Great British Menu

[whiffey]

Is there some pretension here ?

Birch Sap Wine. Who would in the first place anyway think of making wine from tree sap ? Is the next obvious step to say Ah ha I know what a good idea to use it to 'cure' (marinade?) pigeon breast.

Has anybody tried birch sap wine, and am I missing something with this programme? It is very very interesting and good viewing, but a far cry from packet ham with cherry tomatoes and boiled potatoes.

Good programme.

[weeal]

whiffey, it sounds kinda Greek, Retsina wine is made from pine resin and its fab stuff, maybe Birch Sap wine is also nice?

you are funny

[Booldawg]

There was a brewery not far from me called Gales (now owned by Fullers) They did a whole range of 'country wines' and the birch sap was a particularly good one. If you like ridiculously dry white wines (Chablis etc) then you wont go far wrong. It was about 14.5% as well.

[bazzard]

I've had birch sap wine, but I find it rather sweet and uninteresting to drink. As a wine maker, I've tried most recipes in my wine making book, but had to resort to buying this one.

[WoWo]

"and am I missing something with this programme?"

Obviously, it's about innovative cookery, if there had been no inovation in cookery we would still all be eating nuts and berrys.

Cookery in this style is about using ingredients and methods in different ways. It's about knowledge of ingredients and where and when they work or also where they won't work.

I say this tongue in cheek so don't take offence, but this is why these chaps are Michelin Starred Chefs and you are still eating Packet Ham and Cherry Tomatoes, very nice I'm sure but bound to get a little boring.

[whiffey]

My apologies for this thread - the programme and the food are BRILLIANT !! It's programme of the day for me, up there with MasterChef, and yes, once again I am having boiled potatoes, Co-op ham, and cherry tomatoes ! :)