Last chance to win this luxury Spanish food hamper!

and a quick update on posts that might be useful this month ...

As regular visitors may have spotted there hasn’t been a lot going on on matchingfoodandwine.com lately (largely because I’ve been in Brazil as subscribers to my regular newsletter Eat This, Drink That and followers of my instagram feed will have heard ad nauseam).

Anyway I remembered just in time that the current competition ends today and as I wouldn’t want you to miss out here’s a reminder to go in for it. It’s a slap-up hamper of Spanish food and wine from my friends at mercado44 and includes a selection of luxury Spanish ingredients including 100% bellota grade hand carved jamón Ibérico, Don Bocarte Cantabrian anchovies, Riojan white asparagus, Wood fired Restaurant Gueyumar preserved seafood from Asturias, a litre of their own extra virgin olive oil, Valdespino sherry vinegar and a selection of delicious savoury and sweet snacks.

There are also six wines including their own Bar 44 manzanilla en Rama (one of my favourite sherries), two brilliant Spanish whites and reds and a bottle of Vilarnau’s organic Cava plus a copy of their recipe book ‘Bar 44 tapas y copas’ to inspire you.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago I’m not going to be doing a regular competition going forward as it’s just too much admin but there WILL be one from time to time so don’t unsubscribe if you want to be kept posted 😉. Or hesitate to offer a prize yourself if you’re in a position to do so. (Just contact me at fiona AT matchingfoodandwine DOT com.)

If you’re a paying subscriber you will of course continue to get cookbook giveaways and discounts as well as my Friday 5 food and drink tips, recipes and recommendations. You can sign up for as little as £4 a month though a year’s subscription at £36 or £3 a month is much better value. Just sayin’ ….

V-Day is looming …

I don’t know whether you try to ignore it or celebrate it in style but if you feel you should step up with a suitable bottle you might find my column in the Guardian this week useful. Here’s a quick but indulgent Valentine’s menu from the archives

And if you’re not loved up and are just having a QNI on the sofa here are 10 Valentine’s Day treats to enjoy on your own.

Then it’s pancake day …

… which I wouldn’t miss out on. What should you drink with them? Well depends if they’re savoury or sweet. Here are my top suggestions plus a rather nice recipe for apricot brandy pancakes from the archives if you want to ring the changes.

Everyone’s moving to Substack!

Well not everyone but a lot of food writers I admire so I’m going to update my recommendations shortly so you have some new people to follow. (I haven’t done it yet because I think they notify you automatically and I wouldn’t want you to be deluged with emails.)

I’ll be giving Matching Food & Wine a bit of TLC over the next few weeks so do pop by if you’re looking for a suggestion as to what to drink with a particular recipe or ingredient - or what to pair with your favourite wine.

In the meantime enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Fiona