For this weeks foodie post we’re delighted to welcome one of our curious customers onto the Curious Wines blog. Triona, a former professional chef, has been tasting her way through our range for some time now, and she’s even brought us some yummy treats into the shop for us to try, including this Caesar Salad. Take it from us, ditch the squeezable sauce and the pre-packed croutons for a class above.

Mama Tina’s eggless Caesar Salad (serves eight)

The Sauce

1 cup finely grated Parmesan
8 anchovies
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
6floz extra virgin olive oil
A dash of Worcester sauce
black pepper

Whiz the first 5 ingredients in a blender for a couple of seconds, transfer to a bowl and slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking at the same time. Add worcester and black pepper to taste.

Garlic Croutons

(As important as the dressing, simple and tasty)
1/2 a crusty baguette, cubed
6 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
2floz olive oil

Heat the olive oil in pan on a low heat, add the garlic and allow it to sizzle for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in the bread, coating the cubes with the garlic and oil as much as possible. Spread out on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200c. Pick out the cubes as they turn golden brown and crunchy.

The last ingredient is romaine lettuce – simply toss the salad and serve with our suggested accompaniment, a dry Italian Trebbiano.

Thanks to Triona O’Sullivan for providing the recipe and that lovely picture!

Perhaps this post is a week too late, but fingers crossed we’ll be reigniting the BBQ’s when that highly anticipated heat wave hits Irish shores this summer. Niall’s Romaine Burritos sing summer. They’ve got that fresh, light and refreshing bite to go hand in hand with everything to do with summer BBQ’s, including screaming kids and scrounging dogs.

There’s a good crunch to this snack and a lovely creamy texture from the avocado. Many New World Chardonnay’s show good fruit characteristics, but also have that creamy mouthfeel if the oak has been well integrated during the winemaking process.

A recent addition to our range, the Tabalí Reserva Chardonnay, has that full-bodied palate but as only 20% of the juice has been aged in oak, it’s a very fruity wine, making it a winner with both Chardonnay drinkers and Chardonnay haters.

Heading to France we have another 100% Chardonnay, but this time it’s sparkling. Aureus Crémant de Loire Brut again has that full-bodied, savoury/buttery texture (not unlike Champagne) that will marry beautifully with these Romaine Burritos. The grapes selected for this 2002 sparkler where taken from the same vineyard used for an earlier vintage which won one of only 5 Gold Medals in the Best Chardonnay in the World Competition.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

During the winter months, Niall’s soups were a necessity in the Curious Wines warehouse. You either ate soup, or you died a horrible cold death.

OK, slight exaggeration, but at the time there was nothing better, and even now with the warmer weather, these kind of recipes are great for making lunch interesting again. Nice thing is, there’s nothing complicated about making them, you don’t even have to have any real experience in the kitchen before giving it a go (Dad, are you listening?)

I thought I might have a tricky one on my hands when it came to finding a wine match for this. Indeed, it’s not quite as straight forward as matching with a normal meal, but break down the main ingredients and you have something to work on.

I’m not always right, so scold me if you think otherwise, but I believe white wines in general work better with soup. There’s not much green in this recipe, so I’m not thinking dry Sauvignon Blanc. Instead we have pepper and carrot which add a sweetness, and potato, giving it body.

So here it goes – a nice rounded, full-bodied off-dry Gewurztraminer. Try New Zealand or Alsace for good examples. If you prefer red, a light Beaujolais or a Burgundy Pinot Noir are also sure to hit the spot.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

You’ll not even notice the meat or the fish are missing, but if you’re health conscious, you might notice the whack of butter that goes in at the end. Use less or omit it if you wish, but for me personally, I’d rather rely on the French Paradox theory, which would tell us not to worry about the butter, as long as you have a nice glass of wine to go with it.

I’m thinking of a wine with a little oak. Something slightly unusual on the Irish market – a Pinot Blanc from New Zealand. The Greenhough Pinot Blanc has been aged in seasoned French oak for 5 months adding a rich, rounded creamy, almost buttery texture, which will go beautifully with that slab of Golden Cow. The delicate fruit flavours and mild spice from this stunning make it one of my favourite choices with or without food.

I also reckon a light South African Pinotage is another good option for vibrant stir fried vegetables. The super popular Long Neck Pinotage is a great value alternative.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Who ever said Turkey was just for Christmas? I tried this recipe out at the start of the week but I couldn’t get my hands on Turkey breast so I used chicken instead. It turned out really well, but there is definitely a distinctive difference in taste between the two, so I’d be eager to try out the old Christmas bird for something a little different – even if it is only the start of Spring.

You’ll probably agree this is quite a versatile dish in terms of wine matching. There are no really big flavours there that will stick out like a sore thumb, so my advice would be to pick a wine that doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb either. A delicate white or a light red.

The Ortonese Malvasia is an ideal partner to poultry and mild cheese. Pinot Noir would be my red choice. Domaine Chateau d’Eau Pinot Noir is a lovely food partner, but lets not forget the amazing quality coming out of New Zealand as well. The Waipara Springs Pinot Noir 2008 is in that more youthful, lighter style that I’m after for this dish, and will more than hold its own when it comes to that rich tomato sauce, as well as everything else.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Originating in Mexico, papaya is now grown pretty much wherever the climate allows. I started to like it when I was in Thailand, where I was fortunate to enjoy the sweetest, most beautifully ripe fruit. It’s got quite a unique flavour. Another memorable fruit in South East Asia was mango. Mango and sweet rice is a Thai speciality and I’ll post the recipe for it in the coming weeks.

Like tomatoes, Papaya has a touch of the super-food thing going on, as it contains lycopene, which is thought to help prevent cancer cells from forming. So you don’t have to feel so bad when you’re wolfing down the parma ham and mozzarella in this fancy starter.

There are loads of white wines that would work very well with this salad, provided they’re food friendly (of good quality) and not too prominent or robust in terms of flavour and sweetness. The highly versatile Mirabello Pinot Grigio, or for a little step-up, the delicate and floral Tabali Viognier are great matches.

A light red may strike the right cord for some. If so, I think a young Beaujolais might just be the ticket. OK, so we need to re-shoot the bottle on this one, but the Domaine de la Roche looks perfect in real life and tastes even better when you get stuck in.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Did you know that the oldest living animal ever discovered was a clam? So claim researchers of Bangor University. The clam, nicknamed Ming, was caught off the coast of Iceland in 2007 and was believed to be over 400 years old. Mind you, they maybe should have left it where they found it, as it died not long afterwards.

So that’s your random trivia for the day, and here’s our favourite, seafood-mad chef, Niall, to give us the low-down on how to get the best out of clams in the kitchen.

When matching wine and shell fish, I tend to keep it as simple as possible, using an elegant wine that won’t overpower. Personally for me, the Erbeldinger Burgunder Pinot Blanc is perfect. With no oak contact, there’s real purity in this wine, with very delicate fruit flavours on show and a touch of minerality.

If you prefer your clams raw, Chenin Blanc works well, or my favourite match for oysters will also work a charm – Les Grands Presbyteres Muscadet.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

One of the greatest gifts in life is food and wine – separately, but even more so, together. And it doesn’t have to be posh food. Fish and chips, beans and spam or a Big Mac – there’s a ton of inexpensive food friendly wines out there that will go with almost anything. I have a glass of wine with my meal every night, and believe me, it’s never caviar or lobster on the menu.

And so, a Cajun chicken burger, the food of a common man such as myself… who says I can’t enjoy a glass of wine with it?

If you want to be a tad more attentive to your choice of wine, by all means, consider mine.

An off-dry white wine that can handle some Cajun seasoning is on the cards for me. The best off-dry wines are those that possess a good acidic backbone, so as not to taste sickly sweet, and it’s the acidity that makes wine such a good partner to food.

Viognier is a great match as it has those restrained fruit flavours and the ability to cope with spice, but Vouvray is the one that came to my mind when I first watched this video. Vouvray, in the French Loire Valley, is well known for its age worthy whites made from the Chenin Blanc variety. And what a fantastic varietal it is.

The Vouvray Les Coteaux Demi-Sec has an ageing potential of 2016, but don’t expect it to last if you’re going to start making Cajun chicken burgers any time soon. For a drier style, the sister wine, Vouvray Les Coteaux Sec, or Paarl Heights Chenin Blanc, are just the ticket.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

A great alternative to meat and two veg, these tasty fish skewers will help brighten up any mid-week menu. Whatever day the fish monger comes to town, you’ll be prepared. It’s fresh, vibrant and packed with omega three oils and all the goodness of the crunchy vegetables. Once you have your ingredients, it shouldn’t take you any longer than 30 minutes to prepare and cook.

I must admit, I’ve come across easier dishes to match wine with. We have two very different types of fish here. Salmon and monkfish. In addition, there will be some spice from the chillies and the cajun pepper, combined with a bit of zest from the lime and a touch of acidity from the pepper and the onions. Notice, though, how Niall isn’t too heavy handed with one ingredient over another. This should lead to a good balance of flavours.

Despite the great complexity, there is much delicacy here. One ingredient will not shroud the characteristics of another. That should also be the case for the wine, so I would be inclined to avoid full-bodied reds. A light-ish Syrah from the Rhône or New Zealand might not be too out of place, particularly if it has a little spice in itself.

I also think a light, elegant white may struggle to cope with the flavours, so for me, Gewurztraminer is the best bet. Cooked red peppers and Gewurztraminer are a marriage made in heaven, and its generally got the fullness in its body and the well structured citrus flavours to match an array of ingredients. It also tends to be spicy, so I reckon the lime and chilli from this dish will not dominate the wine.

For the Old World drinkers, from Domaine Paul Blanck, a lively Alsatian Gewurztraminer, and perhaps a more pronounced option, the Greenhough, from Nelson in New Zealand, was made for this kind of food.

There is 15% off all indicated prices in our New Zealand range for November and December.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

So there I was browsing through the Look and Taste videos at midnight last night and I stumbled across one of Niall’s most recent cookery master strokes. This video had me salivating severely, and a bowl of cornflakes just didn’t satisfy the craving. It’s definitely one I’ll be trying out myself very soon. A must watch video.

I’m sticking with Burgundy on this one, where Pinot Noir is the grape of choice for reds. Duck has quite strong, earthy flavours and it would certainly be more robust than Chicken, so for me, Red Burgundy nails it with those mushroomy, barn-yard, plummy characteristics. The Moillard Bourgogne Rouge would be an ideal partner to this dish.

However, there is also a case for a more fruit-forward Pinot Noir, considering the sweetness of the potatoes and the honey and orange sauce. Pinot Noir from the warmer climate Languedoc region would possess more ripe, sweet fruit and a slightly fuller body. If this is more your gig, I would point you to the qualities of the award winning Madman Pinot Noir (Le Fou).

Back to Burgundy, you still won’t be far off the beat if it’s got to be white. In fact, many prefer white to red when eating duck. A weighty, and well concentrated Chardonnay may just do the trick.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.