June 2009 Archives

Remember that Loadsamoney character's description of champagne as the best lager money can buy?

I think even Harry Enfield's immortal 1980s creation would have been forced to admit that it's a touch above even the best lager had he been at the Hyatt hotel in Broad Street on Thursday night.

The occasion was the annual dinner of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, a group that promotes the drinking and reputation of bubbly. I was there as a guest of Broad Street's manager Mike Olley, who is almost an effervescent as the drinks we supped.

Check out Brummie chef Glynn Purnell cooking his curried monkfish dish at the banquet for home-coming service personnel on Great British Menu on the Beeb tonight.

He really is an inventive guy. I wonder what treats he's planning when he participates in the Taste of Birmingham festival at Cannon Hill Park next month?

We've not yet choked on our strawberries and cream at the sight of the ghastly Andy Murray flopping at Wimbledon, but already it's time - apparently - to begin planning for Christmas.

I opened a silver envelope today and out popped an invitation from one of the major supermarkets to sample their Yuletide foods and drinks which the message: "Only 140 days to go!"

Yep...and until that number dwindles to 14, I don't want to think about it!

Whisper, please, for today my head is throbbing.

The reason: last night I and the Birmingham Mail's drinks writer Laurence McCoy went to the Connolly's wine tasting in the lovely RBSA gallery in St Paul's Square.

Something like 80 different wines from around the world were available for tasting (and buying) and I reckon we must have sampled at least a couple of dozen.

Thankfully, we did the sensible thing and spat out much of what we tried. But some was simply too good to end up in the spittoon. Plus I'm pretty sure the body absorbs some alcohol in the mouth before it's expelled.

Pork cheeks are one of those cuts of meat that were well known to our frugal forebears but which are not much eaten these days.

What a shame because they are cheap, filling and - when properly cooked - tender and full of flavour.

I cooked a couple yesterday and was delighted with the results, though they did need a sharp apple sauce to cut through their richness.

I roasted them on a very low heat for six hours then placed them under a hot grill to crisp up the crackling.

Since visiting the place for the first time just over two years ago, I've loudly sung the praises of Jacky's Kitchen, an unfussy place serving north Chinese food just off Hurst Street n the city centre.

Until now. A recent visit with my teenage son left me underwhelmed.

The food, I thought, was unimpressive and the prices higher than I remember. There'll be a review in Thursday's Food + Drink section of the Mail.

We eat chickens that are a few weeks old. We eat lambs when they are still furry bundles of cuteness

Yet many of us shrink away from eating veal, appalled by the very idea.

Why these double standards - especially when veal can be such a wonderful meat?

I oppose the cruel way veal calves are treated in some countries and would never buy such a product.

But I have my meat delivered by an organic farmer who rears his animals with care and respect.