8 H&H Series, Thursday June 9, 2011 Wine with Liz Sagues The new EU regulations for labels on bottles cause upset at vineyard tables Category renaming aims to bring unity across countries

Rather too often, bureauc- And, rather than stick with racy – even when well in- requirements which while tentioned – gets in the way far from simple are at least There was uproar »of pleasure, and wine is one familiar, a raft of change was of the victims. To take one introduced by the EU in Au- throughout many of Europe’s example: the existence of too gust 2009, to be fully imple- many complex rules is often mented by 2012. cited as one of the main rea- The aim, to unify labelling traditional wine-producing sons why sales of European throughout member states, wines have been overtaken may be laudable and logical regions at the thought of here by bottles from the new but, initially at least, it will world, most notably toppling surely increase confusion France from the top of the rather than eliminate it. losing cherished titles sales table in favour of Aus- tralia. Result You may have noticed the different French regions and, Maybe, in the long term, it first results. Take France, unlike vin de table, allows will all average out and wine for example. Its top category vintage and grape variety to will be bought purely for the of wines has long been appel- be shown on the label. quality of what’s in the bottle lation d’origine contrôlée, ab- There was uproar through- rather than for the simplicity breviated to AOC or some- out many of Europe’s tradi- of the label. times AC. Next major range tional wine-producing re- Meanwhile, stay in south- N Katie Jones, who has won a silver medal in this year’s (ignoring the just about de- gions at the thought of losing ern France, never mind the International Wine Challenge, in her Roussillon vineyard funct vin delimité de qualité cherished titles. classification, enjoy these tional Wine Challenge. white 2010, £8, a four-grape superieur or VDQS) has been But this has been calmed wines. They’re serious yet wonder- blend, is aromatic and full of vin de pays, followed by vin by assurances that much of fully enjoyable. Order soon flavour yet again crisp-end- de table. the old system can continue N One winner under the new before supplies run out. ed. Now the equivalent EU- alongside the new. This is classifications is Katie Jones From just a little to the At Waitrose: Chateau wide categories are PDO why, if you look at a bottle of in Roussillon, whose Do- north of Katie’s vineyard Maris Les Vieilles Vignes 10 (protected designation of ori- southern French wine from maine Jones wines are la- (and made, incidentally, by Years 2009 Minervois La Li- gin) and PGI (protected geo- the 2010 vintage, the label belled vin de France – be- Mont Tauch, the large co-op- vinière, £13, intense, concen- graphical indication), trans- could say vin de pays d’Oc, or cause the vines grow in one erative where she worked for trated, chewy; Abbotts Re- lated by the French to AOP pays d’Oc PGI, or it could classic appellation and her more than 15 years) comes serve grenache rosé, £7, a (appellation d’origine prote- spell out the whole new title winery is just beyond its bor- L’Ancien Comté 2010 pretty, soft summer aperitif; gée) and IGP (indication géo- in French. der. From her first vintage grenache blanc (Jeroboams, Domaine Sainte Rose Co- graphique protégée) – though Still, there is consolation Domaine Jones 2009 white £7.95, 10 per cent case dis- quille d’Oc blanc 2009, £7, for the UK market the French for Europe. The new world and red (grenache gris and count) rich and peachy yet floral, crisp, delicious. are more likely to use PGI wine countries are increas- grenache noir respectively, with minerality and a fresh Morrison’s has two seri- than IGP. ingly promoting the regional both £15, http://shop.do- citrus finish. ous bbq reds: Les Signatures Then comes vin de France, differences of their wines, mainejones.com/) each – de- From supermarket Mont Tauch Minervois 2010, N One to try this week is L’Ancien which gives wine makers the with resulting extra wording servedly – has won a silver shelves: Sainsbury’s Taste £8, and Castemaure Cor- Comté’s 2010 grenache blanc freedom to blend grapes from on labels. medal in this year’s Interna- the Difference Languedoc bieres 2008, £7. Hampstead mum delivers lessons to your door

If the 80s was the era of self- her passion is not coaching ing and never being a slave eyelid, but my vegan house- sufficiency and the 90s the – it’s food. to measurements. For the mate (who Kanter took into era of self-help, then the last The Le Cordon Bleu- first time in my life, I feel account when she designed 11 years have been the era of trained mother, who found- like I’m in control of the my lesson) tucks into the the coach, writes Rhiannon ed an organic packed lunch kitchen, even though I have salad like it is her last meal Edwards. service called Banana On A a beef rib in the oven, some as I marvel at my clean Nowadays, it is possible to Bike, pulls out her ingredi- on the boil and some kitchen (cleaner, in fact, get coached for anything ents. Today, we are making vegetables sizzling in a hot then when we had started from exercise and parenting a rib of beef and an Asian wok. I’m multi-tasking and cooking) and relish my first to the way you look and salad. The menu is the pre- it feels good. ever successful attempt to speak and even your whole scription to cure the kitchen It’s easy to see why Kant- cook meat. life plan. We live in a world woes that surfaced in a pre- er’s rapidly expanding client Later on, after Kanter has of personal trainers, life vious half an hour consulta- base, which includes every whipped away her knives coaches, stylists and organi- tion I had with Kanter, demographic from a success- and her chef’s jacket, a sation gurus. where she asked me about ful, time-poor businessman friend, (who happens to be a Now, a Hampstead-based my lifestyle, whether I eat (who started a now national chef too) pops round to have chef has set up the Kitchen for pleasure or sustenance food business) to a group of a drink and a chat. Before I Coach to help people who and who I cook for, as well as teenagers, invite her back have even shut the front can and can’t cook to im- broader questions about into their homes to have cu- door, he’s in my kitchen and prove their culinary skills- time and how much money I linary fun. All the time, I’m chops into the remaining in the comfort and familiar- have to spend. learning, tasting and, more beef, popping it into his ity of their own kitchen. Cook and chat importantly, enjoying my- mouth in the cavalier way It would be easy to dismiss self. of a kitchen veteran. “This Justine Kanter’s new ven- Kanter has a professional After around an hour and beef is tasty,” he chomps. ture as another slice of a sec- demeanour in the kitchen, a half, a smoke-out induced “Did you cook this?” “Yes, I tor that makes money out of but the home-ec style cook- by my pre-historic oven and did,” I reply smugly. It seems other people’s lack of self- ery lecture I expect with a knife sharpening session, the proof really is in the eat- confidence. trepidation never seems to our simple and delicious ing. But, as Kanter enters my materialise. Instead, as we creations are ready – a hot kitchen with two bags full of cook, we chat about good in- and fragrant salad and a N A one-hour session with food and equipment and in- gredients, presentation, the perfectly cooked beef rib the Kitchen Coach costs £80. troduces herself and her importance of being pre- that is pink and juicy in- More information is available ideas, I quickly realise that pared so you have fun cook- side. Heston wouldn’t bat an from www.kitchencoach.biz. N Justine Kanter, the Kitchen Coach Thursday June 9, 2011, H&H Series 9 Food&Drink King Heston in all his madness Heath foraging with Matilda Moreton courts the favour of Londoners Joseph Connolly is in awe as he enjoys a feast for the senses I had lunch at Dinner. It’s a tention to detail total, the in- fair old wheeze from the gredients and artistry truly glistening-domed, spookily- first class. »spectacled and idiotically fa- And so to the main event: my mous culinary alchemist whom wife wanted roast turbot with now we all just call Heston. You leaf chicory and the intriguing- name a restaurant Dinner, it’s sounding cockle . There going to get bags of publicity was another ketchup – mush- because of all the whimsy little room, this time – with my sir- jokes you can make about it, loin of Black Angus in red wine and bore people into a coma: on juice and triple cooked chips. the lines of ‘I had lunch at Din- Both these dishes are dated N ner’, for instance. So terribly c.1830, which does seem odd for The hallmark of the yarrow plant is its many leaves amusing, non? Mind you, Hes- just a lump of fish and a lump of ton could have opened a restau- meat, but never mind. The son rant called Anthrax and still it was having spiced pigeon The tea that can bring would have the punters flock- (c.1780) with ale and artichokes. ing. If you phone them right Which maybe, I don’t know, relief to hunters and this minute, you will hear a po- was the star of the show: beau- lite though faintly superior re- tifully pink and tender. “It’s so corded voice informing you rich, quite gamey,” he said. gatherers alike that they are fully booked until “And the artichoke – very in- the end of July. The end of July! tense. It’s like artichoke stock!”. Yarrow (achillea millefolium) is found growing Two bleeding months – in a city My wife, meanwhile, was ador- in many places in the summer, including Hamp- so utterly jam-packed with ing the turbot and was quite stead Heath. It has survived our dry April well good places to eat that we’re all knocked out by the cockle – it tolerates drought as well as a wide range of just demented by choice. Now I ketchup. “Taste it!” she urged. soils. know that the Mandarin Orien- “It tastes of Brighton!” She was The hallmark of the yarrow plant is its leaves, tal hotel opposite Harvey Ni- right: a real hit of ozone, like which are narrow and feathery – hence the Latin chols is not exactly our beat – the finest oyster. “And the per- name “millefolium”. “Thousand leaf” and “thou- it’s not quite what you’d call N Joseph Connolly at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal fume!” she babbled on – pretty sand weed” are among its common names. slap bang on our north west unstoppably now – “just like The tiny whitish flowers are apparently gath- London doorstep – but look: it’s when the sea rushes over the ered into a flat head like cow parsley (umbellif- Heston, right? And it’s the hot- shingle”. Well blimey. My steak erae) but, in fact, it belongs to the daisy family test place in town. It would The Meat Fruit looks like a was clearly aged, and perfectly (asteraceae) and is closely related to camomile. have been a dereliction of my cooked: as deeply beefy as you Treat wounds duty to ignore it. So I didn’t. could wish for, the mushroom I’d actually just been with mandarin with pockmarked ketchup dark and strong, the Yarrow’s other Latin name “achillea” comes my wife and son to the Cult of chips exemplary. from Greek mythology. Apparently, Achilles Beauty exhibition at the V&A. rind ... But guess what? It’s saved the lives of his warriors by using yarrow This really is a splendid show Lemon leaves to treat their war wounds. It is worth re- devoted to aestheticism – Pre- I wanted the splendid selec- membering this story in an emergency – the Raphaelites, William Morris, actually a perfect chicken liver tion of British cheeses: too full, crushed leaves are, indeed, used to stop bleed- Oscar Wilde: all that glorious couldn’t. I wanted every single ing. The herb’s other nicknames, include “car- sort of thing. You come out pudding on the menu: couldn’t, penter’s weed”, “sanguinary”, “staunch weed”, bloated and slightly dizzied by ual deceptions and sleights of lish and ancient, each one too full. So I had instead the “soldier’s woundwort”, “knight’s milfoil”. This the gorgeous generosity of it all hand are properly in abun- roughly dated (echoes of Mar- merest taster of my wife’s baked ancient usage is still frequently seen today, espe- … but you see, you can be dis- dance. Most notably the Meat cus Wareing’s Gilbert Scott) – lemon suet pudding (c.1630) cially in Chinese medicine. tended by art and still harbour Fruit. This starter – which my so this Meat Fruit comes in as with lemon caramel and jersey While being used to staunch the wounds of a void, an aching vacancy for wife immediately ordered – is c.1500. Good, eh? My son was cream (no capital letter on jer- fighting men, yarrow is one of the “women’s more tangible input. And the already of legendary status: it having Salamagundy (c.1720): sey, so while you think it might herbs” and the medieval name of “supercilium knowledge on this warm and looks like a textbook mandarin, chicken oysters (those delecta- contain pullovers, it turns out veneris” or “Venus’s eyebrow”, acknowledges sunny day that oodles of tip-top complete with pockmarked ble little nuggets – but do not not to). Sublime … if lemon may this. Yarrow was traditionally used as a tea to grub were a mere hop, skip and rind, stalk and sweet green leaf. think Chicken Nuggets – a pair be said to be sublime. My son’s stop internal bleeding and to ease a heavy men- a jump away added a certain But guess what? It isn’t at all …! of which nestle beneath the was called simply Choc- strual flow and menstrual pain. Note: pregnant spring to the step. No no – it’s actually a perfect, bird: lovely). With bone mar- olate Bar (c.1730), and looked or nursing women should avoid yarrow tea. Cool and classy but perfect, chicken liver par- row and cream – a like a patent leather Mars: bis- Yarrow was also used as a form of snuff – fait in sprauncy Belisha dis- little too much of the horserad- cuity base and this glossy choc- leaves were stuffed up the nose to precipitate vi- The hotel is a very tradition- guise. The Pre-Raphaelites, I ish cream, my son thought, but olate casing yielding up a gooey olent sneezing, which resulted in a nosebleed, al marbled and opulent affair, am sure, would have loved it – absolutely excellent. And I had ganache and passion fruit jam. effective in clearing migraines. “Nosebleed” is though Dinner is a much more though maybe not so much as Rice and Flesh (c.1390). The He debated (with passion) another common name. modern thing altogether. A the Surrealists: it would sit head waiter – sounding like a whether passion fruit was a Its most common use nowadays, as tea, is to broad and tall room with great very well with one of Magritte’s very fair simulacrum of Alf suitable match for chocolate, treat colds and fevers. It can break a fever as it big windows looking out on to gravity-defying apples. Doolittle – said that most of the though soon came out in fa- promotes sweating. Hyde Park. You wander in The leitmotif here is that all starters could be served in a vour. There was also a quenelle through a glass wine cellar the dishes are thoroughly Eng- vegetarian version. “So with of ginger . “I don’t Yarrow tea with artfully backlit bottles. mine, then – you’d what? Dump like ginger,” he said. “This is The kitchen is visible to all, as FACT FILE the Flesh?” He grinned. “Pret- really, really good …” are occasional fairly worrying ty much – yeh!” I’m very glad So Heston comes up trumps Add two or three dried “devil’s nettle”. Beware. N great explosions of flame. Ta- DINNER BY HESTON he didn’t: what we had here again. Or at least Ashley Palm- yarrow leaves to a cup Lastly, an ounce of bles are chunky dark walnut, BLUMENTHAL was a perfect circle of creamy er-Watts does: he’s the very (1oz dried herb to one yarrow placed under the chairs brown leather, the light- Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 rice made bright yellow with brilliant head chef here, hav- pint) of boiling water and pillow before sleep should ing in the form of a Titan’s wag- Knightsbridge, SW1 saffron and studded with five ing held the same role at the Fat steep for five to 10 min- bring a vision of the future on wheels suspended from the Tel: 020-7201 3833 (You might little islands of calf tail in red Duck. And like said fat duck, I utes. spouse. First repeat this ceiling, while auxiliary lit-up have to wait till September by now wine sauce: so intensely fla- waddled away, thinking only of Add honey and lemon, verse, from Halliwell’s mix with peppermint opalescent Limoges porcelain – who knows?) vourful, my taste buds still are how I might open this piece in Popular Rhymes of 1849: N Open daily noon-2.30pm, leaves or elderflower. “Thou pretty herb of jelly moulds are flung around singing (while wanting more so rib-tickling a manner as to 6.30pm-10.30pm (for when you Side effects: Only drink Venus’ tree, the walls: cool and pretty and more and more). I needed have you rolling in the aisles. want dinner at Dinner) yarrow leaf tea in moder- Thy true name it is Yar- classy, though not in any sense wine, fairly naturally, and And then – the Eureka moment! N Food: ((((((((() ation as overuse may lead row; a grand dining room. Now as to Doolittle said he’d fetch the ‘I had lunch at Dinner …’ N Service: ((((((((() to increased light sensi- Now who my bosom the food, this being a Heston Smellier. Wine is expensive. (c.2011). enterprise, you don’t expect N The Feeling: Well look – let’s be plain: leav- tivity. Some people report friend must be, normal, and nor do you get it. (((((((()) ing aside the weekday only set N JACK THE LAD AND BLOODY this after drinking only a Pray tell thou me to- This isn’t Fat Duck Mark II, N Cost: Weekday set three course three course lunch at £28, this MARY (Faber and Faber, £8.99) few cups. Its power to al- morrow.” however – you can ditch all the lunch £28. Otherwise about £160 is a very expensive restaurant is a novel by Joseph Connolly. ter visual perception This one is quite safe gags about snail and for three course meal for two, with all round, though I quite see All previous restaurant reviews earned yarrow the name and can be tried at home. and egg ice cream, (modest) wine. why it has to be. The service is may be viewed on the website of “devil’s plaything” or Sweet dreams. though many other quirks, vis- just about impeccable, the at- www.josephconnolly.co.uk.