Your 2021 virtual Easter getaway
AN easter kiss FROM BERMUDA
Throughout the pandemic, Bermuda’s top mixologist and former Rosewood bar manager, John Lake has been keeping us well oiled with his totally inspired ‘Café Quarantine’ cocktail masterclasses from the pink sandy beaches.
Now he’s created a special Easter cocktail just for us – the Bermuda Easter Kiss - perfect for an aperitif before lunch, to sip while the kids are doing an egg hunt, or to accompany a hot cross bun in the afternoon. Anytime really…It is a holiday after all!
Ingredients:
Bottle of Provencal Rosé
Handful of fresh strawberries
1 x lemon
Simple sugar syrup (1 part white sugar to 1 part water, mixed)
Fresh mint to garnish
Yiayia’s famous Greek Sea Bream
the (grand)mother of all cookbooks
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we love food, and we need to treasure grandparents.
So what better way to celebrate this than Granddishes, a cookbook released last week that celebrates the time-perfected recipes of grannies all over the world.
Grab your copy now and spend the Easter weekend on a global culinary adventure via Yiayia's Greek fish and chips, Abuela Irma’s Tex Mex feast, Grandma Tish's Californian Rainbow Salad and more.
Babylonstoren Wine Farm
easy-drinking in south africa
Plan A would be Easter in South Africa’s wine region, tasting delicious wines among the vines and enjoying stunning views of The Cape.
This year, we’ve had to revert to Plan B, clinking glasses with our friends and families in our own back gardens. But to bring you a taste of South Africa this Easter we spoke to Richard Ellison, founder of the travel-inspired wine merchant, Wanderlust Wine to get his tips on the perfect wines for outdoor easy-drinking over the bank holiday:
”What’s travel without wine? Well, that’s exactly my view and what best but the Cape sunshine?
South Africa is solidly felt as one of, if not the best value wine region in the world at the moment, so whilst we can’t go there, we can enjoy it’s history, dedication to one of its biggest exports and to drink in a little bit of that sunny ripeness that comes through in crisp, golden whites and ripe, quaffable reds.
Fire up your own Braii and enjoy a slice of the Saffa lifestyle in your own home this bank holiday:
Stellenbosch
Remember jumping off that plane in Cape Town and before you know it you’re looking for the first wine tasting signpost? Stellenbosch is famous for it’s historic (3,000 year old) mountain range, which provides the best conditions to grow grapes: altitude, great soil and perfect ripening conditions.
Remhoogte are a producer you should check out - a family history that goes back to the man who found the Star of Africa diamond which sits in our British Crown Jewels. As well as having a big herd of farm animals, they make an accessible range of natural and organic ‘Free to Be’ wines, as well as an Estate range - showing the best of their vineyards. You can check out the Remhoogte wines here for next day delivery.
Franschhoek
Having travelled SA relatively extensively, Franschhoek hit me like a village of illdilic wine producers (or wine farms as they call them out here). The flagship estate, and and #1 tourist attraction for Brits seeking food and wine destinations is Babylonstoren. I am so proud that Wanderlust Wine get to work with this iconic estate; they make all of their food on the land as well as grow the grapes and make the wine - it is the dream of anyone wanting a complete farm-to-table experience.
Their famous Mouvedre Rosé has been selected to be the feature of the Chelsea Flower Show this year, however the pick of the bunch in terms of what sells and what people love is gentle, fruity and thirst quenching white blend Candide and the best-in-class award-winning Shiraz.
Those that have been to the Cape will know the amazing life that Babylonstoren paints you - and a slice of their vino on home turf will transport you right back!
Robertson
For the wider travelled, the next stop inland from Stelly & Frans is the even sunnier climbs of Robertson. Being that bit more inland away from the Cape Doctor (a wind that cools the grapes down), it helps to get more juice into those grapes making better value, delicious everyday drinkers.
Rouxvale is an estate we have worked with for years that makes incredibly good value wines that show plush fruit, balanced acidity and polished freshness.
Any one of these three Western Cape regions will whizz you back to arguably the best lifestyle in the world - sunshine, sea salt air, the outdoors life and the simple things in life of great food and even better wine.”
Thank you Richard!
To celebrate Spring, Wanderlust Wine is offering Studio Wanderwell 10% off wines for the next 30 days with the code WANDERWELL.
Check out Wanderlust Wine here and order your wines before Thursday 1st April 2021 to get free delivery before Easter!
Risotto Al Veluu
buona pasqua from lake como
One of the things we’re missing most this Easter is Lake Como where we’re fortunate to normally spend the Spring break, and Al Veluu, hidden up in the mountains is one of our favourite places to enjoy a lazy lunch with a breathtaking panorama of the lake. To get our Lake Como fix this Easter we begged owner Luca Antonini to share his secret recipe for one of their most famous dishes, ‘Risotto Al Veluu’ which is just the ticket for quick and easy weekend dish….
The Recipe for Risotto “Al Veluu”
Serves 4
This is our family recipe and one that’s extremely popular with all our guests!
1. Roughly chop one and a half onions
2. Toast the chopped onions in a sauce pan in salted butter (at Al Veluu we use copper pots to get the perfect conduction level)
3. Once the onion has softened (but not browned) add 300g of risotto rice into sauce pan (if you can get hold of it, use Alberello Rice)
4. Give the rice and onion a good mix and then add 4 glasses of Prosecco from Valdobbiane into the pot (and have a glass yourself to enjoy while cooking)
5. Have 1litre of vegetable stock to hand, made up. Once the rice has absorbed the Prosecco start adding the vegetable stock slowly to the pot, stirring in a clockwise direction, adding more as the risotto rice absorbs it
6. Once the rice has swelled and softened to the consistency you’re happy with, stop adding the stock (you’ll likely need the whole litre)
7. When the rice is the right consistency take it off the heat and stir through a big knob of salted buter and throw in a couple of generous handfuls of Parmesan cheese
8. Gently grill some asparagus tips in butter with some salt and pepper
9. Finish off with a good crack of black pepper, add the asparagus tips to the top and your Risotto Al Veluu is ready to serve.
Buon apetito!
The Easter Collection
The taste of ecuador
Cartografie Chocolate is one of the best things to come out of the pandemic, the ethical chocolate company founded in 2020 by Masterchef The Professionals star, Sven Hanson-Britt, and top patisserie chef Kae Shibata.
Instead of your standard easter eggs, the cartographers of taste have created a limited edition Easter Collection – a double box, based around the flavours of a generously buttered sourdough hot cross bun. The collection will contain four shells of the beautiful 65% Arriba Nacional cocoa from Ecuador, filled with a ‘toasted, buttered hot cross bun ganache’, and 4 discs of the same incredible chocolate, seasoned with sea salt and hot cross bun crumb. If you gave up chocolate for lent, this would be a pretty epic way to reward yourself!
