Terra taro chips make an ideal base for crème fraîche and domestic caviar; the melding of earthy-creamy-salty flavors blends exceptionally well with vibrant, citrusy bruts.
PHOTO: MARY McCULLEY
Snack, Crackle, Pop -Brightening ready-made munchies with a range of bubbliesBy Jen L. KaretnickA concerned - or just plain envious - friend recently commented that my life resembles the interior of a refrigerator in a Manhattan apartment: It revolves around the consumption of a handful of comestibles, a ritzy condiment or two and a bottle of Champagne (usually all at the same time). In other words, she was implying that I indulge in a lot of style, but not too much substance. And while my customary daily intake is certainly delicious, it's far from healthy and nutritious.
To which I replied, of course: Bah, humbug. 'Tis the season - for bubblies, crunchies and other such goodies sent to the magazine, my house, my husband's office, anywhere that Fed Ex can find me.
Many of these offerings contain holiday fancies I would never buy (or be able to afford) myself. Yet once tempted, the sampling begins in earnest and I become quite fond of the most unexpected of comestibles, regardless of cost - so much so that they become permanent fixtures on my shopping list.
While some of us tend to tuck these items into the back of the pantry to gather dust all year long, I'll try anything at any time. For instance, I see absolutely no reason not to crack open a thank-you bottle of Billecart-Salmon 1996 Blanc de Blancs, received from one of my husband's patients, simply because it's mid-afternoon on a Tuesday. It's just the thing for the mango chutney recipe I have to test, along with the artisanal flatbreads that just arrived by courier for tasting before they go stale, and for distinguishing between the merits of salt-and-pepper versus salt-and-vinegar potato chips, the latter project fodder for a light Internet story due in by the end of the day.
In fact, that's how many of the snack-and-sip matches that follow were formulated - serendipitously, out of gourmandize necessity, with their roots in research of the most frivolous yet fabulous kind. To validate what some might view as unconventional, I invited my fellow editors to a marathon tasting session. (Though had they not been able to lend their opinions, I would have asked my neighbors who, after years of such sessions at my house, are still my most eager volunteers.)
Naturally the admittedly quirky, impromptu pairings offered here are open to interpretation and revision according to personal preference, and what you might have in your own refrigerator and pantry. After all, the idea is to go with what's on hand. Think of it as a way of making good use out of all those single-serving tins of French pâtés and four-piece packets of English water crackers nestled into woven wicker vessels that you'll receive yet again this year.
Some aficionados certainly might get the wrong impression. It's not that I don't take my effervescents seriously. Sparkling winemakers are the first to remind us that once disgorged and released, the cuvées are at their optimal for freshness, flavor and effervescence. And if I always save the prime bubblies for just the right occasion, I may not enjoy them at their best, or at all. So I don't see the need to treat them with such reverence that I can't pop open a bottle of Bollinger 1997 Grande Année for a bowl of popcorn - albeit truffled popcorn - while I watch a DVD on a mellow Saturday night. If that makes my existence - and subsistence - appear equivalent to the inside of a fridge in an New York City studio, so be it, and pass me the Arm & Hammer.
When you serve these illicit, mixed-culture duos to company, consider upping the class of the nibble. For example, while I've got nothing against Mr. Redenbacher's Corn on the Cob flavor on a Diet Coke-consumer kind of level, as an all-too-infrequent Ruinart drinker, I prefer to fast-track Black Jewel corn, black popcorn that pops up a crisp, snowy white, in the microwave and toss it with a touch of Da Rosario white truffle oil. It goes down particularly well with Ruinart's NV Blanc de Blancs.
For even more decadence, my friend Willis Loughhead, who served truffled popcorn nightly at Bizcaya while serving as executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove, a few years ago, recommends that you buy "black truffle carpaccio or black truffle paste in a tube and combine it with equal parts whole unsalted butter. Just basically melt it all together, without boiling, and use that as your butter. Finish with white truffle oil and black truffle salt." He cautions, though, that you can't use microwave popcorn, which "does not permit the correct seasoning adjustments. You have to use the old-time stovetop pan method," he says.
Alternatively, I grab a bag of Vic's organic white gourmet popcorn or, if I can find it, Oogie's really decadent smoked gouda-flavored popcorn. If I'm going to indulge my inner hotel chain heiress, I'm going to do it with tender kernels, rich flavors and a silky mouth-feel that complements the soft bead in a creamier, more beery bubbly.
If I don't feel like making it a Blockbuster night, though, I'll sneak Pommery POP bottles into a movie theater in my purse. This practice isn't exactly spot-on in the ethics department, I suppose (esquires, feel free to skip to the end), but these vibrantly painted little bottles are oxymornically discreet, especially if you choose the Takahiro Okawa designs from the POP Art Safari Collection - only true Champagne groupies will know that these animal-theme pint-size bottles are anything other than jungle juice. And the slightly sweeter-than-brut sparkler is a great spoil for the slick "butter-flavored topping" that is so inexplicably irresistible.
The same goes for potato chips. Lay off the Lays and head to more interesting ground for roots of a bolder color and flavor: Terra chips. The tropical complexities that come into play here in a single bag of the original mixed chips, which feature taro, yucca, boniato and parsnip, are exemplary with California sparklers. My personal favorites are the ruby taro chips, which are flavored with beet juice, lending them an extra bit of sweet, yet earthy, appeal that complements the sunniness of California fruit.
Even better is when I happen to have Vermont Butter and Cheese crème fraîche and a tin of Tsar Nicoulai domestic golden whitefish or pearl trout roe in the fridge, both of which I order from igourmet.com. The taro chips are sturdy enough to stand up to moisture, so I top them with crème fraîche and caviar and serve them to neighbors during a casual Friday happy hour, along with flutes of Roederer Estate's NV Anderson Valley Brut, J or Chandon étoile. (Check out the Terra Web site at www.terrachips.com/recipes/index.php for other easy entertaining tapas ideas.) The citrus nuances in these cuvées cut any fishiness in the eggs, while the creaminess of the yeasts flatter them; on the palate, the juxtaposition in the textures makes these matches mouthwatering.
Should friends drop by, as often happens during the holiday season, other easy-assembly, Champagne-friendly bites include New York Style sea salt bagel crisps with an herbed goat cheese such as Soignon's garlic-and-herb version. While garlic is usually a no-no with wine, the sublime suggestion of it in the tangy herbed cheese goes remarkably well with the clean chalkiness and steely minerality of a blanc de blancs; you can go with an NV from France or California - G.H. Mumm's Mumm de Cramant or Korbel's NV Chardonnay to name two - or up the stakes with a vintage blanc de blancs such as the 2000 Domaine Carneros Le Rêve. The sea saltiness and toastiness of the bagel chip conspire to create a more subtle mouthful than you might anticipate, and the chardonnay crispness is a perfect foil.
Looking for something that is at once just a little bit sharper and rounder? Try Stacy's Naked pita chips with smears of Rosey Goat cheese. These buttery thins are ideal companions for the Spanish semisoft goat cheese that's covered in fresh rosemary, which infuses the cheese during ageing. The stronger flavors demand a more assertive bubbly, so consider a Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs from Sonoma County with its mineral and apple characteristics, or perhaps a Crémant de Loire NV Rosé from Langlois-Château for its cushiony acidity and fresh fruit.
If gourmet snacking in your house includes laying in Perona Farms Sliced Smoked Salmon, or you receive it as a gift (in my abbreviated etiquette book, it's okay to drop hints), lay this thin-sliced fish on triangular Lundberg sesame and seaweed rice chips. Dry-cured with salt and sugar, and smoked with oak, the notes in the salmon correspond wonderfully to dried seaweed flakes in this all-natural, gluten-free product. In turn, this medley of salt, sweet, smoky and pungent is a natural with the 1999 Deutz Brut Rosé. The underlying richness of the wine complements the oily aspect of the fish, and its overall flintiness cleans up the smoky oak from the palate. Priced at about $70 per bottle, it isn't cheap, but the complex mix of flavors and textures requires a similarly complex wine.
When an entire smoked salmon doesn't happen to be chilling in your fridge, whip up a spread using a good-quality canned salmon with some cream cheese or mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon. Or purchase one at your favorite specialty market. The fattiness of such a spread is a boon with other types of seaweed rice crackers, such as the more traditional Ka-Me and Shirakiku brands, as well as Eden vegetable chips - or, if you can find them and feel particularly adventurous, Brilliant Indonesian shrimp chips, which add a deeper seafood element. In this case, the bolder the cuvée the better, so think about taking the foil off of a similarly deep Champagne that matches the plush richness of the fish. Both Charles Heidsieck's NV Brut Réserve and Bollinger's NV Special Cuvée have just the right amount of unctuousness and red fruit character; after all, salmon and Pinot are a great combination.
Wrapping Serrano ham around John WM Macy's CheeseSticks is another simple, pretty presentation that will have guests wondering why they hadn't thought of it themselves, especially when the macerated apple notes of a Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad or the sweet edge of a Freixenet Brut Nature come into play.
Naturally, cavas are a given mate for Serrano's almost piquant meatiness, but don't hesitate to substitute Prosciutto di Parma or San Daniele and change the ethnicity of the sparkler to a Prosecco such as Martini & Rossi's. As for the CheeseSticks, which are available in such tempting flavors as "Melting Parmesan" and "Tuscan Swiss," they're delectable enough to stand on their own, with their sourdough-based headiness easily checked by a quaff of the exhilarating Ca' del Bosco Franciacorta, Italy's most Champagne-like bubbly. Even a brut rosé from France or California would flatter the ham's salty nature.
Whether you're popping corks with friends, though, or savoring a luxe bubbly with your significant other, the most satisfying sparkling accompaniment is the dunk. I have so many variations on the theme of sip, chip and dip that I only have room to share my most current cravings, such as Plocky's hummus chips with Olive This, Relish That truffled artichoke tapenade, the latter of which I source from BullFish, a gourmet market in Winter Park, Florida. The slightly pliable chips, created from puréed garbanzo beans, coat the palate in a way that brilliantly meets the lightly sharp, fluffy tapenade. Wash this match down with G.H. Mumm's NV Brut Cordon Rouge, or perhaps the Pommery NV Brut Royal, and you'll be booking airline tickets to Florida. (At press time, a Web site was under construction so Olive This, Relish That products will be available via mail order.)
Even more addictive is the Garden of Eatin' yellow corn tortilla chips paired with Salpica cilantro and green olive salsa with roasted tomatillo. I asked my colleagues to help me find the right match and they were understandably wary of trying to meet so much diversity with a single cuvée. But they accomplished it beautifully with an eye toward a bargain, choosing Australia's Yellow (by Yellowglen), a recent export to these climes. The herbal yet slightly sweet-edged sparkler was a pleasantly surprising palate picker-upper following the picante sting of the salsa, something to keep in mind when you're in a Mexican restaurant.
Speaking of Everyman combos, you can also dip just about any pretzel into any kind of mustard to silence a happy-hour-induced stomach growl. But some mustards will overpower a delicate bubbly, many will clash with a stronger one, and commercial pretzels are often so oversalted that they make the Champagne itself taste briny. For a more controlled take on the quintessential flavors, try Beigel and Beigel sesame pretzel rings with Casa Torcello pear or white watermelon mostardo; Robert's American Gourmet honey wheat pretzels with Robert Rothschild Farm Raspberry or Blackberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip; Pennysticks buttery bite-size pretzel braids with Goot Essa mustard; or East Shore Specialty Foods Waffle Pretzels with Lopez Larry's Smoky Chardonnay Mustard Sauce. Improve on all of them with a scintillating rinse of Schramsberg Crémant or, more decadently, Veuve Clicquot's Demi-Sec; both wines have the sweetness that mimics many mustards. For sourcing some of these mustards, which can be hard to find, visit www.RareFinds.com or www.MurraysCheese.com; for advice on pairing cheeses, particularly with sparkling wines, the founder of Murray's Cheese, Rob Kaufelt, has penned The Murray's Cheese Handbook (reviewed on page 66).
Finally, cap off this sparkling smörgasbord with dessert - in both solid and liquid forms. For a not-too-sweet combination, begin with crackers, not cookies, along the lines of Carr's croissant crackers or savory cheese sticks from Elsa's Story that, despite their categorization, taste more like shortbread. Then scoop up some Matin des Pyrenees almond nut cream, Misty Valley Mac Nut Butter or Cinnamon Currant Peanut Better, and follow with a few swigs of Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial or Piper-Heidsieck's distinctive Brut Rosé Sauvage. The decadent creaminess of these butters, backed by the flaky pastry, is offset by each Champagne's exuberant effervescence, and the lively strawberry flavors in either make the entire amalgamation seem like an adult version of peanut butter and jelly.
They're playful, yes, but these real-life pairings, tried and tested, actually work. They might not be served at the James Beard House. But it's quite possible you'll be handed a reasonable facsimile in the kitchen at mine - which is, for the record, ready to be restocked.
Features Editor Jen L. Karetnick also writes for Gayot.com. Her poetry chapbook, Necessary Salt, is forthcoming from Pudding House Publications.
Surfing the gourmet wave
Short of browsing in the grocery store or trawling the Internet, how can you find gourmet products to meet your Champagne pairing needs? It's simple: Sign up for free e-newsletters that focus on specialty items. One I really like is called The Nibble: Great Food Finds (www.thenibble.com). This site began in 2003 as an e-mail blast, recommending hand-picked and taste-tested products to an inside group of epicures. Now the site publishes a weekly newsletter offering "a variety of information about specialty foods, gourmet housewares, and other food-themed products." Then there's Belly DuJour (www.bellydujour.com), a twice weekly e-column offering "bite-sized reviews on the ultimate farmstead cheeses, single-origin chocolates, aged vinegars, handcrafted sausages, wild mushrooms, artisanal ice creams, and other mouthwatering delicacies" and focusing on the "artisans, farmers, chefs, and dedicated producers who labor to bring deliciousness to our collective table."
Note that neither sell the products they pitch, but they do tell you where to find them. It's a great way to stay ahead of the culinary curve. - JLK
Putting the bloom on bargain bubbly
Now that you've decided what to do with the edible contents all those gift baskets, what about that less-than-mediocre sparkler tucked in with the cashews? Your first impulse might be to use it to poach a salmon. But next year, pending FDA approval, Kurrajong Native Foods will provide a diplomatic way to toast the guests who brought it, and avoid grimacing at the same time. The company's wild hibiscus flowers preserved in syrup (www.bushtuckershop.com) can be dropped into a flute before adding any value-priced bubbly on hand. Presto: an instant yet elegant Champagne cocktail. The edible flower adds a raspberry-rhubarb note to the wine, and the syrup lends it a sweetness similar to a kir royale. Best of all, the tightly furled bud slowly blossoms with just the right amount of drama as the effervescence begins to work on the petals. It's a festive, colorful and economic way to welcome a crowd over for holiday brunch. - JLK
Snacks that sparkle
Scandinavian Salmon Spread
By Jen L. Karetnick
- 1 6-ounce package Norway Gold salmon fillets in smoke-flavored olive oil*, drained
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Champagne or honey mustard
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced dill
- 1 shallot, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Serves 4 to 6 as an hors d'oeuvre
*Available at igourmet.com
White Truffle Popcorn
From The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider
Combine 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, or extra virgin olive oil with 2 1/2 to 3 teaspoons white truffle oil, or to taste. Place 12 cups popcorn in a large bowl. Drizzle the truffle butter over the popcorn, tossing well to coat. Season liberally with sea salt.
Makes 12 cups, 4 to 6 servings. - JLK
