Charles Campion is The Smart Shopper

Soup with a twist
10 April 2012

Charles Campion gives us the lowdown on the hottest food news...

Bite-size wonders
Chocolate and cake, always a winning combination. Parisian star Pierre Hermé has opened his first London shop on Lowndes Street and as well as truffles we can expect "PH" cubes — one-bite wonders. The "Pietra" is hazelnut praline and chocolate; the "Intense" chocolate ganache. Hermé is also bringing his Parisian pound cakes to Belgravia: Cake Ispahan is a moist almond cake with raspberry and rose jelly cubes; Cake aux Fruits is made with dried and candied fruits and aged rum. 36 PH cubes, right, are £28.50. Cakes range from 360g to 480g and cost £16 to £18. Pierre Hermé, 13 Lowndes Street, SW1 (020 7245 0317).

Pacu power
The most doughty fish-lover can get bored with the bones, even if the flavour is superb. The Pacu, from the Amazon, changes all that. A relative of the Tambaqui, the Pacu can weigh in at 20kg. Its rib bones make good handles for the meat and that is why you can treat the fish ribs sold at James Knight of Mayfair's fish counter within Selfridges as you would pork spare ribs. Grill them, but not before they've been in marinade. Pacu fish ribs £28.75 per kg. Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, W1 (0800 123 400, selfridges.com).

Soup time is here again
Two soups that hit the spot are the Toulouse Sausage and Bean Cassoulet from Glorious and the iconic Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup, launched in 1910 at Fortnum's. As part of the centenary birthday celebrations you get a special can (with original label) from Fortnums — they won't be on sale elsewhere until October. Glorious Meal Soups £1.99, 600g from Asda and Morrisons. Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup — 79p, 400g, Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, W1 (020 7734 8040, fortnumandmason.com).

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in