May brings us the start of British watercress season, thanks to The Watercress Company’s recipes
Watercress is packed with over 50 vitamins and minerals, including exceptionally high levels of vitamins C, E and A, folate and calcium. It is also rich in iron (nearly twice as much as spinach) that’s more easily absorbed, making it an essential addition to any vegetarian or vegan diet.
Another little-known fact about watercress relates to amino acids; compounds that play many critical roles in the body, including regulating the immune function and building muscle. The best sources of essential amino acids are animal proteins like meat, eggs, and poultry but, unusually for a plant, watercress has a full complement of the nine essential amino acids.
Hot honey salmon & watercress salad
Ingredients:
• 80g watercress
• Two salmon fillets
• One lemon, quartered
• One avocado, sliced
For the hot honey:
• 50ml honey
• Two garlic cloves, halved
• 1-2 tsp chilli flakes
For the quick pickled red onions:
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 2tbsp vinegar – white wine or apple cider
• ½ tsp salt
•1tsp sugar
“Watercress has a full complement of the nine essential amino acids”
Method:
1. For the hot honey, warm the honey gently in a small pan. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and allow to infuse. Once fragrant and spicy, remove from the heat.
2. For the red onions, in a bowl or jar with a lid, add the sliced onion. Pour over the vinegar before sprinkling in the salt and sugar. Give it a mix, or shake, to combine and let it sit while you prepare everything else.
3. Brush one side of the salmon with the hot honey. Lay it coated side down in a hot pan and cook for five or six minutes. Brush the topside with a little more of the honey, flip and repeat.
4. To assemble the salad, split the watercress between two plates. Add ½ the avocado to each plate. Top with the salmon fillets and a spoonful of the red onion. Drizzle everything with a little more of the hot honey.
5. Serve with the lemons, squeezing fresh lemon juice over everything.
Ä Roast broccoli, Parmesan & watercress salad
Ingredients:
• 140g broccoli florets, about half a head of broccoli
• 40g watercress
• 30g Parmesan, shaved
• 15g pomegranate seeds
•Oil, salt & pepper
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°. On a baking tray, arrange the broccoli florets. Spray or drizzle a little oil over the broccoli and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 10-12 mins, until the broccoli is cooked.
2. In a bowl, toss the cooked broccoli together with the watercress and arrange on a plate. On top, shave the parmesan over the salad. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds for a pop of sweetness.
For these and other inspiring watercress recipes, visit watercress.co.uk or find LoveWatercress on Facebook and Instagram
Ready to rumble? Liz Nicholls looks at the fabulous festivals on offer this summer, for happy campers & fairweather fans, with tickets up for grabs, too!
Miss out on Glasto tickets!? Never mind: there are so many festivals to choose from, large and small, with something for everyone. And Astonbury might well give Glastonbury a run for its money! Read on…
Cookham Festival, 2nd to 19th May, has a line-up of literary and musical stars, including Lorraine Kelly, Theresa May, Ross Kemp, Will Gompertz, Terry Waite, Stars of the West End with Toby Cruse, Rogue Opera, Formosa Fest, Cantorum Choir, local comedians, The Cookham Ceilidh team and more. Enjoy art, at this community fave; cookhamfestival.co.uk
Immerse yourself in the magic of live classical music with the Investec International Music Festival, with world-class concerts, walks and talks across the Surrey Hills, including RHS Wisley, West Horsley Place & The Menuhin Hall in Stoke d’Abernon 7th-18th May; iimf.co.uk
The 45th Newbury Spring Festival offers a fortnight of world-class classical music, including the Sheepdrove Piano Competition, 11th-25th May;newburyspringfestival.org.uk
Wholesome family favourite WOOD is back at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire, 17th, 18th & 19th May with children’s fun including the marvellous Nick Cope, music and more workshops than you can shake a stick at; woodfestival.com
Live music and horse racing is odds-on for a good time, and Newbury Racecourse has both! Firstly, Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago will star at the Lockinge race day on Saturday, 18th May. Then the mighty Sigala will star on 20th July & Dizzee Rascal on 17th August for Party In The Paddock sizzlers! newburyracecourse.co.uk
An amazing team of volunteers have been working flat out to make the 51st Chippenham Folk Festival, 24th-27th May the best yet. Melrose Quartet, Breabach, Tim Edey, Bruce Hamilton, John Tams, patron John Kirkpatrick & more will star; visit chippfolk.co.uk
Chesham Fringe Festival, 25th-27th May, will offer you a vibrant array of local, national and international talent, music, comedy, theatre, cabaret, spoken word, book and poetry readings, food & drink; visit cheshamfringe.com
Sorted for Cheese and Fizz..? That’s not me making yet another (wholesome) reference to Jarvis Cocker’s lyrics. It’s the name of a fantastic local four-piece band who’ll bring their ’90s bops to Shynefest. This fun, family-friendly festival returns to Merrist Wood College in Worplesdon, on 31st May & 1st June. Other stars set to keep all the generations entertained include (the actual) Dodgy, Counterfeit Kylie and The Faux Fighters, with kids’ fun including a climbing wall, Bubble Fairy, football and circus skills, with camping & glamping options. Please visit shynefest.uk
Returning to Cheltenham Racecourse for its 18th year wondrous Wychwood will dazzle you with music, comedy, kids’ fun, literature & workshops, 31st May to 2nd June. Sister Sledge, The Coral, Seth Lakeman, Seasick Steve, Dexy’s, Stereo MCs and CBBC’s Hacker T Dog and Katie Thistleton will star; wychwoodfestival.com
Witney Music Festival on 7th & 8th June will dazzle The Leys with Lucille & The Lightning Soul Train & more; witneymusicfestival.com
The Lightyears will star at Astonbury, 3-11pm on Saturday, 15th June at Aston Rec near Didcot, with a perfect blend of music, family fun, food & drink. Limited £15pp tickets at eventbrite.co.uk
Madness, Tom Jones, Nile & CHIC, Placebo, Air, Paloma Faith, Loyle Carner & more will star at Southampton Summer Sessions, in Guildhall Square, 16th-30th June; smmrsessions.com
Hampton Court Palace Festival is the jaw-dropping backdrop for Tom Jones, Nile & CHIC, Jack Savoretti, Sam Ryder, Björn Again, Sheryl Crow & Paloma Faith, as well as a Tudors live edition of The Rest is History Podcast, 11th-17th June. Visit hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com
Raise vital money for Hampshire Medical Fund by enjoying action-packed, family-friendly highlight Good Festival at Dummer Down Farm near Basingstoke on Sunday, 16th June. Activities include bushcraft, bubble football, alpaca walking, crocodile encounters, yoga and delicious food & drink Visit goodfestival.co.uk
Hold tight! The Prodigy and The Streets will help get The Isle of Wight Festival, 20th-23rd June off to a flying start on the Friday. Pet Shop Boys, Green Day, Suede, The Pretenders and Johnny Marr will also star. Visit isleofwightfestival.com
Award-winning Beacon Festival, Oxfordshire’s best family-friendly festival, is back at Watlington Hill Farm, 21st & 22nd June with local bands & loads more;beaconfestival.net
Hold tight! The Prodigy and The Streets will get The Isle of Wight Festival, 20th-23rd June, off to a flying start. Green Day, Suede, and Johnny Marr also star; isleofwightfestival.com
Nathan Moore will host another marvellous Marlow Rock Bottom with Coldplace, beer aplenty, family fun, live music, street food on 29th June; visit marlowrockbottom.com
Legends The Stranglers will star at Guilfest which returns to Stoke Park, on 29th & 30th June. Other stars on the impressive line-up include Sam Ryder, Peter Hook & The Light, Black Grape and The Blockheads. Please see our competition & visit guilfest.co.uk
I’m still buzzing after my chat with Chaka Khan (see our Q&A). She’ll star at Love Supreme Jazz Festival in Glynde Place, 5th-7th July; lovesupremefestival.com. You can also catch her and Sister Sledge on 13th June at Blenheim Palace thanks to Nocturne Live. And Soft Cell & Heather Small star here on 14th, Sugababes & Melanie C on 15th with Crowded House & Sheryl Crow on 16th; visit nocturnelive.com
Run entirely by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis in a stonking Cotswold location, Nibley, 5th-7th July, prides itself on being the friendliest festival of the bunch! General Levy, local legends EMF, The Hoosiers & Dodgy will star, with fun such as retro gaming & The Flying Seagull Project;nibleyfestival.co.uk
Small & mighty Childreyfest will bring you a winning blend of family-friendly music and fun to Childrey in Oxfordshire on Saturday, 6th July: childreyfest.co.uk
Celebrating disability lifestyle & inclusivity, the award-winning Parallel Windsor on 7th July, in Windsor Great Park’s Long Walk, will offer live music, storytelling, arts & craft, sport, wellbeing, dance, family fun and more, all accessible, with a quiet space & sensory zone. Tickets just £7.50pp; parallellifestyle.com
Ash, Echobelly, a Goldie Lookin’ Chain DJ set, Republica, Fabio & Grooverider, Dub Pistols and Reading Community Gospel Choir are among the delights at Readipop in Caversham, 12th-14th July, with Purple Turtle bars and an indie market, all for a great cause helping local people; readipop.co.uk/festival
Gladys Knight, Rylan, Nicole Scherzinger, Nigel Kennedy and Sam Ryder will make for another sparkling riverside black-tie Henley Festival 10th-14th July; henley-festival.co.uk.
Barrioke (EastEnders’ Shaun Williamson) will star at Fi.Fest in Maidenhead on 13th July, with Cast, Heather Small & Rick Parfit Jnr;fifest.co.uk. And Monty Don, Ronan Keating, Beverley Knight & more will star at Kew the Music, 8th-14th July; kewthemusic.org
Sadly the organisers of PennFest have made the tough decision (after our May editions of Round & About went to press) not to hold a festival this year, but the Bucks favourite should hopefully return next year! pennfest.co.uk
Fleur Fest is back at The Fleur De Lys in East Hagbourne, 19th-21st July, with Miss Disco, The Style Councillors & more. Plus Ronnie Scott’s All Stars & Fleur Stevenson on 16th June, and AJ Clarke & Richard Digance on 17th August & more! thefleurdelyspub.co.uk
Raising funds & awareness for mental health in memory of the much-missed Caroline Flack, Flackstock will offer music, dance & comedy galore, including Olly Murs, Joe Wicks, Shaznay Lewis, The Neptunes Choir & a Gok Wan DJ set at Englefield House near Pangbourne on Monday, 22nd July; visit flackstock.com. Also at Englefield, enjoy Madness with the Lightning Seeds on Friday, 19th July, Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, a Groove Armada DJ set & more on 20th and Elbow on 21st; heritagelive.net
WOMAD brings cultural delights from the whole wide world to Wiltshire (Malmesbury’s Charlton Park to be exact) 25th -28th July. Expect a huge array of genres from R&B, rap, rock, blues, punk and jazz all the way to New Orleans brass bands, Qawwali, mambo and flamenco. The line-up includes Young Fathers, Sampa The Great & Alison Goldfrapp with food galore on the Taste The World stage. You can chill out in style in the World of Wellbeing and WOMAD Spa, plus you can enjoy spoken word in the World of Words, science exploration at World of Physics and fun in the World of Children; visit womad.co.uk
Bestival’s little sister Camp Bestival, organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank will star Pete Tong with his Ibiza Classics, one of my fave star Q&A interviewees the mighty Paloma Faith, Orbital and manny more at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, 25th-28th July; dorset.campbestival.net
Jamie T, Wet Leg, The Streets, Idles, Holly Humberstone, The Snuts and Sub Focus will star at tremendous Truck Festival, 26th-28th July at Hill Farm, Steventon; truckfestival.com
Multi Grammy-winning songwriter, composer, producer and guitarist Nile Rodgers & Chic will star at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday, 26th July, as part of the sizzling Summertime Live highlights; visit summertimelive.co.uk
Wilderness will thrill the wild crowd at Oxfordshire’s Cornbury Park, 1st to 4th August, starring Michael Kiwanuka, Faithless, BICEP, Alison Goldfrapp, as well as banquets, wellbeing including lakeside hot tubs and theatre, workshops and more; wildernessfestival.com
Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be! Rewind to a simpler, better time, 16th-18th August in Henley on Thames. Stars set to dazzle include Billy Ocean, The Jacksons, Gabrielle, Jason Donovan, Kim Wilde & more, plus funfairs, a silent disco, inflatable church, kids’ zone and much more. Check out the fabulous Jenny Powell trailer & book at south.rewindfestival.com
Inspired by late beloved music-lover Jody Dickinson, J Fest will dazzle in Carswell near Faringdon on 2nd & 3rd August. The highlight, powered by bass, features accessible elements including DJ workshops, glamping & more to prove dance and festivals are for everybody;j-fest.co.uk
Strap in for a Revolution of Imagination with chapter three of Boomtown, 7th-11th August, near Winchester. This fabulous parallel world promises sensory overload, with 12 main stages, 50+ hidden venues, and one red-hot secret line-up. I went for the first time last year and had a blast. (I recommend you book the following week off work). Visit boomtownfair.co.uk
Dreadzone, Kosheen, Dub Pistols & more will star at wondrous Weyfest at Tilford’s Rural Life Museum 15th-18th August; weyfest.co.uk
Jools Holland & his rhythm & blues orchestra will star at Windsor Racecourse on Friday, 16th August, as part of the sizzling Summertime Live highlights; visit summertimelive.co.uk
Groove Armada, Leftfield, Dillinja and more will star at Stowaway, 16th-18th August at Stowe which also offers immersive theatre, comedy, paddleboarding, feasting and a roller disco. See our competition to win tickets & also visitstowawayfestival.co.uk
Fred Again.. Lana Del Rey, Liam Gallagher, Raye, Pendulum and Skrillex are sure to thrill at this year’s Reading (& Leeds), 21st-25th August. Visit readingfestival.com
Or head on up to Creamfields in Cheshire 22nd-25th August to rave to Robbie Williams’ dance project Lufthaus, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status live, Tiësto & more; creamfields.com
Shambala in Northamptonshire, 22nd-25th August. This summer’s line-up includes Sampa The Great, The Congos, The Beatbox Collective and a brand new stage show from HENGE; visit shambalafestival.org
Towersey Festival, which is the UK’s oldest independent music festival, will deliver a new programme of delights for its 60th anniversary celebration, 23rd to 26th August on the Claydon Estate near Buckingham. Comment & Comedy, curated by Gavin Osborn, will offer comedy straight from Edinburgh Fringe, award-winning short films, authors as well as Billy Bragg, The Staves and Seth Lakeman. See our separate article & visit towerseyfestival.com
CarFest lands at Laverstoke Park, 23rd-25th August;carfest.org. You’ll also love Billing, June 29th & 30th, the UK’s largest 4×4 show, with two off-road courses, 100+ trade and autojumble stands and family fun family; thebillingoffroadexperience.co.uk
Big Feastival on Alex James’ Kingham farm will serve up family fun, food and frolics, 23rd-25th August. Becky Hill, Ministry Of Sound Classical & Snow Patrol will headline with Raymond Blanc & George Egg on the menu, too. See our competition & thebigfeastival.com
Idles, Slowdive, Bonnie Prince Billie, Ty Seagull, Yo La Tengo & more will dazzle at the award-winning End Of The Road, 29th August to 1st September in Blandford Forum; visit endoftheroadfestival.com
Beloved Bunkfest is back with bounce in Wallingford, 30th August to 1st September;bunkfest.co.uk
Hop down the rabbithole with Congo Natty, General Levy, LTJ Buken, Beans On Toast & more at the Wonderland-themed Mucky Weekender, 5th -7th September near Winchester. Visit mucky-weekender.co.uk
Leftfield, Orbital & more will star at The Last Dance Dreamland in Margate, 14th September, as well as other bangers! dreamland.co.uk
Great Barn Festival returns to Great Coxwell, SN7 7LZ with music, family theatre, art and nature for all; visit greatbarnfestival.com
Liz Nicholls shares a chat with singer Chaka Khan who will star at Nocturne Live at Blenheim in June & Love Supreme festival in Sussex in July
Q. Hi Chaka, wonderful to talk to you! What’s your first memory of music?
“Hello! I was lucky to be born to parents who are artists. I recall hearing a lot of opera and jazz growing up: Billie, Ella… my father played Max Roach a lot. My mother was a dance instructor, she taught modern and ballet, so we did a lot of dancing around the house. We had a big ol’ Zenith hifi and big ol’ speakers and we all sang, danced and did our chores on Saturdays. I thought everybody did that, haha! We had murals, frescoes on every wall in the house. In our bedroom we had a circus scene. In the kitchen we had flowers, fruit. It was great to grow up with art everywhere.”
Q. You’ve worked some greats in your time, including Prince. Are there any other artists you’d love to collaborate with?
“Well I’ve done some stuff with [the R&B star] H.E.R and Sia and I are doing some stuff together.”
Q. How do you decide who to work with? Do you listen to the radio or stream new music?
“Well they [the collab artists] mostly find me! I’m not on any kind of quest, haha! I don’t listen to the radio, no. I listen to as little music as possible because it’s what I do for a living. I think too much and if I listen to music I have a hard time having fun with it. I don’t go out to clubs any more – when I was younger I did a little bit. For me a fun day is doing absolutely nothing, lying on my chaise lounge watching telly, a movie… passive entertainment!”
“I’m not nostalgic, I’m really a next girl”
Q. Do you feel nostalgic looking back on your 50 years in the biz while curating this year’s Meltdown festival?
“No, I’m not nostalgic, I’m really a next girl! I don’t live in the past, I don’t remember a lot. This is a good thing! The only thing I’m interested in is what’s happening in the moment. All we own is this moment right now. And how it’s going to affect what’s going to happen next. I don’t get caught up in things I can’t do nothing about, like yesterday. But I can influence tomorrow.”
Q. What’s been your personal biggest achievement?
“Getting out of the city and moving; leaving LA is the biggest and best thing I’ve done. I’m communing with nature here in Georgia, with all this beauty here. I truly get rest here, I get silence. And I’ve got my family here with me. My mother lives in the east wing, I’ve got my sisters, my nephews.”
Q. You lived in London for 30 years. Did you like living in the UK?
“I loved it but I’m happy now as my neighbours are miles away! I did a lot of great work in the UK, including with the London Philharmonic and worked with a lot of people I’ve loved for years. I’ve lived in many places; Germany, Switzerland… Why?! Well, I live on Earth, the whole planet, that’s the way I look at it! I’ll be in the UK all summer which will be great.”
Q. So many of your songs have been covered many times. Are there are songs that are so precious you wouldn’t want them covered?
“Well I wouldn’t want any of my songs to be copied or covered if they weren’t done well or with the best of intentions, honorably… I don’t want anybody to do a shlock job! But having said that, music is a free agent unto itself – it doesn’t belong to me, it’s for everybody.”
Q. You’re considered one of the great divas. How do you feel about the term ‘diva’ and do you embrace it?
“I know inside what I am. Whatever everybody wants to say about me, so long as it’s in a positive light, I’m happy. Titles don’t mean a lot to me, they do not define me.”
Q. You’ve achieved so much. Anything you still want to do?
“I can’t think of anything else but believe me that doesn’t stop stuff happening. I’m just very open and willing, that’s all I can do. I’ve been doing a lot of talks with children in schools. We have an open floor and they can talk about anything. I’m looking to start doing some podcasts with younger kids, young adults. That’s half of my job right now as a human being. I love my grandchildren and the focus on young people because they’re our future. We owe them a great deal of our time, energy and respect.”
Q. What advice would you give young performers paving their own way?
“Be true to yourself. Honesty is the best policy, even if it hurts! Especially if it hurts: that means it’s meaningful. This is the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone who’s around you.”
Q. How will you cater to a jazz crowd at Love Supreme festival?
“I’m not doing anything specific! I’m a multifaceted singer, I can sing anything. The best thing I’m doing is getting rid of that Queen of Funk s***. I hate to be boxed in. I do as much as is humanly possible on that stage. And everyone’s happy! I’m going to start implementing strings in my show, so I can do To Sir With Love and Big Spender and all that. I’ll be very happy to be doing shows. And I have my hits. I keep it moving, changing, that’s how you keep it interesting.”
Q. What do you think is most challenging about the music industry today for new singers coming into the industry?
“There is so much that needs to change, it’s horrific. First of all how women are set up to compete with one other. There’s no place for competition in self-expression. But often labels count on us [women] being competitive with each other, which is stupid.”
Q, What advice would you have for younger singers and your younger self?
“I think be honest and faithful with yourself and don’t be afraid. You have to keep yourself clear on what your goals are and stay true to yourself, which is a tough thing to do for young people, I think. I control my life and I’ve never let success run away with me. I’ve taken it and ran. The only thing that could threaten my stability is me. I’m my only threat and my own worst enemy. You’ve gotta follow your own path, trust your heart and listen to the warnings. You can’t argue with the universe. It’s not about that. It’s more about relaxing and knowing that you can handle it and feeling empowered. Knowing you have the power to do whatever the hell you want to do! That’s what it’s about. It really is.”
Nadine invites you to lead a charmed life with her 4KIX footwear accessories range
So Nadine, tell us a little more about 4KiX… 4KiX is a British accessories brand that encourages self-expression through fashion, flair and fun! Our mission is to celebrate what makes each of us unique. Inspired by street wear and pop-culture, our “shoellery” personalises the look of any footwear as well as lending itself to accessorise other aspects of an outfit. It’s mindful and versatile with the quality and flair of high end fashion, at more inclusive pricing.
What exactly is shoellery? Shoellery is basically jewellery for your shoes! We accessorise all the other parts of an outfit, and it’s so much fun to be able to add that touch of personalisation to our shoes as well. The way they attach is our creation and is completely unique to the brand. It’s comfortable, durable and attaches without the need for undoing your laces or straps.
What was your inspiration to start the brand? I’ve had a passion for trainers and jewellery since the moment I could speak and point at sparkly things. In more recent years, I had been obsessing over the trend for sparkly trainers, but hesitant about the high price tags, so I started buying simple trainers and embellishing them myself. I wore them everywhere, even on holiday and wherever I went, I was stopped in the street by people saying: “I love your kicks, where can I buy them?” That was my lightbulb moment where I was initially inspired to design a line of trainers, but then I realised that what I truly loved was accessorising them, and that’s how the idea for the product started to form.
Who can wear 4KiX? Anyone and everyone. While we seem to have a sweet spot among pre-teens and tweens, we have a broad age range of customers comprising teens, mothers, mothers matching daughters, grandmothers and even some boys.
When did you hit the U.K. high street? We hit the UK high street this past Christmas 2023 with a very successful pop up at John Lewis on Oxford Street. We featured in their Christmas Shop for the last week before Christmas. It was an honour and a pleasure to make our high street debut with such an iconic retailer on one of London’s most prominent streets for shopping and trends.
What are your best sellers? We genuinely have so many bestselling styles that we struggle to keep in stock. Among them are: Yummie Gummie, Over the Rainbow, Murakami Me, Say Cheese, Loved Up, Grin-a-bling, all of our evil eye styles, Pucker Up, and Cloud 9.
Has anyone famous worn 4KiX? Yes, sports presenter & broadcast journalist Kiri Bloore has worn our Evil Eye bracelet and MVP charms. We also have some high profile celebrity customers whose names we can’t reveal out of respect for their privacy, but we can share that they ordered our Loved Up and Eyes on You bundles, which come in our branded boxes that look like candy and make great gifts.
And what’s your background? My background is PR, but when I moved to the US, I had started pursuing a health coaching certification because I have a passion for helping people. On a visit back to the UK, I stumbled upon my Art History sketch pad in the back of my closet and remembered how much I loved everything artistic. In an effort to deal with the stress of my coaching coursework, I began drawing, designing and crafting. I posted photos of my creations on Instagram and received calls from family and friends saying, “Drop everything and do this!” That’s what planted the seed towards developing the idea for 4KiX.
What does luxury mean to you? To me luxury is about joy. The joy of discovering pieces that make you smile, feel good, bring out your sparkle. It’s about making you feel pampered and seen. Everyone deserves to feel celebrated. Luxury is about connection, quality and self-expression. Ultimately, it’s our goal to make people smile and help them express what makes them unique.
You started from a kitchen table, what are your plans to expand in 2024? We currently have a few stockists in locations including USA, Monaco, Bahrain and Holland. Our goal for 2024 is to continue growing with more stockists in more locations throughout the world. We’d love to reach as many audiences as possible, and most importantly, to spread as many smiles as possible.
Feel fresh this year with a crop of palate pleasers – Giles Luckett reviews some seasonally appropriate wines
Spring is in the air. Well, spring rain is in the air at least, and the new season calls for a fresh crop of wines. For this month’s column, I’ve looked for classics that will pair with the new season’s produce alongside a couple of head turners that you may not have encountered before. Anyway, enough preamble, let the recommendations flow…
I’ll start with a wine that’s always been synonymous with spring, Muscadet. One of the breakthrough wines of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Muscadet played a big part in turning the UK into a nation of wine lovers. At its best, it’s as fresh as a spring morning, with citrusy fruit offset by a yeasty tone and a taste of the sea that makes it the perfect partner to fish and seafood – it’s glorious with new season oysters. The Adnams Muscadet (Adnams £9.99) is as a delicious example of this classic wine, providing the complexity that many a more expensive Chablis can only dream of. Dry, crisp, and loaded with green apple, melon, and greengage fruit, the creamy-saline finish makes for a surprisingly satisfying glassful.
Next up the first of two Rieslings. Riesling is invariably an excellent wine, but many people are put off as they think it will be sweet. Riesling is capable of astonishing sweet wines such as the fabled Trockenbeerenauslese from Egon Mueller (a snip at around £10,000+ a bottle), but most New World producers focus on producing crisp, dry wines that are as food-focused as my Springer Spaniel. A great example is the VillaMaria Private Bin Riesling (Waitrose £10.99). White gold, the piercing bouquet comprises of apple blossom, citrus, and white peaches with a suggestion of honey and lime. On the palate, it’s just as complex, with green and white fruits vying with minerals and a rapier-like grapefruit acidity. This is just the thing for new- season asparagus or a herby spring chicken.
Staying with Riesling, we have something that shows this grape’s incredible range. The Empire Estate Dry Riesling Reserve (Good Wine Good People £34.50) hails from New York’s Finger Lakes region. This is an arresting iteration of Riesling that nods at France’s great Alsace Rieslings in its dryness and piercing intensity, but it is very much a Finger Lakes wine in its sophisticated, slightly idiosyncratic style. Pale green-gold with an evolved nose of candied lemons, grapefruit, apple blossom, and a green herb bitterness, it seems to change with each inhalation. In the mouth, almond-tinted grapefruit leads the fresh, tangy attack. This is followed by ripe pears, peach stones, a white peel bitterness, and a very fresh, lemony acidity that’s mellowed by honey and minerals. This is a wine to buy by the case and see how it evolves over the coming decade.
Viognier is an interesting, not to say mercurial grape. In California, it can produce buttery behemoths, while in South Africa it tends towards leaner, cleaner wines. In its home of France’s Rhône Valley, it can produce wines that combine freshness with depth, power with finesse as showcased by the Chapoutier Combe Pilate Viognier (London End Wines £15). Opening up with a surprisingly subtle nose of apricots, oranges, and bergamot against a background of citrus, it was love at first sip. Supercharged with fruit and very fresh, it quickly develops in the mouth revealing juicy apricots, peaches, and vanilla spice that contrasts beautifully with the firm mineral and lemon finish. This would be lovely with baked white fish, pan-fried poultry, or salmon.
A good Chardonnay is always a treat and is the ideal foil to spring staples such as roast pork, goats’ cheese and rocket salad, or roasted guinea fowl. I recently tasted one from Austria, the Allacher Chardonnay Reserve (Good Wine Good People £24). I’m a big fan of Austrian wines, though my experience has been largely confined to their stylish Rieslings and brilliant Gruner Veltliners. This was an unusual and delicious take on this noble variety. Deep gold, the nose brims with honey-coated tropical fruits with a soft, perfumed edge. Big and bold, the generous palate has a creamy texture and is suffused with baked apples, apricots, honeydew melon, vanilla, and spices before the fresh, zingy finish adds a refreshing balance.
Sauvignon Blanc is another great spring wine. Its freshness and easy drinking nature means it lends itself well to garden sipping or as a partner to new season treats like steamed Jersey Royals, creamed broad beans, or roasted celeriac. Sauvignon grows well all over the world except for Tasmania, apparently, where a leading winemaker told me it was a ‘weed that needs grubbing up’. I touched a nerve there, it seems. South African wineries are better disposed to it and when you taste wines like the Journey’s End ‘Eagle Owl’ (Majestic £9.99) it’s easy to see why. Rhubarb and gooseberries are the signatures of this weighty, rounded Sauvignon. The nose is bright, zesty, and suitably intense, but – as with the body – it’s not green peppers and citrus that dominate, there’s more to it than that. Over a bedrock of acidity is overlain a tart-sweet tone of stewed rhubarb with a sherbet edge and some riper flavours from the gooseberries, giving a wine that’s refreshing and seriously good fun.
I’ll finish on a patriotic note with an English wine, the Denbies Chardonnay 2022 (Denbies £24.50). When I started in wine, England’s vineyards were just about getting marginal grapes like Müller-Thurgau – which usually tastes as good as it sounds – to produce something. Roll forward thirty years and leading English wineries like Denbies are being spoken of by the likes of Oz Clarke as being capable of giving Burgundy a run for its money. On the evidence of this, I think he has a point. The nose is creamy, nutty, fruity, and harmonious with the rich red apple and peach fruit freshened by lemon and lime. On the palate, it has a lovely peachy texture that displays nectarine, red apple, and lychees with a honey and lemon coating. Thoroughly impressive it shows that English wine, not just English sparkling wine, is capable of being a world-beater.
Well, that’s it from me for now. Next time I’ll be joining in the World Malbec Day celebrations and running down (bigging up) my top ten Malbecs.
Peter Henry tells us about his rewarding role as a volunteer with Schoolreaders… Perhaps you could sign up to change lives, too?
Schoolreaders is a national children’s literacy charity which helps children to catch up on their reading by recruiting, training and placing volunteers into primary schools in their local area.
I am happily retired after a successful career however; I can truthfully say that nothing I did in my professional life seems as worthwhile and satisfying as watching the children I read with improve their literacy.
Why is this so important? One in four children leave primary school unable to read to the expected standard.
This means they cannot fully access secondary education and only one in 10 of these children will get a GCSE in English and Maths. This can severely diminish their life chances. One in seven adults in England (7.1 million) are functionally illiterate so cannot read instructions on a medicine label, sit a driving theory test or fill in a job application form. That is why helping children to improve their literacy at primary level, has never been so important.
“Nothing I did in my professional life seems as worthwhile and satisfying as watching the children I read with improve their literacy.”
I volunteer in a local infants’ school and my role is to focus on those children, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who need a little extra help learning to read. Fortunately, one thing of which you can be sure is that all children aged between five and seven are eager to learn and great fun to be with!
I, like many other Schoolreaders volunteers, could share a great many heart-warming stories. These include the boy who, for over a year, had really struggled, then one day was comprehending sentences and asking questions about the book, to the girl who not only reads the stories, but gives each character a different voice. I always return home from school with a spring in my step!
We are always in need of readers especially as more and more schools are asking for our help, which is provided absolutely free. So, if what you have read here has inspired you to think about joining us, and you can commit to an hour a week during term-time for a year, the next step is easy – please just visit School Readers to learn more.
Musician Paloma Faith tells us about her new break-up album The Glorification of Sadness ahead of her UK tour which starts this month
Q. Hello Paloma; congratulations on your album, your best yet! Are you happy with it?
“Thank you. Well, yes but it’s difficult! I’m the sort of person who takes any sort of success with a pinch of salt… When people say ‘oh it’s really great’ you never know whether that’s going to translate into popularity or streaming figures.”
Q. Do you have imposter syndrome?
“Yeah and I think it’s part of what drives me. We live in a real era of isolation; it’s all internet or social media-led and quite confusing. I’m not quite sure what’s real and what isn’t. I look at my following of 800,000 and then I look at peers of mine, who have 2 milllion and they don’t sell as many records. So I tend to be a bit blinkered and just go: ‘oh I’m gonna give the best show that I can’.”
Q. Do you think women have to play a role to win popularity?
“It’s funny, I didn’t announce my break-up but when the press reported it all the comments underneath were either ‘she’s a bloody handful’ or ‘I’m sorry he cheated on you’. It’s so weird that people think in those two narrow-minded terms and neither one is correct. As a woman either you’re a victim, and if you’ve got kids with them you’re expected to stay and suffer, or you’re perceived as this nightmare femme fatale character. I don’t think I’m either! So it’s wrong on both counts. There’s the expression of sadness [on this album] and remorse and vulnerability but also there’s a lot of empowerment, standing up for myself and saying this isn’t for me. In this way society needs to catch up. Quite often I listen to songs by women and they’re celebrated when they express vulnerability or victimhood but not so much when they express their strength.”
Q. You were moved by something Madonna said…
“Yes, Madonna says the most controversial thing she did was to stick around & I relate! A woman’s longevity is always under attack more than a man’s. I’m lucky; I’ve always looked quite young for my age, partly because I don’t do the injectables that, I think, make people look old. I hope to stick around!”
Q. Who would be your dream collaborators, alive or dead?
“I think I’d like to stick with the people who are still alive, please! I would love to work with SZA and Miley Cyrus.”
“Performing is my favourite thing to do and the only time I’m not anxious”
Q. How do you take care of your mental health?
“I do exercise and I go to therapy. I’ve done EMDR [eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing] and think it’s really good. One thing I’m learning more recently in my life is that avoidance or distraction mean your issues just come back to bite you in the bum. You can choose to address & face your issues and own up to who you are or else you’re just prolonging the agony.”
Q. Do you like being on tour and will you take your children on this one?
“I’ll take my youngest but the oldest is in school so she can only come for the dates in the Easter holidays; she’s gutted about it and has real FOMO! I love touring. I get a bit nervous beforehand but performing is my favourite thing to do and the only time I’m not anxious.”
Q. Are you looking for love?
“I tried dating for a bit and it just feels difficult to navigate when you’ve got children. The last time I was single I didn’t have any kids and I wouldn’t ever put anyone before my children. And I just don’t have the tolerance I used to have. When we as women are looking to pursue relationships and we don’t have kids, we compromise a lot. People keep talking to me now about compromise but I think ‘oh f*** off with your platitudes, I don’t have to compromise, I’d rather be on my own’. Maybe I am a nightmare woman after all, haha! You know better than you did when you were younger that you can do it without anyone.”
Paloma Faith is on tour including the Hexagon in Reading on 3rd April and New Theatre Oxford on 14th May as well as starring at Southampton Summer Sessions on 28th June. Visitpalomafaith.com
We’re sharing a taste of Gennaro’s Verdure: Big and bold recipes to pack your plate with veg by Gennaro Contaldo (Pavilion Books).
Arancini di funghi; filled mushroom balls
(makes eight)
These filled mushrooms may seem a little fiddly to make but, believe me, they are well worth the effort! Once filled, the mushrooms are pressed together to form a ball or, as I’ve called them in Italian, arancini (little oranges). I like to serve them with a selection of salads and pickles. You can easily make these vegetarian by omitting the pork and Parmesan by substituting with extra breadcrumbs and chopped mushrooms.
Ingredients:
16 small-medium chestnut or white mushrooms (approx. 500g/1lb 2oz), wiped clean
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
knob of butter
100g (3½oz) minced pork
Two sage leaves, finely chopped
4 tsp white wine
50g (1¾oz) ricotta
30g (1oz) grated Parmesan
plain flour, for dusting
Three eggs, lightly beaten
abundant dried breadcrumbs, enough
to coat the mushrooms
abundant vegetable oil, for frying
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and, using a small spoon, very carefully remove as much of the interior (gills) as possible without tearing the mushrooms. Finely chop the stalks and combine with the gills.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a small frying pan, add the chopped mushrooms and stir-fry for a couple of minutes over a medium heat until softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Replace the frying pan on the heat, add the minced pork and sage and stir-fry until the meat is well sealed. Season with salt and pepper, then add the wine, stir and allow to evaporate. Add the cooked mushrooms to the pan and cook for a minute, then take off the heat, allow to cool, then stir through the ricotta and Parmesan.
Fill the mushrooms with this mixture. Join two mushrooms together, pressing well, then coat in flour, dip in beaten egg and repeat to double-coat. Finally, coat in breadcrumbs.
Heat plenty of vegetable oil in a deep, heavy-based pan over a medium/highheat until hot, then deep-fry the mushroom balls for about four minutes until golden brown. A deep-fat fryer is ideal for this if you have one!
Using a slotted spoon, lift the mushroom balls out of the oil, drain well on kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil and then serve immediately.
Recipe 2:
Torta di carote e mandorle – carrot & almond cake
(serves eight)
Delicately light and healthy, this easy carrot cake would be perfect with a morning coffee or at teatime. I like to use the Italian raising agent known as Paneangeli, with its delicate vanilla flavour, and it should be obtainable from Italian delis and international shops. Otherwise, regular baking powder will work just fine.
Ingredients
Four eggs, separated
225g (8oz) caster sugar
130g (4¾oz) plain flour, sifted
2 tsp Paneangeli baking powder, sifted
(or regular baking powder)
150g (51/2oz) ground almonds
275g (9¾oz) carrots, grated
a little icing sugar, sifted
handful of flaked almonds
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/ gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm (8in.) round springform cake tin and line it with baking paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together for about 10 minutes, until nice and creamy.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold the flour, Paneangeli (or baking powder), ground almonds and grated carrots into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the stiffened egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and bake in the oven for 55–60 minutes, until risen and cooked through. If you insert a wooden skewer, it should come out clean.
Remove from the oven, then leave to cool completely before carefully removing it from the tin. Place on a plate and dust the top with icing sugar and a handful of flaked almonds, before serving.
TIP
This cake is best eaten fresh but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
Taken from Gennaro’s Verdure: Big and bold recipes to pack your plate with veg by Gennaro Contaldo (Pavilion Books). Images by David Loftus.
Author and journalist Michael Smith is talking murder this month with the popularity of whodunnits, a good mystery and quirky characters all adding to the killer plots
Those easy-paced detective novels – where you try to solve the crime before the detective – are perennial bookshop favourites. Witness the recent success of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club novels or Robert Thorogood’s similarly titled The Marlow Murder Club series.
Now the Crime Writers’ Association is getting in on the act with a new addition to its legendary Dagger awards. The Daggers have tended to go for more complex and innovative crime thrillers, with interesting settings and psychological twists rather than the more traditional Agatha Christie-style detective mysteries. But the Whodunnit Dagger will celebrate the increasingly popular “modern cosy, traditional crime, and Golden Age mysteries”. The association says the new award “will focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery and revolve around often quirky characters”.
The quirky character is of course one of the most important staples of the ‘whodunnit’. Dilly Knox, himself one of the quirkiest of the Bletchley Park codebreakers, and his two brothers Evoe, a journalist, and Ronnie, a successful writer of murder mysteries, devised a set of 10 strict rules to which whodunnits must adhere. They included that the killer must be mentioned in the first five chapters, and that no supernatural causes, no previously unknown poisons and no more than one secret room or passage were allowed. The rules were adopted in 1929 as the Solemn Oath of the Writer’s Detection Club, which included such luminaries as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.
The small south Oxfordshire town of Wallingford, where Round & About is put together and published, can fairly claim to be “cosy crime central”. Agatha Christie was one of the town’s most famous inhabitants. She and her husband bought a house there beside the Thames in 1934 and she was still living there when she died in 1976. There’s a bronze bench statue looking out over a park where you can sit beside her.
The town and the surrounding villages have also been repeatedly featured as locations in that long-running cosy crime series Midsomer Murders. Now Marlow, just down the river, is to be featured on television as well with Thorogood, a successful television writer and producer with Murder in Paradise, bringing The Marlow Murder Club to the small screen. Samantha Bond plays the lead character Judith Potts, a retiree living alone in a Thames-side mansion who drags two of her friends into investigating murder.
Robbie James says “we’re all busy” but don’t use that as an excuse when there’s more to it
We’re fast approaching spring. Daffodils are blooming (although they bloomed early this year according to Monty Don), we’re unsure when the clocks change (31st March), and the BRITs are behind us (I love Raye). I’m meeting this sense of optimism with a rant about busyness. Not necessarily being busy, but telling me about it. Hope you’re ok with being my sounding board?
I know you’re busy. You know how I know? Because we’re all busy. We are all trying to cope with a cost of living crisis whilst ensuring we’ve done our steps for the day, posted our perfectly poached eggs on Instagram, charged our Apple Watch, got our kids a fancy dress outfit for a ninth birthday party on Saturday, ordered a HelloFresh, and kept up with the day-by-day depressing news. It’s a lot.
There was a study conducted by Harvard Business School which discovered that responding with ‘’sorry I’m just too busy’’ to a social or professional invitation was the least trustworthy response you could give.
I also don’t know when it became a thing to be passively-aggressively competitive when it comes to how busy we are and who is the most tired; but it can’t be excellent for our already drained brains.
Unless you were one of our old friends, a key worker during the pandemic, the one positive from those few years of sadness was that it allowed us to slow down because we literally had nothing to do. We were forced to not be in a rush. A Monday consisting of two walks and a game of Monopoly would be categorised as a ‘hectic day’.
I’m not saying we’re not allowed to be busy. As a terrible saying goes…whatever floats your boat. I do worry about obligatory busyness though. I’m definitely not the only one who forces themselves to be busy when they don’t have to be. As a man who has weekdays off, I often don’t really enjoy them. The world isn’t in ‘fun mode’ like it is at the weekend, and I feel guilty laying in or being in the pub by three o’clock.
My second caveat is that being career driven is great, and we live in a country where we’re able to have loads of opportunities, but let’s normalise being busy because it’s no longer a talking point. It’s a completely standard way of living which offers nothing particularly interesting to a conversation. It should be more of a talking point if you’re not busy.
It’s also another sign that we still struggle to open up to one another, especially men. How often have we bought our Guinness to feel masculine (I do actually love Guinness but I’m trying to make a point), nestled ourselves into the corner of the pub and began with…’’Alright mate? How’s things?’’…followed by, ’’yeah good, just busy mate, so busy at work’’. Sigh. It’s like a gentle way of saying you’re drained, exhausted, and maybe a bit sad, without actually saying it. Imagine if you actually did admit to feeling that way…you’d be on minus lad points. So there you go. Oh, actually whilst I’m here venting about everything (I’ve enjoyed today’s therapy session, thank you), let’s stop with saying that everything is an ‘’ick’’. It’s a conditioning tool to close ourselves off to certain people and I think that’s sad and unkind. Ok ok, I’m done now. I’ll write about something ultra positive next month like my new CrossFit plan
