Potpourri

Beer Pairings II
All right, I heard you. “What are some recipes for the dishes paired with various Anheuser-Busch beers, in your July/August column?” Here are two of them, from Alistair Carter, executive sous chef at the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta:

Poached Organic Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Sauce Bonne Femme
Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
8 oz. spinach
4 oz. assorted wild mushrooms
8 oz. button mushrooms
2 oz. shallots
600 ml chicken stock
900 ml heavy cream
1 sprig thyme
2 oz. butter
salt and pepper
100 ml white wine

Method
First season the chicken breasts and poach in the chicken stock until cooked, approximately 20 minutes. Remove the breasts and keep warm. In a heavy pan melt the butter and add the shallots and mushrooms and sweat until very soft. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Then add the chicken liquid from the poached Chicken and reduce by half. Add the cream and simmer slowly for about 20minutes. Place in a blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and season. Sweat the spinach and season. Place the spinach on the bottom of the plate. Slice each warm chicken breast into seven thin slices and place on the spinach. Sauté the wild mushrooms and place on top. Pour the sauce over the top. Decorate with micro celery and serve with Michelob Amber Bock, a rich, strong, malty beer with caramel undertones.

Passion Fruit Mousse
Ingredients

250 grams heavy cream
250 grams Italian meringue
125 grams passion fruit puree
9 leaves of gelatine
1 mango
4 passion fruit
125 grams milk chocolate
17 grams heavy cream

Method
Soak the leaves of gelatine in a bowl of cold water. Bring the cream to a boil and add the passion fruit puree and soaked gelatine. Cool. Once the mixture has cooled, slowly fold in the meringue. Cut the Mango into small dice and mix with passion fruit seeds. Place a spoon in the bottom of your Martini glass and pour the passion fruit mousse over it and place in the fridge to set. Melt the milk chocolate over a Bain Marie. Bring the cream to a boil and mix with the chocolate. Pour a small amount on the top of each glass to form a small layer. Chill again and serve with Anheuser-Busch’s Spring Heat Spiced Ale, an ale that creates a sparkling effect on the tongue and helps deliver the true flavor of the fruit.

Perfect Pleasures
That’s what awaits you at Boston’s Omni Parker House when you pair chocolate and wine at the Last Hurrah Bar.

“With smoking no longer permitted in our public areas,” Beverage Manager Frank Weber says, “we had a beautiful cigar humidor that was no longer a profit center, until we decided to fill it with chocolates and rename it a Chocolador.

Vintage Porto Wine was long a big seller in the Last Hurrah, and when we suggested pairing it with superb chocolate, sales immediately increased by about 12 percent and will probably level off at a 20 percent increase shortly.”

An information sheet, “Everything You Need To Know About Porto,” is given to guests. Another sheet says the most important rule when pouring wines with chocolate is to keep a short distance between the level of sweetness of the wine and the chocolate.

In general, you can match milk or semi-dark chocolate with dessert and slightly sweet sparkling wines and dark chocolate with red wines. Fruit forward red wines pair better with chocolates that have spicy flavors.

Having said that, Weber doesn’t leave guests on their own. His presentation suggests some pairings:

Sofia Blanc de Blancs with Santander 53 percent cocoa semi-dark chocolate from Columbia.

Hogue Late Harvest Riesling with Santander 53 percent cocoa semi-dark chocolate from Columbia.

Block 13 Cabernet Sauvignon with Santander 70 percent cocoa dark chocolate with espresso from Columbia.

Goundry Offspring Shiraz with Santander 70 percent cocoa dark chocolate with espresso from Columbia.

The literature reminds: “As a tasting guideline, first take three deep breaths to be in the moment of the tasting experience. Savor the aroma of the chocolate you’ve selected and let it melt on your tongue. Sip your wine of choice. Enjoy!”

Another list offers 16 portos with suggested chocolate pairings. In addition to the Santander portos are Hachez Classic 77 percent cocoa rich dark chocolate from beans grown in Ecuador and Cockburn’s special dark chocolate truffles.

Chocolate and Scotch?
“Chocolate, cheese, smoked fish, and innumerable other foods are excellent when paired with selected Scotch whiskies,” says Paul Pacult, publisher of the Spirit Journal.

For five of my top ten favorite spirits, all Scotch whiskies, he selected some fine food pairings:

Famous Grouse 18-years-old Malt Whisky, a blend of three to five single malts, goes well with a sharp cheddar cheese.

The Macallan Fine Oak 17-years-old, aged in two different sherry barrels and a bourbon barrel, is particularly suited to sharp cheddar, high cocoa content dark chocolate, and smoked trout.

The Macallan Sherry Oak 25-years-old is an exceptional whisky in exceptionally short supply. Sharp cheddar cheese and high cocoa dark chocolate go well with this.

“Highland Park Scotch Single Malt Whiskies are among the best in the world,” says Pacult. The 15-year-old is initially sweet, then develops into a dry smokiness—good with Stilton cheese and smoked salmon. Highland Park 30-yearsold has discernible chocolate flavors and is therefore exceptionally well suited to pairing with high cocoa content dark chocolate as well as smoked salmon.”

When this venerable spirits expert was asked his personal favorite spirit, his reply was quick, “Highland 18-years- old.”

What About Tequila and Chocolate?
Maybe this is an insidious plot to have chocolate take over the world, but some hoteliers are planning to offer afterdinner pairings of high cocoa content dark chocolates with Partida Anejo Tequila, an elegant and gently sweet tequila, aged 18 months, from estate grown 100 percent blue agave.

SAMPLES SPUR INCREASE IN SINGLE MALT SALES
“When a wide selection of single malt whiskies is available, we find guests not only order more Scotch but engage in animated discussions about the different nuances between whiskies from the same areas of Scotland,” says Guy Hemond, corporate manager, food & beverage, Omni Hotels.

“We have an extensive core selection, and we encourage individual properties to expand on this in ways that make sense for their clientele.”

The Omni Parker House in Boston, for instance, carries six blended Scotch whiskies and 40 single malt selections, offering them in full measures (1-1/2 ounces) and in 1/2-ounce samples. “The sample size pours are popular and have helped increase our sales of malts by 20 percent,” says Beverage Manager Frank Weber. “Our guests are quite sophisticated in their knowledge of single malts and enjoy tasting what’s new to them.”

Interested guests receive a sheet they can keep: “Everything You need to Know About Single Malt Scotch.” It begins with, “The world’s leading national drink can only be called Scotch if it has been distilled and matured in Scotland. The earliest recorded reference to whisky is in 1494. The word ‘whisky’ comes from an old Scottish word meaning ‘water of life’. Until 1831, all the whisky in Scotland was of the malt variety. A Single Malt Scotch whisky is the product of one specific distillery and has not been mixed with whisky from any other distilleries.”

A list of single malts offered with a comment alongside each follows. Examples: Aberlour A’Bunadh. Between 10 and 15 years old. Full, creamy, textured, and layered. After dinner... Auchentoshan 3 Wood. Ten years in bourbon wood, finished in two sherry woods. Drink anytime. Highland Park 30 year. Sweet maltiness, big body, astonishingly smooth and smoky. Bruichladdich Full Strength. Old wood sweetness, with long aftertaste, “both cigar and cognac in a whisky.”

This is just a sampling of the descriptions. It’s no wonder guests easily get into convivial banter as they work their way through the offerings. Not in one night, of course. A good reason to return soon, though.

Dave Steadman is editor & associate publisher, Hotel WIne, Beer & Spirits.