Tour de France

Sometimes only steak frites will do. Way back, it's what we got for enduring my father's determination to drive the length of France non stop. After 14 hours squashed among the camping gear, our reward was something with frites from a roadside van. I still love it.

Frites are tricky ones. My attempts to cook them never quite work and the smell lingers. So it's always M&S Frites now, my 'supermarket food product of the year'. 15 minutes in the oven et Bob est votre onlce. Picked up the wine at the same time for £5.49. A steal.

French green peppercorn sauce, not essential, but ideal. This stuff transformed limited camping stove fayre into restaurant like splendour... to a ten year old at least. Nowadays I never visit France without picking up 20 'Poivre Vert'. It always gets a comment at the till.

Another tip is to rehydrate the sauce with half water half wine. Other than that, who knows why it tastes so much better than the packets bought here? It just does.

Finally, the steak shouldn't be too posh. It never was in France. This was a great lump of popseye cut from the beast by Andrew Reid Butchers on Great Western Road.

Mmmm, I could almost hear my mother's voice... "Slow down or you'll get indigestion..."

M&S Piedmont Barbera

Juicy, slurpy, sour cherryness.

A very good wine for £5.49.