Good stuff and lots of it!
Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip, savour and more – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy.
Gualtiero Marchesi and La Grande Cucina Italiana World Tour
What a pleasure it was to attend a celebration of Milanese chef Gualteiro Marchesi (1930-2017) at the Italian Embassy in London. The event featured a special screening of Gualtiero, The Great Italian, a documentary by director Maurizio Gigola highlighting Marchesi’s culinary career and lasting legacy on global fine dining culture as well as the chance to savour a dozen of the chef’s most famous dishes, including simple and elegant spaghetti with caviar and chives and veal fillet a la Rossini.
Is extra virgin olive oil the world’s perfect food? Looking for the Perfect Food, a program funded by the EU and Italy to promote information about Europe’s olive growing industry, aims to have people consider the notion a distinctly delicious possibility. I’m not completely convinced that EVO is the ideal edible, but it’s certainly a strong contender.
A mid January EVO-focused dinner hosted by Theo Randall at his eponymous InterContinental London Park Lane restaurant offered a persuasive argument. The three-course meal paired each dish with a different extra virgin olive oil from Italy. Dishes included fresh 18-yolk agnolotti with ricotta and cavil Nero with non filtered Frantoio Verdenso Novello 2018 EVO; beef fillet wrapped in coppa di Parma with spinach, celeriac and salsa verde with a spicy Terre Alte di Toscana 2018 EVO; and Sicilian chocolate and orange cake made with a fruity and complex Frantic Redoro 2018 EVO and served with vin santo gelato.
Did you know that Picpoul de Pinet is the largest white wine appellation in the South of France, accounting for 57% of still white wines made in the Languedoc? More than eight million bottles of Picpoul de Pinet are produced annually by 350 families, 24 independent wineries and four cooperative wineries with 66% of the wines being exported and over a third of that being sold in the UK.
So what’s with the factoids about Picpoul? Well, I breezed (all too briefly) through a tasting of Picpouls at 12 Hay Hill members’ club earlier this month and very much enjoyed tasting a range of these zesty, fresh and floral whites. They pair especially well with seafood and fish. As I said, I was only able to stay a short time and thus sample only a few wines. That said I found Chateau de Pinet 2017 an especially refreshing quaff that’ll do nicely come the longer warmer days of spring and summer.
Waterfly Travel and Outdoor Sports Gear
Waterfly is a travel and outdoor sports gear brand. I’ve been trialing a couple of the company’s backpacks: the Folding Smart Backpack ($37.99) and the Foldable Hiking Backpack (£39.99). Made of lightweight, durable, fast-drying material with an attractive design, I like both. Within a short time the Smart Backpack became my de facto bag for trips to the fitness centre. As for the Hiking Backpack, I’ve given it a spin but am waiting for the right occasion to put it to proper use.
Waterfly also makes incredibly comfortable and breathable waterproof socks ($28.99). I got a pair to review along with the backpacks. They’ve really come in handy during a few rainy days and have been moved to the preferred side of my sock drawer.
Yutaka Freeze-Dried Instant Miso Soup
Japanese food brand Yutaka has launched two freeze-dried instant miso soups to the market – bonito fish and vegan – available in single portion sachets. Both are tasty (though the bonito edges out the vegan for me), topped with tofu, wake and green onions, and provide a great source of protein and good bacteria. Look for them at Morrisons and on Amazon with an RRP of 75p per sachet.
Shop for all your cooking needs at village-bakery.com. They’ve got everything – even the kitchen sink!
