Well, the Foie Fools have done it again.
I got up this morning and put my glasses on, only to realize that I had to steam clean the droplets of goose liver from them before I could see. My clothes (I am told) smell like I spent the previous evening in a smokehouse (this part we remembered from the last time, and it accounted for the alacrity with which we accepted someone else's house as a venue). My wife asked me about the menu and I told her I couldn't bring myself to talk about it just yet………I have been well and truly foied!
Reprising an event we held in March of 2001, we obtained a whole duck liver and a whole goose liver from Quebec (our last event had compared Quebec duck with Sonoma duck - this time we were able to get goose, which is only produced in the winter), did our research, created a menu and chose wines to go with it. We assembled at 5:30 and started heating the pans!
Of course we needed something to start us off, so we had a couple of different patés with a bottle of champers.
1995 Pol Roger Brut - this Champagne was showing very little on the nose as yet, though I expect this will change with some age. Lots of mousse, abundant acidity, clean and perfect with the two patés.We then unpacked the 2 kilos of foie gras and set to work.
The next course were large scallops wrapped in smoked goose breast with a Champagne/shallot reduction topped with a slice of seared duck FG.
With it we served:
1997 Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer Mambourg - quite a ripe nose, with some typical Gewurz lychee, but the wine was full, smooth and fairly dry and went well with the food.You have to be careful with foie gras as you cook it very hot, and if you do it too long, it disappears up in smoke (oh yes - removing the batteries from any smoke alarms is de rigeur for this sort of event), or too short and you fail to get the flavourful crust on the outside while leaving the rare smooth inside rare. We got lots of practice last night in just how much and how long.
Next up was angel hair pasta with slices of smoked goose breast and cubed foie gras (it pretty much dissolves in the hot pasta and melds into the sauce, which was butter and cognac.
The results looked wonderful, and we served it with :
1996 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett - typical clean petrol nose, and the wine showed an unexpected richness in the middle and good terminal acidity. Good food match.By this time we had the livers divided up for the ensuing courses.
The next course was a short respite from foie gras - rare duck breast thinly sliced with a dried cherry, port and shallot reduction, and only a little foie gras on top…..with:
1993 Dom. Trapet (Pere et Fils)Gevry Chambertin - this Burgundy was serious stuff - quite dark, with a luscious sweet raspberry and cherry nose. It showed as still being somewhat tannic and with quite a bit of acidity, and we opined that it needed more time - until we tried it with the duck, when it instantly became perfection as the food mellowed both acidity and tannin. Yum!Having had the 'main' course we felt we could head into sweeter realms with the next wines. To accompany 5 spice roasted with poached figs and sautéed FG:
1983 Guntrum Oppenheimer Sacktrager Gewurztraminer Auslese - fruit rather than the usual oily Riesling nose on this wine, and it really opened up with a bit of time in the glass as it warmed up (the wines were kept outside - around 2-3 deg. C.) Fairly neutral in the middle, and then some interesting flavours kicked in toward the end. The longer we held it the better it got. Needs drinking.1990 Robert Weill Kiedricher Grafenberg Auslese - this wine was impressive, with quite a honeyed nose with a little spice, the same spice presenting on palate, with a richness and length that had me wondering why I hadn't bought more of this wine. Probably a toss-up as to which wine worked best with the food - both were very good.
Now we got right down to it and compared the two livers, duck and goose, side by side, mano a mano, to see which one would quack up and go home second best. Yes, the goose was the unanimous winner!
1992 Sichel Kircheimer Kreuz Beerenauslese - great flavour intensity, rich with sufficient acidity to have it come off clean at the end.1988 Ch. Suduiraut - this wine always shows a bit hot at the end - 14.5% alcohol will do that! This wine has improved from the last time I had it a couple of years ago - it seems to be clicking into focus. Quite sweet, but nicely balanced and it went well with the slabs….er, portions of FG, served simply with coarse ground salt on top.
We finished up with a (thankfully) small filet mignon with, you guessed it, a final slice of FG on top.
1975 Ch. Brane Cantenac - this is not one of the 'strong' 75s, nor is it one of the thin tannic wines either. It was probably a bit better a few years ago, but the formerly high levels of tannin have now mellowed. Fading a bit since the last time I tasted it, it is nevertheless very pleasant, with a simple fruit nose showing little of the complexity that age often brings, reasonable depth and no detectable tannins.We unanimously opted to skip the cheese course and crawl home to bed, 6 hours after we had begun the journey. Two of us finished every scrap of FG, while the other two showed signs of flagging in the final course. I am going out for dinner tomorrow night, and for the first time I can remember, I must admit that I would greet the announcement that they were serving foie gras with something other than utter delight……