Pairing Cab Franc

"Nils Gustaf Lindgren" wrote in news:EuKHj.5434$R snipped-for-privacy@newsb.telia.net:

I have been travelling the Loire for six years now, and I must recognize that I lack enough knowledge for giving the right suggestions. Even if the upper class restaurants that I have visited offered great french cooking, but not distinctly angevine.

The only thing I could recommend is andouillette, but it is also offered in other parts of France. Regional cheeses I would serve with Chenin and not CabFranc, but you knew that.

I really look forward other replies to this thread to make good use of them in my next trip.

Best,

Santiago

I'll also be interested in responses (Emery, calling Emery). Other than shellfish, I have no clear idea of Loire cuisine. I usually think of Loire Cab Franc as a wine for roast chicken, rilletes/pate, maybe duck. No idea how authentic that is.

I found the Loire cuisine to be quite broad with plenty of fish and seafood. There is usually a crock or container of rilletes of pork on the table. It seemed that Shepard's Pie was a popular dish in cafes, bistros and restaurants with the meat being beef not lamb and rabbit (lapin)seemed quite popular.

"Bi!!" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

I would agree that Rabbit and Duck come to mind as the meats that I have seen featured in Loire Valley restaurants-but then I look for those two so maybe not so special ;-)

... and, to quote Dale, where is Emery?

Cheers

Nils "Joseph Coulter" skrev i meddelandet news:Xns9A717A1BD4AC5yourvacationcomcastn@216.196.97.136...

Ack! He's 'ere. But bewildered by the question. Of course the "Loire" is too big an area to have only one regional cuisine (oysters in Nantes, but not in Roanne.)

But I really don't know what the proper regional cuisine is in the Anjou/Touraine. Seems to me this is really the seat of "haute cuisine francaise," so any of the grand preparations would apply.

I think Rillettes are more associated with the Sarthe, which is a northern border and part of the Pays de Loire if not the Touraine. (And chenin is grown there, not Cabernet.) Hachis parmentier (shepards pie made with beef) might be found in any bistro in France, I wouldn't be surprised if any number of regions (including perhaps the Anjou etc) took credit for it. Andouillette comes from all over, here the most famous is from Vire, east of Paris I think it comes from Troyes. (I'm sure in the Anjou they say the best comes from there, too.)

Rillons? Galantine? Those would work with the cabernet. A galantine is a huge prep and very festive, I'm pretty sure that's where it comes from. I'd go with that.

Tarte aux poires et Sainte Maure? If that's not regional, I don't know what is! ;) Be a real test for your wines, too. Ha, survive this!

I seem to think there was once salmon in the Loire, not sure if that exists even conceptually any more.

Big hunting area and not that far from Sologne, so any woodcock, partridge, pheasant. Lots of chickens raised in the Sarthe (home of French industrial chicken production.)

I'll ask around, maybe someone will have an idea.

Anyway, we've got a munged chef and a slow food ossifer in the group, they should know more about it than me... :)

-E

Nils Gustaf L> ... and, to quote Dale, where is Emery?

Sure, the confit will be fine, I'm not too sure about the lentils but with enough salt and duck fat... :)

-E

Hello Emery

I have thought of cuisse de canard confit with lentilles de Puy. Does that strike you as a possibility?

Cheers

Nils

At a wine course I recently attended, the tutor remarked - while showing a Loire Cab Franc - that most of the (better) Cab Fran from the Loire is supped in Paris Bistros as the next notch up from the basic house red. So perhaps that indicates a style for you?

pk

Nils, I like lentils a lot too. We often have them as a main dish, cooked then sauteed with a little sweet onion finely chopped and lots of Nyons olive oil.

With the confit I'd go with saute de cepes et petites charlottes.

Or maybe you could work the Ste Maure back in, with some sort of gratin?

What are the wines? I tried looking on the Systembolaget, but couldn't seem to actually get to any wine...

-E

What year and cuvee Perruches (a Saumur Champigny with a somewhat aggressive style) did you have? I've found the basic cuvee to be pretty good in an atypical sort of way, but lots of bottle variation. I poured 2 down the drain a couple of weeks ago, but the 3rd was OK (2005).

Of course if you can get hold of some 89...

Aie! La charlotte is a potato. I should have said de la Ratte, you'd have been making fricassee of rats! :)

-E

God forbid I should be restricted to buying wines on Systembolaget ... they did have Les perruches, a Loire CabF we tasted at the 3-honors course, and it was a total disaster, heartily hated by all present ... no, I am tinking about a magnum Clos de l'Echo 1986 I bought on an auction. The Chinon CabFrancs of the 80s drink beautifully and are surprisingly full of primary aromas, a must in this tasting group where mature notes are seen as deficiencies. Hah, we all have mature notes as I am the youngest, crowding 59! I will not expand on this line of thought, however, as it could get personal. So, sauté de cepes and shallots, eh? Hmmmm ... I'll give it a thought ... I just do love my confit de canard with lentils ... Cheers Nils

"Emery Davis" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.>> I _like_ lentils, with brunoise of carrots, leek, and a whiff of sage ...

Great note! That sounds like the "top" cuvee, I tried it in 2004 and had a similar reaction. Oak cudgel indeed! It would be hard to think of a less typical example from the appellation...

-E

Nils Gustaf L> Hello

Hello I don't have the notes available, it must have been the 2005. These are my fond memories: Extremely overextracted. Mercilessly subjugated using oak cudgel. Cassis between the eyes at supersonic speed. So dense and ... blousy? correct for connotation? I thought it might be from some hyper-Californian (while I have tasted some very nice and enjoyable Cal wines, many, particularly in a higher price class, have been so dense that it has been unpleasant), except for lack of jam. Meaning, it was dry, no discernible RS. The theme that evening was apparently French varietal wines - it was preceded by a Beaune 1er cru, and followed by a Madiran, a Cahors, and a Croze. The Loire was considered by everybody Worst Wine of the Evening. Cheers Nils