Well, I got nowhere near the Rapha Festive 500. Many congratulations to all of those who braved wind, rain and snow to log the miles. I reckon my own festive kms totalled a measly 150. They were not entirely uneventful though, with copious refreshment on this first (thanks to brimming hipflask and a welcome Shepherd Neame stop at the halfway point), ice and masochism on the second (not to mention a back wheel that flew out halfway up Doleham Hill), and multiple puncturing on the third. Our Christmas plans precluded any more time on the bike than that, and a bloody good time was had by all, etc.

Anyhow, 2011 is here and it’s looking good so far. Multiple bike projects – the English, the Lo-Pro, a new trail bike hopefully, something tougher for the big mountains too. La Marmotte, biking in Verbier, biking on Snowdon, biking all over the place. Lots of food projects (hopefully), a bit of vintage car rallying along the way. Oh, and a baby arriving in April. Fingers crossed…

And I leave you with the news that the infamous Serbian warlord and tiger breeder Arkan is apparently not dead, and instead now living under an assumed name in Crundale, Kent.

Pork scratchings are just the very best cocktail snack. Better than the humble salted peanut. Better even than fat green olives. Even those ethereally green ones they serve at Cecconis.

For some time it has been a medium to long term plan of mine to develop my pork scratching preparation technique to such an advanced level that one day I might be able to leave this green and pleasant land and set up shop on the other side of the world with nothing but a knowledge of how to prepare delicious crunchy pork based treats with which to keep my family in the manner to which they have become accustomed.

However, there are plenty of pork scratching millions to be made, and without spilling all of the beans I think it’s perfectly possible to point any interested parties in the right direction.

Get some pig skin from your butcher. Salt it and stick it in the fridge for a few days. Remove, rinse, pat dry. Render down for a few hours. Scrape fat and flesh off the skin. Place skin side down on a non stick baking tray and cook in medium heat to release any remaining excess fat. Remove, pat dry again. Place skin side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Stick in furnace. Remove when the skin is golden and blistered, but before it turns to mahogany/Copper Tone/Cristiano Ronaldo on holiday in Miami (or was it LA?) Twist of salt. Pukka, innit…

And here we have the scratchings juxtaposed with a hefty Dry Martini, in homage to renowned scourge of food stylists, Bike Snob NYC. Keep fucking the idiots dude, and chin chin…

We’ve been collecting amazing glassware for a while, but when we saw these unbelievably sexy little cut crystal cocktail glasses at the Centre of the Glass Universe , aka Glass Etc in Rye (run by the effervescent Andy McConnell of Antiques Roadshow fame, and his lovely wife Helen) we were both entranced and delighted. Andy had two sets of six, and we took the lot.

I’ve been meaning to photograph them for a while. Actually, I did photograph one of the glasses made up with a Cardamom and Pineapple Martini, but the fresh pineapple juice caused a mini froth slick on the surface of the liquid which wasn’t particularly photogenic. These glasses needed a crystal clear cocktail, and a Dry Martini was the obvious answer.

However, I decided that I should maintain a restrained colour palette and so opted for a Gibson. This particular example features an extravagant triple helping of silverskin onions. The mixture was Tanqueray Export with a tiny splash of Noilly Prat and nothing else save a couple of handfuls of ice. Shaken for once. Enjoy…

Last night I went to Fernandez & Wells for the second time, bringing along a couple of chums to sample the delights of this lovely little food and wine bar. Not unlike Polpo around the corner, the emphasis is on quality produce that doesn’t require too much messing around. The charcuterie board is stunning. We also gulped down two servings of fat little morcilla, two more of raclette, olives, and various other things that I’ve forgotten (but shouldn’t have been forgettable). Really, the thing to do it pop down there and try it out yourself. Everything looks and smells so good that you can’t really go wrong.

(We popped into Polpo afterwards, but as I only had 30 minutes before my train left from Charing Cross, we barely had time to gulp down some Gavi and anchovy / chickpea crostini things before racing off. A proper discussion of this great little place will follow sometime soon.)

Fernandez & Wells
43 Lexington Street
London
W1F 9AL
020 7734 1546