Northern Ireland’s growing number of foodies will be delighted by the on-going partnership between celebrity chef John Torode and award winning Australian winemaker Neil McGuigan which today (9th June) saw the ‘Wizards of Oz’ land in Belfast to conduct a culinary masterclass.

The pair joined forces last year to create the ultimate personal food and wine matching service and now, thanks to the success of that service, are treating a limited number of lucky guests to a delectable evening of perfectly matched cuisine and wine at Robinson and Cleaver.

Overlooking the iconic Belfast City Hall, the restaurant is the perfect location for chef of the moment John Torode to specially prepare and personally cook the perfect meal for attendees.  The meal will be served with wine accompaniments handpicked by current IWSC International Winemaker of the Year, Neil McGuigan.

The Australian duo grew up in the same part of the Hunter Valley, Australia’s most visited wine region, and their popular food and wine matching knowledge can be accessed via Smartphone, by scanning a QR code consumers can perfectly match their wine to their cuisine creating dinner party envy across the land.

Neil McGuigan admits to being a fan of John Torode’s cooking combinations for many years and believes they share a passion for making and enjoying wonderful food and wine.  Their aim with this trip is to make pairing more approachable and accessible to food and wine lovers in Northern Ireland where McGuigan’s wines are hugely popular, celebrating the sale of a million cases here in 2013 through local distributor United Wine Merchants.

“I’ve been to Northern Ireland many times over the past six years and I’ve witnessed the culinary scene here grow with ever greater numbers of people knowledgeable about food.  We know from experience that one person’s food and wine ambrosia may leave another cold and so we were determined to find a way of personalising recommendations to satisfy people’s individual tastes. John has put together a superb range of recipes – dishes that shows you how to deliver in some cases very quickly and with a minimum of fuss and preparation. My absolute favourite is John’s grilled salmon with dill mayonnaise and I chose to match it with our zesty and citrusy Semillon Blanc. That’s my idea of heaven but yours will be different and that is just the way it should be” said Neil.  

The Torode McGuigan personalized food and wine matching service will ensure consumers serve the perfect Cabernet Sauvignon with beef, a sparkling Shiraz at a barbeque and a delectable Chardonay with muscles .

John Torode comments “With more people now entertaining and cooking from scratch at home, we felt it really was about time that people were given easier access to clear, simple and fun food and wine matching advice. Neil is one of the most astute readers of the public palate and tastes around and being able to collaborate in this way and with the latest techniques is so exciting.”

How the service works:

Step 1: Consumers can access the service by scanning the QR code on any bottle of McGuigan with a QR code reader app on their smartphone.Step 2: Users will then be taken through to a microsite which will tell them about the specific wines they have scanned.Step 3: Users can then fill out short survey on their personal food and wine preferences.Step 4: They will then be sent a link so they can download there personal recipes collection as chosen by Neil McGuigan and John Torode as a pdf or e-publisher.

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For further information please contactFinola Guinnane or Lyn Sheridan at Aiken PR onT- 02890 663000M – 07770 584157E – Finola@aikenpr.com or lyn@aikenpr.com