Gaucho launches tea and cake matching menu
Another indication that drink pairings are extending beyond wine these days: the steakhouse chain Gaucho Grill is launching a new afternoon tea and cake tasting menu for the summer matching Argentine cakes with traditional Maté teas and Argentinian wines. The six pairings will be available at two of their restaurants, at Gaucho, Piccadilly and at the O2 Centre from 1st August.
The pairings being offered, which will cost £10 for the cake and maté option or £13 for cake and wine, are:
Pear and Almond Tart with Maté Cedrón or Luigi Bosca Late Harvest Gewurztraminer 2006
Dulce de Leche (a sweet, caramel-flavoured spread) and Mascarpone Sponge with Té negro and rosehip or Zuccardi Serie A Malbec Rosé
Alfajores (cookies filled with Dulce de Leche) with traditional Maté or Zuccardi Torrontes Tardio (Late Harvest) 2007
Chocolate Tres Leche with Té negro or Zuccardi Malamado (Port Style)
Chocolate Truffle Cake with Té negro with cinnamon and clove or Terruño Alto Cabernet Malbec 2006
Dulce de Leche Cheesecake (the one in the pic, I imagine) with Maté Cocido or Familia Schroeder Late Harvest Sparkling Torrontes from Patagonia
Maté is strongly flavoured tea=style drink, which is popular in a number of south American countries and is made by infusing the leaves of the yerba maté plant in boiling water. In Argentina the infusion contains twigs which the Argentinians believe not only provide thickness to the drink, but contribute nutritional and mineral benefits which are transmitted by the soil through the roots and the leaf stems.
It is traditionally drunk from a hollowed out gourd, also called a maté, through a metal straw called a bombilla or bomba which has a flat sieve-like end which prevents the leaves from being sucked up
