Tag Archives: produce

Wine Time at Scatchards

Wine can a bit like Tolstoy’s War and Peace, it’s dense, heavy going, riddled with complexities, can take years to truly grasp, and is quite often a tool for impressing friends and admonishing intellectual beatings. I’ve never read War and Peace; my copy bought from a second-hand shop, has the previous owners bookmark nestled at page 26, a literary feat I’ve yet to equal. I’ve not even read the first page, and if I’m honest, I never will, I feel like I should, but I wont. Wine can, at times, have the same problem, indeed in the past its myriad of complexities has been something I’ve wished to know about but never really had the impetus to achieve. Thus, for many years my wine buying technique revolved around only buying what was on special offer at Tesco, a method I would still set some store by.

Over the past few months I’ve been a regular at Wine Time @ Scatchards, Liverpool’s only independent wine merchant. Despite my initial fears of being bogged down in varied viticultural facts, I’ve been expertly guided through the world of wine by Jon Atkinson, a man with a deep passion and knowledge of wine, he may even have read past page 26 of War and Peace. I’m now somewhat of a regular at Scatchards, buying most of my wine from there, be it a reasonably priced quaffable bottle or something more elaborate for a special occasion.

Last Wednesday, I attended Jon’s regular wine club, hosted at the shop on Great Howard Street. This month’s event had a special guest speaker, Cathy Swift of Mentzendorff, giving us an expert introduction to the wines of Michel Chapoutier. For the excellent price of £10, we sampled eight different wines from the renowned and controversial French wine producer. My favourites of the night were Hermitage Blanc ‘Chante-Alouette’ 2007 (£41.75) a lovely rich white for a special occasion and a Luberon Rouge ‘La Ciboise’ 2009 (£6.99) that was a really lovely red at a fantastic price. The wines were introduced by Cathy with enough background to be interesting without overwhelming us with winey knowledge.

Wine Club Line Up

Since becoming a regular at Scatchards, I’m a bit more knowledgable about wine, I’ve also certainly been drinking better wine, without spending any more than I would in Tesco. Jon is always more than willing to share his knowledge of wine and help choose a perfect bottle for a meal, present or night in front of the telly. A visit to the shop always results in a little more understanding and a great bottle or two, just don’t ask for any Blossom Hill, this is a sure-fire way of darkening Jon’s generally friendly demeanour. I’m hoping that sometime soon he’ll find a wine that makes reading Tolstoy a little easier, then I could really impress my friends.

WINE TIME at Scatchards
Unit 1, 209 Great Howard Street
Liverpool,
L5 9ZH
0151 207 1134

Foodie Heaven or Culinary Deception at Dobbies Food Hall

I’d received a few tweets a while ago, suggesting I visit the new Dobbies garden centre in speak, I was informed that it had a nice cafe and, what was described as, a food hall. I have to say, these initial descriptions didn’t inspire me, they conjured up images of a dreary little cafe selling sausage beans and chips from a hot plate. Despite the thought of congealed beans and dry rubbery sausages, the idea of a food hall was more interesting but still let considerable margin for error. So does Dobbies ‘food hall’ offer something worthy of a special visit, or even more regular trips? Continue reading →

Gastronomic Fantasy by Northcote Manor

If, like me, you enjoy ogling graphic gastro porn, then the great british menu is probably one of many gratuitous TV shows you tune into. Indeed, if our food fantasies could come true, would they ever live up to the perfectly lit and expertly shot culinary delights that adorn our screens? Could the food that would actually arrive in front of us really be that juicy, tender, soft or fragrant? Could the flavors delicately mingle on our palates and inspire past memories of distant childhood or bring us together as a community and forge new friendships? Most of us probably don’t ever get the chance to find out; if I got to sample every dish I’d ever seen on the telly my waist line would be expanding faster than Rebekah Brook’s reputation is collapsing. However, for once, I did get to eat a dish such as a TV chef intended, all be it the eighth placed dessert from the most recent great british menu. Lisa Allen’s Raspberry and Chocolate Pavlova with sheep’s milk ice cream, although suffering terribly at the hands of the judges, was the dessert offered at Northcote summer season cookery day, recently hosted at Blackburn Rovers Football Club.

Cured cedar plank roasted salmon and potato salad

This day consisted of a morning cooking demonstration by Nigel Haworth part owner of Northcote and Lisa Allen, head chef from the Michelin stared hotel. Along with Craig Bancroft, the other owner and sommelier, providing accompanying wine to all the dishes. The demonstration was quite long but broken down well and full of interesting tips and information. What I found particularly interesting was the wine tasting by Craig, which was packed full of info, I feel I learnt a great deal in an area of knowledge I’m trying to improve. There wasn’t sufficient wine for all attendees (about 100 of us) to try each wine, and I feel upping the amount of wine would be of benefit to the day. On the whole the cooking demonstration was interesting and entertaining.

The two wines I bought

After the demo we had some time to mingle around a small selection of stalls run by the local producers who provide produce to Northcote. I got to buy some lovely fresh strawberries and a couple of the wines I had tasted. It was a shame the the local seafood provider was not able to attend at short notice, as the cured and roasted salmon, which was demonstrated earlier and served at the buffet, was excellent. We had assigned seats at tables and waited eagerly as we were invited to join the buffet queue, however the wait was eased by waiters offering canapes of pork and apple spring rolls and tempura cauliflower. The salmon and accompanying salads where all excellent and the company at the table was also very enjoyable. Sitting with seven other attendees at our table, the food had actually brought us together, I didn’t forge any life long friendships, but we all had a good time together. Then came the Pavlova, a really lovely dish, well presented and made particularly interesting by the milk ice-cream, which I may well try making at home.

If only my photography skill were better.

Sheep's Milk ice-cream in its tub

For the sum of £50 I got to attend a cooking demonstration by a couple of michelin started chefs, try wine chosen by their sommelier and eat a two course meal in good company. A Northcote cooking day in Blackburn is a short drive from Liverpool and reasonably priced, and I would attend again. As for actually realising a gastro fantasy, did it live up to the promises spat forth by my TV? Unfortunately reality is never as good as fantasy, and alway leaves you wanting more.