Possibly the best truffle dinner ever

Did I want to go on a truffle trip to Spain at the end of January? Balmy Barbados seemed like a better option but since that wasn’t on the cards and the enquiry came from an old friend I said yes. The 2 day visit - the annual Viñas del Vero ‘Days of Wine and Truffles’ in Somontano would include an outdoor picnic in the foothills of the Pyrenees (eek), a truffle hunt and - the clincher - a multi-course truffle menu by one of the region’s most talented chefs followed by a gastronomic brunch. “Bring the Gaviscon”. my friend sagely advised.

I’ll be writing about the truffle hunting in due course so let’s concentrate on the dinner at Bodega Blecua which was the best truffle experience I’ve ever had. It kicked off in style with a selection of truffle-flavoured canaps including truffle flavoured macarons, parcels of truffle threads in lambs skein (sic), tartlets of pigs trotters and truffles (awesome) and best of all, truffle flavoured truffles of the satiny consistency of the best chocolate truffles. These were served with Tio Pepe (also owned by Viñas del Vero’s owner Gonzalez Byass) and V de V’s fragrant Gewürztraminer which I’m not sure I didn’t marginally prefer, to my surprise. (The 2009 is currently on offer at £6.49 at Majestic)

The first proper course was a glassful of truffles served with a hot broth which transformed it into truffle consommé followed by ‘Royal de Trufa with egg yolks and passion’. Fortunately this turned out not to be passion fruit as I had feared but a sumptous blend of truffles and pork fat of the consistency of creamy mash, scattered with yet more truffles. (I hadn’t thought of the combination of pork fat and truffles before but it’s a winner, let me tell you). With that we drank the 2010 Viñas del Vero Clarion, a rich, structured white about whose components they were curiously reticent but which seems to be Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Chenin Blanc.

That was followed by one of my favourite dishes of the meal, cardoons with oysters and almond sauce topped with a truffle shaving. Again a really imaginative and delicious combination of ingredients. This was served with a 2008 Clarion in magnum which suited the dish better than the younger fruitier vintage would have done.

They then brought on a potato ‘mushroom’ with ceps, a mound of fluffy truffle-infused mash moulded into a ... well, not a mushroom, more like a potato but fantastic anyway and a good match with the Blecua 2004 served in magnum.

Blecua is the flagship wine of Viñas del Vero - a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Garnacha, and Tempranillo from seven different parcels and possibly one of the best wines you've never heard of. It has more warmth and generosity than many Bordeaux and more finesse and complexity than most Spanish reds. The '04 also went perfectly with the next course, a truffle infused risotto topped with an outrageous amount of truffles.

By this stage even I was almost truffled out but just about found room for a mouthful or two of veal shanks with truffle sauce and chestnut purée (particularly good with the richer, more complex Blecua 2005) and some local truffled cheese.

And I didn’t make much impact on either of the two interesting desserts - a semi-frozen cylinder of something faintly ice creamy with amaretti crumbs and ‘snow truffles’ on muscovado cream, a truffle-inspired but, to some relief, not truffle-flavoured finale.

The general conclusion? That truffle dinners could be a lot more inventive than they generally are, that Spanish cuisine, dare I say it, has a lot to teach the French and that truffles can take younger, fruitier wines than you might imagine. Quite an experience.

The event I went to was a private one but If you want to sample chef Carmelo Bosque’s cooking go to his restaurant La Taberna de Lillas Pastia it’s in Huesca. It specialises in truffles and has a Michelin star. Tel: +34 974 211 691.

I attended the dinner as a guest of Gonzalez Byass.

What to drink with a TV dinner?

This month’s issue of Observer Food Monthly hasa special on TV dinners featuring celebrities talking about their favourite snacks. Very few beverages are mentioned so I thought I’d suggest a few pairings ;-)

Indian takeaway
Amanda Holden is pictured eating pasta with pesto but actually says her regular TV supper is an Indian takeaway. Lager would be the obvious bevvy of choice for most but personally I’d go for an IPA (India Pale Ale) or a strong fruity rosé

Spag bol
A bit of a messy TV snack from Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner but who wouldn’t be tempted by Angela Hartnett’s 3-4 hour ragu which deserves a good bottle. Like a Chianti Classico riserva. See my 6 best pairings for spaghetti bolognese.

Fish fingers
(Or equally, fish and chips.) Mentioned by novelist Julie Myerson who also admits to enjoying a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. They’d rub along fine together but I must confess to a secret vice which is that I love fish fingers and champagne. Cava at a pinch.

Tapas
Newsreader Mark Austin says he likes tapas and a glass of wine (unspecified though I suspect it might be a Rioja). He should try a well-chilled glass of fino or manzanilla sherry. See also my 6 best Spanish wines to try with tapas.

Cheese on toast
We also don’t know what wine his colleague Julie Etchingham drinks with her cheese on toast made with “strong cheddar, always with Worcestershire sauce” Could quaff a Cabernet but I’d personally be reaching for a bottle of Timothy Taylor Landlord.

Home-made burgers
The fondly remembered childhood treat of X Factor presenter Dermot O’Leary. Adults should try them with a good bottle of Bordeaux: as fine a match with a burger as a steak - provided you don’t overdo the relish.

Chips
Perfect TV food, according to the BBC’s Alan Yentob - and he should know. Personally I think this is beer food again. Or a mug of builder’s tea, which would certainly be a good match for his other favoured snack, fried-egg sandwiches . . .

Fish pie
Mentioned by Property Ladder’s Sarah Beeny. Her version, which includes smoked haddock and a cheesy sauce, is quite rich which would make me reach for a fairly full-bodied (but not ridiculously oaky) Chardonnay. See also my 4 top drink pairings for fish pie.

Image credit: Andres Ayrton

Pairing wine and Indian seafood

Indian seafood dishes showcase a rich variety of flavors, from creamy coconut-based curries to smoky tandoori preparations and fiery regional specialties. Pairing wine with these dishes can be tricky due to the interplay of spice, acidity, and umami, but the right wine can elevate the experience. Here are 10 popular Indian seafood dishes with wine pairing suggestions to help you find the perfect match:

Goan Fish Curry (Xitti Kodi)

A tangy and spicy coconut-based curry with tamarind and red chilies.
Wine Pairing: Off-dry Riesling or Gewürztraminer – the slight sweetness balances the heat and complements the coconut.

Meen Moilee (Kerala Fish Curry)

A mild, coconut milk-based curry with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Wine Pairing: Aromatic Viognier or Chenin Blanc – both work well with the creamy texture and delicate spices.

Machher Jhol (Bengali Fish Curry)

A mustard-infused fish curry with turmeric and potatoes.
Wine Pairing: A crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Albariño to cut through the mustard’s pungency.

Tandoori Prawns

Jumbo prawns marinated in yogurt, garlic, and spices, then roasted in a tandoor.
Wine Pairing: A lightly oaked Chardonnay or dry Rosé – both complement the smoky, charred flavors.

Fish Tikka

Boneless fish chunks marinated in mustard oil and spices, then grilled.
Wine Pairing: Medium-bodied Pinot Noir or Grenache – light enough for fish, but with enough structure for the spices.

Bombil Fry (Bombay Duck Fry)

Crispy, deep-fried Bombay duck (a soft fish) from Mumbai.
Wine Pairing: Sparkling wine (e.g., Brut Prosecco or Champagne) – the acidity and bubbles cut through the fried richness.

7. Karimeen Pollichathu

Pearl spot fish wrapped in banana leaves and grilled with a spicy marinade.
Wine Pairing: Grüner Veltliner or Fiano – both have fresh acidity and subtle spiciness to match the dish.

Patrani Machhi

A Parsi dish where fish is steamed in banana leaves with coconut and coriander chutney.
Wine Pairing: Vermentino or Sancerre – bright, citrusy, and perfect with herbaceous flavors.

Hilsa Paturi

Hilsa fish wrapped in mustard paste and banana leaves, then steamed.
Wine Pairing: Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc – high acidity to contrast the mustard’s intensity.

Sungta Sukka (Mangalorean Spicy Prawns)

A dry prawn dish cooked with coconut, tamarind, and red chilies.
Wine Pairing: Off-dry Rosé or Zinfandel – both balance the heat while enhancing the dish’s bold flavors.

See also my six drinks you might not thought of pairing with Indian food. 

A story from a food and wine tasting at Trishna in London

This story was originally published in March 2009.

It’s less common to come across Indian-spiced seafood dishes than it is fish and vegetable-based ones so what sort of wine works? Yesterday I had a chance to find out.

The meal was at Trishna, London’s latest high-end Indian restaurant which specialises in seafood. It’s an interesting venue which I’ll write about separately but for now I want to concentrate on the pairings which were devised by their Austrian general manager and sommelier Leo Kiem.

Each dish on the menu comes with an accompanying wine and/or beer. On the whole the pairings were very successful and even those that missed the mark (in my opinion) were interesting.

Squid with spiced rice flour, lime zest and chilli
A version of salt and pepper squid with a very light rice flour batter. Despite the description it wasn’t too spicy - you could really taste the squid The conventional pairing would have been a champagne or sparkling wine but the smooth dry Rotgipfler from Reinisch in Austria’s Thermenregion Kiem had chosen worked perfectly.

Hariyali Bream, mint coriander and green chilli masala, charred tomato kachumber
My favourite dish and my joint favourite pairing. A marvellous dish of grilled bream that had been smothered in a coriander-based wet paste, served with spiced cherry tomatoes - a quite unpredictable pairing with a very attractive crisp Dr Burklin-Wolf Riesling 2007 (It was probably the herby paste that made the wine kick in)

Isle of Wight Plaice, fried with coastal spices served with crushed pea and mint
A great indian riff on fried fish and mushy peas. Slightly less subtle than the other dishes with the odd effect of making the accompanying 2004 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois Vielles Vignes from Domaine Schoffit in Alsace taste slightly sweet. Something like an Alto Adige Pinot Grigio would have been marginally better I felt. (The accompanying peas by the way were wonderful)

Isle of Shuna Mussels simmered in a coconut and turmeric masala
Kiem brought out a biodynamic Chasselas from Alsace with this dish which I didn’t think worked. It was too funky - almost slightly sherried in character. I’m not sure what I would have matched with this - the coconut flavour was quite pronounced. Possibly an Alsace Pinot Gris or a Viognier though I liked the idea of an Erdinger weiss bier which is also an option. (The current pairing is a 2008 Chenin Blanc from Sula Vineyards in Nashik, India)

Cornish brown crab with butter, pepper & garlic
We tried this as an extra as it was one of their signature dishes. It was fantastic - and fantastically rich - swimming in butter. It was a bold move to pair it with a heavyweight Argentian red a 2005 Cuvelier Los Andes ‘Collecion’ and I didn’t feel it worked which isn’t to say that another less tannic red wouldn’t have fared better - possibly a Merlot. Personally though I’d have gone for a barrel-fermented Chardonnay.

We also tried a couple of desserts which also proved great foils for the accompanying sweet wines

Mango Kheer - Mango rice pudding with a sweet chilli coulis
Already a candidate for one of my pairings of the year with a glass of 2003 Chateau Filhot, Sauternes. A wonderful idea mixing fresh mango puree with warm, gently spiced rice pudding and it showed off the Sauternes in all its luscious glory. One of those pairings that’s more than the sum of its parts.

Carrot halwa with pistachio ice cream
An adventurous dessert - subtly spiced but not very sweet which allowed the accompanying citrussy 2007 Iona Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from the Elgin region of South Africa to really shine.

Image credit: Asit Naskar

Matching Lebanese food and wine

Many of us are familiar with Lebanon’s rich culinary heritage, courtesy of the Lebanese diaspora and food writers such as Claudia Roden and Anissa Helou. Yet the prevalence of popular Lebanese dishes such as tabbouleh and hummous in our supermarkets is not yet matched by Lebanese wines despite a long history of grape cultivation dating back to the Phoenicians.

The answer to this curious paradox lies perhaps in the small volume of wine produced in this tiny country of 4000 square miles as well its recent turbulent history which has often disrupted wine production and export.

The country’s top producers are out to remedy this lack of awareness, a recent example being a lunch I attended just before Christmas at the Lebanese restaurant Fakhreldine, pairing typical Lebanese dishes with wines from one of Lebanon’s oldest producers Château Ksara.

The typical Lebanese meal starts with a selection of hot and cold mezze (see photo above) which can encompass many different flavours. With them we were offered a selection of Ksara’s wines - their Blanc de Blancs 2006, Sunset Rose 2007 and red Réserve du Couvent 2006. I thought the rosé would match the mezze best, but was surprised to find that wasn’t the case. The panoply of flavours in the mezze - most notably garlic, sumac and citrus - interfered with the rose’s fruitiness leaving it rather overwhelmed.

The mezze included a luscious, smooth hoummos, smoky baba ghanoush, tabbouleh with lots of parsley (as it should be), crisp falafel, and stuffed vine leaves. warak inab. More unusual offerings were kibbe mekliyeh, a pumpkin and spinach pastry and spinach and sumac fatayer. Overall my favourite wine to pair these mezze was the fresh, fruity Ksara Blanc de Blancs 2006, a subtly oaked blend of Sauvignon, Semillon, and Chardonnay.

The one dish I felt paired better with a red was Fakhreldine’s spiced lamb flatbreads - redolent of cinnamon and allspice - which matched Ksara’s red Reserve du Couvent, a belnd of Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. We also found reds more to our taste with the main courses, a slightly disappointing dish of five-spice lamb and bukhari rice, and an exceptional mixed meat grill - skewers of lamb, infused with smoky charcoal aromas, which worked a treat with the Ksara Souverain 2004 - a wine made from a 50%/50% blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Arinarnoa - a rare crossing of Merlot and Petit Verdot. It proved a voluptuous, richly aromatic match for the lamb. This was followed by skewers of succulent lamb known as lahim meshoue, and lamb cutlets which were accompanied by Ksara’s longest-aged reds Château 2002 and Château 1999, a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot which had been aged in French oak for 18 months. Both were finely nuanced wines, with good length and complexity though I thought the 2002 was marginally better with the lamb.

The surprise hit of the tasting foodwise? Shish taouk skewers, or chicken marinaded in chilli, garlic and lemon ‘ then flash grilled (a recipe I’ll be giving you my version of for my Lebanese feast tomorrow) The simplicity of this dish belies its excellence: tender, succulent pieces of chicken served with toum, a wicked garlic dip which left me reeling for a few hours - and I love garlic. This dish was tricky to match, with its intensely garlicky character. It would almost have been worth going back to the Sauvignon-based Blanc de Blancs.

The meal finished on a light note with fresh fruit, sorbet, and Lebanese cheese. In place of the usual sweet pastries, we drank a Ksara Vin D’Or from 1935, still vibrantly honeyed - quite extraordinary for its age.

As a footnote I’d be curious to discover more about alternatives to wine with Lebanese food. Claudia Roden writes about ‘white’ coffee, a typical Lebanese after-dinner drink consisting of hot water and orange blossom essence, and I feel there is great potential for non-alcoholic syrups, fruit juices and teas which I think would work well with these richly aromatic dishes.

Fakhreldine
85 Piccadilly
W1J 7NB
Tel: 020 7493 3424
www.fakhreldine.co.uk

Château Ksara
www.ksara.com.lb

Stockists in UK:
everywine.co.uk
wineman.co.uk

Image credit: Jeff Velis from Pixabay