The Aperitif Guy

The first time I visited Bilbao was in the late 1990s. My friend was a student there. It would never have crossed my mind to visit otherwise: ETA was still active; the town itself was sadly post-industrial (like so many Atlantic ports), and the only flights from the UK went via Brussels on an airline that was heading for bankruptcy. The Guggenheim Museum had recently opened in the old port district, to much disbelief and bemusement - why would any forward-thinking arts organisation open a prestigious gallery in such a town? Who would risk the disruption of separatist action to visit such a gallery?  Image: P Hodkinson Well, I was visiting and, as it turned out, so have many millions of people since. The Basque government had actually been very far-sighted when they approached the Guggenheim Foundation with an offer of significant financial investment in a gallery of contemporary art. What I found in Bilbao was a proud town that was not going to be defined, either by its declining m...

Italy marks 15th August with a holiday. Strictly speaking, it's the feast of the Assumption, an important religious festival for Catholics. However, you'd be hard pushed to find an Italian who uses that name for it. Throughout the country it's known as Ferragosto - the feasts of Augustus. Romans have been enjoying a summer break since the very first emperor provided games and other entertainments at this time of year to maintain his popularity. Nowadays the word applies to both the Assumption day holiday and the fortnight's break that most locals take following it. The Beloved and I love visiting Italy. Being lovers of good food and wine, it’s natural that much of our holidays (and cash) are spent enjoying the local cuisine. Over the years, I’ve started to notice something in the Italian approach to food that you don’t spot at first. Every good cook knows that you’re supposed to take quality ingredients and let them shine, but nobody really tells you what that means. O...

Autumn is my favourite time of the year for cooking and entertaining. I love to cook with wild mushrooms, orchard fruits, game birds and nuts. Autumn flowers may be hard to come by, but squashes, pumpkins and displays of golden foliage can bring great beauty to your table. Now's the time to let go of my preference for white linen and reach for the cinnamon-red tablecloth, or even a deep brown one. I've been thinking about the flavours I particularly associate with autumn and how we might bring them to the aperitif table. I'll look at four flavours in particular: smoke, apples, pears and blackberries. Smoke Smoked foods of all descriptions make for delicious aperitif nibbles. Simple cubes of smoked cheddar cheese are lovely with a sweet white wine. Look for something with a hint of apple, like a late harvest chenin blanc. Don't ever be afraid of serving a sweet wine as an aperitif. As well as wine, port, Madeira and sherry can all bring a touch of sophisticatio...

We don't think of our food culture in western Europe as having been influenced by Russia, but without it we wouldn't have chefs in tall hats, pre-dinner drinks & nibbles or dining in a series of courses. If you've been following this series about menu-planning, you'll know that this style of dining is known as service russe - Russian service. Catherine the Great (Follower of Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder) [Public domain] When the Tsars established their capital at St Petersburg, they made a conscious determination to look westward to Europe. Catherine the Great, in particular, brought in western aesthetics in art and design and western ideas about education and government. She introduced the practice of speaking French at the Imperial court, since French was the most popular language among European diplomats at the time, and brought over French cooks to work at court. Very quickly, it became very fashionable to employ a French cook, bringing French...

Summer brings a special character to my dinners. The table erupts with colour as I add edible flowers and specialist herbs like bronze fennel or red oxalis as garnishes. I have a loose-weave tablecloth that shows the colour of green, pink or blue undercloths beneath. Table flowers are chosen for their scent as well as their colour, and freesias are a favourite. With so much colour on the dining table, I love to serve colourful and frivolous aperitif drinks, too. One such is the Douglas Fairbanks cocktail. As befits a handsome and daring actor, the cocktail is strong, sharp and fruity. Douglas Fairbanks 60ml dry gin 20ml apricot brandy 10ml fresh lime juice 15ml egg white Place all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake hard until your hand can't stand the cold. Double-strain into a coupe glass and garnish with slices of lime and cocktail cherries. Pimms & lemonade has become synonymous with the English summer, garnished with heaps of fruit, cucumber...

Our friend Chris, with whom I cook regularly and dine almost weekly, has a serious allergy to any seafood. Rather than risk killing a dear friend, I’ve learnt to avoid fish products in my aperitif foods. However, when he's not dining with us, I love to go all out with a full spread of fishy nibbles. Pintxos Gilda I think it was Escoffier who advised to serve all fish or no fish at all on canap és. I wouldn’t be so strict as that, but it does seem to make some sense. I can’t imagine potted crab or smoked salmon tasting right alongside cured beef or chicken liver parfait. A mix of fish and vegetable dishes can work beautifully, though. The advantage of serving a selection comprised only of seafood dishes, of course, is that you know for certain they’re going to complement each other. Octopus on chicory leaves and bottarga eggs When deciding what to serve, think about balances and contrasts. Try mixing two fish and one shellfish or one smoked, one soused and one ...

For the last five months in which I’ve been sharing my love of aperitif culture, I’ve been writing mainly about aperitif drinks. The drink is the backbone of aperitif culture, of course: it’s what lubricates the conversation and eases you out of the pressures of the day. Aperitif food goes almost unnoticed in most discussions, but what’s on your plate can be as important as what’s in your glass. There appears to be a contradiction in serving food to stimulate the appetite. However, the purpose is not to provoke hunger but to kick-start digestion. Hunger can be the enemy of a good dinner. It temps you to gorge on whatever is served first, which is especially dangerous if it’s the bread roll on your sideplate. Good aperitif food will take the edge off your hunger while encouraging the production of saliva and other gastric juices. It tells your brain that something good to eat is coming. Key to its success is that it is visually appealing and stimulating on the tongue. There...