Just 1 quart of TBA!

Do you know what a quart of TBA Riesling would cost?

Caramelized Apple Tart with Trockenbeerenauslese and Thyme Sorbet

Yield: 8 Servings

Trockenbeerenauslese and Thyme Sorbet

Directions:

1. Stir water and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over a medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Increase the heat and bring to boil, then allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Add thyme and TBA and allow to stand and infuse for 6 hours.
4. Pass through a fine sieve and process the sorbet mixture in an ice cream maker (according to the manufacturer's instructions).

Caramelized Apple Tart

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a 12 inch sauté pan, warm the butter until just about to brown.
3. Add apples, lemon juice and sugar and cook at high heat until caramelized. You'll need to stir or toss the apples regularly, taking care not to burn yourself on the caramel.
4. Meanwhile, cut the puff pastry into the shape of a "12" in a plate using the plate as the template. Use the scraps from the trim to make borders on the pastry circle.
5. As the apples caramelize, place the pastry circle over the top and place the pan in the oven. Cook until the pastry is browned and the caramel is bubbling inside (about 15 minutes).
6. Place the 12 inch plate over the top of the pan and flip it upside down (the pastry is on the bottom with the caramelized apples on top) and the whole thing is now on the plate.
7. Pop off the sauté pan and set aside.
8. Serve warm with TBA sorbet.

Chef's note: Wear a long-sleeve shirt when you do this and protect yourself further with towels on your arms. No bare feet!

If the Riesling TBA is any good, and it likely was to be allowed to use the quality TBA in Germany or Austria, I suspect the winemaker would nearly suggest boiling the author of this recipe in oil. First, a TBA has to have so much sugar by law, that it does not need any added sugar. Adding water to a TBA that required so much effort to produce the great concentration is akin to calling the Pope a dirty name in a loud voice at a St. Peter's mass. Adding the thyme, which will destroy the complex balance of a good TBA, is nearly as bad. And it is not even April 1. I hope this was a joke. This Sorbet would be best suited for swallowing live goldfish as food - this was reported to have been done by some students in the roaring 1920s.

Salut/Hi e. winemonger,

le/on 3 Mar 2006 17:34:29 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

Are you subscribed? I had a look in order to protest, but couldn't find anything. Which version of the mag was ity?

So why use TBA if you're going to dilute it with 50% water? And if you;re going to add sugar, why dilute so much? This is an absurd recipe.

This is a Tarte Tatin, more or less.

Deary me. A decent Tarte Tatin needs no sorbet of any kind, nor cream nor ice cream, to "improve" it. On the other hand, a glass of Tokaji Aszu 6 putts with some age.....? Magic with it. ATB Ian

If I wasn't clear, let me begin by saying that all protestors to this recipe are singing to the choir!

Ian- I found this when I was doing a google search for "trockenbeerenauslese". It sits somewhere on fineliving.com, and was actually cited as being served at a restaurant!

But yes. This is so wrong on so many levels, it's difficult to comprehend. Perhaps they used a TBA from a country with far less strict wine laws than Austria....

"e. winemonger" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

"Cooking for those with more money than sense" ;) I can't believe that the recipe calls for *frozen* puff pastry. One simply must make one's own! ;) and sorbet is so last century; it should be a foam...;D d.

I used to own a cookbook with a recipe for Canard Margaux in which a whole bottle of Chateau Margeaux was used in the marinade!

Salut/Hi e. winemonger,

le/on 4 Mar 2006 09:36:33 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

oh yes, your stupefaction and disapproval was clear.

Thanks very much. I did manage to find the article which they attributed to a restaurant in Aspen.

The Little Nell

It seems that the gentleman responsible for this creation is the chef Ryan Hardy.

The only thing I couldn't find was an email address.

Sadly.

Salut/Hi graham,

le/on Sat, 04 Mar 2006 23:00:24 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Compared with the price and rarity of a quart of trockenbeerenauslese, a bottle of Margaux is almost small change! My chief beef is that the recipe is a complete nonsense, both in terms of what goes into it, and also for what it's supposed to accompany.

Yes: For ostentation to accompany cluelessness is not unknown . (Otherwise maybe, the ratio of bottles of "1945 Romanée-Conti" sold, compared to the number actually made -- see "High-end wine scams" posting -- would be nearer

An expert wine merchant I know (now retired to raise her children) worked in an area with a number of people with abrupt wealth. She would receive curt requests for, say, "Your `best' Champagne -- price is no issue!" Being a good merchant, she would steer them to good products that served their needs, were suitably impressive to other people of like mind, etc. Different, though, from what she might buy herself, or recommend to people -- usually more polite and patient by the way -- who were interested in wine, and in learning about it.

Cheers -- Max

"graham" skrev i melding news:c_oOf.104057$H%4.18532@pd7tw2no...

Of course a ridiculous recipe today, but, as I have written earlier, in the good old days a Ch. Margaux commanded 4-5 times the price of a generic Bordeaux - a relation still holding true for many other luxury items, cars for instance :-) Anders.

I was tempted to click on "offensive picture," but resisted.

Not for him! :-)

What a maroon. Still it is amazing to me how ignorant of all things vinous many chefs can be. (At least this is true of some I have known in the US, in Europe it may be a different story.)

-E