How About a Quick Swig of Swiss-Spain
Posted on | February 3, 2010 | Written by Chris Deas | 2 Comments
When you have a two-year-old child, you find that wine tasting weekends often come to a near dead stop; however, I’ve also found that as my consumption slows, my anticipation rises. The highly prized date night becomes as rare as Henri Jayer’s Vosne-Romanée Cros-Parantoux, so a new sense of creativity emerges and my wife and I turn to “what gastronomic trip can be done quick and late.” Instead of going out for some Moules à la Marinière and Champagne, we pick up some fresh mussels to create our own Balthazar experience. This weekend’s adventure brought together Spain and Switzerland, for a Jamón meets Fondue expedition (followed by some Lipitor). It was a meal so easy and seasonal that it has to be shared.
There are few starter dishes that rival Cava and Jamón, but one is Sabaté I Coca Brut Nature Reserva Familiar and the Iberico Jamón de Bellota, a prized cured meat that comes from the hind leg of the black coated pigs of Andalusia, fed and fattened exclusively on acorns in the wild (consuming up to twenty pounds in a day). On the palate, the ham melts on your tongue and unveils a unique nutty flavor that lingers longer than Masseto. Typically, sommeliers will recommend a Sherry pairing for the Jamón, but the cool, refreshing Cava works to cleanse the palate even as the silky fat from the ham amplifies the fruit and weight in the wine. For me, the pairing has few gastronomic rivalries, and it ranks up there with my experiences of putting Aldo Conterno Barolo Granbussia with Alba’s white truffles or Sartarelli Classico (Verdicchio) paired with Le Marche’s shellfish. While long banned in this country, the expensive ham is worth the treat and eating it takes me back to my honeymoon in San Sebastían.
For the main course, we unwrapped the 26-piece deluxe Fondue set we received three years ago as a wedding gift, which prompted me to ask my wife if we’d remembered to send the givers a thank-you card. After recalling we had not and expressing a cringe and a sigh, we got started by grating a quartet of cheeses, Comté, Gruyère, Appenzeller, and Swiss Emmentaler to equal four cups. We then simply added the cheese slowly to 1 ½ cups of simmering white wine. The trick to preventing the fondue from breaking apart is stirring in a slow, zigzag motion and bathing the grated cheeses in two tablespoons of dry cornstarch.
Voilà! Our fondue was soon ready. We poured the melted cheese in heated Fondue pot and began dunking steamed, baby portobellos, sliced Barlett and Asian Pears, hard Italian salumi, and peppers, along with some chicken and apple sausage.
We complemented the fondue with Castellroig Sabaté I Coca Brut Nature Reserva Familiar, Sartarelli Classico, and Álvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat. While the wines of Palacios rank among my favorites, I knew that the evening’s dishes called for white and sparkling wines, and the ultimate pairing goes to pear wrapped with Jamón dunked in the warm cheese followed by a swig of Cava. In hindsight, I think I would add a Riesling from Boxler or JJ Prüm to play off the pear and provide some nice acidic zip and contrast to the mouth coating dishes. Just out of curiosity, what would you reach for?
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February 5th, 2010 @ 11:33 am
OMG that sounds amazing! “The ultimate pairing goes to pear wrapped with Jamón dunked in the warm cheese followed by a swig of Cava.”
!!!
March 8th, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
Where did you get a bottle of Alvaro’s Camins del Priorat in Hong Kong? I suppose this is a newly released 2008 vintage. At X’mas, I complemented Jamon Iberico ham and Manchego cheese with 2006 Les Terrasses, and this is great too.