Wine & Food

Food and wine pairing does not have to be a dark art. Follow our simple tips revealing the best food and wine pairing tricks.

Lightly curried roasted monkfish, leek fondue, pickles, baby mushrooms and capers

This is the first contribution from our Cape Town based Taste Detective Neill Anthony – Lightly curried roasted monkfish, leek fondue, pickles, baby mushrooms & capers – Yum!

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Boxing Day Cod and Leek Pie with Fizz

By the time Boxing Day rolled round and we had cleaned up the discarded Xmas gift-wrapping no one was in the mood for spending more time in the kitchen. The glass recycling leaning tower of Pisa was testimony to much alcohol-fueled merriment and sore heads.
But tummies started rumbling so we had to come up with a quick meal that would fill the gap and something to drink that would not add to the dull thud in our heads. The solution: Cod and Leek Pie with Mark & Spencer’s Cloudy Apple and Ginger Fizz.

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Crusade of the humble carrot!

As you know by now I am living in Asia, so there is a lot to get used to, learn, see, smell, try, drink, eat and taste! A lot is of course familiar thanks too TV, holidays, X Asian boyfriends and of course the lonely planet travel books, but most is still unfamiliar and every [...]

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Wine with Thai food

Wine with Thai food ? I hear you ask. By now you should know that at Inspector Grape we always suggest trying local wine with local food. I am on a mission to change that question into an exclamation – Wine with Thai food! As promised in my last blog, I am going to tell [...]

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Thailand Safari & Thai restaurants in London

We’ve found him! Inspector Grape reports from Thailand: So here I am in the land of powdery white beaches, turquoise blue seas, amazing food and slightly over priced wines. I am of course in Thailand, again! Yes I decided to pack my bags and move to Thailand. A lot of you thought it was a [...]

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Food and Wine Recipes

Food and wine recipes can be a complicated issue to tackle. What to cook, how to prepare it and what wine to best complement your dish – we have the answers. Just click the links below to see the recipe and watch the step by step video – job done! Looking for food and wine [...]

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Tuna Tartare Recipe & El Prado Tempranillo Rosé (serves 2)

Tartare refers to chopped raw meat or fish. Steak tartare is the most well known version but tuna and salmon tartare is becoming increasingly more popular. The word is derived from the name Tartars, an ethnic group from Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. A popular legend is that the Tartars kept raw meat under [...]

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CCQ

Guest blog by Neil Anthony Vaughan from 3FIG>>Hi all we have a amazing supper club coming up with a 5 course meal paired with french champagne from cuvees classiques ,follow us on face book under 3 fig for details

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rizo

Guest blog by Sharon Harkin >>hi dawid, i just watched your risotto demonstration and i thought it was fab! you covered all the key elements for making the peprfect risotto! my belly was rumbling!!! next time im in london ill be goin round yours for din dins!!!

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Pop Up Culture

Pop up restaurants have been done to death!! We need a new word for pop up but then came along the No.68 project! Its set in trendy Dalston in an old theatre, from the outside it doesn’t look like much but once inside its “shabby cheek galore”. You sit amongst stuffed animals, half dressed mannequins, [...]

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Gavi wine with Risotto Nero and Garlic Squid Recipe

We choose a Araldica La Luciana Gavi wine to enjoy with a Risotto Nero and Garlic Squid Recipe (Serves 2) Risotto Nero (black rice) gets its name from the black color the rice acquires when cooked with its signature ingredient, squid ink. It’s a weird and wonderful sensation to be served black food. I love this [...]

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Summer Tart

Well you would not say it was summer judging from the Monsoon that has been pestering Londoners for the past few days but anyway Im not here to talk about the weather. I wanted to tell you about my latest craze: Asparagus Tart I’ve made it a few times in the last 2 weeks and [...]

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Winter is here! Perfect for Fairview’s Viognier Special Late Harvest

Guest blog by Anita Streicher from Fairview Wine Estate >> Rest of the vine leaves went into a soup last night to welcome the first real rains at the Cape! Smoked chicken, tin of chopped tomatoes, some Mrs Balls chutney,chicken stock,dash of curry, brown rice and halved baby poatoes! Yummy,and so thick and hearty! Fairview’s [...]

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Cheesecake fit for a Prince!

Well how can I say this without boasting, but the truth is that HRH Prince Harry popped in for tea today! For those of you who’s not aware, I have been asked to bake cakes for a private members club is Chelsea and this is where the young Prince sampled my home made delights. He [...]

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Wine and cheese baskets – a Fairview feast

Guest blog by Jean Crous from CtheChange.com >>I have to admit that when it comes to cheese pairings I am completely clueless. Usually when people gather for summer picnics with their wine and cheese baskets I’m the one who arrives clutching a clump of cheddar. You see I don’t really do dairy, let alone cheese [...]

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Alsace wine to help defeat the Pork monster

Alsace wine always tops the polls at Inspector Grape. So no wonder Alsace wine was the 1st choice in our battle to defeat the Pork monster. The question is “How to cook Pork”? I’m afraid I’m not very good at it. So what am I doing wrong? I tried everything from grilling, frying, boiling and [...]

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Food & Wine video competition

Guest blog by Katie DiBenedetto>> Hey guys! I just joined this group because I have really gotten into matching wine and food dishes lately. (I’ll have to try the duck and Pinot Noir!) I also just found out about this contest that Santa Margherita is doing, though, where you have to make a video of [...]

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I say Vietnamese!

This might not be news to you and maybe its even your local, but Im going to talk about it anyway! I was introduced to a Vietnamese restaurant on my doorstep by a fellow Inspectorgrape member a few nights ago and I simply just cant get enough. The restaurant is called “Pho”, a take on [...]

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Best Pinot Noir food pairing – Duck and 2004 Sancerre “Les Baronnes” from Henri Bourgeois

I have been fortunate to host food & wine workshops for over 4 years and I will NEVER dream of divorcing this glorious couple. The best Pinot Noir food pairing is duck! This marriage was made in heaven and they are so perfect for each other it will make Tiger Woods sick to his stomach. [...]

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Hot Cross Buns

Home made hot cross buns – they really are far better than the ones bought from a shop! I was lucky enough this week to sample ones from Jamie’s resident baker in Fifteen. I tried it with farm butter and berry jam – do I really have to say anything more? I died and went [...]

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