On Thursday 3rd May, and for £14.95 per person, there is a festival of fun, serving up Spicy Prawn Gumbo, Steak Kebab with Creole Sauce and Mango Rice and Mississippi Mud Pie with Orange Cream among the delights on offer.
Read more about The Buck Inn here.
Wasabi, a Japanese Sushi and Noodle Bar has done quite well for itself. Opening in an area not really known for good restaurants (the bars are only just getting it together), you might have thought that Mrs Chang was crazy. But by all accounts its going well, and the food is good to be fair. And the staff are certainly Japanese. What a great little getaway.
Oh, and if you like it here, you’ll definitely like the Bay View for its Thai food. Try ‘em both and tell us what you think right here
News has it that Patricks with Rooms in Mumbles is now going to be Patricks with Boat House and Houses and Rooms, so says the Evening Post (or something to that effect). Taking over the old Boat House on Mumbles Road, well why not say we, at least now there will be more choice of quality accomodation in the peak season. Keep your eyes peeled here for more info on when they will open, so you can try the rooms for yourself.
If you are a business who wants to put their voucher here, send the details to info@food-passion.co.uk and we’ll add the info for you.
Antoinett Milne of Sensuous Wines has written for Food Passion before and is back for a second helping this year, helping you to develop your wine skills.
There’s no doubt about it, we’ve all got our own tastes when it comes to wine. Some of us love Sauvignon Blanc and dislike Merlot. And why not - wine is meant to enjoy and relax with, so if we drink what we like, that’s important. But knowing how you come to that decision (by evaluating objectively the particular qualities of a wine) you can really enhance your enjoyment. For example you could say that you believe, based on certain indicators of quality, that a particular wine is well made and represents great value but that you aren’t that keen on the style.
This can be complex if you really start to study the intricacies. So on an everyday basis, what sort of thing could you look for in determining the quality of a wine? A relatively straightforward indicator of quality is the length or persistence of the wine - how long do the flavours linger in the mouth? If it is for 10 seconds or more, then this is one indicaiton that the wine is likely to be a well made one.
Intensity of the ‘nose’ and other flavours is another. If you think the wine has a medium or pronounced ‘nose’ and flavours, and is consistent with what you taste, then these are also good signs.
Balance between the acidity, tannin, fruit, flavours and alcohol is not always a good thing!
Sometimes, especially in the case of Old World or cooler climate wines, the acidity is quite marked, which means the wine is not such a pleaseure to drink on its own. However, the acidity makes it well designed for pairing with food. For example, many Northern Italian reds, such as a racy Nebbiolo d’Alba from Piemonte, high in acidity, will go beautifully when paired with Beef Carpaccio; the protein in the meat softens the acidity in the wine.
On that note,it looks like cooler climate wines are becoming more in fashion these days, with people searching out more balanced. elegant wines. White grape varietals such as Gruner Veltliner, Torrontes, Albarino and red grape varietals such as Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Grenache are apparently set to take off and interest in organic and biodynamic wines is increasing.
More pubs and restaurants offer a small taste of the wines by the glass so you can make sure you really like the wine before you order. That’s important because it may tempt us all to try wines we might not ordinarily!
If you are interested in learning more about wine, please visit the Food Passion website, or email the editor on info@food-passion.co.uk for more information on local classes and wine tasting sessions in the area. The editor has been to a number of these and can strongly recommend them for both a great time and an education -who’d have thought the two could go together!
Author Insight
Antoinette has spent all of her working life in the hospitality sector. After graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and winning best thesis in the 4th year, she progressed to Wine Sales & Marketing Manager with the largest Wine & Spirit agency in Canada; Nihco International. After moving to Wales, Antoinette passed the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma earning highest mark for woman in the trade (Bristol region). Sensuous Wines started in 2005 after market research indicated an on-trade need for high value wines of provenance, whilst working with another wine business, Milne and Milne agency, to introduce exciting, original and quirky new wines into the UK.
Think you know alot about food? Well here’s a chance to broaden your horizons with a fabulous prize - join Andrew Price from Dryad Bushcraft for a Gourmet Wilderness Day.
Normaly costing £70, you’ll benefit from Andrew’s experience as a bushcraft master, trekking throughout the day foraging for nature’s feast. You’ll learn about and taste wild foods and when you’ve built up an appetite, you get to go back and help to cook what you’ve found. It really is a day to remember.
Just answer the following question and your email your answer, together with your name, address and email, to info@food-passion.co.uk:
What form of transport did Andrew use to learn his first bushcraft skills?
You can find out by reading about him here!
The winner will be chosen from the entries on Nov 30th 2007.
Did you know that the UK spends no more on wine per year than it did 30 years ago?Tell us more about how you feel about buying wine, whether it is in a restaurant or from the supermarket.
After a very wet and windy autumn day out gathering plants, funghi and berries with Andrew Price of Dryad Bushcraft, I was incredibly surprised to learn of the huge array of ready to eat foods available in the countryside. Andrew talks more about his passion for food and the truly natural foods on our doorstep.
There is something primal and even romantic about taking a walk in the countryside or along the coast to forage something delicious to eat. Perhaps we as 21st century humans are experiencing a need to reconnect with the earth, and to live in some small way as our ancestors once did. Or could it be that we have grown tired of the limited range of foods available commercially, and have chosen instead to stride boldly forward in search of new and exciting gourmet experiences?It is so easy to walk into a supermarket and buy our food ready washed and neatly
packaged, but where is the challenge in that? The growing interest in wild foods over recent years has been staggering. Everything from wild Game to Fungi, have experienced a resurgence in popularity bordering on a revolution.
I grew up close to the Gower Peninsula and spent my formative years picking blackberries and learning how to catch Sea bass and Mackerel from a rickety old canvas and Wood Kayak. It was these early experiences combined with many years of traveling around the world that inspired me to start Dryad Bushcraft.
I run courses all over the UK and even abroad, but I am never happier than when I am spending time at home on Gower. There are few places in the world that offer so much diversity in such a compact area. Despite being only 15 miles long and 6 miles wide, the Gower Peninsula is a forager’s dream. The North of the peninsula is mostly composed of salt marshes famous for its Cockles and laverbread, while the south facing coastline is composed of Carboniferous Limestone formed into craggy bays and cliffs. This environment supports everything from Crabs and Lobsters, to Mussels and Periwinkles. The inland areas are composed of farmland, woodland and Heath-land which expands the potential for finding wild foods even further.
If you are considering foraging for your dinner it is worth bearing in mind that you can eat anything you find;
however some plants and Fungi can only be eaten once! In actual fact the number of Plants and Fungi that are genuinely poisonous are few in number, and if you stick to easily identified specimens until you gain experience you should have no problems. Investing in a good pocket reference book is also a good idea. From a legal perspective you should always ask the land owners permission before picking any plants, fungi or shellfish. However you would have to be very unlucky to find a farmer who would object to you picking a few weeds from their hedgerows. Indeed; by asking permission from the locals you may even get to learn more about what is available, and where to find it. Our Wilderness Gourmet Courses have been designed as an introduction to foraging. The courses run several times a year in order to take advantage of seasonally available wild foods. The aim of the day is to produce a fantastic meal in the outdoors using a combination of wild foods and local produce. All cooking is done over wood fires in the outdoors, and having fun is an essential component of the experience.
Full details of our Wilderness Gourmet and other Courses are available on our website http://www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk or by telephone 07901 873343
Did you find this article interesting? Well, check out the Food Passion competition to win a day with Andrew on the Gourmet Wilderness course, worth £70!
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