January: Our recommendations on the menu this month

What we’ve been eating: Mushroom with purslane, mint and marmite

This dish combines the deep, earthy and slightly spicy but also delicate flavour of maitake mushrooms (or hen-of-the-woods) with the nutty taste of chestnut mushrooms.
 
It's brought together by a mushroom and marmite sauce, made by cooking dried mushrooms and mushroom trim with garlic, thyme, bay and celery, which we deglaze with white wine before adding cream and marmite, for a salty, umami flavour.
 
We finish it off with pickled shimeji mushrooms and shallots to cut through the richness, as well as a few droplets of mint gel and mushroom purée, and sprigs of fresh mint and purslane from our kitchen garden, which has an almost beetroot-like flavour to it.

What we’ve been drinking: Etna Bianco DOC Superiore ‘Contrada Villagrande’, Sicily 2018

Today, wine maker Marco Nicolosi continues his ancestors’ work that started in the 17th century on the eastern slope of Etna. At 700 metres above sea level, temperature and precipitation are affected by volcanic activity and altitude, and the area gets ten times more rain than the rest of Sicily in the autumn/winter.
 
Surrounded by oak and chestnut forests, the volcanic fields are rich in iron and copper, which is perfect for growing Carricante, an ancient grape from eastern Sicily. The key grape behind Etna DOC white wines, it is known for its marked acidity, offering a broad range of refreshing, citrus aromas – from lemon and lime to grapefruit and orange – alongside cooling, herbal notes like mint and aniseed.
 
It’s persistent on the nose with complex hints of white fruit and almond flowers, elegant and balanced on the palate, with a persistent minerality and freshness.