Sunday 19 February 2012

Eating With Notepads

If you're into flavours, it's great to be friends with a good chef. But if your interest in flavour more than borders on obsession and one of your best friends is a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant, you have a recipe for a seriously fun time (excuse the pun). Every now and again we get together and geek out on food and drink matches. I teach him about drink and he teaches me how to cook, a great partnership that hopefully you'll see a bit more of in the future.

So what's on the menu? We started with a Thai chicken consomme with prawn dumplings, roasted red peppers, spring onions and mushrooms. An aromatic and herbaceous dish with lots of coriander and lemon grass. Straight away I reach for an IPA for Thai food, and this time I went for Thornbridge Jaipur as it's got a bit more tropical fruit character than some.


The fruity flavours matched the aromatic quality of the consomme and the bitterness balanced the umami savouriness perfectly. The sweet, roasted red pepper snuggles up to the fruit while the coriander worked with the piney flavours from the hops. The beer was a bit overwhelming for the delicate flavours of the prawn mousse in the dumplings, so we thought a little chilli in the mousse would have not only helped balance the beer and food combination, but would also have lifted the dish itself, with the consomme naturally tempering the heat.

Next up on the menu I was lucky enough to be treated to rack of lamb with bulgar wheat tabouleh, roasted red peppers and babaganoush. Always good to be cooked for by someone who is used to cooking fine dining! Rack of lamb is actually quite a delicate cut so I wanted something on the lighter side but with earthy flavours to match those in the lamb, and bright red fruit to work with the fresh tabouleh and the sweet roasted peppers. Michelle Richardson's pinot noir from Central Otago in New Zealand's south island happened to be laying down in the wine rack but hey, that good a cut of meat needs a fancy bottle.


Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed with it. I was hoping the sweet cherry, vegetal and light spicy flavours common in New Zealand Pinot Noir would be great with the sweet roasted peppers and succulent meat but this wine had too way much acidity and a big spike of alcohol, meaning it overpowered the delicate flavours in the dish. We added a squeeze of lemon juice to the food to try and balance the acidity which helped, but the hit of alcohol still took over.

This wine would match acidity-tempering creamy sauces well, but the dish needed something earthier and more delicate, like a good red Burgundy or a Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley.

Some of it worked, some of it didn't but good lessons learned and we enjoyed some amazing flavours. (I also loved eating with someone who doesn't mind me writing notes...and even contributes!).

1 comment:

  1. I have to say, it sounds as if you had an 'on the turn' bottle of the Richardson. Its usually big, round and silky, the touch of VA you mention makes me think the seal in the screw cap might not have been quite right.

    - Luke

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