Chicken caesar salad and blonde ale

It’s so automatic to think of a wine match these days that one sometimes overlooks the fact that a beer will work just as well, if not better. So it is with that great restaurant favourite, chicken caesar salad.

On the face of it, chicken, lettuce, croutons and parmesan makes a pretty easy pairing but the dressing which typically contains garlic, anchovies and mustard has quite a kick. A blonde ale, particularly a Belgian blonde like Leffe or a northern French blonde ale, provides a touch of sweetness that complements the dressing perfectly. A strong golden ale like Duvel would also work well as would a golden lager like Schiehallion.

Winewise I find that Chardonnay makes the best match - unoaked or lightly oaked like Chablis, if the dressing is particularly piquant, oaked if the parmesan note is uppermost or the chicken is chargrilled.

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Red wine and peaches

The peaches are so fabulous here in Arles, so gorged with sweet, ripe juice that we’re eating them almost daily. One great way to serve them which I was reminded about the other night when we dined at a local restaurant, Le Corazon is with red wine - just as good as the better-known pears in red wine.

They turned them into a roast peach crumble with a vin chaud (mulled wine) sauce which was a great idea for a dessert. But you could also simply slice up a few ripe peaches and pour over some fruity wine such as a Pinot Noir (sweetening it beforehand with a little sugar syrup if you feel it needs it). It’s a favourite Italian combination.

Red wine also goes well with other fruits, especially strawberries and orange. Another interesting combination I had at a restaurant yesterday, L’Atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel, was Ossau Iraty (a Basque sheeps’ cheese) served with an orange compote instead of the more usual cherry one they favour in south-west France. The combination wasn’t totally convincing on its own but was great with a glass of accompanying red wine, a Château de L’Ermitage Costières de Nîmes, they offered us. I’ll be writing more about their very intriguing vegetable- and fruit-based menu later this week.

Pastis and olives

Yesterday we arrived in Arles for the Recontres Arles, a massive annual photographic exhibition that takes over the entire town. Our youngest son Flyn is showing some of his work at a restaurant called Le Corazon so we’re here for the next 10 days or so.

To get into the mood we picked up a bottle of my favourite pastis Henri Bardouin on the ferry on the way over. (Or favourite until now. I note the wine shop opposite has 3 brands I haven’t tried which all look interesting.)

Pastis, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it is an anise-flavoured liqueur that is particularly popular in Provence. It’s one of those acquired tastes like olives and espresso coffee that it generally takes time to learn to love. It’s pretty strong (the Henri Bardouin is 45%) so you drink it well diluted - about 1 part pastis to 5-6 parts cool water. Ice is frowned upon by purists as it stops the pastis taking on its characteristically milky, cloudy colour when diluted.

I like the Henri Bardouin one because it apparently contains over 40 different herbs and spices which makes it more complex and less licoricey than cheaper commercial brands. Its slight bitterness also makes it a great match with olives or olive-based pastes like tapenade spread on crunchy little toasts or bruschettini.

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Bardolino Chiaretto and seafood pasta

Yesterday I had lunch with some old friends in a chic little Italian restaurant called Trenta. It’s in in the upwardly mobile neighbourhood just west of Edgware Road in London into which Tony and Cherie Blair have just moved. (It also has a Jimmy Choo shop two doors down. It’s that kind of ‘hood)

The food, well reviewed, didn’t disappoint and the highlight for me was a dish called fregola sarda ai frutti di mare - a light dish of prawns (shrimp) and other seafood cooked in a fresh tomato sauce with a curious small round pasta rather like outsize couscous grains. It looked very pretty especially with the bottle of rosato we were drinking - an inexpensive Bardolino Chiaretto 2006 - with a fresh crisp acidity that in some ways made it behave more like a white than a rosé.

Bardolino Chiaretto is one of those Italian wines that has improved hugely in quality over recent years. It used to be, frankly, quite wimpy but this was charming, full of wild strawberry fruit and a perfect foil for the delicate seafood. This isn’t the first time I’ve discovered dry rosé goes well with prawns. I suspect it’s partly a colour thing. The colour of the seafood prompts you to think of a pink wine.

It also went particularly well with two of other other dishes we chose - a dish of sauted baby artichokes, new potatoes and melted goats’ cheese and buffalo mozzarella with grilled vegetables.

Trenta is at 30 Connaught Street, London W2 2AF. Tel: 0207 262 9623. There’s a set lunch at a very reasonable £14.50 for two courses which for this posh part of London is great value.