Duckspeak

Only in Scotland

 

From a menu picked up in Edinburgh recently...

What does fried pizza taste like, I wonder.

And what the hell is a wolfdog sausage?

A virtual trip to Bordeaux

I am in no way a wine buff, although I do know what I like when it comes to quaffing it (Sauvignon blanc, preferably from New Zealand), so I was a little nervous about attending a proper wine-tasting session last Tuesday evening. I imagined it would just be too snobby for the likes of me.

And yet, I thoroughly enjoyed the three-hour session at Blueberry, a lovely little restaurant/wine bar, in Chiswick. It was lead by a friendly, down-to-earth, French man, Anthony Auguin, who took us on a tour of the Bordeaux region. He told us a bit about the history of the area and its individual vineyards, how the wines are marketed and what makes a good vintage. But the best part was tasting the sumptuous red wines.

For each variety we were told to inspect the colour, the "legs" and the nose before tasting it. (It got increasingly humourous on our table of four, as we threw out random words to describe the smell. We know wines can throw out hints of vanilla, oak and berries, but VEGEMITE? And how about petrol, or old socks? Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny.)

Here's what we tasted:

1. Chateau La Hase, Bordeaux Superieur 2007
2. Chateau Gaubeau, Cotes de Castillon 2005
3. Chateau Petit Manou, Medoc, 2004
4. Chateau Haut Cabut, Premiere Cote de Blaye, 2006
5. Chateau Reserve Leoville Barton, St Julien 2004
6. Chateau Segur de Gabanac, St Estephe 2006
7. Chateau Larmande, St Emilion 1994
8. Chateau Gazin, Pomerol 1999

Afterwards, we were invited to finish the dregs, while we enjoyed a delicious three-course meal (I had salmon fishcakes as a starter, followed by lobster and chili tagliatelle, before indulging in a dessert I really didn't need: mango crème brûlée). 

The restaurant is planning on making these tastings a regular event (there's one in a few weeks involving wines from the Champagne region), so I may head back at some point. Next time I may just get a bit more serious, and take some tasting notes, because looking at the list above I could not tell you which wine was my favourite, which kind of defeats the purpose of attending a wine-tasting in the first place.

An expat's version of heaven

 

Remember that post about Jumbuck's pie shop? Well, I didn't tell you the best part. The shop also sells Australian sweets/lollies, including Cherry Ripes, Violet Crumbles, Caramello Koalas, Mint Patties and Summer Rolls. You name it, they had it. In fact, there were some lollies here that I hadn't seen since I was a kid, such as Chomp chocolate bars and White Knights. My eyes were nearly popping out of my head when I saw them all.

Sadly, because we were going to a gig, I couldn't stock up on "chonks", but I did buying a couple of smallish items that could fit in my handbag. Can you guess what I bought?

A good Aussie meat pie

 

Enroute to a gig at Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush this evening, we took a detour to Jumbucks, a restaurant chain that specialises in Australian pies. Because I don't eat red meat I've never really missed the "national dish" but T tucked into one, with a side order of the most delicious chips ever: piping hot, golden and crunchy on the outside, and lovely and floury on the inside. They look pretty gorgeous in this picture, don't they? I'm feeling hungry just looking at them...