Savoury pancakes and sparkling cider

The English - and very delicious - way with pancakes is to serve them with granulated sugar and lemon (a dessert that pairs well with gently sparkling, sweet Asti or Moscato d’Asti). But an even better match is the French - or more specifically Breton - tradition of serving savoury pancakes with sparkling cider, a vastly underrated drink.

In Brittany savoury pancakes or crèpes tend to be made with a proportion of buckwheat flour which gives them a nutty, savoury, faintly bitter flavour that picks up on the bitter apple notes in genuine farmhouse cider. Fillings such as cheese, ham and tricky-to-match spinach all work well.

When I was in France recently I was amazed at the range of artisanal ciders in the supermarkets, and at the ridiculously cheap prices they were charging - in some cases as little as 2 or 3 euros (£1.35-£2 or $2.60-$4) for a 75 cl bottle.

In the UK I’d recommend Duché de Longueville from Normandy (available from Sainsbury’s) or a home grown sparkling cider from Gospel Green, near Haselmere in Surrey (+44(0)1428 654120) which sells in local off-licences and farm shops and also from Partridges in London. It is also quite widely stocked in Brighton, they say.

Dark chocolate and Cherry Heering

If you haven’t got round to thinking of a suitably romantic dessert for tonight try this simple idea: buy a few gorgeous dark handmade chocolates and truffles and serve them with a frozen shot of cherry brandy. (Don’t worry, it won’t actually freeze, simply turn lusciously cold and syrupy.)

My favourite brand is the Danish Cherry Heering, also known as Heering, which was once marketed under the memorable slogan ‘Cherry Heering, very cheering!’ But you could use any cherry brandy or liqueur

You could equally well serve it with a dark chocolate mousse or chocolate pot - with a spoonful of cherry compote or other red berry fruits if you like.

For other ideas of wines, beers and soft drinks to serve with a Valentine’s dinner see the tagged articles below.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Image © Mariusz Blach - Fotolia

Sushi and Genmaicha (Japanese green tea with roasted rice)

To the incomprehension of my husband who can’t see the point in raw fish, I adore sushi and try to eat it at least once a week - usually with one of my daughters who are both big sushi fans.

Normally I accompany it with green tea but I’ve just discovered this totally addictive organic roasted rice tea called Genmaicha made by Clearspring which matches even better - the faint sesame nuttiness of the rice offsetting the slight fattiness of the fish and the delicate sweetness of the rice.

It needs to be served cooler than we typically drink tea in Britain but don’t let it steep or you’ll lose its delicate flavours. I make it double the strength and then take out the teabags after a minute and let the tea cool for about 10 minutes.

Another good pairing, which I enjoyed at the weekend with daughter no. 2, is a crisp Japanese lager such as Kirin which also pairs brilliantly with tempura. Beer and batter being great bedfellows.

Cheese fondue and Chasselas

I was beginning to think we’d managed to skip winter this year before last week’s icy blasts and snow came as a timely reminder we’ve got a good few weeks to go yet. So there’s still time to enjoy one of winter’s great favourites - a Swiss cheese fondue.

Fondue is one of the very few dishes where your choice of drink is critical. The worst thing you can do, according to a Swiss restaurateur I once interviewed, is to down several glasses of iced water which solidifies the cheese in your stomach and makes it indigestible. Red wine also doesn’t match well at all (the warm, slightly acid cheese accentuates its tannins).

Crisp dry fruity whites such as Chasselas from Switzerland or Chignin from Savoie are the best pairings - a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of the cheese though if you don’t have access to either of these you could pick a dry Pinot Grigio. Artisanal cider can also work very well particularly if the fondue is made from cider rather than the usual white wine. And a glass of chilled kirsch or other white eau de vie or grappa makes a welcome digestif at the end of the meal.