Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | March 15, 2014 | 25
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food & drink
Never choose a burger if there’s deer on the menu ៑ ELLA WALKER suffers a huge dose of food envy at Backstreet Bistro in Cambridge. Every week the founder of Cambridgeshire Wine School seeks out the best wines to accompany Living’s recipes. WHEN pairing with pork, look for a wine with ripe apple flavours. I’m often asked why wine tastes like different fruits (not just grape). It’s because yeast fermentation unlocks varying flavours from the chemical compounds in thee fruit. You may find mainly citrus, peach or tropical fruits in white wine, but when it’s apple it can range from tart green apples to riper red ones. I reckon ripe apple flavours are what’s needed with pork. Chenin Blanc tastes like ripe apples when you buy the French version from the Loire valley (especially when it has a touch of sweetness). I’m very impressed with a wine Phillip Schofield is endorsing in Waitrose (Vieux Vauvert Vouvray, £9.99) so that’s my choice this week. Cheesecake is a t’s different story – it’s rich and sweet, especially with added condensedd milk and syrup. Even sweet Sauternes might not be rich enough for this, so hunt down instead an intensely sweet late harvest new world wine. Majestic sells The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (£12.99 a half bottle) made from shrivelled berries with long fermentation to extract maximum flavour. Lovely. ᔡ Mark is running a Chocolate and Wine Pairing Workshop on Friday, April 18, 7-9pm, using chocolates from Chocolat Chocolat – see cambridgeshirewineschool. com for details.
I
MADE two mistakes. The first: taking a wrong turn off Gwydir Street and getting sucked into the Mill Road labyrinth – fine when you’re not hungry and cold, a disaster when you are. The second: not going with my gut instinct, being swayed by the prospect of red cabbage slaw and suffering food envy the remainder of the evening. Unfortunately, I only have myself to blame, not the rather lovely Backstreet Bistro (please note: ‘backstreet’ makes it sound seedy – honestly, it’s not). When we finally turned up, slightly grizzly after stomping around trying to find it on a chilly Saturday night, the snug corner restaurant was all aglow and absolutely rammed. A number of tables were already making fairly raucous attempts to drink their way through the entire wine menu (and why not? This place knows what it’s doing when it comes to wine). We shrugged out of our coats and tumbled into a table for two, my boyfriend Sam with a street view – ideal for people watching – and me with a view into the nook of a kitchen, which was happily flustered and whipping out plate after plate piled high with mussels and slabs of meat. Candlelit with a burnished wooden bar and a ceiling of stacked empty wine bottles glistening above, there’s quite a bit of mismatched art dotted about which doesn’t add much – the building is pretty enough without it – but it’s perfect date fodder (bolstered by the white rose you get with the bill). We started by pretending we were sophisticated and knew what we were doing by not ordering the cheapest wine on the menu (go us, those student days of £2.50 bottles of paint stripper/pinot might finally be behind us), and picked the Italian Vinazza ‘GPG’ GarganegaPinot Grigio (£22.20). It promised hints of apple and lemon and was labelled “very easy drinking”. I can concur on all three points. Thank God our starter – sweetcorn fritters with sweet chilli dip (£6.25) – turned up; I’m not sure our waitress would have appreciated me tipsily sliding off my chair. I should have just ordered three plates of the light, crispy, tangy delights. They were insanely tasty. As in so good they have last meal on earth potential in their deep fried depths. Then came my second mistake. Oh, the anguish of food envy, I’m going to be kicking myself for weeks. For the main, I opted for the homemade burger topped with brie and bacon, alongside red cabbage slaw, spicy salsa and fries plus the obligatory lashings of mayo (£13.95). Fries just
taste test , Sturton Backstreet Bistro CB1 2QA , Street, Cambridge 3) 306306 Telephone: (0122 eet.co.uk Website: back-str Dinner from Opening hours: aturday; y-S da es Tu 6pm, , Saturday am .30 10 at Brunch and Sunday. two people, Cost: Dinner for £69.05. including drinks, 刀 Food: 刀刀刀刀 刀刀 Service: 刀刀刀 刀刀刀刀 Atmosphere: 刀 刀 Value: 刀刀刀刀
aren’t fries without a hefty dollop of mayonnaise, in my opinion. The slaw was brilliant, the salsa a tad wishy washy, the fries, well, fries and the burger was a little dry, enhanced slightly by the saltiness of the cheese and bacon, but it could have been the best burger I’d ever eaten and I still would have been sitting opposite someone eating sautéed venison in a port and redcurrant sauce (£15.65). The agony of it . . . the fact I was allowed a few bites made it even worse (fortunately for Sam, the portion sizes are immense). Melt-in-the-mouth, perfectly pink venison, a bed of braised leeks and crispy, crumbly herb and garlic roasted potatoes. I’ve never known food envy like it. In fact, I don’t want to think about it any more, it’s just too upsetting. Just
know: it was the most beautiful plate of food. I tried to distract myself from the regret with pudding, opting for a dangerously rich hazelnut and chocolate pot with biscotti and strawberries (£5.25) that was as thick as treacle, and went very well with stolen spoonfuls of
Sam’s trio of sorbets (apple, raspberry and passion fruit, handmade by The Saffron Ice Cream Company, £5.75). It was delicious but I’ve learnt my lesson. Never go for a burger when there’s deer on the menu. I guess it gives me an excuse to go back. The lamb shank looked incredible too . . .