MayaSurbiton

Another year and another UK Curry Awards ceremony which seems to grow each year. The 2009 event, as organised by the highly influential Enam Ali MBE was hosted and presented by Sir Trevor McDonald and David Cameron.

Amongst the winners was Indian Ocean in Manchester (3rd year running!!) and Maya Surbiton. MayaSurbiton were finalists in the New Comer category, having only opened in March this year (2009) this is no mean feat but a tremendous accolade indeed.

Meeting with the dynamic Shamim Malek for the first time I was struck by his ease and comfort in his surroundings. Confident with his very slick and modern take on the cuisine, decor and whole feel of his restaurant.

Having discussed the Taylor & Shroff wine concept with Shamin Hoque of Curries Online (the UK's premier portal for on-line curry ordering) a meeting was set. Taylor & Shroff are delighted to announce, from this recent meeting, that MayaSurbiton are now serving Taylor & Shroff Wines by the glass. A possible small launch event will be discussed for the early part of 2010 also.

To visit MayaSurbiton - 31-33 Brighton Road, Surbiton - 0208 399 4434.
To Stock Taylor & Shroff - 01424 752501/07787448506
To Be Listed With Curries On-Line - 0845 051 4252/0797697 1549

London Launch with Rajesh Suri and Imli. Taylor & Shroff come to town!

Thursday 8th October 2009, a date to remember. The date that Taylor and Shroff, British Wines for a British Dish, was launched with tremendous success with the famous Rajesh Suri at his Imli Restaurant in Soho/London.

The guest list included a range of Curry-istas and Asian "AllStars" as Imli's was the hottest ticket in town that night with late requests of attendance having to be turned down! Guests such as Rajesh Suri (of-course), Mridula Baljekar, Manju Malhi, Tiny Deol, Monisha Bharadwaj, Paul Sagoo (Asian Runway), Emma Harvey (The Big Curry, Tesh Parmer (Indian Ocean), Arfan Razak (The Curry Lounge), Shamin Hoque (curries Onine) etc etc...

Having been launched successfully now in India, the production of Taylor & Shroff (made at Carr Taylor in East Sussex by the award winning Alex Carr Taylor), was brought forward early due to the successes of launches and listings with The Curry Lounge in Nottingham, Jali in Hastings and interest gathering from other cities throughout the UK.

Rajesh had created 5 unique canapes, made exclusively to match the 5 flavours of Taylor and Shroff. White, Red, Apricot, Cherry and Ginger were all poured, either with the canapes, with the main buffet or with the Gulab Jamin ice cream dessert. What a feast and what a great night indeed. With guests arriving promptly for 6pm and staying through until 10ish. As we left Imli was still heaving, filling us with tremendous confidence that Taylor and Shroff will be poured like the Niagra Flows at Imli!

Further launches to be held with Assam in Glasgow, Indian Ocean in Manchester and Birmingham as well as in Jersey where a distribution deal has been agreed with Michael McCabe.

For further details about these unique wines, orders, samples or general queries please call or e-mail Ben Furst - 07787448506/01424 752501 (ben.furst@btinternet.com or sales@taylor&shroff.com

Taylor and Shroff Launch at Jali in Hastings

Well the day finally arrived and Taylor and Shroff was revealed to the waiting world! Jali played hosts with a sumptuous buffet and array of dishes. Once again many thanks to Jali for all their help, a further thanks to all the guests who came.

On the guests list were, Mike McCabe of Healys, Anthea Gerrie of Gerry Associates, the world famous TV Curry Chef, Author, Presenter - Manju Mahli, Tim and Sue Cobb from Cobb PR, Stephen and Jane from Hastings Borough Council, Sedlescombe Village Stores and Brian Sagar of Gaby Hardwick. Arrival drinks were Talylor and Shroff Red or White over ice and a dash of soda water.

After a few introductory words from myself, David Carr Taylor dispatched an empassioned presentation on Taylor and Shroff, it's creation from a chance meeting with Nainaz Shroff - three years of develpment in India through to today. Touching upon why Taylor and Shroff works with all hot and spicy foods like no other wine does. Being ushered along by Linda (Carr Taylor) the presentation over and the food began in earnest.

What a display of food - Chicken Tikka, Gosht Ki Seekh, Macchli Koliwada, Chilli Garlic Prawns, Bharwan Khumb, Badani Paneer Tikki, Chicken Makhani, Kheema Pasanda, Makai Mutter Palak, Dal and a variety of rice, sauces and chilli pickles. An incredible array of delicious food. Once the guests were seated we started pouring the rich fruit wines, Taylor and Shroff Apricot Wine with the more subtler flavours and spices, moving onto Taylor and Shroff Cherry Wine with more robust spices and finally Talor and Shroff Ginger Wine, which in fact was drunk with every course by many guests they loved it so much.

Jali is now the very first restaurant in the UK to be pouring Taylor and Shroff, our London Launch is to be held at Rajesh Suri's award winning Imli Restaurant in Soho on 8th October with possible further launches at The Curry Lounge in Nottingham and Indian Ocean in Manchester. For further information on Taylor and Shroff, Wines for Curry please contact me;
Ben Furst, 07787448506 or ben.furst@btinternet.com

Hastings Sea-Food Festival, 19th September

Forth Coming, must see event!

One of the most successful recent Sussex events is without a doubt the Hastings Sea-Food Festival. A celebration of local food, wines and sustainable fishing. Organised by Hastings Borough Council this event has grown from 8,000 to 50,000 in only 3 years. So much so that hotels gain bookings from France, Germany, Spain and even further a field.

This year, English Vine Tours are organising the Events Marquee for Saturday 19th September. Promoting local wines and foods in 3 one-hour tastings at the low cost of only £12.50 per ticket per event.

First event, 12-1pm is Organic English Wine with Sedlescombe Vineyards. Established by Roy and Irma cook, Sedlescombe are amongst the finest English producers of organic wines. Located in the gorgeous Sussex hamlet of Sedlescombe Roy and Irma completely embrace the organic lifestyle, even to the extent of building their own home. 6 wines will be on offer with an insight into the difficulties and the joys of producing organic wines in the UK.

2nd event, 2pm-3pm, is a combination entitled English Wines with Curry. Matching the unique wines from Taylor and Shroff (Carr Taylor) made exclusively to match hot and spicy foods with some fine Indian nibbles provided by Jali Restaurant. Presenting will be Alex Carr Taylor, the award winning wine maker at Carr Taylor and Benjamin Furst of Taylor and Shroff. Having enjoyed a sample of these wines with Jali's Indian cuisine people can enjoy the full experience at Jali as they will be the very first Indian restaurant in the UK to be listing the unique wines from Taylor and Shroff.

3rd event, 4pm-5pm is entitled, The Art and Science of Making Wine. Presented by Plumpton College, Paul Harley and Plumpton students. Plumpton is now one of the finest viticulture and vinification colleges in Europe with students from across the globe. An institution we should all be very proud of indeed. Sampling 4-6 wines as made by the students at Plumpton and available for sale on the day after or during the presentation.

For any further details or ticket enquiries please contact Ben or Georgie from English Vine Tours or Stephen Potter from Hastings Borough Council. Tickets are available to reserve from July onwards.

Enjoying Taylor & Shroff

What a glorious day for an English Vine Tour and wine tasting. The temperature was into the 80's (old money that is!), the vines are on the point of bursting forth into vibrant life just before flower set and bud set. David and Linda Carr Taylor, along with Ben Furst entertained a most wonderful couple! Peter and Colleen Grove from Mood Food.Com. MoodFood.Com is arguably now the UK's foremost and most influential online magazine focusing on ethnic cuisine, with it's main emphasis being towards the curry industry in the UK. over the past 10 years or more Peter and Colleen of MoodFood have delivered solid advice, acted as a point of reference, promoted and influenced the curry industry in the UK. With strong working relationships with Atul Kochar, Enam Ali, Cyrus Todiwala et al.

It was with anticipation that Peter and Colleen ventured down to sample the newest wines about to be launched in the UK. Produced in the heart of East Sussex uniquely to be matched with hot and spicy foods. The range of Taylor and Shroff consists of an off-dry white, an-off dry red, a cherry wine, a ginger wine and an apricot wine. Each wine was served with ice and with the food. Food and wine matching is not always easy and not always an exact science but with Taylor and Shroff it's made easy. Not only were the wines matching and enhancing the food like other wine has ever done, they were fun and exciting with each wine bringing a different experience and opening up over ice wonderfully.

Taylor and Shroff aim to launch in the UK around end of July, early August, starting at Jali restaurant in Hastings on 30th July and being followed by a bigger event to be held at The Nehru Centre in London towards the middle of August and via several events throughout Sussex thereafter. The superb response from Peter and Colleen and their desire to work with Taylor and Shroff in helping to create a successful launch will ensure that these new wines are going to be a massive hit!

Britain's Heating Up! Chillies Ahoy.....

The Real Food Show, Earl’s Court May 2009. A celebration of real food, produced by real people in the UK. Anything from Jersey oysters to Riverford Foods and local cheeses were on display and available to taste.

On the whole a good show but one thing did stand out – Chillies! Chilly jam, chilli chutney, chilli sauces, chilli pickles, chillies everywhere. It seems that anyone with a few spare meters in their allotment are growing chillies, are we becoming chilli mad? Well as chilli is a main ingredient in many Indian and Curry dishes it is not surprising. The curry industry in the UK turn’s over £3.2billion and employs over 10,000 people on a regular basis. At the heart of the business there have been several MBE’s awarded and now with Benares Restaurant there are Michelin Stars up for grabs.

So I spent a merry afternoon heating up my palette between Aggy’s Sauces, David’s Chilli Oil, Manda Foods Limited, South Devon Chilli Farm, Cafe Spice Namaste (Cyrus Todiwala) and Gurkha Fine Foods (without the ubiquitous Miss Joanna Lumley!)

The problem I have always found is, as much as we all love a good curry what do you drink with it? Regular wine doesn’t really fit and beer is too gassy. The problem it seems has now been solved by David Carr Taylor from Taylor & Shroff (Carr Taylor Wines). Taylor & Shroff, located in East Sussex have created a sweet wine that’s high in alcohol and low in acids and tannins. We sampled some together and I was extremely impressed, the sweetness and high alcohol work in tandem with the heat and open up the fuller flavours of the spices. Taylor & Shroff, David went on to tell me has been successfully launched in India and will be launched in the UK towards the end of June. So the next time you are out for a curry, ask for Taylor & Shroff is the message.

Britain it seems is curry mad and long it may continue.