thesprezzaturist

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Monthly Archives: January 2014

“Work in progress”

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by juleslewis in Food, Wine

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bybo, Food, Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit, Nigel Slater, Nigella Lawson, Wine

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“There is something quietly civilizing about sharing a meal with other people. The simple act of making someone something to eat, even a bowl of soup ….. suggests an act of generosity and intimacy. It is in itself a sign of respect.” Nigel Slater

I love food, and as Nigella so succinctly put it in How To Eat, “I don’t believe you can ever really cook unless you love eating”. I also love wine, but am constantly surprised and disheartened by the kind of undrinkable plonk that friends routinely serve up at the dinner table.
Wine goes with food, not as a faddy matching hint, but as an equal partner in a simple pleasure – life-giving and life enhancing.
Good food can be expensive, simple food isn’t, but cheap processed junk food comes at a high physical price. We are justifiably anxious about what we put in our bodies so why do we attempt to save money on the wine we serve – shouldn’t it be of the same quality as the food?
Ever been to a dinner party where the food was delicious but the wines came via an unscrupulous “3 for £10” or “was £9.99 now £4.99 “ offer designed to seduce us into accepting thin, sweet, raspberry juiced reds or neutral insipid whites as the norm. There are many producers who do not manufacture wine by the tanker full, making lovely stuff to go with simple food at prices that will surprise you. Such wines demand the spending of an extra pound or two but you are richly rewarded – and the food tastes better.

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I have just started a venture to promote the drinking of good wine – with the aim of giving folks some much-needed Liquid Spirit, a la Gregory Porter.
It’s called bybo and is the reason that my blogging activity has been less than prolific of late.

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We recently did a bit of food styling for the website, which was a fun way to spend a working day with friends – and a lot more difficult than I expected.
Although not narcissistic, possessing the kind of looks more suited to radio rather than photography – excepting Katie (the VOR) of course – we did fancy ourselves as competent hand models. Behind the scenes, things were not as perfect as Mark’s photos suggest. Tim and I smashed numerous glasses, ruined at least two tablecloths but had some great laughs and still managed to warm Katie’s lovely food up in time for dinner.

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“Life’s too short”

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by juleslewis in Wine

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Tags

Angelus, Claret, Dry January, Henry Fielding, Simon Hoggart, St Emilion

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“To drink bad wine” – to quote the late Simon Hoggart. But somewhat worse to drink no wine at all.

Now, if you’re an alcoholic, a recovering alcoholic, an alcoholic in waiting, or “stark raving mad” – to quote Henry Fielding – you may have fallen victim to the most miserable New Year Resolution of them all – the dry January.

A concept unique to the British Isles – the home of binge drinking – the dry January is the classic nanny state answer to the excesses of the festive season.  Many of my friends have embraced this concept, (a desire for yet another shared experience, or alternatively as a form of competition that does not require exercise). Statements such as “If I can do it you can”, “We are all in this together” and “We can have one hell of a ****up come February”, provide scant compensation for Hurricane Hercules, biblical rainfall and the polar vortex – personally I prefer Claret.

If you are deluding yourself that the aim of a dry January is to substantially improve the function of your liver, it is probably best to refrain from drinking until March at the very least. By which time – on venturing forth for a tipple – you may find that your local pub, club, cocktail bar or restaurant has closed down.

I grant you the liver does take a beating over Christmas, but better to slow down than to give up. Being good for a month, then binge drinking at the end of it, doesn’t solve the problem – it makes the miserable dreariness of a northern European winter harder to bear. It increases social awkwardness and lures many an unsuspecting (and boring) evangelical model of temperance into the open, bingo winged, arms of the sugar-packed soft drink industry.

Moderation in all things is the answer, this keeps your doctor happy, blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity down, and increases your ability to operate the television remote in the nursing home of your children’s choice.

Drinking less alcohol appeals more to my rebellious inner child. A minimum of two days off the booze a week (choose the dull days) has to be good for the liver and the wallet, allowing you to drink better wine for the remainder – particularly at the weekend.

Better wine means spending more money, but here’s the best bit, quality wine forces you to savour and enjoy it, makes you focus on what’s in the glass and enables you to discuss it without slurring your words or falling asleep.

Remember, hoovering up large glasses of neutral smelling, flabby, tasteless whites and sweet, cheap reds, (filled with unfermented sugar) are the reason many of you are currently enduring a dry January.

As you get older you need to watch those units of alcohol – don’t waste them on cheap plonk!

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