Tummyrumble

We hae meat, and we can eat - Burns Supper 2010

Fantastic haggis of the MacSween variety
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Every year around this time my lovely friend Bethan organizes Burns Supper. Celebrating the birthday of Scotland's foremost bard Robert Burns has been a part of Scottish culture for over 200 years. Although Beth is Welsh, she has taken upon herself to keep this tradition alive and this is the third year running that I have had the joy to partake in the festivities.

Coming from Sweden where singing with each toast is a natural part of a good get together the format of a traditional Burns Supper is very appealing. There is poetry, singing, traditional music, speeches, toasts to old and lost friends and lots of whisky... Everything that makes a dinner lively, enjoyable and memorable.

Heck, I even like the bagpipes and I have the kilt to prove it.

Scotsman wannabe
Originally uploaded by Manne.

While the main course obviously is the mythical loved or hated haggis served with neeps and tattis (parsnips and potato mash...), the starter is always a nice soup (this year a lovely creamy vegetable soup). Rounding it all off we were also treated to a board with six different cheeses to enjoy with our three whiskys: from The Macallan a Fine Oak 15 year old and the 1824 Whisky Maker's Edition, then another 15 year old, this one from Dalwhinnie.

Whiskies of The Macallan variety
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Piping in the guests was this particular night done by Mr Sinatra, so not entirely traditional there. We saved the bagpipes for later. With all of us seated Beth went on to recite the Selkirk Grace (follow link to hear it read aloud), pointing out to us how lucky we are to be able to eat plenty of good food in the company of great friends:

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

Delicious soup was served and quickly devoured and then we moved on to the main event: piping in the haggis. To the sound of bagpipes Beth marched the haggis to the table, while we all stood up to welcome it.

The address to the haggis was recited and the skin swiftly cut!

Personally I am unable to understand why so many people discard haggis as icky offal food. It is so tasty and satisfying. The MacSween haggis (which in our case Beth hand caught herself in the jungles of Selfridges, but for a great and inspiring description on how to make your own, check out this and this from @Foodrambler...) was rich, spicy and perfectly moist. Unable to eat all of it I was envious of Beth who would wake up the next day to the haggis leftovers. Bet it would make a great participant in a proper fry-up to chase the hang over away!

Since there was only six of us present, we promptly skipped first and second entertainment moving straight on to the toast to the lassies delivered by myself. Last year I was taken completely by surprise when asked to do this, but this night I came prepared.

Ing then took care of the lassies' response.

Having followed tradition to the letter, we could finally move on to what I looked forward to most this night: a cheese board prepared by Ing with the help of the lovely people at Neal's Yard Dairy.

Most organized cheese board ever, regions on one side of flag and name of cheese on the other
Originally uploaded by Manne.

No less than six different cheeses which were carefully selected to match our bottles of whisky.

Milleens, from Co. Cork, Ireland. A cows milk soft cheese with a lovely creamy texture and tastes of mushrooms and herbs. Lovely. I am not a big fan of rind, but this particular one has a vivid orange colour making it look amazing. Wendy, who loves a good cheese rind, picked this as her favourite.

Strathdon Blue, from the far north, Tain in Scotland. Another cows milk cheese but this one veined with blue. Similar to a Stilton but much softer and creamier. A savoury salty taste, this one was my favourite. With the subtle peatiness and hints of grass in the Dalwhinnie a match made in heaven in my opinion.

Colston Bassett Stilton, from Nottinghamshire. With  harder more butter like texture, this is a stronger blue cheese than the Strathdon. Not overpowering though, a nice fruity feel to it.

Golden Cross, from Greenacres Farm in Sussex. A goats cheese with a slightly sweet taste, ending with notes of citrus fruits.

Innes Log, from Highfields Farm in Staffordshire. Another goats cheese, but this one looks like no other goats cheese I have seen. Rather than a perfect white it is speckled with gray, black and even green colours. More compact than Golden Cross, the texture is firmer, the taste richer and more savoury. We all loved this cheese, it went particularly well with the 1824 Whisky Maker's Edition from The Macallan.

Isle of Mull, from... Isle of Mull (!) on the west coast of Scotland. No cheese board is complete without a good cheddar, and this cheddar is particularly remarkable. Moist, soft and light in colour the taste is fresh and strong. This also went down very well with all of us "ooh"-ing and "aah"-ing as we tried it with the Fine Oak 15 year old.

As the cheese disappeared, the bottles were emptied.

These bottles didn't stay this full for long...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

My memory may be clouded by all that whisky but now, the day after, I still think the Strathdon Blue was the most satisfying of the cheeses.

A lovely evening in lovely company, thank you Beth and Ing for pulling this together. Lovely haggis and without a doubt the most organized cheese board I have ever seen.

While it is a whole year to the next Burns Night I have made sure I won't have to wait another year to get me some haggis. Today at Waitrose we found MacSween one person servings, and a few of those now safely rest in the freezer.

Luvvly jubbly Bibendum bubbly - a most excellent tasting of champagne

While it is far too late to be blogging (after midnight, way past my bedtime) I really feel I want to put fingers to keys before the bubbles consumed tonight fizzle out.

Bibendum Wine, being the great food blogger event organizers they are, recently invited a bunch of peeps over to their offices for another round of wine tasting. This time the subject matter (shouldn't that really be "subject liquid"?) was champagne.

Sadly, it was also the last event where Dan at Bibendum (aka @up_shiraz) was present as he is leaving London for the sunny shores of Australia. Watch out for the killer kangaroos Dan, I hear they are lethal. He was at his best though, making sure we all enjoyed a wide variety of the golden bubbles. As you can clearly see, Dan was very happy to have managed to match his leaving event with the fat bottles from the Champagne region...

Dan the @up_shiraz wine man @BibendumWine
Originally uploaded by Manne.

They also took the chance to introduce a new web site dubbed "Bibendum Times" where the intention is to create a hub around which to present of course news about wine but also other of the great things in life that have a relation to wine. Food, Travel, fun, most notably I would think. Head on over and take a look, it seems poised to become a really exciting project if it takes off. 

On the tasting tables this night were a non vintage, a vintage and a rosé from each of Moët et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (lovely grape juice, absolutely rubbish web site), De Castellane and Lanson. 

Now, I am the first to admit that I don't know squat about champagne (although I do know I lurv the widow...). Part of the greatness of these Bibendum events is that time is taken to provide some of the basic background of the beverages on offer, and that you have access to really skilled people who you can bombard with the most inane questions and they will happily answer while getting you ever so slightly more sloshed.

During these questions and answers I found out that champagne is always only based on three grapes (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier) in different proportions. Pinot Noir is what gives a champagne structure, base and complexity while a high proportion of Chardonnay produces a much lighter drink with a taste that lingers for a shorter time in the mouth.

Lanson was represented by Chris, while Robert held the flag high for Möet. Hmm. Funny that there is a Swedish character there. Anyway. We started off with Chris explaining to us what is so unique about Lanson.

There is some sort of connection to the Knights of Malta here, but my memory is to weak (or the bubbles too many...).
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Actually, first Stephen from Dinner Diary stole the show and explained the basic process of making champagne. Nothing basic about it really, it seems quite spectacular! Chris then augmented the explanation by informing us that Lanson is one of a very small number of houses that employs a non malolactic fermentation process (this is the unique component) for their champagne. Without going into any detail (which I would be completely unable to anyway) it means that they make things a bit more difficult for themselves. While it requires a longer aging time it produces a bubbly that is fresher, more crisp and fruity.

In other words, Lanson is a good choice if you want to serve up a nice welcoming glass of fizz, or bring a bottle of champers along for a picnic in the park. Light, very spritzy, tastes of apple and lemon, rather acidic in a refreshing way.

While I didn't particularly enjoy the rosé (if the non vintage Black Label was apples and lemons, the rosé was grapefruit to me...), the vintage (Gold Label Vintage 1998) vas really nice.

Done with Lanson but thirsty for more we rotated over to Robert, to get a taste of Möet.

Name is Belgian in origin and the guy was a buddy of Napoleon, is all I remember...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Now, being a bit prejudiced, I didn't think I would enjoy any of the Moëts. If I am to be completely honest I think Moët is a really worn out brand and it is for me associated with a lot of things and types of people I don't particularly enjoy. I also think their non vintage is rather dull.

That said, as I sipped the vintage (Grand Vintage Brut 2003) I completely changed my mind. Perhaps it is the high Chardonnay content (50%), perhaps it is the fact that (as Robert explained) 2003 was a scorching heatwave year producing interesting overtones of burned caramel in the wine... What do I know. I liked it. B really approved and felt that this was definitely the champagne she would bring with her to keep her company on a deserted island, if she had to choose.

Moët actually owns Veuve Clicquot these days, the brand we moved on to next.

The widow enters the fray!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Served by Dan's successor Gal (aka @zoharwine) this was to me the treat of the evening. I love Veuve Clicquot. The only champagne I love more is La Grand Dame, from the same house. I have however never ever tasted Dom Perignon, so I guess that sort of disqualifies me from having a solidly formed opinion...

The non vintage is good, but the vintage (Vintage 2002) is to me an amazing drink. Not even close to the ambrosia that La Grande Dame tastes of, but still very satisfying.

If Lanson is the wine you would offer up as a light conversation starter before a meal, Veuve Clicquot steps right in and dominates the stage. Rich, full bodied, with a much more complex nature this is a wine that needs to be matched with food. Gal, who has a sommelier background from L'Anima and The Wolseley)  explained that some restaurants even decant it before serving.

Mainly this is due to the high content of Pinot Noir, 50% to 60%. Clearly the Pinot Noir packs some punch as this makes for a taste that stays much longer in the mouth, and it really makes an impression from start to finish.

My personal opinion is that champagne is a very sly drink. Several champagnes I find start out really nicely in your mouth. It tickles your tongue, gets the party started a bit, releases some lovely flavours but then... Just as you think it is getting interesting it fizzes out and goes away. While this leaves me thirsty for more, which obviously is a good thing, it is really frustrating.

The Ponsardin widow is not a tease. She invades your mouth, opens up a bag of flavours and delivers all the way leaving you satisfied and happy. I am still thirsty for more, but in the case of Veuve Clicquot it is probably more due to me being a greedy piglet.

Enough about Veuve, the last tasting station presented by Gareth and Rachel using proper slides (!) was all about De Castellane.

De Castellane has the cross of St Andrew on the label. Supposedly one of the oldest logos in the age of marketing.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

This was not a champagne I had ever tasted before. While the label is a bit dull (Spanish sounding name, a cross that reminds me of England and the word "CHAMPAGNE" in big letters as if they have to convince the world that they actually are...) I was very pleasantly surprised.

B did use the word "replaceable" about the non vintage, but we both felt the vintage (Vintage 2002) is a really nice champagne that we gladly would drink on its own mingling about on a terrace in the south of France watching the sun slowly go down while lazily painting the hill sides of the Pyrenees a golden red.

Right. First ever post I have written on wine. I think I will stop here, as it is late and I still need to post this, add all the photos in and do all the links.

One final note. I really need to attend more events like this. Through Bibendum I have now met several lovely people, among them of course Dan from Bibendum itself, Niamh from Eat Like a Girl, Stephen and Kerri from Dinner Diary, Patrick from Oestra Edulis and several more who I am afraid I only know by Twitter names.

For several months I have very introvertly tried to figure out why I don't find myself making time for blogging anymore, and why I find it so hard to write these days. Well I think I have figured it out, it is quite simple really: writing posts that excite me needs input, and where better get input to food related writing than through mingling with the food bloggers, underground restaurant entrepreneurs (you are all heroes in my book) and wine lovers of London?

Note to self: get self in front of more food, among more random people!

Christmas champagne brekkie at the Asylum

Christmas champagne brekkie at the Asylum
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Home made sushi: fun and games for the whole family!

Home made sushi
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Anyone can make sushi at home. Buy some nori sea weed sheets, soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger at your local Asian store. Boil rice, add vinegar, sugar, let cool. Julienne a bunch of assorted vegetables and if you feel daring get some fresh fish that you slice. Or hey, get some crab sticks and julienne those too. Sesame seeds are nice for garnishing, and some finely chopped chives.

Put a thin layer of rice on the nori, add a line of assorted vegetables, roll tight (one of those nifty Japanese bamboo mats helps), slice in centimeter thick slices. Sliced rolls are called maki.

Make little rice balls (I can imagine kids would love this, with the sticky rice and raw fish playing with food takes on a whole new dimension) of some of the rice, about the size of your thumb, add a slice of fish or crab stick on top. These are called nigiri.

Mix some soy with wasabi in a small bowl. Dip sushi. Enjoy. Repeat.

Evidence of A's spicy mad concoction!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

You can also be mad, like A, and mix soy sauce, sesame oil, concentrated chili oil and wasabi. Dip sushi, eat quickly, die a small death. Repeat. Oddly enjoyable too.

URL: Sushi FAQ, all you ever wanted to know and then some
URL: Nifty sushi making guide, number 1
URL: Nifty sushi making guide, number 2

Tiroler Hut, best wishes to Dom

Tirolerhut, best wishes to Dom
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Dominic is moving to Berlin to spearhead the Livebookings expansion in northern Europe. So to send him of proper, bierhalle stylee, we are having dinner and irresponsible amounts of beer at a place called Tirolerhut in a basement in Bayswater.

Now, you can joke as much as you like about German food, sauerkraut und bratwurst, but I am still impressed when someone delivers 16 litres of beer in one go...

So far food is actually ok. And now the entertainment starts. Oh god. Yodeling.