Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | October 19, 2013 | 25
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A taste of Italy Every week the founder of Cambridgeshire Wine School seeks out the best wines to go with Living’s recipes.
On Bonfire Night the smell of roasting chestnuts and smoke in the air makes me hanker for something spicy in my wine. If you are tempted to stick with mulled wine that’s fine – just make sure you warm it and don’t boil it (or the alcohol evaporates). But there are other ways to get a zing of spice in your glass. Red wine can be spicy when it is matured in oak barrels (it picks up cinnamon or cloves) or a red wine grape might be naturally spicy like Shiraz. A good Australian Shiraz is a perfect choice for bonfire night and would nicely match the sausage tray bake recipe on these pages. And the Italians have a novel way of ramping up the spice in Valpolicella Ripasso. This is made by re-fermenting a simple Valpolicella on the skins of grapes that have already been used for Amarone (to extract more flavour). I adore Ripasso – it’s a lot cheaper than Amarone and can be spectacularly good value. Marks and Spencer do one at just £8.99. While I think of it, there will be a free Marks and Spencer Wine Tasting at 6.30pm on Thurs 7th November in the upstairs cafe of the Market Square store. And they’ll offer 25 per cent discount afterwards on any six bottles from their whole range. Just send an email to book spaces: cambridge.selling@ marks-and-spencer.com. ᔡ For wine tastings and courses: Cambridgeshire WineSchool.com
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HE last time I went for Italian in Cambridge with my sisters, one of them was telling me she was pregnant. Quite the announcement to make over pizza, don’t you know. This time around she has less than a month to go before the birth – and it turns out the baby rather likes olives. Preferably green spicy ones. Carluccio’s is ever so classy: more grown up than Pizza Express and cosier than Zizzi’s, it’s dotted with candles that reflect glowingly off the sweeping arc of a curved glass wall. It’s so lovely in there in fact that you forget the restaurant is surgically attached to the Grand Arcade. The atmosphere post-late night Wednesday shopping was a-froth with families celebrating graduation day, so we were lucky to nab a gown-free nook at the back. However, a strip of mirror disconcertingly runs the length of the room at eye height which meant Lilly (the non-pregnant sister), got slightly hacked off with Holly (the pregnant, olive-eating one) and I mussing with our hair all night. We started with fresh lemonade and peach juice (£2.50 each) while frantically trying to decipher the menu – there’s too much choice, my eyes went blurry with hunger and fear of food envy. All I did know was we had to have bruschetta (£5.25). Fresh ripe tomatoes, oregano and basil leaves arrived atop a bed of roasted peppers and garlicky Italian bread, slathered in extra virgin olive oil that happily slid down our chins. But it wasn’t the highlight; the highlight was the mozzarella
៑ Living’s ELLA WALKER has supper with her sisters – and enjoys some top-notch Italian fare. fusa (£6.75), a mix of molten Buffalo mozzarella nestled in roasted peppers with sliced Parma ham and rocket on the side. It was ridiculously good, and so simple it can’t be too tricky to recreate at home, surely? Fancying a splurge we also opted for verdura fritta (£3), a large egg-cup’s worth of courgette, aubergine and peppers in crispy, salty tempura batter. I’d have added a smidge of mayonnaise to dunk them in, but no luck. The starters being a success, choosing a main was an absolute nightmare. Somehow all three of us bypassed the entire pasta section, a fact I later regretted (but only slightly). Holly went basic with the Milanese di pollo (£11.50): “Basically I ordered a big, flat chicken nugget,” while Lilly opted for the fritto misto (£13.50). It arrived in a huge bowl with crispy calamari rings, chunky whitebait – their little eyes peering slyly out of the tempura – prawns and a hefty langoustine, sitting king-like on top. Oh, and some incredibly thick garlic mayonnaise – if only it had been around earlier too. She did well, her squeamish factor only being reached about two thirds in, when the odd frazzled tentacle got a bit much. My beef stew (brasato di manzo, £12.95) was suitably rich, suitably slow cooked and suitably tender, but lacking in wow factor. It came with grilled polenta; my first polenta experience – it’s a bit bizarre isn’t it? It was
like blocks of fried mash or American corn bread. I may need a second experience to truly make up my mind… It was easier to come to a conclusion on side dishes. We accidentally ordered buttery spinach (£3.50) – oh, clever waiter – and it was a-mazing, while I worked my way through an olive oil drenched side salad. For a bowl of baby gem, red onion, pepper and cherry tomatoes, it was over-priced at £3.95, but sharply cut through the heartiness of my stew so it was worth it. Holly, afraid of fitting in five courses alongside an unborn baby, opted for a hot chocolate for pudding, swirling with thick, milky foam, while Lilly and I went straight for the dessert menu. Well, to be honest we’d been sporadically checking it all though the savoury bits and, in the end, it became a free for all spoon-wise – cue a whole lot of scrabbling across the table. Lilly’s cioccolato fondente (£5.25) was decadently rich. It didn’t ooze chocolate sauce (sadly), but was gooey, warm and practically evaporated – as did the vanilla ice cream it was swimming in; and my tiramisu (£4.95) was just on the right side of boozy. A thick layer of powdered chocolate on the top stuck satisfyingly to the roof of my mouth and hints of espresso rumbled through each spoonful. I could have done with a bit more mascarpone cream though. But then, I could always eat more mascarpone…
taste test Carluccio’s, One Fish er Square, Grand Arcade , Cambridge, CB2 3QF Telephone: (01223) 307 046 Website: carluccios.com Opening hours: Monda y– Friday: 8am-11pm, Sat urday: 9am-11pm, Sunday: 9am 10.30pm Cost: Dinner for three people, including drinks, cam e to £73.60. Food: 刀刀刀刀 Service: 刀刀刀刀 Atmosphere: 刀刀刀刀 刀 Value: 刀刀刀刀