Someting Different: Mavrodaphne Wine

Greetings, fellow guzzlers!

This week, I want to try something a little different - literally. On the Something Different part of my blog, I want to highlight unusual or niche food products. I will tend to pick items which are not too far off mainstream, so that everyone should have a pretty easy job of finding the item I highlight, but strange enough that hopefully you can make the odd real discovery.

My first product is Mavrodaphne wine. Wine may not be the first thing one thinks of with Greece, especially when such excellent products as Greek olives and feta have to be considered, but then again Mavrodaphne is not a typical wine.

The exact bottle I am choosing for this feature is Kourtaki's Mavrodaphne of Patras Cameo which I bought in Waitrose for £6.69.

Classified as a fortified dessert wine, Mavrodaphne (according to Fringe Wine¹) mostly hails from the north of the Peloponnese in the area around the city of Patras.

As a brand and process, Mavrodaphne wine was established by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss in the second half of the nineteenth century. He used Port production techniques to produce a dessert wine rather than the over-sweet table wines then made with the grape.

Upon pouring, the wine is like deep red velvet - crimson in hue and slightly opaque. Held up to the light, the liquid shines but in a far more gently, diffuse way than the sharp, clear manner of normal table reds.

On the nose, the wine is sweet and fruity, bringing to mind rich dried fruits such as dates and (perhaps not surprisingly) raisins.

This theme very much transfers to the flavour. It is heady and sweat, like a sultry summer evening, but with just enough sour undertones to prevent it from being sickly.

It is a delight as an aperitif and goes extremely well with chocolate. However, despite being a dessert wine, I also very much enjoyed drinking it with meat main dishes. The effect is very similar to the way Middle Eastern stews often pair meat and dried fruit and indeed I feel it is with rich stews that it pairs best.

In terms of price, my bottle at least seemed very reasonable. For £6.69 one can buy some truly indifferent wines, lacking in any number of areas from top and bottom notes to body to simply vanishing off the palate as soon as swallowed. However, the Mavrodaphne of Patras Cameo's fully rounded flavour hung around the mouth long after swallowing.

Overall, Mavrodaphne wine is a hidden treat. Sweet, rich and fruity, it is a versatile drink that can be enjoyed equally in its intended purpose as a dessert wine or aperitif or as an exciting accompaniment to a stew.

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¹ Fringe Wine: Mavrodaphne - Patras, Greece

Book Review - How Baking Works (And What To Do When It Doesn't) by James Morton

This week, I am reviewing another book, James' Morton's new(ish) How Baking Works (And What To Do When It Doesn't).

I have been using it for the last few months and I have to say it is utterly fantastic. As the title suggests, the book attempts to teach the reader basic recipes and techniques and how to sort out problems ranging from hard shortbread to soggy puff pastry.

Morton's chocolate and orange cookies

Morton takes a highly methodical approach to the book's layout, with each chapter tackling a different type of bake. Cake, sponge, brownie, muffin, torte, biscuit, short pastry, sweet pastry, choux (bless you!) pastry, puff pastry, meringue and macaroons all receive their allotted space.

He is not hidebound by his principles, however, and slips in a few odd recipes where they seem most appropriate rather than leave them out. For instance, a rather excellent recipe for chocolate fondants finds its way into the brownie section.

An introduction covers "basics", a collection of need-to-know sauces and dressings such as caramel sauce, jam and the best crumble topping you will ever experience.

Morton's chocolate fondant

It also reveals a unique selling point of medical practitioner Morton's books, his scientific approach to the subject. He is far less of a "it's all an arcane mystery we must feel our way with" than a "everything is there for a reason which can be explained" kind of baker.

His introduction features a description of the key qualities of the basic ingredients of baking, sugar, eggs, flour etc, and their importance to the baking process.

This style carries on into the later chapters, where he scientifically explains the why behind each style of bake's basic process and how things might have gone wrong.

For instance, he explains the purpose of chilling shortbread before baking (it firms the butter up to prevents spreading in the oven and allows the gluten matrix to relax to produce a crumblier shortbread, since you ask).

I suspect this reason-based approach may also be due to the cheerful blokeishness which suffuses the book. There is nothing fussy about is recipes. Most measurements are in simple multiples or divisions of 100 and he has a casual disregard for scrimping and scraping to make "healthy" bakes (his advice for soft caramel is "Butter. And lots of it.").

Morton's friands (financiers)

The style of the book is very much in this vein; simple, unfussy, cheerful. The prose is conversational, as if he is speaking to the reader, and the layout is clear and simple with plenty of photographs.

I am not entirely sure about the quality of binding. I may have been unlucky but a section of pages has already detached from the spine and is hanging by the thread binding - just the sort of thing to really annoy this book-lover!

As I say, I may just have been unlucky and it is certainly not a reason to avoid buying the book. In fact, I would very much recommend you do and I'm sure Morton would roll his eyes and tell me to stuff the pages back in or glue them down.

How Baking Works is a fantastic book for a baker of any level but especially for a beginner. All the basics anyone could want are in here along with ten skip-loads of advice on how to dodge common problems and take ones baking to the next level. This book is an indispensable jewel in my collection.

Overall * * * * * - A peerless guide to baking, one could not wish for a clearer or more thorough companion.

Presentation * * * *  - A simple but clear and effective layout is enhanced by Morton's cheerful prose.

Quality of Recipes * * * * * - Outstanding, solid basics to set you up for life.

Range of Recipes * * * * * - Every basic style of baking is covered while a few more experimental recipes are included among them.

Price * * * * * - At £20, this is really good price. With this much advice it is worth £25.

Will I Take This Off The Shelf To Cook From? - Yes.

I have been reviewing How Baking Works (And What To Do When It Doesn't) by James Morton, published by Ebury Press (2015), ISBN-13: 978-0091959906

Recipe Time - Apple and Raisin Crumble

This week, I would like to share with you a recipe in which I take great pride. My apple and raisin crumble. The trick to this baby is the use of two types of sugar. Demerara adds crunch and texture to the crumble topping while muscovado adds a light toffee note to the filling. Give my crumble a whirl and I promise you will be back for more!
Ingredients (Serves 4):

For the filling:

4 Large Bramley Apples

100g Raisins

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

50g Muscovado Sugar

For the topping:

150g Plain Flour

75g Demerara Sugar

75g Oats (I like to use jumbo porridge oats for texture)

75g Butter

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6) or 180°C for a fan oven.

Mix the oats, flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter into rough little chunks and add to the bowl. Now, I know many books will talk about mashing the ingredients together with a fork or something but, in my experience, there is nothing quite as good as using your hands. Yes, you will need a good scrub-up afterwards but it is worth it for a quick and flawlessly effective method. Plunge your hands into the mix and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until everything is combined and resembles breadcrumbs. Set this aside and prepare the filling.

Peel and core the apples. Halve them and cut them into thickish slices - you are making a crumble, not tarte fine aux pommes! Put these in a baking dish or tin and sprinkle over the raisins, cinnamon and sugar. Toss together and cover with the crumble topping.

Put in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, until the apples are soft and the topping has a little colour (though I never find it goes exactly golden brown). You can serve with custard, ice cream or cream but I think double cream is the tastiest option!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and, if you do, please let me know in the comments below!