Spinach and ricotta gnudi and Pecorino

“Tender little dumplings, as fragile as a pasta filling” is how Diana Henry describes gnudi in her fabulous new book How to Eat a Peach. (The word, which is pronounced new-dee means naked)

They were the first course (after salami and radishes) of a wonderful menu at Sardine to celebrate the launch of the book which comes out this week - although you may be lucky enough to find a copy already in a book shop.

Given how light and airy they were it wouldn’t have been appropriate to pair them with too full-bodied a wine or too sweet a one which is where Italian whites come into their own, seamlessly fitting in with almost anything you throw at them in the first half of the meal. This one was a crisp, fresh organic pecorino - yes, same name as the cheese - called La Merlettaie from a producer, Ciu Ciu, in the Marche region and was a great match.

What I love about Diana’s books is the way she puts flavours together but here she’s taken that one stage further and constructed a series of menus that hang together perfectly too. (It’s a real art - not just about balancing tastes and textures but about practicability so that you’re not left with everything to do at the last moment.)

I made another recipe from the book this weekend - the rhubarb, marmalade and rosemary cake from the 'lunch to soothe' menu, which looked beautiful and was just delicious.

PS If you’re on our mailing list you’ll get a chance to win a copy this month!

2009 Pessac-Léognan and a cheeseburger

Although I’ve visited posh St James’s wine club 67 Pall Mall several times for tastings I hadn't ever had lunch there until last week. I don’t know quite what I expected - perhaps the sort of roast and overcooked veg you’d find in a gentleman’s club but certainly not a rare burger in an airy brioche bun with perfectly cooked onion rings on the side.

The burger had quite a bit in the way of toppings including bacon and cheese but the wine my host had picked with it, a gloriously velvety 2009 La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion, wasn’t thrown off its stride in the slightest.

It was a good ripe vintage of course but nevertheless a mature wine you might have thought wouldn’t stand up to a burger. I did avoid ketchup on the side though which is the real wine killer!

You can read more about the estate here.

See also:

Fine wine and fast food

Six of the best pairings for a burger

Cauliflower popcorn and a Seedlip and pineapple cocktail

Most pairings focus on alcoholic drinks but it’s equally intriguing to see how a similar synergy can be achieved with an alcohol-free one.

Last week I tried out the new vegan menu at the Ravinder Bhogal residency at The Perception bar at the W hotel and wasn’t really in the mood for wine so we chose the ‘soft’ option on the cocktail menu, a cocktail called Naked which was based on the non-alcoholic ‘spirit’ Seedlip Spice 94. It wasn’t actually vegan as it contained egg white but wasn’t billed as such either (there were vegan wine options). Other ingredients were lemon juice, pineapple juice, peach purée, ginger & lemongrass and a walnut garnish.

Being refreshingly fruity and not too sweet it actually paired well with almost all the dishes we tried but particularly with what has already become the most talked about dish on the menu - the cauliflower ‘popcorn’ with Thai basil tempura and a black vinegar and chilli dip. Appropriately enough as it's the perfect bar snack.

I also particularly liked it with the summer rolls, the beetroot and walnut kibbeh and the tempura inari. (Ravinder, who owns the restaurant Jikoni, is playing with a wide palette of Asian flavours not just Indian ingredients in this pop-up).

You can eat her vegan menu at The Perception which is just off Leicester Square until the end of June. I ate there as a guest of the W hotel.

Lamb biryani and grand cru gewurztraminer

Sometimes it’s worth revisiting your prejudices. I’ve never been a huge fan of gewürztraminer with Indian food although it’s an established pairing. It always seems to me slightly jarring, especially with tomato-based curry sauces. But this week I changed my mind.

I took an open bottle to an Indian restaurant* on Friday night and it actually went incredibly well (as did a Brundlmeyer grüner veltliner brought by my mate Martin).

Two possible reasons struck me - the fact that the food was relatively dry - a biryani with dal and saag paneer on the side - rather than several disparate wet curries and that the gewurztraminer was a really good one, albeit incredibly well priced from Lidl. (The 2012 Grand Cru Seinklotz from J P Muller which comes into store in 10 days time on the 26th and which you should snap up if you’re a gewurztraminer fan.) Tasting a really good example of a wine in a style you don’t normally go for can win you round.

I think it comes down to the fact that gewurz, as it’s known for short, is a bit of a Marmite wine. If you love it, you’ll like it just as much or even more with curry; if you don’t spicy food won’t make it taste any more appealing. But give it another try.

* Actually the restaurant itself is a bit of a find. It's called Vittles Curry Nights and is a cafe during the day, up the Filton end of Gloucester Road in Bristol. Nothing fancy but the food rocks!

Photo © H L Photo at fotolia.com - not, obviously, of our meal but a typical Indian spread.