Firstly you've actually got to get up, have a shower and get somewhere before midday, if you can believe that, and then you have to do some sort of stuff you probably wouldn't do if you had a choice. Admittedly January in the wine trade is like an extra holiday as most people are pretending not to drink for a month, so I've got plenty of time to make a start on the mountain of paperwork Christmas creates, drink herbal tea and eat left-over biscuits and cake. I suppose by the 21st everybody will be back on it so I'll have to do come proper work. Oh, I get it now.
Anyway, continuing the frugality and health theme, tonight we're all about the fish (omega 3s - yum) and salad (erm, chlorophyll - delicious!), with some thai-flavoured fish cakes. Recession-Britain points are doubled (as are wanky middle-class points) by the fact East Sheen Waitrose is currently styling itself with an 80s Russian vibe, and features only cabbage and beans on the shelves and massive queues at the checkout, so we swop hot-smoked salmon for smoked mackerel. And fresh coriander for dry.
Still, they're pretty successful - certainly almost as good as the lovely Anna Hansen version made with coconut I'd forgotten about, and with enough for lunch tomorrow - harrumble!
Incidentally, if you want to know what a hard-working wine merchant does over Christmas, it looks a lot like this, or if you want to see me doing my famed Hugh Grant impression, here about half-way through. Gosh.
Wine Time
As we all know mackerel is quite an oily dish, so first-off you need something super crisp, but you've also got some sweet, tropical notes in there from the coriander (even dried), spring onions and ginger, so I think what you need here is a New World Sauvignon. It's got all the lip-smacking acidity you need, with a hefty welly of tropical fruit flavours. A bit like alcoholic Um Bongo.
sources
hot-smoked salmon burger with cucumber salad - Delicious, February 2010, p21
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