come from the procyanidins, that are actually present in a large enough concentration in a moderate amount of wine, and are good to protect the blood vessels. The alcohol in this moderate quantities also helps to neutralize the bad cholesterol, but note the word ‘moderate’.

It seems like that the vineyards in the South West, especially around the wine region of Madiran yield grapes that are really high in these substances. The wines from these regions are particularly good for you. The right quantity of high tannin content (this is when you feel a red wine particularly dry) shows you the presence of these beneficial substances. Great isn’t it?

When the results were published it had a massive effect. Especially in the US where for some funny reason everyone wants to live forever. Red wine consumption jumped up with 44%. Some winemakers were lobbying for a license to write “health product” on their bottles. Everyone was planting grapes claimed to be high in the good substances, like Merlot. As well as other madnesses, this one faded away as well.

Ever since it was published, many people scientists attacked the French Paradox, saying that it gives a way too simplified solutions. They are right up to a certain level: low stress, a bit more wholesome eating culture, the smaller portions are certainly factors of why you find higher age expectancy in these areas. And we all know you cannot simply blame food for heart disease. Whether it is the holy grail of heart surgery or not, take refuge in the thought that there is no harm, and potentially great benefit for having a glass or two with lunch or dinner.

This is the story of my conversion.

When I started getting more intimate with the wine industry (as we call it, The Trade), it was the high time of Pinot Noir. Remember how Miles had a go at Merlot in Sideways? That was pretty much my take on the world. But what made both Miles and me so angry about a single grape?

The Bordeaux Blends that were available in my native Hungary were a. Boring b. Bloody expensive c. Boring. And when I say boring, I mean as dull as a damp rag. The proper 1855 classified hardcore-hot-real thing was not within my grasps, unfortunately. What I had in front of me, was technically whatever came of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab. Franc & Merlot with oak – Bearing the mark of some kind of a bourgeois charmlessness.

While this was going on, Pinot Noir from anywhere – mainly from Bourgogne, seemed to be the new trendsetter. Anyone wanting to appear progressive, drank Pinot Noir. So I, along with the rest of the wanna-be mover and shakers, was a self proclaimed Pinot addict. Honestly I did not think much about Bordeaux. It always seemed to be the toy of the annoyingly rich folks. Oh how I have changed..

On arrival in London I started working in a posh luxury brasserie as a sommelier. Most of the 700 bins on the wine list were either the best of Bordeaux or the best of Burgundy. As the restaurant was located right in the middle of the city , naturally our clientele were dark suit wearing, male hardcore Claret consumers. As I was serving these people, it was my duty to learn more of the wines I was selling. This is how my Bordeaux appreciation began.

What I began to appreciate is that there is a story behind every bottle, every label, every terroir. So what makes Bordeaux so special? Even though I prefer mountains, I am very fond the mostly flat and very cultured landscape of the Gironde area. The wine as we know it today was born in the late XVIIth century, in a rather realistic, pretty much capitalistic approach. The Bordeaux winemaker claims no lofty acclaims as an artist. They are businessmen. Having tasted quite many self proclaimed artist’s almost undrinkable wine, I like this approach. And in addition to this modern approach to making, this attitude resulted in the most sympathetic political thought during the French revolution. How’s about that then? The Gironde party are considered to be some of the founding fathers of modern liberalism. (Surely the wine helped!)

The wine in question, as a textbook definition, is something that was grown of the banks of the Garrone. Made mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot – maybe a touch of Malbec and Petit Verdot and with the possibility of oak ageing. Obviously the reality is a lot more diverse, but this is a blog, and not a mega novel of several hundred pages.

Back in the WSET academy one of my teachers tried to define the tasting notes in a simple way:

“The more ‘medium’ marks you have on your tasting sheet, the closer you are to an ideal Bordeaux!”

This means that the main characteristics of the wine: aroma and flavour intensity, alcohol, tannin and acid-content are all in perfect balance. When you taste this wine, it might taste a little bit earthy. But this earth, the very soil, can taste fresh. The very feeling you get with each sip, that suggests simply  “bloody hell, I could drink an other glass of this!”

The last time I had thios feeling was tasting our 2004 Listrac Medoc Chateau l`Ermitage. If you have a quiestion about Bordeaux, just come around to one of our shops. There are some Pinot fans among the ranks, but I think we all understand and love the greatness of Bordeaux.

Macaroni and cheese, however, gets a very special treatment. Even on menus around town (Spuntino makes the best in my opinion) you can see the humble M&C triumphing over more fancy dishes. We people, love hugs in food. And this gem below gives a bear..

Ingredients:

• 50g butter

• 50g plain flour

• 1 pint milk

• 1 leek

• Some pancetta

• Macaroni Pasta

• A block of cheddar cheese

• Seasoning

Slice and wash the leek, then fry in olive oil.

Add diced pancetta and carry on frying until pancetta is cooked. You can add a bit of wine to add flavour and carry on cooking gently.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the milk to get a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and, stirring all the time, bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Grate the cheddar and add half to the sauce.

Cook the macaroni pasta in salted boiling water short of al dente, the pasta will carry on cooking when baking.

Mix the leek and pancetta to the white sauce, add the macaroni and place in a dish.

Cover with the remaining of the grated cheddar cheese and bake for 30 mins mark 4.

As far as wine matching is concerned, I tend to clash rich dishes with wines that are the opposite.

I had this Mac ‘n’ Cheee with a white Sancerre. The 2010 Sancerre Les Criles from ‘Gitton Père & Fils’ is bright, flinty and mineral enough to cut through the richness of the dish. Worth a try.

Valentines has always been my least favourite occasion in the greeting card calendar. Although I do like the celebration of love, I wish it wasn’t such a commercial pitch – no one likes to be played.

If you have ever worked in restaurants you will know what Valentines entails. Restaurants full of self conscious couples, all dressed up in an attempt to spark up the romance in the now too comfortable familiarity. Restaurants use the opportunity to sell more Champagne than they do on any other day bar New Year, and yet no one seems to be having that much f-u-n. When did love get so serious?

Meg Pickard is a graphic designer and also a Anti-Valentinist. She even has a blog to spread the Anti- Valentine vibes. Some of her cards are hilarious, and have a hell of lot more humour in them than the sop for the pro-party. You can even buy them at Moo.

Other than that, there are Anti VD parties and gatherings about town, that may be up your street and my particular favourite event is being held at the Natural History Museum. Turn Me On and Turn Me Off is a special one night only event looking at how nature deals with love. If this is any indication of how we as a nation are feeling towards each other, the Turn Me On is unfortunately sold out. Plenty still available for the Turn Me Off.

The best thing about romance, is it takes you by surprise. And you can’t get surprised on Valentines. So right there is the reason why it fails to work. It is far more exciting to receive something when you are not expecting it, and when it is only the two of you that are in on it. So my advice is to boycott Valentines on the 14th. Go and get drunk instead.

You may have met our resident ‘Wine Geek’ Gergely at Wilton Way or Borough Market. He’s incredibly enthusiastic about wine and perhaps even more enthusiastic about pork. He once proclaimed to a colleague (in his wonderful Hungarian accent) that ‘Pork is Wife’ – he meant to say ‘life’, but you get the gist.

Gergely is so fond of pork that he may actually get a rush of endorphins when he knows it’s on someone’s menu , so he was very happy to collect my pork shoulder  (no neck available) from Sillfield Farm in Borough Market (these guys sell beautiful pork and are well worth a visit at the market or online. I collected the other ingredients from the organic grocer and Fin and Flounder on Broadway market. The dish is simple one pot job of Portuguese origin, taken from Valentine Warner’s new book ‘The Good Table’.  To go with it I chose a bottle of Hungarian Tramini from the Benedictine Monks of Western Transdanubia in Hungary. Read Gergely’s fascinating blog post about these guys here.

INGREDIENTS:

1kg Clams, rinsed

1kg Pork Neck

8 Jerusalem Artichokes – quartered lenthwise

1 Large glass of white wine (I used our aromatic Rhone white £12)

2 tbls Olive oil

3 Banana Shallots, sliced lengthwise

3 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

2 Bay leaves

1 Small bunch old fashioned parsley, finely chopped

Generous grind of Salt and Pepper

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180°. Remove the pork rind and excess fat (Valentine suggests poaching and serving warm with capers. . .).  Add oil to a heavy flameproof casserole and brown pork on all sides, taking care not to burn the oil. Remove pork and all but 1tbls of oil and fat. Add wine and clams and boil until clams are open, about 2 minutes. Remove the clams, allow to cool, refrigerate. Add the rest of the ingredients except the parsley and nestle the pork in the middle.

With the lid on cook in the oven for 2 hours, open the oven from time to time to tease your guest with the magnificent aroma of slow cooking pork. Carve the meat in thickish slices and add the clams and parsley to the steaming casserole. Mix back with the pork and serve on hot plates. Serves 4

It’s easy to cook and there’s no last minute panic, leaving you time to entertain and drink the rest of the cooking wine. I suggest using something at least half decent, dry and aromatic.  It looks great on the plate with the clam shells and flecks of parsley and the aroma while cooking is truly something. The Jerusalem artichokes soak up all the flavour, the pork is juicy and tender and the clams with the lifted notes from the aromatic white add some nuances to what is a very simple dish.

And the Tramini? Fab! It’s is an intriguing wine, 100% Gewurztraminer from Apatsagi’s  Széldomb vineyard, which is planted at an altitude of 160 to 180 metres on south-east facing slopes. This Gewurztraminer leaps from the glass with aromas of rose, lychee, elder flower  and sweet spice. Gewurz can sometimes be overly alcoholic (hot), confected and oily in texture and while this example has a gentle viscocity (which helps it stand up to the pork), it is tightly structured  – bone dry and very appealing.  Its body stood up to the pork, its aromatics complemented the clams and parsley and neither food nor wine overpowered the other.

The Pannonhalmi Apatsagi Tramini is an exciting wine. You can purchase a bottle at all our shops for $14. . .

With a pre-pack of grape juice, and the sprinkles of wood dust, the wine of Vintners Celler is now being personalised. By paying $295 per 24 bottles, you get the experience of well.. not a great deal it seems. The romantic squashing of the grapes isn’t part of the deal, and the vintners take care of the monitoring of the fermentation while you wait. But you get to do the bottling and the labelling. As someone who has labelled many a case of wine in my teens, I can tell you that this isn’t something that I would be excited about, but perhaps that’s just me..

The owners admit that they are a hard place to find, so perhaps this offer will be what they need to draw the crowds. I do know a certain someone that recently invested in a barrel of whiskey from a distillery in Scotland, so perhaps I am off the mark – We will have to wait and see..

In the heart of Western Transdanubia in Hungary the climatical conditions are more than ideal. The Benedician monks have been around for 1000 years or so. There are only a couple of hills in the middle of the flatland – which is where they’ve built the monastery of Pannonhalma, and where the vineyards are. We were welcomed by father Cirill, he is the head of the monastry`s finance. He was up early to meet us, and told us the story of how they rebuilt the monastery`s finances after the decades of communist rule.

If it comes to monasteries most of us are stuck with the candlelight and the Gregorian chant. Maybe the tonsure, the funny bald patch of the monks come into the picture, and lots of prayer, but nothing else really… But the monasteries were always about a lot more than all that spiritual jazz. But for some funny reason, men locked up without women and having to do a heckload of spiritual and physical work, always turn towards fermentation….

St Benedict who was the founder of what we know nowadays as monastic orders called his monks to “Ora et labra” or “Work and Pray”. He left quite a long rule for the monks, about how to behave, but more importantly, how to run a monastery. Back in those days if you wanted St Peter to be in a good mood when you get to the gates of Heaven, you donated some land to the monastery nearby, and in return the prayed for you. On the donated lands the monks did the most advanced agriculture of the era with cutting edge technologies like a heavy plough.

The Pannonhalma monks have been always great businessmen as well as some of the best scholars, and teachers of Hungary.  After a careful investment they own a high tech winery suitable for about 250 hectares of plantation, yet they do not want to over-stretch their resources. They have only planted about 60 hectares of land around the monastery and that`s what they want to keep cultivating.

As Father Cirill said they are very keen on sustainability. They have their own biomass power plant, they produce herbal teas, bitter liquors, and most importantly, wine. All the profit is used to run the monastery and their high school within. As well as this, they also run a few charities as well, to make sure that no money stays within the walls. That is St Benedict`s Rule in the 21st century…

The vineyards are Olaszrizling – a local varietal, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc Tramini, Pinot Noir, Cab Sav and Merlot. Borough Wines has the monks Riesling, Tramini and their top of the range Prior Riesling on its list. Some more wine is yet to come, as well as some monks which have promised to come to visit and tell us directly about their wines. How very exciting for us!