Sharing is caring

Fashion is not only a clothing thing.

We come across it in almost all aspects of life. Wine trends change… in whites we went from Australian Chardonnay, to Italian Pinot Grigio, to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and this summer everyone shifted to sipping Rosé. In food, we’ve witnessed the rise of the gastro pub, of my starters, mains and desserts all turned into a frothy mousse or purée (enter stage left Tom Atkins), and today it’s all about sharing our meals. Whoever told me as a child that “sharing is caring” should be shot! But, when it comes to food - I actually love the idea – you get to sample everyone else’s meal without being rude!

I believe this trend of sharing plates has been the influence of Asian and Spanish cuisine in the UK. I can think of a few restaurants in London that cater perfectly to this concept:

Yauatcha and Hakkasan – both serving innovative dim sum and Chinese meals
Tendido Cuatro and Casa Brindisa – present delicious Spanish tapas

There are many many more restaurants I can happily list, but today I’d like to tell you of a recent visit to Tendido Cuatro, which you can find along New Kings Road.

My friend and I were seriously thirsty after a long day and week. So that Tuesday, after a brief debate, we hot-footed it to Tendido Cuatro. I can’t say I’ve ever ordered wrong off their menu selection of 10 cold tapas and 20 hot tapas. We narrowed it down to croquetas (Serrano ham & béchamel croquettes with tomato and thyme sauce), grilled baby lamb chops with pardron peppers, griddled king prawns a “la plancha”, and aubergine chips with rosemary honey. Now if that list doesn’t turn you on, then go speak to your doctor!

The hot, crispy aubergine is sticky and sweet in its honey-coating, such an unusual, but obvious combination. The lamb chops are succulent and pink and the blistered pardron peppers, tossed in sea salt were so delicious that I had to make them for our post rugby world cup final Sunday brunch! (Oh yes, good work New Zealand, but reviewing the New Zealand rugby team requires some dedicated thought and focus and a separate entry entirely!)

The croquettes. Oh, those little mouthfuls of smooth cheesy heaven. Sigh.

I mustn’t forget the wines as they are worth a mention.

I started with a glass of La Goya Manzanilla. It’s a dry, fino style sherry with a slightly briny nose and an almond finish on the palate. You can feel the cooling effect of the alcohol. I would recommend this with food, maybe seafood and olives.

For wine we had a lovely Nerola White (2009) from the Torres family. This award-winning organic wine from Catalunya, Spain, was the perfect complement to our tapas. The Torres website says this wine is a blend of Xarel.lo and Garnacha Blanca varieties, styles I’m not hugely familiar with. It had a lovely citrus freshness, with apples, and the oak aging gave it its roundness and long finish. I will definitely have this again when I next visit.

Finally, because it was a Tuesday night, we finished with a plate of the lovely, nutty Manchego cheese with quince fruit marmalade and a glass of Licor 43. I had never come across this liqueur before. They say it’s made up of 43 different Mediterranean fruits and herbs – move over Bombay Saffhire (which uses 10 botanicals)! – and was a deep golden colour and syrupy. It was thick and silky and tasted of toffee-apples, vanilla and butter-scotch.

Dinner for 2 at Tendido Cuatro was £90.
http://www.cambiodetercio.co.uk

Recipe: Padron peppers
Heat 2 table spoons of olive oil in a frying pan and heat. Add Padron peppers (£2.49 for 150g from Waitrose) and fry on a medium heat for about 4-5 minutes until the skins have blistered and softened. Toss in a good sprinkling of course sea salt, such as Maldon and serve.