Saturday Kitchen 31.3

(by peter)

As wine prices climb ever higher after this year’s budget, it was gratifying to be able to feature a couple of bargains on this week’s Saturday Kitchen.

We filmed in the glorious surroundings of Salisbury on a beautiful day, hunting down wines to go with dishes by culinary maestros Theo Randall and Cyrus Todiwala.

Theo – surely one of the nicest, most genuine of the top-level chefs in this country – was cooking a beautifully simple sea bass in a lemon, basil and vermouth sauce.

I matched this with the Finest Gavi 2010 (from £5.99, Tesco).

‘Amazing: perfect combination,’ was Theo’s reaction, adding: ‘it’s extraordinary [value] at this price’. It sure is – normally this wine sells at £8.29, so a hefty £3 off makes it a pretty compelling option. Especially with a dish as delicious as this.

The title of Cyrus’ dish was ‘Country Captain Shepherd’s Pie’ – essentially a wonderfully fragrant and spicy take on the classic recipe (and which, apparently, he recently cooked for the Queen).

For this I chose Luis Felipe Edwards Mountain View Carmenère 2011 (from £4.99, Majestic).

‘I’m very happy,’ was Cyrus’ reaction. ‘It’s fantastic, very light, full of body, goes well with the nice heavy meat.’

Theo was also complimentary about the pairing. ‘It’s absolutely spot on: lovely fruit, goes really well with the spice.’

Referring to the current fuel shortage and panic buying, James joked, ‘We’d better stop bigging up these wines – they’re going to be as rare as petrol and we won’t be able to buy them!’

You can see my wine bits from the show on the videos below. The full edition also featured archive material from Rick Stein, Celebrity MasterChef and Keith Floyd, as well as very congenial guest Reggie Yates, host of BBC’s The Voice UK.

You can find all the recipes from the show via this link, including James Martin’s unique takes on classics like fish and chips (Cono Sur Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, £7.99, Waitrose) and duck à l’orange (Rioja Club Privado, £6.32, Waitrose).

Next week, Susie’s on, together with Paul Rankin and Alexis Gauthier. Don’t miss it!