The Times - UK - 04.12.2021

the times Saturday December 4 2021

Food + Drink 13

Vermouth: the bottle every

cocktail cabinet needs

2021 Cono Sur Bicicleta

Viognier, Chile, 13.5 per

cent Asda, Morrisons and

Tesco, down to £6

Exotic, aromatic winter

white, with masses of

yellow peach, dried

apricot and honeysuckle

pizzazz: a perfect aperitif.

2018 Ravenswood Lodi

Zinfandel, California,

14.5 per cent

Tesco, £14

My kind of bold, burly,

bramble-licked festive

food red, especially good

with game, from the King

of Zin, Joel Peterson.

2020 E Block Spy Valley

Sauvignon Blanc, New

Zealand, 13.5 per cent,

Marks & Spencer, £12

A classic, vegan-friendly

Marlborough sauvignon,

with full-on, zesty,

verdant, peapod and

green bean fruit.

theaperitivo.co, £22). I like to cut it 50-50

with gin in a perfect white negroni. The

same sum and source brings you the

sweeter and more savoury, bosky,

sage-perfumed 16 per cent Reus Blanco.

Alternatively, try Cocchi’s set of

miniatures, a great gift from a great

Italian vermouth house, which includes

the white Aperitivo Cocchi Americano,

a delicious, honeyed, 16.5 per cent spice-

box hit (five different 5cl miniatures,

thewhiskyexchange.com, £27.95).

According to Dawn Davies from the

Whisky Exchange, it’s the sweeter,

fuller-flavoured red version that has

spearheaded vermouth’s growth. Ease

in gently with the tangy and softly

clove-spiced Lustau Vermut Red

(15 per cent, 50cl, Booths, £10). Or take

a punt on Valentian, a bold, complex

Scottish vermouth using malt barley

spirit, and heady with ginger, gentian

and Indian spices (16 per cent, 75cl,

valentianvermouth.com, £28.50).

Negroni fanatics will obsess about

which works best in their favourite

swig (equal parts gin, Campari and

red vermouth). I’d avoid dreary,

oversweet Martini Rosso, but beyond

that most bottles work.

2020 Les Hauts de Saint

Martin, Saint-Chinian,

France, 13.5 per cent

Co-op, £8.50

The Roquebrun co-op’s

unoaked, mostly

syrah-grenache Midi red

is a juicy, plum-packed

yet inky charmer.

T

he rise of home cocktail-

making in lockdown has

produced one winner:

vermouth. Sales of the

aromatised, fortified wine,

central to so many

fashionable mixes, were

up by a third last year.

A host of new vermouths have washed

up here, with all sorts of colours and

wacky flavours from Italy and France,

the two principal vermouth producers,

and now Spain and the UK too.

What all vermouths have in common,

regardless of provenance, is an alcohol

content of about 15 to 18 per cent and

a classic bitter note; vermouth gets its

name from wermut, the German for

wormwood, as bitter as can be and in use

since medieval times. Nowadays most

vermouth producers start with a low-

alcohol white wine base — occasionally

red — before adding a neutral grape

spirit, sugar and botanicals: the barks,

flowers, seeds, herbs and spices that give

every vermouth its distinctive taste.

Of the new arrivals, check out the

Aperitivo! Co’s wondrous new Lyon

Dry Vermouth, a punchy fennel and

lemon-scented joy (18 per cent, 75cl,

Chambéry French Dry

Vermouth, France,

17.5 per cent, 75cl

thewinesociety.com,

£9.25 Water-white, herby

alpine vermouth, with

glorious aniseed and

angelica flavours.

Sacred English Spiced

Vermouth, 18 per cent,

50cl jeroboams.co.uk,

£19.95 Sacred’s best

vermouth yet is all

moody, bitter orange

peel, cloves, thyme and

wormwood punch.

Lustau Vermut Blanco,

Spain, 15 per cent, 50cl

Booths, £10 (down

from £13)

A heady, smoky, golden

herby hit from Jerez, with

peppermint, marjoram

and camomile at the fore.

Great

vermouths

Barolo Chinato Cocchi,

16.5 per cent, 50cl

thewhiskyexchange.com,

£35.75 Splurge on this

authentic, complex,

barolo-based, gentian,

rhubarb, bay and

cardamom-spiced classic.

It’s the sweeter,

fuller-f lavoured

red that has

spearheaded

vermouth’s

growth

This week’s best supermarket buys

— in one pot

Chicken tagine with apricots

Serves 4

Ingredients

6-8 skinless and boneless chicken

thighs, cut into quarters

1½ tbsp rose harissa paste

2 tbsp light olive oil or sunflower oil,

plus extra for drizzling

1 large onion, roughly chopped

4cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled

and chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground cinnamon

400g tin of plum or chopped tomatoes

120g ready-to-eat dried apricots,

halved

400-450ml chicken stock, hot (infused

with a small pinch of saffron, optional)

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp chopped coriander or parsley,

plus extra to serve

½ lemon, for squeezing

Sea salt and freshly ground black

pepper

Method

1 Put the chicken in a bowl with ½ a

tablespoon of the harissa, a pinch of

salt and pepper, and a drizzle of oil.

Rub the paste into the meat, cover and

leave to marinate for 20 min, or

marinate for longer in the fridge if you

have the time.

2 Heat the oil in a large heavy-based

saucepan or flameproof casserole over

a medium-high heat.

3 Tip in the chicken pieces and cook

for a few minutes, until lightly browned

all over. Carefully remove the chicken

from the pan with a slotted spoon and

set aside.

4 Reduce the heat to medium, adding

a little more oil if needed, and fry the

onion and ginger for 6-8 min, until

softened and beginning to brown.

5 Stir through the remaining harissa,

the cumin and cinnamon. Return the

chicken to the pan. Mix well, then when

the chicken is well coated in the spices

stir in the tomatoes, apricots and

400ml of the stock. Give everything a

good stir to scrape all the flavour from

the bottom of the pan.

6 Add a good pinch of salt, stir well,

bring to a simmer and cover. Cook for

15 min. Stir occasionally; add a little

more stock if needed.

7 Add the chickpeas and 2 teaspoons

of the honey. Continue to simmer for

another 15-20 min, uncovered, stirring

occasionally, until reduced and thick. If

using plum tomatoes, break them up

with your spoon.

8 Stir in the coriander, squeeze in

some lemon juice and check for

seasoning and sweetness, adding the

remaining honey if needed.

Sprinkle with coriander and serve

with couscous.

Ainsley’s Good Mood Food is out now

(Ebury Press, £20)

By Jane

MacQuitty

DAN JONES

Chicken tagine with apricots

Eat!

Winter warmers: the ultimate

comfort food guide Magazine