Vignole and Friulano

As those of you who follow me on instagram (@food_writer) will know I’ve been in Venice for the past few days - and if I could would still be there!

We stayed in a wonderful Airbnb and made quite a lot of our own meals including this lovely spring vegetable stew called vignole from Russell Norman’s new book Venice: Four Seasons of Home Cooking.

In theory it should have been difficult to match as it included artichokes which are considered a wine-killer but as I’ve stated before I think the problem with wine and artichokes is overstated, particularly when they’re combined, as here, with more wine-friendly broad beans, peas and pancetta.

Matching wine and artichokes

Dry Italian white wines certainly work especially this appealing Isola Augusta Friulano* from Friuli Latisana - a sub-region of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region to the north-east of Venice.

Friulano, formerly known as Tokai Friulano, is a fresh, dry white, also known as sauvignonasse but it has a more floral, less citrussy character than sauvignon blanc. The kind of relatively neutral white wine that Italians do so well.

You can find the recipe for the vignole in the Guardian online but do buy the book which is charming.

* Not available in the UK or US, unfortunately.

Peas and pinot

Having been flying around the world for the best part of the past month I had a quiet week at home last week which (unusually for me) involved no outstanding drinks pairings.

So I thought I’d revert to a favourite that to enjoy at this time of year - fresh peas and pinot noir

I’m not sure why it works so well but if you serve peas with almost any dish it enhances the match with pinot. The sweetness picks up on the complementary sweetness of many pinot noirs - especially youthful fruity new world pinots such as those from New Zealand but I think there’s also an underlying umami thing going on - cooked peas in particular are umami-rich.

So I’m not sure whether it’s the duck or the peas in that classic combination that makes the match with pinot work so well but the two together? Heaven!

Photo © almaje @fotolia.com