Jerk chicken and rum punch

Despite the beautiful weather we’ve had over the past couple of days there’s a distinct late summer feel to the air which combined with the fact that the nights are drawing in reminds one - sadly - there aren’t that many evenings left for barbecuing this year. (Unless you’re one of those die-hards who grills all year round . . . )

It’s also carnival-time in London this holiday weekend so what better combination to celebrate than the perfect pairing of Jerk Chicken and rum punch?

Like all spicy foods Jerk Chicken (which is chicken rubbed with a dry spice mix that includes chillies and allspice) tastes best with something cold and slightly sweet and rum punch ticks both boxes. The classic Caribbean formula I was given was I (measure) of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong (rum, of course) and 4 of weak (some kind of fruit juice). Personally I find that a bit sweet so tend to make it 1 measure rather than 2 of sweet.

I don’t know how authentic this is but for me the sour should be freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, the sweet, sugar syrup or grenadine which will give the punch a fabulous colour, the rum golden or spiced (something like Appleton V/X, Cockspur or Morgan’s Spiced) and the juice a good quality tropical fruit juice that includes mango. (Sometimes I add some fresh mango pure as well). Simply pour into a large jug of ice cubes, stir and decorate with mint.

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Chicken pot pie and perry

In the wake of the great cider boom that has gripped the UK over the past year or so perry - which is cider made from pears - is also undergoing a renaissance. Typically drier than cider it goes well with the sort of dishes with which you’d drink a light dry white wine like a Chenin Blanc or a Chardonnay.

The other night I enjoyed a half pint of draught Weston’s Herefordshire Country Perry with an absolutely exemplary organic chicken, leek and mushroom pot pie at my new local The Kensington Arms in Bristol which turns out to be a real gem. The sauce was creamy with just a hint of mustard, a bitter note which stopped the dish being over-rich and brought out all the flavour in the perry. It also took a side dish of strong, irony fresh spinach in its stride.

Other dishes - a chunky terrine of chicken and veal with pistachios and onion chutney, a very crabby crab linguine, some rich, gamey faggots (meatballs made with offal) served with cauliflower cheese and Guinness gravy, and an intensely blackcurranty summer pudding were first rate. And we’ll certainly be back for the fish and hand-cut chips which we eyed covetously on the next door table.

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Grouse and Chambolle-Musigny

Today is the official start of the grouse season. (Yes, it is the 13th but since the Glorious 12th falls on a Sunday this year they (though I haven’t the faintest idea who ‘They’ are) decided to postpone it a day). For those of you unfamiliar with this gastronomic treat grouse is a small, wild bird that inhabits open moorland, and is much prized for its gamey flavour.

It’s sufficiently rare to create a bit of a stir when it turns up on a menu, particularly this year when numbers have apparently been adversely affected by disease and the poor weather. If you’re not a member of a gentleman’s club or fortunate enough to have a traditional Scottish butcher on your doorstep you’re most likely to find it in such game-friendly establishments as The Goring, Hambleton Hall in Rutland, the Mayfair butcher Allens or London department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges, though you may well need to order it in advance. (I also discovered a website www.ovenreadygrouse.co.uk that supplies direct from the Barningham Park estate on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors)

In terms of a wine match this is the perfect opportunity to bring out one of your best bottles of red burgundy - and an ethereal style of red burgundy at that: something like a Chambolle-Musigny or a Vosne-Romanée with a few years’ bottle age would be perfect. Assuming you don’t have a Romanée-Conti to hand, of course . . .

Tuscan bean soup and Sangiovese

Last week I was on an assignment in Tuscany for a couple of days. It was pretty hot but that didn’t discourage the Tuscans from serving the kind of food they enjoy all the year round - namely substantial bean and chickpea soups.

They’re particularly good because they make them from scratch from the best quality pulses which gives them a rich, sweet, mealy texture that is a quite marvellous foil for the local wines, which are almost all based on Sangiovese. Chianti is the best known of them but we tried others such as Montecucco and Morellino di Scansano. They all share the typically high acidity of inexpensive Italian reds which makes them taste slightly thin on their own by modern standards but absolutely perfect with lighter dishes such as soup and pasta.

More on this tomorrow!