Since childhood I've been an avid Francophile. Clearly, that is due, in no small part, to parental influence but I think it goes further than that. We spent almost all of our family holidays self-catering in France and then when I was 15 years-old I participated in our school's French exchange. Cigarettes, mobylettes, bangers, flick-knives, girls, cider, steak haché, Simon and Garfunkel – there was nothing not to love. Then, of course, came wine and a love and career that would define me. There can be very few people that are more irritated by Brexit than me, but at least I can still spend time there and enjoy its wonderful cuisine, culture, people and places.
An offshoot of my interest in all things Gallic is a strong appreciation of French signage, its wording and layouts and the patina it gains with age. Here are some of my favourites that I've acquired or admired over the years.
1. Rue Nicolas BERTHOT.
This classic, enameled French street sign may, or may not, have been purloined by a young Englishman with his friend Alban Martin over 30 years ago. If that is the case then he has atoned by importing and promoting French wine over the following decades.
2. Caves de France du Minervois – en Vente Ici.
A great piece of advertising ephemera that is both wine-themed and geographically evocative. I picked this up in a brocante in Brantôme (the Venice of Périgord) many years ago and have appreciated it ever since.
3. Réserve de Chasse.
I love this sign, that was a gift from the late, great John Burningham, who illustrated our 2009 wine list. It couldn't be more Gallic and the rifle and shotgun pellet holes add a je ne sais quoi. He featured it in his wonderful 1998 book 'France' a homage to a country he loved as much as I do.
4. Cueillette Champignons Interdite.
I liberated this from a tree in woodland in the Dordogne, about 10 years ago, to the chagrin of my beloved. Today, none of its' contemporaries have survived, so I feel less guilty about the acquisition.
5. Dégustez un "Porçianus".
This was a gift from Mr. Yapp senior and it shows you that 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. The green and purple colours are complimentary, and the name of the concoction (which I don't think ever caught on) is just genius. Merci cher père.
6. IV Licence – Loi du 24 septembre 1941.
I found this in a gift shop, opposite the cathedral in Chantres, and it may fall into the dodgy category of faux ephemera. If that is the case, then it is an early example and very well-executed. I like it nonetheless, it is so iconic and reflects life throughout the land and appreciation of apéritifs and digestifs and an enviable love of life.
7. Marché aux Fruits.
You will be glad to know that this is a sign I left en place, as it is firmly embedded in a plane tree. Whilst that might not meet with contemporary advice on arboreal welfare, it seems to be doing alright. If you want to witness it in person it is in the marketplace in Mauves, just south of Tournon-sur-Rhône.
8. Côte-Rôtie – Emile Champet.
This is another gem, just outside Ampuis, whose gradual degradation I have been monitoring over the last 25 years. I'm old enough to have known Emile. I have suggested to his grandsons (also wine-makers in Côte-Rôtie) that they repatriate it but at the time of writing it remains en plein air.
9. ST. PEREY.
This ceramic cellar bin marker is another great find of my father's. By the anachronistic spelling alone I guess this dates from the late 19th or early 20th Century. Oh, to live at a time when you had a whole bin full of Saint-Péray.
10. Michelin.
Mounted on aluminum this 1982 portrayal of Bibendum is bien classique. One may tire of tyres but as advertising imagery goes this is hard to beat.
11. SAUMUR.
Of all French signage this is probably closest to my heart. It was designed by my partner Pippa who we commissioned to create a new label, in 1996, for our top-selling Chenin Blanc. Happily, the label and the relationship, survive to this day. It was inspired by graffiti depicting Charles de Gaulle and has gained a loyal following.
12. Carte Agricole # 2.
I had been looking for one of these for over 2 decades and have finally found an original. Created by Les Fils d'Émile Deyrolle, from a design by Albert Bernard in 1873, it was designed as a teaching aid in schools and, miraculously, is still in print. I love everything about it – it is like an illustration of my career – it's marvellous.
Scallop and King Prawn Ramen with Vegetables and Rice Noodles
This recipe evolved during the pandemic when I was looking for food that was healthy, easy to prepare and versatile. You can switch the scallops and prawns for diced tuna, chicken or tofu and get an equally satisfying outcome. It does come pretty close to 'cheating' in terms of using ingredients that don't require much work but if that provides a midweek supper that doesn't require much heavy lifting or washing up it is a price I'm prepared to pay.
I cook this in my beloved 5.3 litre 'Le Creuset' casserole pan – other models are available but probably aren't as good.
Ingredients: (Serves 2 to 3 adults)
Mixed Stir-Fry Vegetables x 240g
[I bought a pre-prepared pack containing pak choi, mange tout, green beans, broccoli, chopped onion and chillis and added 2 cloves of peeled and thinly-sliced garlic].
'Singapore Style' Soft Rice Noodles x 300g
Pre-prepared Vegan Ramen Broth x 250g
Scallops (responsibly sourced) x 150g
Pre-cooked king prawns x 150g
Olive oil
Chopped coriander
Lemon x 1
Method
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook the drained scallops and prawns on a high hob heat until they start to sizzle and the scallops begin to brown – stir constantly. That takes about 2 minutes, then should turn the heat down to a mid-level / medium setting. Now add the chopped vegetables and put the lid on the pan. 'Sweat' them down for 3-4 minutes, stirring them intermittently so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Now add the ramen liquid and stir everything until it is gently simmering.
Serve in warm, shallow bowls with the chopped coriander on top and a wedge of lemon on the side. Wine-wise I'd be drawn to an Alsace Pinot Blanc or Riesling or possibly an unoaked Viognier from the Northern Rhône.
David Chandler: "
The Bordeaux region may be home to some of the most famous and long-lived wines in the world and play host to any number of celebrated appellations, but, says Jason, you can do it on a budget...
But would you really you want to?
With six sedulously selected bottles to work through, Jason and David hop from one bank of the Garonne to the other sampling everything from the humble to the most high without even getting their feet wet. After a spicy start with a pocket-friendly 2018 Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Château La Brande, they segue onto a silky Graves Pessac 2016, that requires a little more attention and twice as much of your wallet. Yes, when it comes to Bordeaux, you absolutely can believe the hype, as long as your credit is good. All credit then, to a text book Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2018 from Château Alverne, which does all the fruit and new oak spice the right way about. Meanwhile, Château Gombaude-Guillot's perfectly poised, petal-scented Pomerol of 2014 is a garnet-coloured gem of a wine. By the time the Pauillac: Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016 is plashing into his Riedel and running black cherry ripples over his taste buds, David hardly knows his left bank from his right and Jason must be walking on water, surely? But there's more to come in the divine form of a 2009 Château Leoville Poyferré, which scored a legendary 100 out of 100 with Robert Parker, but only because 110 doesn't make any sense. With wines of this order, it can be only too easy to run out of money, but you’ll run out superlatives even faster."
Salut!
Jason
The series of 'Adventures in Wine' podcasts featuring Jason Yapp and David Chandler can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
Greasy Beans
For as far back as I can remember I have enjoyed travelling in France. A significant part of that pleasure has been in partaking of the rich variety of food and wine available and the Gallic passion for cooking food that is both seasonal and locally sourced. There are some quite vocal people who claim that the younger generation are losing those qualities and that it is getting harder to find classic dishes but I haven't found that to be the case and have enjoyed some outstanding cuisine on recent visits to l'hexagone.
A secondary pleasure is buying great French ingredients and bringing them home to extend the touring theme and recreate dishes at home. One 'must purchase' item that I've enjoyed over decades are Haricots Lingots, which are haricot beans conserved in goose fat, that, when our children were young and not vegan, we re-branded as 'Greasy Beans'. Sadly, those are off menu for our sons these days but happily we have a meat-eating niece who not only loves them but actually requests them when she visits us.
This month's 'recipe' doesn't really require any culinary skills just good ingredients. To serve 3 adults (me, Pippa and the aforementioned niece) I buy 6 good quality sausages with a high pork content and ideally some herbs and garlic in the mix.
I cook those in an oiled roasting dish in a fan oven at 180 degrees C. for around 45 minutes, turning them periodically, so they get nicely-browned all over. For the last 15 to 20 minutes of that cooking time I add a 780 gram jar of the haricots lingots transferred to another roasting dish. You want them to be cooked through and hopefully to develop a bit of a crust on top.
I then serve the beans in a shallow, warmed up bowl, add 2 sausages per diner and a side of wild rocket. You then just need Dijon mustard (in short supply at the time of writing) and a robust, life-affirming red wine such as this month's Côtes du Rhône: Jean-Louis Chave Sélection 'Mon Coeur' 2021.
There you go – 'Greasy Beans' for 3 – come and get them!
Restaurant Review – 'La Voile Bleue', Les Halles, Angoulème, France.
By long-established family tradition, we enjoy regular holidays in the backwaters of the Dordogne which provides a great location for swimming in freshwater lakes, cycling (Le Tour graced the village this summer, although Mark Cavendish won't have fond recollections of that) and al fresco dining. Croquet (the most vicious of games), cards, boules and sampling a diverse range of wines are also popular pastimes.
The nearest train station of any significance is in Angoulême, a town I like the more I get to know it, that is immortalised in the terrific 'The French Dispatch'. It is about an hour's drive there and, inevitably, the arrival of friends and family members entails trips to collect or dispatch them. It therefore became important to identify a convenient lunchtime hostelry for pre- or post-travel fortification. Par hasard we stumbled across 'La Voile Bleu' in 'Les Halles', in the center of town a few summers ago and it now a keenly-anticipated pit stop.
'Les Halles' is a restored indoor market place that is exemplary in many ways. I could happily spend a couple of hours perusing its many food-orientated delights. 'La Voile Bleu' is a busy and buzzing open plan restaurant that serves (very) fresh seafood and excellent frites that are made on site daily. The aimable patron is eagle-eyed and attentive and he runs a very tight ship. The focus here is principally on moules-frites that come in generous and inexpensive portions and are absolutely delicious. There is a wine list but I copied a regular (as I often do) and ordered a blanc sec which was just the ticket so I haven't ventured further. They also sell a creditable fruits de mer but the mussels are the main draw so that it was I tend to go for.
The clientele are largely well-heeled professionals who sport enviably high-end glasses and haircuts and descend in considerable numbers. At weekends particularly, demand can outstrip supply, so it can do no harm to arrive early and nurse an apero.
So, if you are heading to the Charente and need to refuel, I highly recommend 'La Voile Bleu'. If you have children to entertain afterwards, I also recommend the Musée de la Bande Dessinée for a feast of Lucky Luke, Tintin, Asterix and Corto Maltese.
David Chandler: "In this episode, Jason and David sample a sextet of wines devoted entirely to one 'grately' underrated grape, prized by none other than Cardinal Richelieu, (l'Eminence Rouge of France) and Jason Yapp, (l'Eminence Rouge ou Blanc of Frome). They begin with a perfectly balanced, rose hip and mint, Chinon Rosé 2022 from Domaine Jean-Maurice Raffault, follow it with a peppery, yet gently fruity 2021 Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil from Domaine Taluau and a firm Fred Filliatreau favourite from Domaine Château Fouquet 2020. Then from just across the road, Fred's earthy, exemplary Saumur Champigny: Domaine Filliatreau 'Vieilles Vignes' 2018 and lastly another Domaine Jean-Maurice Raffault from a one hectare vineyard of old vines, 'Clos de L'Hospice' Rouge 2019 - a class act of cassis and sloes with a long finish. Great with food or good to simply sip these are six, shining examples of what Chinon and its environs are capable of. Unsurpassable, under-the-radar rosés and reds from small, independent producers from the Loire valley. You really don't have to travel any further south or dig any deeper into your pocket."
Salut!
Jason
The series of 'Adventures in Wine' podcasts featuring Jason Yapp and David Chandler can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
Several Summer Salads
While I am not known for being overly-enthusiastic about salads, after much recent nutritional advice from well-informed observers, such as Chris van Tulleken and Tim Spector, highlighting the dangers of consuming too much overly-processed food, they are definitely going to be served more frequently chez Yapp in the future.
It has taken me until my mid fifties to realise that salads can be interesting and highly-enjoyable to both prepare and eat provided you are willing to make a bit of an effort. I won’t bother giving recipes to follow, as I think salads of all dishes lend themselves to adaptation and innovation, I will just provide images and details of the principal ingredients of salads I have recently enjoyed.
1. Avocado, red onion, red chili, spring onion and chopped sugar snap peas.
2. Watercress, tomato, cucumber and avocado and spring onion.
3. Chickpeas, black olives, red onion and parsley.
4. Goats cheese, walnut, romaine lettuce and toast with walnut oil dressing.
5. Watercress, beetroot and raddish.
6. Basil, burrata, and fried courgette on sourdough toast.
7. Red, orange and yellow tomatoes with basil.
8. Mozzarella, green beans and cherry tomatoes.
9. Chickpeas, chopped radishes, tomato and cucumber.
10. Haloumi, avocado, cherry tomato and parsley.
11. Salade Niçoise.
12. Potato salad with red onion and parsley.
In terms of wine, I prefer white or rosé with salad, nothing with any oak and not too much alcohol. This month’s Vin de Corse Porto Vecchio: Domaine de Torraccia Rosé 2022 would be ideal.
August Wines of the Month: £95.00 per case (of six bottles) delivered, saving £18.30 on list prices.
David Chandler: "As far as David is concerned, it’s as German as wearing socks in your sandals and equally as appealing, but in this episode, Jason plies him with five compelling and zesty reasons why he’s just plain wrong about Riesling. From Alsace to Western Australia via the Mosel valley, these slender-shouldered, bottle-green beauties from Leon Beyer, Forest Hill, Willems-Willems, and Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, will not only lend character to a kartoffelpuffer but jazz up a Rogan Josh and titivate a Thom Kha Kai, too. Yes, when it comes to pairing a Prawn Tikka Bhuna, try putting away your over-fizzed, industrial lager and rocking a Riesling instead, but steer clear of the supermarket varieties, if you can. It’s a grape with ‘issues,’ says Jason and requires the dedication of small producers, like the ones above, to do it justice. Zum Wohl!"
Salut!
Jason
The series of 'Adventures in Wine' podcasts featuring Jason Yapp and David Chandler can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
Lamb steaks with New Potatoes and Pea Shoot and Mint Salad.
Lamb is a perfect summer meat, as it's light and flavourful. New potatoes are in season right now, and they're an ideal accompaniment. They're a bit more delicate than regular potatoes, so they won't overpower the meat. The pea shoots and mint add a touch of freshness and brightness to the dish.
Ingredients: (Serves 2)
2 lamb leg steaks – approximately 300g in total.
8-9 medium sized new potatoes
Pea shoots and fresh mint leaves – approximately 100g
Fresh, low fat plain Greek yoghurt
Olive oil
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Method
Wash, trim and boil the potatoes (halve any larger ones) for about 20 minutes until cooked.
Then rinse and refresh them in cold water, drain them and set them aside.
Fry the leg steaks in a tablespoon of olive oil, on a medium heat, for 5 minutes on each side, until cooked but still pink in the center. Deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine and reduce it for two minutes to thicken it and burn off any alcohol.
Wash the pea shoots and mint leaves, pat them dry then mix them together and dress them with a generous tablespoon (or two) of the Greek yoghurt. Plate up all the ingredients together, dress the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper (to your taste) and the lamb steaks with the reduced wine.
In warm weather this dish works well served at ambient temperature. Wine-wise I would serve that with a lightly-chilled summer red such as Chinon: Francis et Françoise Desbourdes 'L'Arpenty' 2021.
July Wines of the Month: £92.00 per case (of six bottles) delivered, saving £17.50 on list prices.
David Chandler: "Time was when rosé, was like the viola of the wine world; a faintly embarrassing, Barbie-pink hybrid, neither red enough nor white enough to be taken seriously, and rarely music to anyone's ears. But times have changed along with the climate and what might once have been a lunchtime indiscretion on a hot day, has become a main feature on restaurant wine lists and supermarket shelves all year round. Prepare yourself for a breathtaking, tongue-tingling, rosé-run through Jason Yapp's selection of barely-pink ballet pump, summer wines courtesy of Château Roubaud, Domaine des Oullières, Château La Canorgue, Bandol and Domaine Pieretti; zingy zesty wines from Provence, Corsica and the Rhône delta as well as Yapp's strawberry and citrus-scented, own-label from the Ardèche."
Salut!
Jason
The series of 'Adventures in Wine' podcasts featuring Jason Yapp and David Chandler can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
