Saturday, April 26, 2008
Rum from Mauritius
Friday, April 25, 2008
Back to India
Back to India for work the past two weeks, this time, R. decided to join me. The itinerary was breakneck - Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai. Fortunately, wherever we were, when I was at work, she was off enjoying herself with my relatives.
This was a shock! Mangosteens! I was in Delhi to meet with one of our consultants - the plan came down to him coming to our hotel for dinner. After dinner, I noticed mangosteens in the fruit bar - shocking! I was so excited for breakfast the next morning, when I could really enjoy, but there were none to be seen. I asked the manager though, and we were taken care of. Tremendous!
At a pan-Asian "fusion" restaurant, I was surprised, even delighted to see a sake list - a first for me in India. And, not a bad list, some of my favorites - Tama no Hikari, Kubota... but ouch, what prices. The worst was yet to come though - their sake was all stored at "room temperature", in the kitchen... so, at about 90°F! Not good. Well, we still had some sake, some Koshino, and it wasn't too bad, perhaps it hadn't been out for long, or sake is just hardier than I expected, but I hope our message about refrigeration got across.
R. and my aunt bartering for bangles in Hyderabad.
In Mumbai, I was looking forward to the Kandahar restaurant at the Oberoi, they have great lamb dishes. Wouldn't you know it that they had a special all-vegetarian menu the night we were there???
Gives new meaning to the words "doggie bag." India has definitely, definitely changed.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Dubai, winter retreat
Lunch at Karam Beirut in the Mall of the Emirates. Still great food. Still surly service.
And of course, it is perched at the base of Ski Dubai. That's right. Now, last time we were here, we ate here, saw the skiing, and moved on. Not this time.
We've been able to do a fair amount of skiing this season, though our last time out, in the Poconos, near Philadelphia was really pretty terrible. It's almost embarrassing to say that the conditions in Dubai were better than in the Poconos, but there you go.
Heading back to the airport after a night at the Raffles Dubai, a sort of Pharaonic Disneyland. Crazy place.
Monday, April 7, 2008
A Bouzy Weekend
Had a fantastic experience this past weekend in Champagne, a really wonderful event that tied together so many different people from all over the place.
The players in this story are my man Y. of no fixed address, our friend J.F. - a young winemaker in Bouzy, and the Malaysian Ambassador to France - the uncle of our friend and neighbour, G. On a previous visit to Paris, we learned that the Ambassador was seriously getting into wine, so last autumn, Y. and I arranged for him to visit J.F. In short, they hit it off, with J.F. and his winemaking friends coming back to Paris to host Champagne tastings at the Ambassador's residence.
So, about 10 days ago, J.F. calls and says that the village is having its annual vins clair festival the coming weekend (the tasting of the wines that will be blended and bottled before the secondary fermentation process), and would R. and I be able to come? The festival would be capped by a dinner hosted by the winemakers, with the Ambassador as the guest of honour. Additionally, it would be co-hosted by the Malaysian tourism board, and the meal would be a pairing of Bouzy champagne and Malaysian cuisine... two winners! After lengthy and careful deliberation (about the 2-3 minutes it took to book the flights), of course we decided to go - we left after work on Friday and got back to Philadelphia yesterday afternoon, feeling very much worse for wear, but what an experience!
Saturday morning, with part of the Franco-Hispano-Indo-Malaysian delegation, at the Ambassador's Residence in Paris. Y. and M. have come up from Madrid for the occasion, and we're all stuffed, having just had a great Malaysian brunch. Meanwhile, R. and I are very woozy, having only slept for a couple of hours on the flight over.
The Ambassador's convoy left promptly, as we had an appointment with Professor Patrick Demouy from the University of Reims. Apparently the Ambassador is a big fan of old Cathedrals, so J.F. asked the professor to take us on a tour. But from the Cathedral, on to more pressing concerns. First was a stop at J.F.'s house for a quick visit to the family cellar. Originally, there was a plan to walk through the vineyards, but it ended up being a bit drizzly and cold out.
The furthest recess of the family cellar, where the oldest bottles (some from the 19th century) still lay.
Being addressed by George Vesselle of Les Confréries des Echevins de Bouzy. Amongst other things, Y. and I were thanked for bringing Malaysia and France together... or something like that.
Next was a "Grand Parade" down the streets of Bouzy to the Chapitre des Vins Clairs. If you look closely, there's a Malaysian flag waving at the venue (and all over the village, actually).
This next bit was a surprise - the Ambassador was inducted into Les Confréries in a cool little ceremony. Y. and I have some work to do to get in ourselves.
Next up was the actual tasting of the Vins Clair. It was an educational experience, and one that tells you how much of an art blending of wine is. I can say that none of what I had was particularly pleasant on its own, but from some of the wines you could see how they would be part of the finished wine. In Bouzy, one of the Grand Cru Villages, only Pinot Noir (primarily) and Chardonnay are used. Only a few 100% PN's, most in the range of 90/10 - 65/35. The regulars tell me that to really learn about this art, I must come back to Bouzy for the Chapitre des Vins Clair on a yearly basis. Tough sell.
From each of the winemakers, we tasted a vins clair of Pinot Noir, of Chardonnay, and a reserve blend according to the house style, all from 2007:
Wines without Malolactic Fermentation ("sans malo")
- Ch. Herbert Beaufort
- Ch. Delavenne Pére et Fils
- Ch. Camille Saves
Wines with and without Malolactic Fermentation ("avec et sans malo")
- Ch. Brice (the youngest Brice is a great guy to party with, btw)
- Ch. Benoît Lahaye
Wines with Malolactic Fermentation ("avec malo")
- Ch. Edmond Barnaut
- Ch. André Clouet
- Ch. Paul Clouet
- Ch. Pierre Paillard
- Ch. Georges Vesselle
After the tastings, it was onto the main event, the dinner!
2002 Ch. Lahaye, Ch. Brice, Ch. Paillard and Ch. P. Clouet, served with "amuses bouche et sa flûte confraternelle" - basically, Malaysian appetizers and the hosts' champagne!
Prawn Satay and Nasi Lemak ("Brochette de crevettes riz au lait de coco et sauce cacahuète.") One of the Ambassador's guests was the largest French importer of Malaysian seafood, and he provided all the lovely jumbo prawns... yum!
I don't have pictures of the next three courses, but they were:
- Pomme de ris de veau poêle au beurre, sauce pistache, canapé de pomme de terre confite au lard gras
- Filet de bar rôti, jus de viande et artichaut farci barigoule
- Plateau de fromages affinés et saladier de fouillis de salades
Dessert was just incredible: Sorbet glacé du moment et sa meringue, comptée aux fruits rouges.
With Remi Brice, who was tickled that we came to France for 30 hours.
At about 5AM, J.F. says, let's go down to my cellar and try something nice! Here, he is showing us the lees that has settled into the neck.
This picture depicts very clearly how I was feeling at this point... but my, the '98 was delicious...
Back above ground for yet another bottle... I actually was unable to drink this glass... physically, emotionally... finished. I'm also being reminded in this picture that our driver to the airport will arrive in a few minutes, so we really ought to go and pack up our stuff.... nonsense!
Anyways, thank goodness for time zones... I passed out on the way to the airport, in the airport, the entire flight back, and another dozen or so hours until this morning.... back to the office! Can't wait till next time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
