Taste of Bordeaux...

maine lobster, avocado, pomelo, sturgeon caviar

yuzu-champagne-elderflower sabayon

We have been asked to put together a tasting menu for a group of gourmands who are all about Bordeaux. This is to be a small intimate group who will be tasting and sipping vintage Bordeaux wines along with some cool groceries I put together for them. Sounds like a tough task for them to endure right??? Here is the dry run. Being that I do not indulge in the fine art of wines and spirits, I was able to have tasting notes articulated to me and from there, I was off and running. Whenever we do tasting menus or wine pairings without the ability to taste ahead, there is always a chance that the profile of the wines might steer in the opposite direction to that of the food and visa versa. It happens. In this case, the only real flavor fighting was that of the quince and the sauternes. No worries...enter persimmons! Usually though, we are pretty spot on. Even though I do not drink myself, the people around me on my team have tasted many a wine and they know my food and my palate therefor, we get headed in the right direction. Good food, prepared properly and with excellent technique and a very sharp awareness and attention to taste, flavor and seasoning, is hard to go wrong.

veal sweetbread & rabbit confit terrine en gelee
truffles, celery-walnut salad, roasted onion sponge, potato croustillant. cider emulsion, banyuls
compressed apples, celery leaves

compressed green grapes, satsuma, pumpkin-apple gelee
cremant-tarragon sorbet

pepper crusted american bison loin, red wine braised crosnes, baby turnips
chanterelles, cauliflower mushrooms and matsutake
butternut "landaise"(bacon, pine nut, garlic, tomato), blackberry-varhona manjari sauce

chabichou du poitou, truffled apricot conserve, micro arugula, chestnut crisp
bordeaux-fig pates de fruits, fig coulis, hazelnut crumble

d'anjou pear-almond charlotte, chocolate-foie gras bon bon, poached quince
quince sorbet, gingerbread dust, caramel crisp, pear-armagnac caramel