June Newsletter 2020

Again, no fabulous photos of dining out (I hope some of you are?) or food I have cooked or consumed, so instead a flashback to when I was filming my Taste of Ireland TV series. It is on SBS in Australia this coming week. Times here. You can watch an interview with me about the TV series here.
I am amazed I have been able to get this newsletter out – a bit shorter than my usual monthly one, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

• Apples
• Avocados
• Banana
• Custard apples
• Dates
• Grapefruit
• Kiwifruit
• Lemons
• Mandarins
• Nashi
• Oranges: Cara Cara Navel
• Oranges: Navel
• Passionfruit
• Pears
• Pomelo
• Quince
• Rhubarb

• Beetroot
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Celery
• Fennel
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Radicchio
• Silverbeet
• Spinach
• Swede
• Sweet potato
• Turnips

Picnic Anyone?

With a long weekend coming up in Australia this weekend, and in the UK next weekend, what better time for a picnic? In either place you need to keep it all cool, and manageable so easy-to-eat finger and fork food is best. Light is better than heavy, with Mediterranean and Asian flavours working well. Best not to do a multi-cultural mix as the flavours need to go together.

Decide the “feel”  you want – to be stylish with tablecloth even for spreading on the ground, cloth napkins, glass, china and silver , maybe even tables and chairs- or is to be low-key with plastic or disposable?

I kept on record the details of a wonderful memorable picnic I attended many years ago:
rounds of eggplant topped with goats cheese and roasted red capsicum
lamb cutlets flavoured with orange, zucchini salad, olives, roast red capsicum, pickled asparagus, cherry tomatoes, onion & mint frittata a Maltese dish – in a terrine shape made of rice with whole hard- boiled eggs in the middle (does anyone know the name?),and a tossed salad.
Lovely breads, wines kept cold in a dish with ice and some honey chicken for the children
To finish – a wonderful fruit salad of fresh figs, melon, paw paw and berries.
Rumour has it the host took 2 days to prepare this feast – but there are other short-cuts.

My Grabbit & Run Picnic
When I had young children, I kept a picnic basket permanently at the ready – so plastic plates, cups, wine glasses, cutlery, a supply of paper napkins, plastic bag for the rubbish, salt and pepper, sun-cream – and a corkscrew. On more stylish occasions I make the effort to specially pack up the breakables.

Then for an easy “grabbit & run” picnic –  – it’s off to the shops for:
Good bread and crackers (some gluten-free)
Antipasta – salami, prosciutto, marinated olives, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, olives – whatever takes your fancy
Smoked Salmon, prosciutto or jamon
Pickled onions or cornichons
Pate or terrine
Good cheese
A salsa or dip of some kind
A bag of mixed greens for salad – I keep my own vinaigrette permanently in the fridge – otherwise  just take a balsamic glaze or a lemon and  some extra virgin olive oil
Fresh seasonal fruit

Some picnic recipes
Muffaletta
Moroccan chicken, chickpea, carrot and spinach salad
Prawn Salad with Macadamia Dressing
Smoked Trout Mousse with Cucumber Salad
Pork terrine, Pear & Potato Relish
Glass Noodle Salad
Panazanella (but only if you can get ripe tomatoes)

Picnic Tips
Planning takes the pain out of picnicking so pack carefully. Remember to pack the heaviest food in the bottom of your esky – ideal for the muffaletta! Don’t forget the napkins and some garbage bags for rubbish and also to keep dirty plates and cutlery together. Don’t forget a board and a sharp knife.

How to pack the perfect picnic and more recipes here.

Although there are some tricks to keeping things cool, it is best to think immediately of wines which are happiest at room temperature or slightly below rather than those which need real chilling. Flavours and aromas are more apparent at these temperatures, which is why wines are never chilled for show judging. Indeed, in Australia, we do have a tendency to over chill our white wines (and conversely sometimes serve red wines too warm in the height of summer).

Picnic wines need to be soft and approachable, light rather than heavy. Nothing too complex or challenging. Forget champagne or sparkling wine unless you know you can transport and keep it really chilled until opening – there’s nothing worse than warm champagne. Begin instead, with campari. Freeze orange or ruby grapefruit juice in ice cube trays at home first. Transport in a small thermos flask or lidded container in a well-chilled esky. On arrival add some melting orange or grapefruit ice blocks and their juice to campari in the bottom of a glass. The perfect aperitif. Alternatively try a well-chilled Bloody Mary in a thermos (or leave out the vodka and call it a Virgin Mary or a Bloody Shame).

Then move on to broad flavoured white wines without too much oak. Nothing too thin or astringent but neither too rich and buttery. Look for some of the less well-known varieties which are well suited to drinking cool rather than cold like colombard or marsanne. Colombard is fresh and fragrant rather than deep and complex. Inexpensive, it’s not too unlike a very young chardonnay but over chilled can lose flavour.

Marsanne, a native of the Northern Rhone and Hermitage regions of France, is an even more unusual grape variety in Australia, though Chateau Tahbilk have grown it since the 1860s with possibly the oldest and largest plantings in the world. With a soft, lively fruit flavour and rich texture, they have hints of citrus and develop a toastiness with age not unlike semillon. Some traditional white wine blends often called classic dry whites can work well too, as can unwooded chardonnay.

Rose is another option but opt for a dry style which doesn’t need to be chilled as much as a sweeter one.

varietals are also suitable. For whites, wines like bianco, arneis, fiano or pinot grigio and in reds dolcetto or barbera.

Red wines must  be soft and approachable – and not too heavy in that midday sun! Almost any pinot noir will be perfect and can be packed either in the esky for minimal cooling or straight in the picnic basket. Other choices include grenache, a soft plummy wine which is sometimes blended with the spice and pepper of shiraz and mourvedre, once known as mataro.

Don’t forget to pack the corkscrew if you are in Europe (best to keep one permanently in the picnic basket), though in Australia we are blessed with wide use of screw caps.

How to keep it all cool? Vacuvin Rapid Ice is a gel-filled sleeve which folds and keeps well in the freezer. Designed to chill a room-temperature bottle of wine to drinking temperature in 5 – 10 minutes, it also keeps a cold bottle of wine cool when transporting in an esky, with can and champagne-sized versions also available. Failing that wrap a wet hand towel around the bottle of wine and place in the freezer for half an hour before leaving. Then wrap it all in newspaper for insulation during transportation. Above all, enjoy!

MY HOSTED TOURS RETURN IN 2021

While I sadly had to postpone my wonderful culinary tours this year, we now have dates for next yet. Many more details to come, but I wanted to give you, my subscribers the first heads up. Although it is too soon to be thinking about travelling overseas again, here are the dates:
Culinary Adventures in Puglia and Basilicata: 10-16 October 2021
Details here.
Morocco culinary tour approx 13 – 25 May (dates still to be definitely confirmed) – some information here. Meanwhile read How to enjoy Morocco at home.

Matching food and wine is a particular passion of mine and this week on social media,  I will be sharing the three golden rules to appreciate any wine, ensuring you make the most of what you’ve got.

I will also be casting my mind back to my last tour through Puglia, reflecting on my favourite Italian cuisine and sharing some recipes along the way.

Next week also bring International Falafel Day and Gin Day. We will celebrate the humble falafel and worship one of my favourite spirits: gin!