Saturday Kitchen 11.9.10
(by peter)
Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will have been thrilled as this week’s guest on Saturday Kitchen, Anthony Head (or ‘Giles’, as he’s known on the show) got stuck into his own personal food ‘hell’ – fig tart, as it happened.
The show was also pretty thrilling for me, as James very kindly congratulated me on my newfound Master of Wine status. (To which Anthony emitted a stifled, ‘wow!’ – which is good enough for me as a wholehearted celebrity endorsement.)
The wines went down very well – which is surprising given the first one up was a rosé, a style which James is famous for rejecting out of hand (it may risk compromising his raw masculinity).
Nonetheless, top chefs Glynn Purnell and Kenny Atkinson both rose to the occasion and said they liked the match – as indeed did Anthony – so the rosé came up trumps despite James’ best efforts.
Glynn said it ‘goes really well with both fish and cheese’, while Kenny said it, ‘does work really well’. Anthony said, ‘it works for me’. Sounds like a lot of work for a Saturday morning…
The rosé in question, to go with Glynn’s lovely Pollock with chorizo, goat’s cheese and butter beans, was Miguel Torres San Medin Cabernet Sauvignon rosé 2009. It’s available from Waitrose at £7.29 – but if you wait a few weeks, you can pick it up for £5.46 when it goes on offer from 22nd September.
Next up was Kenny’s fantastically autumnal John Dory with chestnut mushrooms and parsnip and apple purée. This I paired with the Finest Denman Vineyard Chardonnay 2008 (£7.99, Tesco) – a brilliantly fresh and elegant Ozzie chardonnay from the Hunter Valley.
Following the autumnal theme, I even snaffled even a cheeky Keats reference. And the wine received a warm reception: Kenny said it ‘really works’, while Glynn termed it ‘beautiful’.
For James’ fig tart, I chose the Torres Floralis Moscatel Oro, (from £6.99, Majestic).
As ever, the programme is available on BBC iplayer for a week. You can find it by clicking on the link here. Wine bits at 17:35 and 58:37.