4112 September 2020 THE WEEKFood & DrinkLEISURE“Isthereafilm,sports,TVorpopstar
whoisn’tinvolvedwithawinebrand,”
askedSusyAtkinsinTheDaily
Telegraph.KylieMinogue,
CameronDiaz,SirIanBotham
andJohnMalkovichare“justa
few”ofthecelebritieswhoare
lendingtheirnames–ifnot
necessarilytheirwine-making
acumen–tobottlesor ranges.
The question is: are any of these wines any
good? And the answer is: yes.Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc
2019 (£9; Asda) is one of the better New
Zealand sauvignons in the under-£10 bracket,
whileWhenWe Danc eChianti Classico
2018 (£12.99; vintageroots.co.uk), made at
Sting and Trudie Styler’s Il Palagio estate
south of Florence, is “an appealing, chillable
organic chianti”. Two celebrity wine brands
really stand out, however. Golfer Ernie Els’
South African range is “remarkable”: try
hisCabernetSauvignon2017(£19.65;
frontierfinewines.co.uk). Also “wonderful”
isTwoPaddo cksPicnic Pinot Noir 2018
(£21.99;nzhouseofwine.co.uk), made at Sam
Neill’s Central Otago winery in New Zealand,
where the actor hasa“hands-on” role.What the experts recommendHeston’s “FullEnglish” sarnie
Heston Blumenthalis renowned for his
“interesting flavour combinations”, says
Abigail Malbon in the London Evening
Standard.So it’s hardly surprisingthat
his newbreakf ast sandwich for Waitrose
turnsout to be “morethan just a
traditional bacon and egg sarnie”. Costing
£3.80, theHeston “FullEnglish”isan
attempttoc ombineall the flavours of a
classi cEnglishbreakfastin aforma tthat
canbeeaten“any time, anywhere”. The
breadis “bakedbean-flavoured”; the
filling featuressausa ge,bacon,sliced egg
and“cold-pressed mayonnaise”, along
with tomatoes and cannellinibeans; and
the whole thingis“ finished offwitha
coffee-flavouredmushroomketchup”.
Unsurprisingly, thisodd sounding con-
coctionprompted “consternation” on
social media, said JoshBarrie in the I
newspaper. As was pointed out,
mayonnaise–cold-pressed or ot herwise –
shouldn’tbe allowed anywhere nearafry-
up, and theclassicdrink topair with one
is tea, not coffee. YetwhenItriedthe
sandwich,Ifoundit surprisingly
inoffensive–thoughnothin glikeafull
English. “Then again,whatsupermarket
sandwich tastes ofanyt hinganyway?”
Secretsofthe perfect crumble
“It’s probablyimpossible to makea
rubbish crumble,” says Olivia Pottsin
Spectator Life.Like pizza, heistmovies,
andadventcalendars, crumblesarestill
“pretty good”even whendonebadly.
“Trulyexcel lent crumble”, however,
is another matter:it’s no easy feat to
“achievethatplatonic middleground
toppingwhich is simultaneouslysoft and
crunchy”. Over theyears,I’vetried many
crumble “hacks”–including poachingthe
fruit first, and“baking thecrumbleoff and
then sprinkling it overthe frui tbefor ea
final blastinthe oven”–and I’ve come to
the conclusionthat mostare pointless: to
cook crumblewell,just learnthese simple
tricks. First:don’tsoftenthe fruitin
advance, and don’tsweeten it either, unless
you’reusin grhubarb (in which case, add a“judicioustabl espoon ofsugar”). For the
topping, useahighproportionof butter
(around 100g to 125g ofplainflour and
60g of lightbrown sugar)andadd liberal
amounts of chopped nuts andjumbooats
for texture andextra flavou r(andperhaps
well-matchedspice stoo: cinnamon for
apples,cardamomfor pears, mixed spice
for plums etc.) Mostimpo rtantl yofall,
sprinklea“scanttablespoonofwater”
overthe rubbedtopping ingredients,and
then stirthis through untilthe mix ture
“slightly clumps together”. This produces
atopping that,whencooked,isp erfectly
crunchy on top, andsoft beneath.Sunak’s discounts extended
RishiSunak’s“Eat Out toHelp Out”
schemewas ahugeboost to therestaurant
industryinAugust,says Tomé Morrissy-
Swan inTheDaily Telegraph.Encouraged
by its success,many restaurants are
extendingthe deal –orversions of i t–
at theirowncost. TheSri Lankan mini-
chainThe Coconut Treeis offeringa50%
discountonall food and non-alcoholic
drinks Mondays to Wednesdaysthis
month(and for lunchonly in October).
Thre eBirminghamrestaurants–Craft
Dining Room,The Wildernessand
Chakana–are extending the £10perhead
dis countonsomeweek nights. In London,
thereare discounts at theGaucho, Brindisa
andHomeslice chains(specialising in
steak,tapas andpizza, respectively).The Heston Full English: caused consternation- Put the raisins in a
small bowl, add warm
water to cover, and soak
for 10 minutes, then drain. - Bringalarge pot of
salted water toaboil. Add
the cauliflower and cook
for 5-6 minutes. Spoon
the cauliflower into a
colander to drain; reserve
the cooking water. - Inalarge frying pan,
heat the olive oil over medium-low
heat. Add the onion and cook until
softened. Inasmallbowl,dissolve the
saffron inasmall ladleful
of water, then pour it into
the pan with the onion.
Cover and cook over low
heat for 10 minutes, then
add the cauliflower,
raisins, and pine nuts
and season with salt.- Meanwhile, return the
cauliflower cooking water
toaboil, addthe pasta,
and cook according to the
package instructions untilal dente.
Drain the pasta and add it to the frying
pan. Add the pecorino and basil, stir to
combine, and serve.
Recipe of the weekServes 4
50g Passolina raisins (Zante currants) or regular black raisins 350g cauliflower, cut
into florets 4-5tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1yellow onion, finely chopped pinch of
saffron 40gpine nuts 320 gmaccheroni pasta 40g grated pecorino pepato cheese
ahandful of basil leaves, sliced saltThis vibrant pasta dish conjures up the flavours of Sicily, says Astrid Stavro.
If you can’t find Passolina raisins, which haveaslightly sour taste, use
regular black raisins and soak as directed.Celebrity wine brandsPastawithcauliflower andpinenutsTaken fromThe Vegetarian Silver Spoonby Astrid Stavro, published by Phaidon
at £35. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £27.99, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk. For our latest offers, visittheweekwines.com