Portico, Sue Style, Academia School

Portico are Duncan Bellamy, Milo Fitzpatrick and Jack Wyllie. Previously they were three‐quarters of the highly successful and critically‐acclaimed Portico Quartet. But their new album Living Fields is no continuation under a shortened name. As far as the band are concerned, this is a debut. The English Show caught up with Jack Wyllie a few days before the band's concert at the Kaserne Basel on May 15th. Listen to the extended interview here.

Sue Style was with us to talk asparagus. Green or white, whichever you like, the season is upon us, so make sure to run to your favorite vendor as they won't be this fresh and this good for long. Listen to the show to learn how farmers get their asparagus to stay white or turn green.  Sue offers a recipe for a great little salad that makes the most of quite a small amount of asparagus. 

Serves 2

250g green asparagus (about 10 spears) 1 tablespoon olive oil Sea salt 2 eggs

Mixed salad leaves (iceberg, Little Gem, lamb’s lettuce, rocket etc.) Optional: thinly sliced radishes 4 slices cooked or cured ham, cut in thin strips

Dressing

1 teaspoon mild mustard 6 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons vinegar A pinch of sugar Chopped herbs in season (parsley, tarragon, mint, chives) Salt and pepper

•    Snap woody ends off asparagus and lay trimmed spears in a small roasting pan (or ridged grill pan). Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and roast in a hot oven (200C) for 8-10 minutes until just tender when pierced with a sharp knife – shake the pan once or twice so they roll around and cook evenly,. (Or cook in grill pan over high heat for 8-10 minutes, shaking once or twice, or until just tender when pierced with a sharp knife.) Set asparagus aside.

•    Put the eggs in a small pan of cold water, bring to a boil and count 3 minutes from when the water starts to boil. Drain the eggs, leave in cold water till cool, then peel them. Leave whole.

•    For the dressing, mix together in a jam jar the mustard, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, chopped herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously to emulsify.

•    To assemble the salads, place a selection of salad leaves on plates, arrange asparagus spears on top, scatter with ham strips and optional radishes and place an egg on top of each one. Drizzle with some dressing (there’s more than you need for this recipe – keep it in the fridge). Happy Ascension Day!

We also had students from Academia International School drop by for a visit.  They gave us information about their school and themselves.  A few of them even provided some sport reports later in the show! We would love to thank Tizian, Vanessa, Maria, Yair, Bastian and Levi for visiting The English Show!

Our music theme this week was electronica, inspired by Portico's atmospheric tunes as well as Swedish band Covenant's dance beats. We played:

Covenant - We Stand Alone

James Blake - Life Round Here

GusGus - Add This Song

Amon Tobin - At The End Of The Day

Bonobo - Cirrus

Portico - 101 (feat. Joe Newman)

Jape - Ribbon Ribbon Ribbon

The xx - Heart Skipped A Beat

Portico - Bright Luck (feat. Jono McCleery)