This week I found out the hard way not to do research on an empty stomach (much like the time I found out that shopping at Ikea without a shopping list leads to bad choices, arguments and far too many candles purchased ie. not good!). We have a great food branding project on the go at the moment in decoder (the design studio I co-own) which involves lots of visual research on some gorgeous food and after a few hours research on what was supposed to be a ‘fast day’ on the 5:2 diet (yes, yes, me too) I couldn’t bear the rumbling noises coming from within. I needed to eat something and it had to be rich and satisfying. Luckily I had leftovers that could quickly do the job.

I had made this smoky, sweet beef casserole a few days earlier and honestly, after the few days in the fridge the leftovers were even richer and more delicious than when first cooked. It takes time to create this dish but most of that time you have to do nothing save wait for it to be slowly cooked. Which is really the kind of cooking I like and I think you’ll like it too. Plus, it uses a cheap cut of meat, beef rib trims, so double points are scored there in my opinion. Ask your butcher for them or if you’re a planner with a freezer, order some from here and you won’t even have to go looking for them, just a short wait until they come to you! Sweet!

………………

My Smoky Sweet Beef Casserole

Serves 6

This recipe benefits from the smoky heat of dried chillies. I bought mine at Borough Market at the Cool Chile Company stall but you can buy online from them too.
Chipotle and ancho are fabulous mexican chillies with great depth of flavour and are so useful to have in your larder that you won’t regret buying them. The chillies in this dish give a warmth rather than heat. If you like more of a kick then add more dried chillies.

175 g smoked lardons
440g beef rib trims
2 large onions, sliced
2 small sticks of celery, chopped
1 dried ancho chilli
1 dried chipotle chilli
6 sun-dried tomato halves
1 fresh tomato chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika
large piece of orange peel
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tin tomatoes
stock or water
1 tblsp flour
11/2 tblsp maple syrup
1-2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
2 tblsp verjuice (or lime juice)
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
50 ml strong coffee
salt & pepper

Method.

Pre-heat the oven to 140C.

Soak the dried chilies and the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl with some warm water for at least 20 mins.

Dice the beef rib trim into 2 cm cubes. Toss in seasoned flour (flour seasoned with salt and pepper), shaking off excess flour.

Saute the smoked lardons in a flameproof casserole over a medium heat. When browned and beginning to crisp up, remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl leaving as much fat behind.

Brown the beef (you may need to do this in batches) and remove to the bowl.

Saute the onion and celery till translucent. Meanwhile drain the soaked chillies and tomatoes but reserve the soaking water. Remove the seeds from the chillies.

Place the soaked chillies and tomatoes, garlic, fresh tomato, cinnamon along with the reserved (and drained) soaking water in a processor and blend to a paste.
Remove the sauted onion and celery to the bowl and fry the chilli paste mix for 5 mins. Add the tinned tomatoes, 2 tin measures of stock or water and bring to a simmer.

Add back the beef, lardons, onions and celery with any juices that have gathered in the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, cover and pop in the oven on a slow, low 140C for 3.5 to 4 hours when the beef will have broken down into a tender rich sauce.

Although perfect to eat on the day it is cooked it benefits from being made ahead, stored in the fridge and reheated. I added a dash more of verjuice (I had it in the cupboard, use lime juice instead) when reheating to ‘brighten’ the rich flavours.

Serve over pasta, tagliatelle or pappardelle being ideal. I, however, only had spaghetti and it still tasted fab.
Alternatively serve with plain rice and I can personally vouch that a little leftovers quickly reheated and served in a warm flour tortilla, some chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, a dollop of sour cream, sliced ripe avocado and a squeeze of lime just hits the spot sweetly. Oh yes!

Well, right after the heady highs of being shortlisted on the Fortnum & Mason Food Awards life has been pretty intense! And stressful, so if you’re thinking I’d gone AWOL from here, apologies. I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking, as my aussie OH says. With hardly a moment to spare.

Basically, we decided to put our small South London flat on the market after much dithering about when would be a good time to look for another place with more space. I NEED a dedicated studio space and one without lovely cream carpets! Yes, we went the cream carpet route here, yes, yes, I know…  you reap what you sow. We decided to make a move now and went at it hammer and nails. Cleaning, cleaning, storing, storing, touching up, doing those odd jobs you always meant to finish. Oh and cleaning, did I mention cleaning? We cleaned. I thought that was bad enough but then we had more stress in the form news of a serious medical issue in the family in Ireland and the cleaning suddenly seemed irrelevant.

All this meant time for illustration and cooking was put on hold.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we’ve accepted an offer on our flat, had our offer accepted on a house and an operation in Ireland has brought some better news. So first hurdles are cleared and while there’s still more furlongs to run and more hurdles to jump, I felt like cooking something special for the first time in weeks. I baked a cake.

Now I’ve said it before and I’ll say again I’m no natural baker. Far too mathematical and precise for me but I wanted to celebrate good news and a cake seemed the only way. I had a large bag of pecan nuts I had bought in Australia and so off I scurried to find a suitable recipe. I started by browsing through some american cookbooks and sure enough I found a pecan cake recipe in the Alice B Toklas Cookbook (1954). It was a bit tricky as there were few details on cake tin size or cooking temperatures or length of baking time. When I say ‘few’ I mean none actually! But I muddled through, adapted, guessed, fiddled and produced a decent cake and decided a caramel icing would set it off nicely. It did and I topped it with broken shards of pecan brittle. A proper celebration cake. Here’s hoping it’s the start of a series of celebration cakes.

…………………

Pecan Nut Cake with Caramel Icing and Pecan Brittle

This recipe is based on one given to Alice B Toklas by her friend Fania Marinoff.

360g pecans, chopped very finely
6 eggs, separated
300g sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat the egg yolks till they lighten in colour, add sugar and beat again.

Mix the finely chopped nuts with the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the beaten egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites till they are stiff and gently add to the nut mix.

Divide the mixture between 2 prepared loose bottom baking tins (20 cms diameter). Bake in a preheated oven 200C for approx 30 mins (testing at around 25 mins to see if baked clean through). Allow to cool completely on wire trays before icing.

Caramel Icing

50g unsalted butter
2 tbsp milk
100g dark brown sugar
120g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum (optional)

Melt the butter and brown sugar over a medium heat, stirring gently. Add milk and vanilla and remove from the heat. Beat in the icing sugar (and optional rum).

Working quickly while the icing is warm (not hot) and still pliable spread at least half of the caramel icing as a filling for the cake layers. Sandwich the cake layers together and roughly spread remaining icing on top of the cake.

Pecan Brittle

100g sugar
225g broken pecans
50g cold unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp baking soda

Place the sugar in a saucepan and heat to melting (swirling often). Add broken pecans and the cold, cubed unsalted butter. Stir until the butter is fully absorbed. Add vanilla extract, baking soda and salt. Stir as it bubbles and foams.

Pour onto a prepared baking tray lined with foil or a baking silicon sheet.
Allow to cool before chopping with a sharp knife into shards. Decorate the iced cake with shards of pecan brittle.

Well now, this is very exciting. At least for me (sorry). I’ve been shortlisted for an award. Yes, bit of a shock for me too! But a good one. My work on this illustrated food blog has been shortlisted in the ‘Visual‘ category of the Fortnum & Mason Food Awards 2013. There are three of us on the shortlist; Angela Duke of magazine Food & Travel (sumptuous images and layout, makes you want to get up and go), Jonathan Lovekin of Ebury Press for work on the gorgeous Ottolenghi book: Jerusalem (I love this book) and me.

Obviously I’m chuffed. There’ll be an awards dinner in May when the final winner will be announced but, to be perfectly honest, just getting on the shortlist is super exciting and having checked out my competition I feel very honoured. *twirls and curtsies*

Which brings me to something I’ve been mulling over for some time. Whether or not to sell some prints of illustrations that I create. What do you think? I created the Chicken And Leek Pie illustration below which I love and think it would look fabulous hanging in a kitchen (another version of this recipe has been posted recently on the food illustration site They Draw And Cook). I’ve been planning a few series of images/recipes to sell as signed A3 or A4 digital prints, ready to frame, in limited editions of 75. By printing digitally on fine art paper I can keep costs reasonable. I’d love to get some feedback either by leaving comments on this page down below or on the Simply Splendiferous facebook page or via Twitter (@Ailbhetweets).

This could be a very enjoyable year indeed!

Check out other shortlisted food and drink folk here.

As many of you may know I have one of the best illustration gigs in town. Every so often I pack up my pens and paper and pop around to local gastronomic hotspot, Trinity restaurant in Clapham to draw their Tasting Menu for their restaurant newsletter. I’ve had that commission for a couple of years now (how time flies) and I can honestly say each visit gets more enjoyable. And more creative! Their current menu is so fresh and springlike, with gorgeous plates of greens and creams that I thought I should share here too to remind us all that it really IS Spring, despite the bitter wind and snow and grey outside!

Not only is the food wonderful and the wine matches delightful but you’ll get a warm welcome from the Trinity team. And let’s face it, we all need some warmth at the moment!

Go, enjoy!

Trinity
4 The Polygon  
Clapham
London SW4 0JG
20 7622 1199

Oh, thank goodness!

Today marks the start of Spring and I don’t care if today is grey or rainy or cold or even snowing because… you know… and I know… we’re on the downhill slope to Summer. And not a day too soon. So, to celebrate I offer you all a bunch of these splendid yellow gems to add to last year’s bunch of happy daffodils in a jug. Print both bunches out, stick on your fridge door or office wall or bedroom door and each time you glimpse the happy yellow heads remember that Spring is here and Summer is not far behind.

And… happy St David’s Day!

To access a downloadable pdf of these splendid Tetes a Tetes click here.

To access a downloadable pdf of last year’s Jug of Sunshine click here.

Imagine an island, edged with stunning white-sand bays and sheltered coves so that whichever direction the wind blows from you could always find a calm swimming bay. Imagine if there were no cars allowed on the island save for the island bay-hopper bus and services vehicles. That everyone cycled, children and adults alike. That there was one general store and one bakery. Image that there were no dogs or cats but plenty of a very unique, fairly cute animal.

Ladies and gentlemen I give you Rottnest Island. Or plain old “Rotto” as the inhabitants of Perth, WA call it.

Located about 18 mms off the coast of Western Australia, Rottnest is a mere 11kms long by 4.5 kms wide. This means cycling around is a good option even for the most out-of-condition visitor (if I can do it anyone can, you can hire a bike there). All accommodation is dotted around the island coastline in settlements and varies from hostel and campground through self-catering small units (with pretty bay views) to a selection of ‘premium’ cottages, some of which were occupied by army commanders during WWII. Plus there is one hotel (attached to the one pub) and one upmarket lodge. But in general the accommodation is fairly low key, basic but enough. And if you simply don’t fancy cycling, the regular small bus runs from bay to bay, settlement to settlement.

As for the unique cute furry critter, take a look at the quokka! Cute, eh? Although, to be honest, quokkas seem like a cross between a wallaby and a rat. Which is not so surprising as the name Rottnest derives from the name the first european, a dutch sea-captain Samuel Volkersen, gave to the island which he termed after seeing the quokkas. ‘Rotte Nest’ meaning ‘rat’s nest’. These little critters hop around the island with no restrictions. On the road, around your feet in outside seating areas, in fact leave open your cottage and they’ll may even sneak in for a rummage! They’re harmless (with bad eyesight) but as with all wild animals carry a range of fleas! So no petting please. In fact these little quokkas are a protected species as are many of the fauna and flora of this island, an Australian class ‘A’ Nature Reserve.

I love taking the short ferry ride across to Rotto (25 mins approx from Fremantle, 20kms south of Perth city centre*) and have been lucky enough to spend many sunny days and balmy nights there with good friends eating, drinking, swimming and generally taking it easy. This year was no different except for the fact that we seemed to ramp up the bacchanalian activities and after 2 days realised we had almost worked our way through a week’s supply of drink. Oops! Hmm, those pesky quokkas… who knew they drank, eh?

One healthy-ish edible treat that I brought over to Rotto which disappeared pretty swiftly was some salty sweet seeds packs that I had made as gifts. Australia has strict rules about what you can carry in your luggage as you enter the country so I made a batch of my Chocolate Dates with Almond and these seedy treats after I arrived in Perth. They are so simple to make and will have you in and out of the kitchen before your chilled beer has time to lose any frostiness. Nibble them with drinks, sprinkle over soups (pumpkin soup especially) or salads. I’d advise you to make in large batches as they don’t last long. Enjoy!

Salty Caramelised Seeds

This is less a ‘recipe’, more a ‘guide to ratios’!

2 handfuls of seed mix
(I used approximately 60% pumpkin seeds, 30% a mix of sunflower and 10% sesame seeds – ish)
1 tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Optional:
Pinch of chilli flakes
Crushed cumin or coriander seeds or a spice of your choice
Pinch of dried herbs
Lemon zest

Method

Dry fry the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a frying pan over a medium heat until the pumpkin seeds begin to pop.

Sprinkle into the pan first the sugar, then the salt and finally the sesame seeds (the tiny sesame seeds would burn if you put them in the pan too soon).

The sugar will begin to melt. Stir the seeds so that all get covered in the melting sugar. Add the pinch of chilli, herbs, spices or zest if using (optional) Keep an eye on the heat and turn it down low if the sugar begins to burn.

When all the sugar is melted empty the caramelised seeds onto a baking sheet. Allow to cool

That’s it! I know, too easy. But I promise this is one of THE BEST nibbles you will make.
I accept all forms of thanks.

………………..

*Ferries from Barrack St Jetty in Perth city take 90 mins, ferries from Hillarys Boat Harbour take 45 mins. We usually depart from Fremantle.

Crikey it’s cold. And by cold I mean freezing and by freezing I mean below freezing! More snow forecast again! We landed back in London from our Australia trip last Monday week when it was a balmy 2C in London and the temperature has steadily dropped since then, not to mention a fair few centimeters of snow. Ah well, I did moan about the heatwave (40C+ – hello!) for the five weeks in Oz so I’d better just get adjusted to the cold. To be honest at least I can ‘think’ in the cold whereas the heat makes me sleepy and very, very grumpy as my poor OH can testify to.

However, it wasn’t all sweatiness and sleepiness in Perth. I’ve been going over to Perth, Western Australia, every couple of years for over two decades now and this year saw the biggest change. Not in the people, as laid-back and as friendly as ever, but in the vibrancy of the city night life. Perth is a small city with a stunning setting on a bend on the Swan river and as you can see from the photo above it looks fabulous when viewed across the river. Water sports are very much part of life in Perth and new (some say controversial) plans to develop the city foreshore will mean a new marina for the city and even more river activity. Which, in my visitor’s opinion, is wonderful. The river is a great resource for the residents and, if managed well, will only make Perth city a more attractive place to live in. Previously, social life in Perth was all about its suburbs and not the city. Areas like Subiaco and Leederville or in more recent times Northbridge were the action spots with bars, restaurants and cafes. Apart from that, people entertained at home – the BBQ well-deserves its reputation as an Aussie icon as there is nothing, but nothing, that those antipodeans cannot cook on a barbie – but few would suggest meeting up in the city for an evening out.

But now Perth has its own city nightlife. Whereas once the CBD (Central Business District) became dead after work hours now there are some great bars and restaurants, all close to each other, to choose from. The brave ‘inner city living’ pioneers in the newly built townhouses or residential apartments of East Perth (who a lot of people thought were mad) had often to schlep out to the ‘burbs for their down time. All’s changed though, now there are a multitude of exciting lively spots and, people, they not only look good but the food we ordered was fantastic. Here’s where we visited on a short but very enjoyable bar crawl.

Andaluz

21 Howard St, Perth WA 6000
@andaluzbar

We had originally decided to start out small bar crawl here in this dark tapas bar with just a drink but we weakened when we were hit with some great aromas. I had already had a recommendation for Andaluz from Irish blogger and ex-resident of Perth, Carol Anne and it turns out this recommendation was good (as were several others, thanks CA). We snacked on the most delicious small chorizo sausages (so juicy that my OH’s brand new shirt got squirted on as another of our gang bit into one!), a great grilled flat bread (beautifully charred and smoky outside, soft inner) which came with marinated labna (cream cheese) and a bowl of the most gorgeous citrus, garlic and thyme olives. All very simple but all perfectly executed and a great indicator that the kitchen can produce really authentic food and can source well. We hit it lucky regards grabbing a table as I heard that Andaluz’s popularity can mean waiting times for tables can be long. Friendly serving staff made the visit even more pleasant.

The Grand Central Bar and Restaurant

150 B St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000
@GRAND_Central

Quite a funky new place, spreads out from the front bar across 3 split level areas. Moody with interesting lighting, the bar was fairly chilled when we called in around 7.30 pm on a January Thursday evening. Cocktails seemed reasonably priced for Perth (it’s an expensive city to eat or drink in) and my Moscato Mojito was very good. The music was good, staff pleasant and the bouncer out front a friendly (big) gentleman. Liked the vibe of the place and from other reviews I found online the food is reasonable and enjoyable. Perthies, go check it out!

The Print Hall

Brookfield Place
125 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000
@Print_Hall

This was our last port of call, again a fairly recently opened venue. We had a drink first on the ground level main bar which is a lovely space. In what was the original site for the printing presses of  “The Westie” (“The Western Australian”, the daily tome of a newspaper for the state) there stands a bar and dining hall. Wonderful decorative features like original terazzo detailing and timber bar add to the lush mood. We forwent the ground level Dining Room experience and instead took the lift up to The Apple Daily Bar & Eating House which is a no-booking dining section but we had no difficulty in securing a table for six. The food was exciting, a mix of South Asian dishes; Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian and Filipino. Plates are made for sharing which we did enthusiastically. Great fresh flavours, spikes of heat and depths of umami richness were accompanied by “Oohs”’ and “Ahhs” and “Did you try this?”. We devoured fresh oysters, Blue Manna Crab soft rolls with dipping sauce; Pad Thai, Prawns, Sweet Pork & Chilli Jam (Oh yes!); bone suckingly gorgeous Tamarind Spare Ribs; BBQ Beef Salad with Green Mango Salad and steamed rice. Loved it all. Not cheap, which is unfortunately the norm for Perth, but the quality of the dishes made it good value.

After eating, we popped up a level to the roof bar, Bob’s Bar, named after Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister, the legendary Bob Hawke. It was windy the night we visited but one could easily see that it would be a fun area to spend a few hours in when less blustery. Plus you could amuse yourself reading some of Bob Hawke’s memorable quotes scattered around! The food here is spanish in theme, tapas/ small plates, and there’s even a small sherry listing not just ‘for the little laydeez’.

All in all if this was just a taste of Perth’s new inner city offerings then the future looks fun for “Perthies”.

Apologies for dodgy bar images, shot in low level lighting on my iPhone and then there’s the matter of drink!

Note:
A downside to Perth is that in general prices are high, especially when eating out. This year we particularly noticed it and, apart from the venues above, we weren’t always convinced that the higher prices were merited. Perhaps it’s a natural consequence of the mining boom in the state which has allowed WA to avoid much of the global financial woes. But it is something to be aware of if you visit.

This is very, very quick posting for me but I really feel the need to share this with you. Yesterday I went, for the first time ever, to The River Café for lunch. The lively Niamh (aka eatlikeagirl – she who has finger on the pulse of the food happenings in London) suggested we pop there for lunch not only to catch up and welcome in the New Year but because they were once again offering their Winter Set Lunch menu. It’s a fantastic offer, 2 courses £25 / 2 courses + dessert £31 / 3 courses £39.

Now I really don’t know why it is I’ve never eaten at The River Café. Especially as their reputation is that of consistently delivering superb Italian food in a lovely riverside setting. I guess it’s that I live in South London and Hammersmith seems a trek away (it wasn’t) and besides, I don’t always have the funds for a Michelin starred restaurant!

Which is why this is such a bargain. The food (and wine) was just delicious. Not tricksey, not flash, just cooking and flavours to delight. I ordered Crab Taglierini (crammed with crab, buttery and rich, with fennel seeds, chilli and parsley to cut through that richness) followed by Roasted Middlewhite pork leg wrapped in Coppa di Parma with tomatoes, chickpeas and cima di rape (yes, as gorgeous as it sounds). I finished up with Chocolate Nemesis (had to really, it’s their classic dessert). All I say is that as soon as I came home I booked again to bring my OH who I know will love it. I took rubbish photos as I hadn’t intended to review our lunch but I feel in love with the colourful wood-burning oven and I sketched it last night.

Ok. I’ve told you. I’ve shared. Don’t say I never give. Just book and go. Start by visiting the offer page here.

Note: We dined at our own expense and it was worth every penny.

One of my smartest moves has been to snag an Australian as my other half. Apart from some moaning about the London weather, “Is this amount of rain usual?” and a dodgy back collection of albums (‘Hunters and Gatherers’ or ‘Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs’ anyone? No, don’t look them up, just let them drift by you) you do get to visit the extended family back home. Sweet!

That’s how I ended up in December in sunny Western Australia with the prospect of 40C for Christmas Day. Of course, to a freckly fair Irish lady that didn’t fill me with complete joy but I have to admit that after a poor summer in London I’ve been enjoying airing my summer linens and feeling the sun on my skin. And then there’s the food and wine.

At the end of my first week we went ‘down south’ from the capital Perth to the wine growing region of WA. To be precise we spent a few days around Dunsborough, a laid-back little town full of coffee shops, restaurants, bars, bakeries and surf wear while my aussie in-laws gathered for a family wedding which was celebrated in one of the many beautiful vineyards this region boasts. It hardly seems surprising but the combination of great people, food, wine and place all added up to a memorable day. So love and best wishes to lucky groom Phil and his beautiful lady Cath.

We tacked on a few more days in the region after the wedding staying in a campsite close to the main town of the region, Margaret River after which the region is named. There are 120 plus wineries in this area and a few days break cannot do the region justice but armed with some preferences and some recommendations we managed to visit a few and taste a drop or two. All in the name of research you understand.

Jim Bailey of Brown Hill is a witty vineyard owner. The wines he and his winemaker son, Nathan, produce are a great find. The dog was too cute not to include!

Anyway the find of the area for us was Brown Hill Estate wines. Unlike many of the wineries in Margaret River, Brown Hill offers a fairly low key cellar door experience. The ‘cellar’ being the huge shed housing the wine vats and the tasting area is a small corner presided over by owner Jim Bailey (shown above). As Jim explained to us, they do little marketing but word of mouth recommendation has meant that they struggle to meet demand. With 80 acres of planting he would dearly like to plant more but is unsure if he can find time to do that. Their wines score highly on the wine ratings by WA experts Ray Jordan and James Haliday with 91 the lowest score and the majority over 94. And when you taste them you can understand why. Even the low entry ranges are excellent wines at great value but the star wines of ‘Perserverance’ (Cab Merlot 2008) and ‘Bill Bailey’ (Shiraz Cab 2009) are wonderful examples of elegant wine making. Rich and complex, intense in flavour but both with the smooth finish of all the Brown Hill wines. We also tasted ‘Fimiston’ (Reserve Shiraz 2010) ‘Ivanhoe (Reserve Cab Sav 2010) and Coesus (Reserve Merlot 2010). All are smooth and while good to drink now we were advised all the wines will cellar well. Jim’s son Nathan is the manager and wine maker so it’s a true family wine business. Not available in the UK so if you want to try, you need to buy. They will ship abroad and most of their orders are online or mail.

Other favourites where we tasted and purchased were Cape Mentelle (some of their range available in the UK), Knotting Hill (lovely lakeside setting where we lunched on platters of local olives, meats and cheeses), Woodlands (I really liked their more european style blended wines, the 2009 Cab Sav ‘Alma May’ is stunning), Becketts Flat (tasting marred by some old samples but later we had a bottle of their merlot and it was really lovely), Vasse Felix (wonderful lunch there, as always) and Brooklands Valley (that’s the image with wee faun playing flute). We simply ran out of time to visit some wineries we already know and enjoy; Eagle Vale (memories of a great Shiraz!), Ashbrook Estate (an unassuming winery making great whites), Clairault, Xanadu, Voyager and Cullens. Most of these also boast excellent restaurants or cafes but I knew I’d get to taste most of their wines over the following weeks while staying in WA so there was little need to rush around too much. And it was hot. In fact all the time we were there the whole country was experiencing a heatwave and by heatwave I’m talking temperatures of 40C+. Melting hot for me and humid too which is unusual. At least Margaret River is a couple of degrees cooler than the capital of WA, Perth, so we manfully struggled on with our wine tastings. The Margaret River region is the best I know for an all round wine holiday, as apart form bristling with vineyards there are the added attractions of nearby beaches, bush trails, berry farms, chocolate factories, olive groves, galleries (some awesome art & furniture on show), luxury retreats, spas and child friendly restaurants. And all within a 3 hour drive of WA capital Perth. Bliss.

Oh and the surfing is excellent too if you’re so inclined. I – surprisingly I know – am not.