Letters: A truce of sorts

Without a copy of his column to hand (Harpers, 21 October), I do not recall that he ever made it clear that he was actually responding to a piece in the Radio Times following an interview with Rick Stein rather than commenting on his series French Odyssey. I would totally agree, though, that the RT article was a gross distortion and intended to make mischief. On no account did it express the same views that were held in the TV series, so on that score we are both agreed.

Second, with myself as chef and my husband Clive as sommelier, we tried out the recipes from Malcolm's food-and-wine-matching collaboration with Mark Hix. [The details of the pairings - along with suggested alternative wines - have been passed on to Malcolm, as per his request in Harpers dated 2 December. Suffice to say the ratings awarded for the two pairings were 0 out of 10 and 5 out of 10. - Ed.]

I wouldn't dare accuse Malcolm of professional incompetence, and I certainly would not wish to rattle his cage. Nevertheless, I do feel that my comments were justified and hence the reason for writing.

Malcolm would always be welcome as a dinner-party guest chez nous, and maybe he can take up the challenge first hand!

Yours faithfully,

Michele Platman (Mrs)

A subscriber's wife

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