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WINE & FOOD | TASTE NOTES

NEW SPHERES
At a glance, Tsuki Mochi chocolate truffles don’t
look unusual, but at first bite you know you’re in TIPS AND TRICKS
a different zone. They are soft and springy, like
If you enjoy Japanese food, but have been put off trying to
the tapioca balls in bubble tea. This texture, highly
cook it by its apparent complexity, read Tokyo Cult Recipes
valued in Southeast Asia, comes from pounded
(Murdoch Books, £20). Tokyo-born and raised Maori Murota
rice. The truffles, handmade using traditional
shows that everyday Japanese cooking isn’t complicated
Japanese techniques, are the creation of brother
once you have learnt a few basic techniques and bought the
and sister duo Howard and Vivien Wong, who dev-
right ingredients. Chapters are organised by meal type,
eloped them alongside Nobu’s head pastry chef
including breakfast, bento, oyatsu (snacks – most of which
Regis Cursan; £4.50 for a box of four, Selfridges.
are sweet), izakaya (tapas bar) and ohiru (lunch).
Ingredient in vogue: perilla. Also known as shiso,
this is a key Vietnamese herb, as featured in the

five-spice pork with perilla, lemongrass and

crispy shallots served at Hop, east London’s hot

new Vietnamese eatery. hopvietnamese.com

TAKE THE BISCUIT

Spanish specialist Brindisa now
WINES OF
has its own range of tortas de aceite,
THE MONTH
Andalusia’s famous – and faintly
addictive – wafer-thin olive oil and
aniseed biscuits. They are about
13cm in diameter and come in three
sweet flavours, including Seville
orange, and two savoury flavours
– plain and rosemary. All are
handmade and individually wrapped
They don’t grow truffles in waxed greaseproof paper; £2.95
in Swabia, south-west for a pack of six. brindisa.com
Germany, but that hasn’t
stopped an enterprising
PHOTOGRAPHS: STUART PITKIN. STYLING: ALEXANDER BREEZE. GLASS TUMBLER, £10, FROM DAVID MELLOR
family from starting
a truffle-products
business, Die
Trüffelmanufaktur. They
import truffles – black,
white, summer and
winter varieties – and
make a mixture from
them, which they send
Young, unoaked Sémillon from Australia’s Hunter Valley is typically out to small local
crisp, light and lemony, but aged in the bottle it becomes unlike any producers. They
other dry white, with distinctive toasty, honeyed, nut and straw then return finished
flavours that aren’t derived from oak. Mount Pleasant Cellar Aged products, such as truffle
Elizabeth Semillon 2007 is a classic and, in cellar conditions, will butter, €9.90 for 95g;
last for years more, £14.95, Slurp.co.uk; £17.80, Hedonism (020-7290 and truffle ketchup,
7870). Torres Altos Ibéricos Rioja Crianza 2012 was aged in which sounds odd, but
American and French oak to give suppleness and a mellow, spicy, oak works, €12.90 for 250g.
and vanilla flavour to the velvety, blueberry fruit, £10.49, Waitrose. dietrueffelmanufaktur.eu

HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK NOVEMBER 2015 205