Champagne and food

Nigel Lierop

Nigel Lierop

Location
Southern England
I'm seeking some inspiration. It's my sister's birthday this coming weekend and as she's with us I was contemplating a Champagne themed dinner. Various bits on offer (NV Rosé, 2002/2004 BdB, NV Brut of various hues, Clos de Goisse, Pol, Lanson Gold Label '08, Tatty '08 etc). Unfortunately she doesn't eat fish which makes starters challenging! I was contemplating something with Rosé veal and mushrooms for a main. Any thoughts for a BdB friendly non-fish starter..?
 
I had a wonderful cauliflower mousse type creation made by Joel Robouchon with a blanc de blanc that worked really well. In fact I have now looked it up and it was Le Caviar en fine gelée à la crème de chou-fleur but I honestly don't think the caviar was essential: something with a bit of saltiness could substitute if caviar is a no go.
 
Caramelised onions work really well with BdB, I often do pissaladiere as a canapé/nibble, you can easily leave off the anchovies, or do individual onion tartlets (with either puff or shortcrust pastry).

Pork based charcuterie (e.g. jamon, prosciutto, coppa etc) is also great, and smoked bacon.
 
A traditional match is cold roast goose or duck. Gone are the days of the cold table in grand restaurants but it is a wonderful pairing as long as the bird does not see the inside of the refrigerator.

I don't supposed she eats smoked fish? kedgeree is an equally fine partner.
 
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Goose or duck I’d go with BdN champagnes.

For BdB how about smoked trout or smoked eel pate? With the same caveats as Tom of course.

How about an egg salad with mayonnaise made with a suitably judicious amount of truffle oil. Serve atop the lightest, least flavoured cracker you can summon.

Or a garlic and cream soup? You could use a vegetable stock as a base and have a little snigger whilst you’re at it!
 
Spiced starter maybe or a creamy chicken / veg number like Tom suggested. Chicken liver pate or parfait ? Interested in answers as don’t drink champagne for a whole meal that often (or ever). Tandoori mackerel was my first thought but you said no fish. Would that work ? I’d be happy to try once restaurants open again !
 
Mike Humphreys said:
Spiced starter maybe or a creamy chicken / veg number like Tom suggested. Chicken liver pate or parfait ? Interested in answers as don’t drink champagne for a whole meal that often (or ever). Tandoori mackerel was my first thought but you said no fish. Would that work ? I’d be happy to try once restaurants open again !
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Mike,

Never any certainties, but these might overwhelm BdB champagne. In my experience these would both be more suited to BdN or at the very least Pinot dominant champagnes.
 
Mark Palmer said:
Mike,

Never any certainties, but these might overwhelm BdB champagne. In my experience these would both be more suited to BdN or at the very least Pinot dominant champagnes.
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Yes thanks. My reasoning was almost like a Riesling balancing the gentle spice and lifting it. The pate I can see may overpower, lighter creamier dishes ?
Interesting subject though I’m quite flexible unless it very much doesn’t match at all,
 
Richard Zambuni said:
As a matter of interest Tom, when did that stop? During the old days of service a la francaise there was always a lot of cold meat around.
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As late as the 1970s places like The Ritz, Claridges, The Mirabelle and pretty much all gentlemen's clubs offered cold roasts as a matter of course, and I remember it in the 1980s. A L'Ecu De France had a cold table on display as one walked in. It seems vaguely odd now that one would go in to a smart restaurant and order cold roast lamb, for example, but it was certainly on offer.
Does anyone eat such things any more? I will sometimes intentionally make a roast of beef for eating cold; cuts like silverside or topside from a really good butcher can be roasted very rare and are far more enjoyable thus than they are warm, and the same is true of pork, particularly the now very popular belly. I would really think of serving such things to guests but on reflection that is probably a mistake.
 
Well it wasn't the Ritz or Claridges, but in my youth my mother always served cold meat such as lamb, beef and pork on Mondays (and sometimes further into the week) from the leftover Sunday roast. I have to say that I quite enjoyed those meals, although my taste was not particularly sophisticated at the time!
 
I hasten to add that I was not a customer at such places in the seventies, Richard, but rather own several volumes of menus from that time. I don't really remember cold meat at home, apart from the occasional beef sandwich.
The Cantonese are probably the foremost exponents of cold meats, both roasted and poached, and come to think of it Cantonese duck, pork(not charsiu I don't think) and poached chicken go wonderfully well with champagne. I'm a fearful duffer at correctly identifying cepage in champagnes, though.
 
My mother would serve cold roast leftovers - I'd particularly enjoy that with hot potatoes (roasts reheated in the oven, or mash bound with an egg and fried in little potato cakes) and maybe an onion chutney. My mother used to love cold leftover bits of stuffing when we had them, though I didn't go for that as much.
 
Thread drift, but there is surely no meal more delicious or satisfying than leftovers from a dinner party the day before.
 
Paul Day said "Champagne goes with most things". I know if I said that few would take me seriously, but as most of you know Paul I hope you will give his assertion a chance and just try it out. I am convinced that those who disagree most fervently that Champagne goes with most things (though obviously different Champagnes for different dishes) are most usually those who don't really like Champagne.

I had a lovely "pink" Champagne at The Sportman in February, Ruppert-Leroy Rosé Brut Nature. It wasn't really pink, more like a modern lighter red. It's dryness made me think it potentially one of the most versatile Champagnes I've had for ages. Whereas a "reddish" Champagne is hardly rare these days, done well is perhaps a rare event. In my opinion this one was done very well, and I plan to buy some. Just need to be able to afford a mixed case.
 
Tom Cannavan said:
Thread drift, but there is surely no meal more delicious or satisfying than leftovers from a dinner party the day before.
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Well, the variation, of Christmas Dinner leftovers with a few nuts, pickles and Bombay Mix, and a cheese platter mixed in is usually my favourite meal at home of the year. Liberal libations, of course.

Highlight of the week as a child was cold roast beef sandwiches on a Monday following Sunday Lunch.
 
We are drinking Champagne with dinner more and more, both at home and when out. Obviously you have to retain a modicum of sanity and not drink it with wildly inappropriate food, but that stil leaves a broad spectrum of choice in my experience, from all sorts of things from the sea, to most preparations of chicken, and light game (rabbit, quail, etc) to many vegetable and Chinese or Thai dishes to, well, all sorts of stuff.
 
Tom Cannavan said:
We are drinking Champagne with dinner more and more, both at home and when out. Obviously you have to retain a modicum of sanity and not drink it with wildly inappropriate food, but that stil leaves a broad spectrum of choice in my experience, from all sorts of things from the sea, to most preparations of chicken, and light game (rabbit, quail, etc) to many vegetable and Chinese or Thai dishes to, well, all sorts of stuff.
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Yes, to put things in perspective I'd not make it first choice with Cassoulet or Boeuf Bourguignon, but most things of the type you suggest, and in my case certainly more. Come to think of it, I'd give it a go with Cassoulet.
 
I was thinking mushroom risotto would’ve been good but you have mushrooms in your main course. Tom’s cauliflower suggestion made me think of a HestonBlumenthal cauliflower risotto recipe. Think that would be a good match although maybe leave out the cocoa powder!
 
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