Noms in Denton

February 9, 2016 • 2:00 pm

My long-time best friend Kenny King, who had married a British girl and moved to England several decades ago, died unexpectedly in April of 2014 (see memoriam at link). I was upset that I couldn’t make it to the funeral, as I was giving talks in Davis, California.

Yesterday I was finally able to make it to the small village of Denton (half an hour from Milton Keynes) to visit Jane, Kenny’s wife. We paid tribute to the old man the best way we knew how: enjoying his great collection of wines and toasting to his life and memory. Jane is also a terrific vegetarian cook, so during our short one-day visit we had some fantastic noms.

Below is a small part of Kenny’s collection. He was the person who taught me to appreciate wine, especially German Rieslings and the great Rhone wines of France—in my opinion, the world’s finest red wines. I have about a case of rare wines in his collection in Denton (some of the wines at lower right, including a half case of Sauternes), but couldn’t bring any back this time.

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Jane making lunch, in this case homemade tomato soup from locally grown tomatoes, red peppers, and cream:

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Lunch: the soup (terrific), cheese scones, Gruyere and cheddar cheese, and a selection of British crackers (not biscuits!):

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First course for dinner: garlic baked in olive oil till it becomes very soft, and then spread on homemade wholemeal bread (Jane is also an excellent baker). I didn’t photograph the second course (stuffed mushrooms and celeriac with cream and rapeseed oil) because I had drunk too much wine and forgot:

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Cheers to Kenny! Clockwise from left, Latha Menon, my friend and editor at Oxford University Press (head trade science commissioning editor, also a friend of Jane), Jane, and Adam, Kenny’s son, who now lives in Valencia but came up for a visit.

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And the wines, selected by Jane in the knowledge that Kenny would probably have offered these. If you know wines you’ll see that these are terrific, and they were. There’s a Macon Chardonnay, a great 1989 Bordeaux (“claret”), an equally great 2006 Rhone, and then, on the extreme right, one of the bottles I bought with Kenny: a Vin de Constance from the famous Klein Constanzia vineyard in South Africa. It’s a sweet wine made from the muscat grape. The wine is historically important, having been produced since the late 17th century. This “Constantia” wine is mentioned in novels by Dickens and Jane Austen as a restorative drink. The 2007 vintage was particularly good, and proved a lovely postprandial tipple, supplanting dessert (or “pudding” as they call it here).

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42 thoughts on “Noms in Denton”

  2. Wow! The wines look so inviting. I’d love a glass of that Klein Constantia with pudding. I see it is available on line. BTW, it is spelled with a t rather than zed.

  3. It’s always sad when good peoples’ lives end, but it’s nice that they can be remembered by friends in this manner. I agree that Rhone wines are the best reds on the planet.

    1. Personally I prefer Spanish reds… though I suppose if you forced me I might partake of a dab… 😉

  4. Not that anyone would care but I was born and raised in Onley,(pronounced Ownee)next to Denton and attended near by Wellingborough Tech. If I had known PSC would have been in the area I would have directed him to some good places for food.

  5. The food looks gorgeous. I haven’t ever tried baking garlic cloves. It must taste wonderful.

    2. Roasted / baked garlic is very easy, and very good. It really mellows the garlic out and gives it a warm nutty flavor. It is suitable for adding to just about anything, as a condiment or even just on crackers or bread as per the OP. I often add a liberal amount to mashed potatoes.

  8. One of the down sides of reaching a certain age is having to say good-bye to so many. Guess that’s why they make wine and memories.

      1. Rostaing is a great maker of Côte-Rôtie (“roasted hillside”). Côte-Rôtie is always expensive — it is a tiny AOC area that consistently produces wonderful reds from primarily the syrah grape.

        If you want to taste what syrah is really supposed to taste like, at least once in your life, try a Côte-Rôtie from a good maker and good year (and properly aged) and also an Hermitage from a good year and maker (also properly aged — and don’t get Crozes Hermitage — not the same thing at all, wrong side of the hill).

        The flavor of Hermitage has been well described as “Apollonian” in contrast to the “Bacchanalian” flavor of Côte-Rôtie.

        I prefer Côte-Rôtie; but both are fantastic wines.

  11. This is a heart-warming account. I love the apron. I too am very fond of interesting soups. I find that I pay more attention to the combinations of flavors that come up with this item than with say the main course of a meal.

    1. ” I too am very fond of interesting soups.” – that is a GREAT line! I may try it next time I meet an elibible lady! 🙂

  12. Sounds like a wonderful day. The tomato soup with cheese scones sounds very nice. As a kid a favorite was tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.

    I’m a bit envious about the wines!

  16. Ah!! What I have been waiting for this. Homemade English noms!! The biscuits were a tease. This is brilliant stuff!!

  17. Sorry to hear about the loss of your bestie, Mr. King. But it’s good to know there was another out there upholding the integrity of the “KK” brand, what with all the damage those parvenus in the Kardashian Klan have lately inflicted upon it.

  18. I belive that you mentioned you were going to be in the vicinity of Olney, on the Northants / Bedfordshire border area.
    The older buildings in the area have a very distinctive architecture being built of the local ironstone, with bright natural ochre/ yellow/ and sepia mottling. It’s a beautiful stone to look at, but it does take a century or so to develop it’s colour fully. Very picturesque.

    1. I was just going to comment that I have a tray in my kitchen with the same chicken design as Jane’s apron. I bought it at the shop in the rare breeds centre at the Wimpole Estate near Cambridge – it’s a National Trust property, so perhaps you can get the apron and other items with the chicken design through their website or shops throughout the UK. Sadly, one of the friends who took me to Wimpole is another Good Person who passed away recently.

      2. Thanks, I’ll have a look around. Sometimes you can pick them up used.

        We enjoyed the NT objects for sale in the gift shops at the various sites in England this past summer. We had a stellar holiday in June/July. Luckily, on that really hot day in London, we were in Lyme Regis!

    2. DOCG Moscato D’Asti is a wonderful slightly sweet sparkling wine. Great melon and honey flavors. And very low in alcohol as you noted: Usually around 7% abv.

      I have yet to taste a bad one in the US.

      That one is also produced in the same area; but must be from outside the DOCG zone — and they are sort of riffing on the DOCG name for recognition.

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