Matching wine with food has become a much more complex task as cooks and sommeliers have brought recipes and wines from around the world to the United States, while a profusion of both have been created here at the same time. One restaurateur who is enjoying the challenge is Erwin Drechsler, whose Erwin (2925 N. Halsted St.) celebrated its first anniversary this past week.
Drechsler and his wife, Cathy, have developed a series of recipe cards with wine suggestions for their mailing list. They recently held a wine dinner, the first of a projected series, in which each course was accompanied by two wines, one a classic match with the food, the other an iconoclastic match. Midweek a three-course dinner with a wine matched to each course is offered.
After a year, he is convinced that:
— Customer preferences change with the seasons (toward fuller-bodied wines in winter, toward lighter wines in summer).
— Most successful matches involve wine and food of similar textures (light food such as trout with a light wine such as riesling).
— There can be considerable variation in texture or “weight” within a single type of wine.
Therefore, the pinot noirs on his list change from rich and intense in winter to fragrant and fruity in summer. He also feels Erwin’s eclectic American fare is often more hospitable to an American version of a wine made from grapes such as chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and even nebbiolo.
Asked for an example of the range of wines that may work with a food, Drechsler cites salmon. “It’s a meaty, fatty fish,” he says, “so a rich-textured, wood-aged white chardonnay with hints of oak is a good match. So is a supple, elegant pinot noir and some Riojas. But not everything works. We found zinfandel to be too aggressively spicy and Beaujolais too simple and fruity.”
Even more possibilities exist for a favorite dessert–caramelized banana tart with vanilla ice cream and milk chocolate sauce.
“Dessert wines are not a part of the American dining experience,” the chef says. “So we often offer a complementary glass.” His mainstream choices would be late-harvest riesling, a demi-sec champagne or a sweet white muscat wine such as Beaumes de Venise from France’s RhOne Valley. More esoteric matches include port-like late harvest zinfandel and Knob Creek, an aged bourbon.
“I’ve learned there is no absolute `right’ or `wrong’ when pairing wine and food,” Drechsler says. “The more we get the staff and customers involved, the more we learn and the more fun we have.”
Here are two recipes with wine suggestions from the chef.
ERWIN’S SALMON WITH BRAISED LENTILS
4 to 6 servings
1 1/2 cups lentils, French green lentils preferred
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 medium onions, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 medium ribs celery, diced
2/3 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1
teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Oriental chili paste
Salt and pepper to taste
4 to 6 salmon steaks, about 6 ounces each
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and pick over lentils, removing any pebbles. Pour into a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and cover with 4 inches of cold water. Do not add salt. Bring water to a boil, then lower heat and simmer lentils uncovered, until just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain lentils, reserving cooking liquid.
2. Heat oil in the pan. Add diced onions, carrot and celery and sautE over medium heat until softened, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Return lentils and the cooking liquid to the pan. Add stock, garlic, parsley, thyme, Worcestershire, chili paste, salt and pepper. Bring liquid to a boil, stir, cover pot and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour.
4. Heat a grill, broiler or sautE pan. Brush salmon steaks with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and cook by desired method until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Make a bed of lentils on 3 or 4 warmed plates. Top each with a salmon steak and serve with California chardonnay or, for the iconoclast, a red wine such as pinot noir, syrah, or a California nebbiolo.
CARMELIZED BANANA TARTS WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM AND MILK CHOCOLATE SAUCE
4 servings
Tart dough:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 ounces sweet butter, chilled
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 egg
1/2 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
3 large, partially-ripe bananas
1/3 cup super-fine white sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
Sauce:
3 ounces milk chocolate, Callebaut brand preferred, broken into pieces
3 tablespoons brewed instant espresso
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons whipping cream
3 tablespoons sweet butter, cut into pieces
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1. Prepare the dough. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and granulated sugar, then cut in the butter and cream cheese until mixture is crumbly. In a separate bowl, lightly beat 1/2 egg, the 1/2 egg yolk and the vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and mix to form a dough. Roll dough into a log 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Encase in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours or overnight.
2. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Prepare the filling. Cut bananas on the bias into 1/4-inch slices, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine super-fine sugar and 1 tablespoon cold water. In a separate pan, warm the whipping cream without boiling it. Heat the sugar and water without stirring and boil until it turns caramel in color. Remove from the heat and immediately add the warm cream. Return to low heat and stir until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add sliced bananas to the caramel mixture and cook and stir for 1 minute.
4. Prepare the sauce. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the chocolate pieces, espresso and sugar. Stir over low heat until chocolate and sugar have melted. Add cream and continue to stir, Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until very smooth. Keep warm in the top of a double-boiler.
5. To assemble the tarts, slice a 2-ounce section of the chilled dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a circle with a diameter of 5 inches. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment, then place the circle on it. Repeat with three more circles to fill the sheet. Arrange 1/2 cup of the caramelized banana mixture in the middle of a tart dough circle. Bring up small sections of the dough to the slope of the filling in an overlapping fashion, pinching the dough into place as you work. (The finished tart should resemble a volcano rising from an island.) Beat remaining 1/2 egg with 1/2 teaspoon water and used this wash to paint the dough. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon super-fine sugar on each.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crust is light brown. Transfer baked tarts to plates, place a scoop of ice cream on each one and drizzle with milk-chocolate sauce.
