Tingleup Riesling 2008, T*sco, £6.49 offer price. (Usually £7.99)

One of my favourite under £10 wines at the moment, indeed for a while now. At this price it's hard to beat. Delicate straw colour, greenish tinge at the edges, a crisp, refreshing citrussy nose, with hints of blossom, and a full, rich zesty palate, bursting with lemon, lime, green apple and a fresh, dry finish.

Made by the Howard Park Winery in Western Australia, this is a real find for T*sco and I hope they manage to keep the price down. Too often we see these types of wines get a bit of media attention and then rocket in price.

I think Riesling is my all-time favourite grape variety. My favourite individual wines are probably not Rieslings but for one single variety to produce so many different styles and expressions around the world, and for all the styles, at the high quality end, to be stunning in their own way, is astonishing. I love the expression on peoples' faces when they taste one and are stunned to find they are drinking Riesling: many folk will just not buy it, incorrectly assuming that it will be a more expensive version of Blue Nun, or Hock. Nothing could be further from the truth: inferior German table wines such as Nun or Tower are made from Muller Thurgau, predominantly, are sweetish, low alcohol and characterless. Avoid them at all costs. German Rieslings, however, can reach the absolute peak of winemaking perfection in some hands and are rightly considered the finest Rieslings, and among the very finest white wines, on the planet.

True, some share the fluted bottle shape, but that is it.

Chilli and Red Pepper Jam

I have just made some chilli and red pepper jam. It's the first time I have really made jam , although I have fabricated a few dubious and a few marvellous concoctions tentatively named onion marmalade, one memorable batch (the last) still in my fridge. I scanned a few methods on the web but none of them really appealed so I plumped for Nigella's recipe. It is simple and good, but I tweaked it a bit,(made it a bit spicier):

100g long red chillies

50g habanero or scotch bonnet

500ml cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

1kg jam sugar

De-seed and finely chop the peppers and chillies, use a food processor if you wish. Small bits but not mince. Put the vinegar in a large saucepan and add the sugar. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, try not to stir it too much. Add the chopped peppers and chillies and bring the liquid to the boil. Boil strongly for between 5 and 7 minutes. (This instruction varies so much that I took an average time, about 6 mins!), then remove from heat and allow it to cool down in the pan. After about 30 minutes, when it has cooled, the mixture should have thickened and the pepper bits will be hanging in the viscous liquid. Spoon the mixture into sterilised jars.

Obviously if you like really spicy, add more chillies, less red pepper. I added hot chillies to mine as I am growing several habanero plants. I hope I haven't made it too hot. I'll try it in a minute.

(One minute later): Ow! I may have added too many habaneros, but it's actually pretty good. Richly sweet at first, sticky, pleasing texture, a blast of high heat on the finish, and it's still going. I am very pleased with that, my first effort. The colour is amazing, and although it hasn't quite set yet, I am hopeful that it will be jam, not just sweet chilli sauce.

My First Post. The why.

I have been persuaded, finally, to get my arse in gear and start this blog, by my lovely wife, my oldest kid and my brother.

I am constantly moaning, enthusing and wondering about food: I have always had a feeling that I missed a trick earlier in my life by not learning to cook properly and become a chef, but I did start to cook in earnest after I got married, fourteen years ago. The stuff I cooked was, by today's standards, fairly basic fare, as I remember,but I am an unreliable witness. My memory is terrible ( I don't know how much I am making up and how much is true,really). But the stuff was damn tasty.

Back then I worked for Oddbins and my interest in food really took off because of wine, matching, eating out etc., then I worked for a fine food supplier, providing great ingredients to chefs in the west country. I loved that job and my interest and expertise, if any, was propelled into a new zone.

Yeah, I probably am a snob about food, and definitely am about wine, but only to the extent that I care about the production and origin of both and, not being wealthy, I am concerned about value for money, NOT cheapness. I will happily spend a lot if I think what I'm buying is worth it. How does one tell? Experience, research and learning. I have learned much over the years, not all by a long chalk, but enough to get me by quite well, and to avoid the pitfalls many of us succumb to, usually set by the supermarkets.

You will get wine reviews, food reviews, restaurant reviews, food and wine recommendations, recipes (mine and others') and in no particular order or regularity. It may take me while to find a formula for this blog but I will find it and I hope it bears fruit for me, to get me out of my furrow and provide a bit of entertainment and info for my fellow amateur foodies.