It was the foodie hen-do of all hen-dos. It began on Friday with dinner for the bride to be (Emily), the hen’s sister Polly and myself. Dinner on Friday was at Sam’s of Brighton, I had rib-eye steak, perfectly cooked, served with chunky (proper) hand-cooked chips. Emily’s partridge was a little tight and difficult to eat, but the flavour was good. Polly chose Thai-spiced sea bream which she quietly enjoyed I think, but didn’t say much… A bottle of powerful red from Ribera del Duero was divine.
On Saturday we were sensible all day, knowing that a gourmet dinner and drinking marathon was coming. Polly had arranged for a chef-friend of hers to come and cook a three-course dinner for 15 of us. I loved being responsible for the food & wine-matching element. I had spent hours ‘umming’ and ‘ahring’ over the right combination, plus a few essential tips from the food & wine matching queen Fiona Beckett.
I chose Australian Green Point fizz for the afternoon’s drinking… recommended by the lovely Johnny Ray, Telegraph Weekend. A great value sparkling wine for £10 – it showed enough depth of flavour to stand on its own.
We then moved on to roast peach bellinis with wild mushroom, fig and Parma ham crostinis, olives and bread. Then to start, I enjoyed roast pumpkin, goats cheese and caramelized walnut salad, other chicks gobbled up potted brown shrimps, chicken liver pate with spiced plum chutney, pan fried chicken livers with pomegranate and watercress. For all this I chose Albariño Martin Codax 2008 Rias Baixas – it is one of my fave white wines and always impresses! A white wine of enough strength to complement the many flavours of these dishes, but yet not overpowering and gentle on the palate.
For mains I opted for slow cooked pork belly with herb Puy lentils, black cabbage and grilled apple - it was good but I think a little more slow cooking was needed to get the fat fully dissolved so the meat falls apart. The ‘hen’ had venison with red wine, juniper and chestnuts while there was some great fish being eaten - black bream with herb orzotto and gremolata and cod wrapped with prosciutto and sage with pea and garlic cream. At this point we drank Yering Frog Pinot Noir 2008 which was actually a little powerful in flavour, more than I has imagined. Believe it or not, the richer (Decanter gold award winner) Ch. Moulin Mont Milan 2007 was better, a joy – very smooth.
Three puddings on one plate - Bakewell tart, treacle tart, berry granita and clotted cream were accompanied by a scrummy dessert wine Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2006. Good old Majestic!
And yes believe it or not, after all of that, we still managed a night of dancing at Funky Fish, with lots of vodka red bull – oh dear! A little sore the next day to say the least, but it was so worth it! What will be eating and drinking at the wedding?
Georgie
Within a week of being at University I realised how young and uncultured I was, well, for all of my 18 years that is. Surrounded by gappies who had ‘discovered’ themselves, matured and caught the traveling bug, I felt quite insignificant. I got a part time job and immediately started saving for some extravagant summer adventures to rival the stories of my peers.
You might think I can cook given I work for a food and drink PR consultancy. Well you’d be wrong.
PS
21; a milestone, a coming of age and mostly a time for AMAZING presents! These annoying little assumptions tormented me for months when considering what to buy my boyfriend, Seb, for his 21st birthday. During the summer we had visited Norway on a hiking trip. However due to our university loans not funding such extravagance, we had to camp for the duration of the trip. Usually I’m a lover of the great outdoors and a bit of rough, but my spirits couldn’t help being dampened somewhat as we pitched tent next to a site of traditional (and extremely comfy looking) Scandinavian log cabins. Squished in a two man tent with sizable backpacks to match wasn’t exactly romantic, or a set up suited for a good nights sleep! So to make amends for our missed opportunity, and provide probably the best birthday present I’m ever going to come up with, I booked us a 
Usually my luck in life is higher than the average human being. However, the first day of our trip proved I had had more than my fair share of good fortune and fate was doing a 180 on me. We arrived late at night into a very shanty airport only to find that we couldn’t hire a car being neither 25 nor the owner of a credit card! As the log cabin was a four hour drive from Tampere, we were in somewhat of a pickle. An organisational freak, I was horrified at my lack of preparation and promptly went into a sheepish silence. Little did I know that things were only going to get worse! Jumping off the bus from the airport we arrived in Tampere at midnight only to find our youth hostel closed. Trundling round the town got us nowhere as we were beaten off with Scandinavian hotel prices! After haunting the train station until it closed, Seb and I set up camp for a night on a park bench. Northern Finland, in the middle of March with only a few blankets and fleeces for warmth, was not the smartest idea I’ve had. As we snuggled up for the night I was heartbroken that my brilliant plans had gone so wrong!