Dynamic Rheingau restaurateur turned hotelier, turned riesling producer, Balthasar Ress is not shy of courting publicity. In June, ostensibly believing it would optimise the maturation of their top cuvée, they buried 18 magnums and one Balthazar of ‘RESSpekt’ 18m below the surface of a flooded quarry. Barring visits from thirsty, thieving divers, there it will rest until 2013.
Tapas take centre stage at the Valladolid Tapas Contest 2010
It’s the sixth annual all comers Tapas contest in Valladolid and Nick Harman has got a ringside seat. But as well as watching the three days of cook offs, he finds time to explore more of what this Spanish epicentre of small plate dining has to offer the food loving visitor.
Entertaining with Laurent Perrier
The Christmas season is definitely upon us with snow descending across the country and the opening of advent calendars. To ease us into the party season, Laurent-Perrier held a little class on the art of entertaining. Qin Xie was there to enjoy a little champagne and take notes.
Benito’s Hat, Mexican food in London’s Goodge Street
The Barbacoa lamb is reason enough to go to Benito’s Hat, but the rest of the menu, all freshly prepared, is a big draw too. There’s a good cocktail list, a relaxed atmosphere and in the fantastic Tres Leche dessert, a pudding that could, with a bit more presentation fluffery, meet the demands of the Michelin inspectors.
Student Cooking – you’ll believe a man can fry
‘When asked to cook something from Adam Byatt’s (Chef Patron at Trinity, Clapham) new book and describe the experience for Foodepedia ex -student Daniel Frank felt a sense of mixed emotions. On the one hand he likes cooking – he spent three years at university forcing experimental ‘soups’ on people – on the other he’s not very good at it.’ Well he certainly got that last bit right.
Jose Pizarro’s Christmas Partridge recipe
Drag the partridge out of the pear tree Jose Pizarro has a recipe that will make the game bird the star of the Christmas table and relegate turkey to an also ran.
Full Time Forager.Georgia Pellegrini
‘I took a leap of faith. I wanted to get back to my roots, get back to the land and get back to using my hands – so I became a chef”. So begins my chat with Georgia Pellegrini, whose gutsy move to quit her high-flying Lehman Brothers job has certainly paid off. Her much acclaimed first book, Food Heroes was published in September following her hugely successful blog. Foodepedia finally managed to catch up with her, minus her infamous shotgun, on her recent foray – or should that be forage – to Blighty.
Bougie Macaron and Tea Shop Covent Garden
The Bougie Macaron & Tea shop in Covent Garden, is recently opened and primed to capitalise on the latest trends of afternoon tea and desserts in whacky hues. Wednesday night’s official launch provided an opportunity to see if macarons are worthy of all the hype and to judge whether the café on Russell Street is likely to become a success
Christmas Whisky Wish List
Men know what they want for Christmas presents, whisky! At this time of year a quality Scotch hits the spot as just the thing to offer favoured guests, or the dram to keep hidden until they’ve all gone home. Amy Laughinghouse is a girl who’s always in good spirits so she went out on some tutored tastings to find which whiskies are top of the tipples for 2010
Middle Eastern spiced and stuffed chicken
This chicken is stuffed with an aromatic mixture of fruit, nuts, citrus and spices. The soft fruits melt in the mouth, while pistachios provide texture. The best thing about this recipe though, is that the results far outweigh the effort involved. You end up with something much more exotic than a humble roast chicken.