Happy New Year!
Before the holidays, Chef Magyar donated his time to a charity dinner which featured a staggering array of very old – ancient, practically – wines.
Chef was thrilled to taste a number of the wines, and found the 1911 Moet & Chandon to be surprisingly good – “fantastic,” he said, with tiny bubbles. Quite a feat for a 100 year old bottle! Only 66 bottles of this ancient wine were released & auctioned around the world.
In particular, though, Chef enjoyed an 1811 bottle of Hungarian Tokay. Not only was this the last bottle of its kind, but it was made and bottled in his home country. He said it had an amazing, “very dark” taste, and the experience was very special.
1811 Tokay
Unlike ordering wine in a restaurant, when one might decide upon the menu before selecting wines, Chef needed to do the opposite for this event. So how exactly does one go about creating a menu for mysterious, ancient wines? Beyond researching the wines extensively for tasting notes, Chef says he tried to limit the acidic elements such as tomatoes in each dish. He says it was very difficult, but enjoyed taking his time to try many different ideas before deciding on the final menu.
We are delighted to share all the yummy details with you – warning: this might be dangerous reading for those on January diets!
As guests arrived, two separate Champagnes from the 1990s were served along with canapés traditional (oysters, poached shrimp), and non (kangaroo carpaccio).
Once seated, a playful amuse of garden vegetables in a pot of “dirt” was served. Inspired by Denmark’s
Noma restaurant, the dish was layered with herbed buttermilk, “dirt” (roasted & crushed hazelnuts, beer, granola), and baby lettuces. This dish was served with the lovely 1911 Moet as described above.
vegetables in "dirt"
Next came the Hungarian wine, paired with an opened can of foie gras, quince cheese, mushroom dust, and brioche.
a can of foie gras
The third course – lobster soufflé with “Kelly gator” (alligator, inspired by the iconic Hermes bag) – was matched with a trio of Burgundies from 1996 and 2001. The unique wire serving piece was inspired by Chef’s recent visit to the famed
Alinea in Chicago.
lobster souffle with Kelly gator
After a cellar tour (with glasses of 1976 Krug – from a magnum, naturally), guests moved on to the fourth course – beef cheeks, carrots, bone marrow, and Jerusalem artichoke – paired with three Burgundy wines from 1911 and one from 1971 (a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti)
bone marrow and beef cheeks
Next, an exceptionally rare wine was served solo – the two hundred year old Château Lafite-Rothschild, 1811, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France.
two hundred year old Bordeaux
To follow, three Bordeaux wines from 1961 (Château Montrose, Saint-Estèphe; Château Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan; Château Latour, Pauillac) were served with smoked wild boar, red cabbage, caraway, and pulled pork burger steamed buns.
Next, Chef prepared Nunavut arctic musk ox curry with cauliflower, parsley and beets to be served with wines from the Rhône: E. Guigal, Côte-Rôtie “La Mouline”, 1991; M. Chapoutier, Côte-Rôtie “La Mordorée”, 1991; Paul Jaboulet Âiné, Côte-Rôtie “Les Jumelles”, 1961
The cheese course included Parmesan foam, Roquefort bavaroise, and double preserved olives, and was served with Sandeman’s Vintage Port “Coronation”, 1911, Portugal.
Guests expecting a sweet dessert to follow might have been initially surprised by Chef’s playful take on “bacon and egg” – milk jelly and mango became an egg, sunny side up, and a crunchy chocolate/sugar blend became crumbled bacon. “Ketchup” (raspberry-strawberry purée) was squeezed by the guest from a small tube. A 1986 Sauternes was served with the course.
"bacon and egg" for dessert
Finally, chocolates were served with a selection of cognacs and single malt whiskies.
For more amazing wine tasting menus, please see our blog posts
here and
here, and see photos on Facebook
here and
here.
