Academia Stupidity

The image of Dons drinking old Clarets and rich Bordeaux whilst sitting down to sumptuous gourmet dinners may well be thanks to the minds of TV and film makers but it was certainly the case for hundreds of years in the older institutions of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK but if the "experts" at the University of Hertfordshire are to be believed they were wasting their money.

A group of psychologists from the university carries out a blind tasting with a range of cheap and expensive wines (the wines were up to £30 a bottle - that is not expensive.....) including champagnes and vintage champagnes costing up to £30 (!!!!! very cheap for a vintage champagne). Also tested were varieties such as Rioja, shiraz, claret, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc.

Unfortunately no information is available to tell which countries each of the grapes came from.

578 people were then chosen at random at the Edinburgh Science Festival and asked to decide which were the cheap wines and which were the expensive ones.

By the law of averages you should be able to guess correctly 50% of the time and surprise surprise this is the result that they got.

Their conclusion from this experiment - a quote from lead researcher psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman " These are remarkable results. People were unable to tell expensive from inexpensive wines, and so in these times of financial hardship the message is clear - the inexpensive wines we tested tasted the same as their expensive counterparts."

What a crock of shit

Apart from the fundamental flaws in the experiment information - small number, no indication of age or sex spread, what was the percentage of wine drinkers in the sample - the conclusion that they draw has no correlation to the question asked.

The test group were asked to determine which were cheap and which were the expensive wines, not whether they tasted alike or which did they dislike.

There is an observed fact that people will indicate a wine is cheap if they do not like it and many good wines are far to dry for normal taste buds given the high level of sugar in everyone's diet these days.

I will bet my bottom dollar that the rioja all went into cheap wine category due to the high tanin levels but I have had some wonderful rioja and many of them were not cheap

A like or love of wine is all about developing your taste buds and learning about what you like and what works well with what. Many better wines go great with food, as they are designed to be, but are not so great on their own.

Many of the New World Wines are "processed" to achieve a taste level to suit most palates so if you were comparing an Australian Shiraz against a French traditional style Shiraz the latter would almost certainly be classified as cheap.

A final point on the topic is that price has got bugger all to do with it. Five years ago you could purchase Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc for about NZ$5 but the price these days is nearer NZ$30. Why? Because it is a great wine and become very popular so its price has risen drastically - nothing else has changed.

So the conclusion to be drawn from all this - a lot of people in academia know bugger all about wines and it seems not a lot about conducting experiments and then reporting on the information gathered in a concise manner

I suppose the only good thing about this report is that if a lot of people read it and act on it there will be more of eh better wines that I like left on the shelves and who knows maybe the shops will be forced to have a sale....

Giving up Food

It may seem strange to talk about giving up food on a Food and Drink blog but we all do it from time to time and for the weirdest reasons. This blog is not about dieting for aesthetic reasons, or even for health reasons but instead for religious ones.

We are now in the period of Lent during which Christians around the world prepare themselves for the celebration of Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday. Historically this always involved 4 areas of activity - repentance, prayer, alms giving and self denial and it the last of these that has carried forward into many parts of society with the first 3 falling by the wayside

Self denial has many forms and for the more religious this can often include giving up pleasures of a physical nature but many people will take an easier route and give up favorite foods or drinks.

Many people will give up sweets or cakes with others also giving up alcohol all of which is very simple to do whilst in many catholic countries the more traditional route of not eating during daytime and only having simple foods at night is taken. This can be taken to an extreme when no cooked foods are eaten during the 40 days of Lent which are a simile for the 40 days and nights that Christ wandered the desert and was tempted by the Devil.

All of this normally starts on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras where historically people went to Church and asked to be shriven, or forgiven of their sins so that they could be pure for the run up to Holy week. Given that Mardi Gras festivals are some of the most exotic and in some places decadent parties of the year you have to somehow think they have lost the origins of the day but then modern day world often does this.

Shrove Tuesday also has another name - Pancake Day - and this religious date has spawned a whole new culinary style. Traditionally on Shrove Tuesday the matron of the house would prepare a batter mix of milk, eggs and flour as the first 2 items were not permitted to be eaten during Lent and then heated  in a pan to create a "cake" to which were added all of the other forbidden items such as fish, cheese and meats and then eaten by the whole house

Nowadays there is a whole industry around pancakes with franchise shops selling millions every day with some of the most exotic ingredients imaginable including Foi Gras or truffles.

The most traditional topping in the UK for pancakes and normally only eaten on Pancake Day is fresh lemon juice and sugar - a firm favorite of young children and hidden in the depths of history is that the lemon and sugar represent the bitterness of the Devil and the sugar the sweetness of God.

Whatever your religious beliefs they still make an excellent dessert although the American invention of Jubilee Pancakes consisting of hot cherries in an alcohol based sauce and served with ice cream has to come a very close second.

Carbonara Confusion

One of the most popular Italian dishes after pizza and lasagna is Spaghetti Carbonara which is served in restaurants of every type all over the world and loved by millions.

However many people that enjoy the dish do not realize the origins of the dish nor how it should be properly cooked.

Being a traditional dish many people think that Spaghetti Carbonara is hundreds of years old but its genesis is as recent as the mid 1940's. At the end of World War II allied troops that were liberating towns and villages in Italy and had to stop and eat at the end of each day. Many of these locations were desperately short of food often only having pasta to survive on. The allied troops however were often very well provisioned and being kind hearted shared what they had in their rucksacks.

One one occasion troops billeted in a small village added their tin of ham and powdered eggs to a bowl of hot pasta to create a meal for all involved and so Spaghetti Carbonara was born.

It is often served with a cream sauce but this is not traditional. The proper way to serve Carbonara is to take an egg yolk and beat into this a little pepper and salt and place in to a metal bowl. To this is added hot spaghetti and then mixed so that the egg covers the hot pasta and is cooked by the heat from the pasta. Bacon is then added to the top of this and served quickly.

Ideally the egg is still cooking as it is served at the table making for a very subtle yet filling dish.

Regrettably there are few places that serve the dish properly but I am fortunate to have a friend that not only owns an Italian restaurant but also has an Italian chef as an adviser so the dishes are all served correctly and in the traditional manner. They even have the correct wines from the right areas as a matching

Think it's time for a pasta night

The Luck of the Irish

The 17th March saw the celebration of possibly the world's largest national festival when Irish and non Irish people celebrated St Patrick's Day, or Paddy's day as it is often called.

The success of this even each year is not a little due to the Irish love of travel and it is hard to find a town or a property around the world that does not have an Irish Bar run by a genuine Irishman. There are a few Irish bars around the world that are not owned by Irishmen but they are not really the same.

One of the delights for St Patrick's day is the copious quantities of Guinness and Irish beers such as Kilkenny that are consumed by just about everyone participating.

One of the quirks of the day is the dying of everything green, the traditional Irish colour and so involved in the participation are many countries that they ignore local food regulations and dye their beer green too. We had a very interesting pint of lager that had been died green using lemongrass extract that did not significantly change its flavour.

Accompanying, or rather helping to soak up the alcohol are normally big bowls of Irish Stew and crusty bread to soak up the juices - an excellent repast and one that can be consumed all through the day

In the past cities such as Chicago and Sydney have died their rivers green to celebrate the day but concerns for other creatures living in the river have stemmed this practice much to the disappointment of party goers.

Personally I prefer to have a mixed grill on the day with all the trimmings including black and white puddings as well as plenty of soda bread and fries.

Now if only other country's national days could be so much fun we could have a party nearly every day...

Argentinian Wines

I attended a great wine tasting last night and felt that I had to share it.

All of the wines were from Argentina and were offered to the members of the wine club in a standard sampling format and were served with a range of Thai foods that were expected to match

Argentinean wines are unusual to other wines from around the world as it is one of the few countries that can grow different grape varieties in adjacent fields. Some countries can grow different wines within the same area but not side by side.

Grapes in Argentina are also the highest altitude grown wines in the world with many of them growing at between 700 and 1400 meters above sea level. Whilst not seeming that high most vines do best at altitudes of less than 100 meters.

The soil in Argentina is also not that brilliant when compared to that of Chile or South Africa but the increased altitude creates colder temperatures forcing the grapes to grow more robustly and their flavours being more intense.

This was particularly noticeable in the 2 white wines offered. The Finca El Portillo Sauvignon Blanc was light and crisp with a noticeable blend of grapefruit and tropical fruits. It had a lingering taste on the palate and went well as the first wine.

The Signos Chardonnay 2010 was a particular find and one I shall be going back to regularly. With absolutely no oak it was a pleasant change from the traditional style New World Chardonnays and is to be recommended to those who say they do not like Chardonnay. Very light in flavours there was a lingering citrus flavour that really refreshed the palate.

Argentina’s signature wine has to be Malbec and some of the finest examples of this in the world can be found here. The differing altitudes that the grapes are grown at can make a significant difference to the quality of the grape and to be frank I found the first of the Malbecs to be a little light. I am definitely into heavier wines and this one just did not have the substance that I enjoy. It would however make an excellent party wine or possibly with a bar b que where it would go well with meats.

I had already drunk the 2^nd red we were served before and knew I was going to like it as it wa a Malbec / Tempranillo blend, another of my preferred grapes. Although still young, it was only a 2007, it still had a good blend of berry flavours especially cherry and plum and went nicely with the friend pork balls that were on offer.

The highlight of the evening for me was the penultimate red wine, a Shiraz / Malbec blend from Callia Alta that was a beautiful deep ruby colour and a nose that just begged for it to be drunk. The first and second level flavours were very intense with enough tannin to ensure you would not forget this wine in a hurry. It went perfectly with the duck served with a curry sauce and I expect would also be great with cheese, especially heavier chesses such as Gorgonzola.

What really surprised me with this wine was its price. Wine is expensive here as a result of importation taxes and often a cheap bottle of wine just is not worth the effort whilst a good wine is sufficiently priced to make you think twice about a second bottle. Very often the cost of the wine is 4 or 5 times the price of the food and that is just for a mid range wine.

So the net result – a successful night and another wine added to the list of what I like.

There cannot be a better result than that……

Real Ale is Real Quality

I have always been a lover of real ale – that’s proper beer for those of you who do not know anything about beer and it is also not chilled – shame on you. 

To educate all those that like that kind of thing the main difference between ale and larger is the fermentation process. Ale is top fermented quickly in warmer temperatures whilst lager is bottom fermented using colder temperatures.

There are also a number of other major differences between the 2 styles. Historically ales are also much stronger in flavour, some of them reaching 12% or 13% whilst the strongest lagers seldom get beyond 8% although the Trappist beers of Belgium can equal the strength of some ales.

Dark beers such as porters and stouts are also ales but are normally much more bitter than straight forward ales and are normally now chilled.

Historically ales were never chilled although they would be kept in a cellar at lower temperatures than the ambient temperature of the ale house in an attempt to keep the beers clear as they were often not filtered and easily clouded. Pour a glass of real ale from a lightly chilled wooden barrel or even a small aluminium one, never steel and then place you hands on the top. When you serve another glass after having done this you will see that the slight change in temperature between the top and bottom of the storage container have caused the contents to move and subsequently cloud – something that no true real ale drinker would ever accept

Another fundamental difference between ale and lager is the fizz. It is very rare to find a non gassed lager these days, even in a micro brewery and it is this nature that attracts the younger male drinker and explains the explosion in the last 20 years of internationally recognized brand names.

A true real ale connoisseur is at his happiest at a Real Ale festival, frequently organised by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and can sometimes have as many as 200 different ales to sample and enjoy.

There are still a few remote pubs (public houses) in the UK where you can still purchase beers that are stored in barrels and “broached” by inserting a spigot, or tap, into the barrel and then serving in pint glasses.

Served with a traditional meal of cheese and bread there can be no better meal especially if there are large portions of Bramston pickle and a good portion of pickled onions.

Next week we will look at the explosion of micro breweries around the world and the decline of tied houses.

Childhood Favourites

You know how it is when you start reminiscing about your childhood especially when you are with a bunch of friends and one persons recollection sparks off something else in your memory well we had one of those days. It must have something to do with word association or something similar because I am certain the topic we ended on is not what we started on...

I am fairly certain that it all started when I mentioned that I had just had sardines on toast for tea when I met up with a bunch of friends. I had not had it for years as sardines in oil, and not tomato sauce, are very hard to get here and remarked that it reminded me of my childhood and watch Dr Who on the TV on a Saturday night.

After a long discussion over which was the best Doctor ( John Pertwee), the scariest monster (there are several but as a child it had to be the Daleks) and the sexiest assistant ( not that I remember at the time but watching repeats it has to be Leela in her skimpy animal skins) we moved on to other childhood memories.

It did not take us long to end up on sweets and what a plethora of choice there was all those years ago and what great value allowing us to stretch our pocket money seemingly for ever, or at least until the following Saturday when the next week’s instalment was forthcoming.

It seemed many of us had the same favourites and manufacturers at the time must have made a small fortune from us if every small child had similar preferences. Strangely enough very few of our favourites still remain, possibly falling foul of rules concerning what additives can now be used although it seemed to do us little harm at the time.

There are certainly more children diagnosed as ADHD now than when I was a child – then it was put down to youthful exuberance and we were allowed to run around the garden or the then safe streets. Perhaps they were also offset by the mud and earth we used to eat as we played outside and did not spend hours in front of a TV screen.

So back to the sweets – favourites were fruit salads and blackjacks, small chews that you would buy at 8 for 1/2p or 16 for 1p. Quickly following these were outer spacers, rice paper stuffed with sherbet and looking like UFOs  and Pirate’s Tobacco – coconut strands covered in something dark and sticky.

There were also gobstoppers and aniseed balls all of which I assume have been band due to the potential risk of chocking on them.

For an opportunity to make a complete mess there were liquorice bootlaces or the larger fireman’s hoses

I also remember being able to go into a sweet store and be paced by hundreds of clear plastic containers filled with a myriad of choices, so many in fact that often you would just but 2oz of several different ones as you could not make up your mind. Who remembers toffee or lemon bon bons, everton mints, liquorice allsorts, roses, quality street or sherbet lemons?

As I moved into my teens I remember 2 different types of cabana bars, one with cherry and one with melon that came in and out of fashion annually. There were also plain chocolate bounty bars, flakes and ripple bars as well as lion bars and picnic bars.

Oh how I miss them especially as many of the choices that are readily available in the UK are not available elsewhere.

It may not be the best chocolate in the world but it is certainly the most comforting