STN: cocktail and food pairing dinner

This week in Portland has been designated "Portland Cocktail Week", and to kick it of the Oregon Bartenders Guild decided to do a cocktail and food pairing dinner, where two bartenders would design four cocktails to accompany four courses---but instead of wine, or beer, of course, it was the cocktail designated as the accompanying beverage.

It was an interesting night. Here's my post on the evening. If you want to see the whole thing, with a slideshow, you can go to http://www.examiner.com/spirits-in-portland/pdx-cocktail-week-2010-begins-at-spints-alehouse-cocktail-and-food-pairing

Last night Portland Cocktail Week 2010 officially kicked off the festivities with a Cocktail and Food Pairing Dinner at Spints Alehouse.

Bartender/Mixologists Chris Churilla and Adam Robinson consulted with Spints Chef Alyssa Gregg to create a four course pairing of creative cocktails with a specially designed meal to highlight the delectable pairings possible with cocktails and food.

Course I. bols genever, mirabelle plum brandy, orange, orgeat
watercress bisque, delicate squash, pumpkin seeds, chevre & balsamic vinaigrette

The creamy texture and light citrus fruitiness of the cocktail highlighted the herbal green salad nicely; in turn the acidic bite of the chevre contrasted with the slight sweetness of the cocktail, with the balsamic vinaigrette providing a lovely silky bridge between the food and the cocktail.

Course II. el dorado 15 yr. rum, grapefruit, black cardamom tea, pineapple bitters
cured rare sea scallops, smoked pepper sea salt, trout caviar ceviche

Salty caviar; smoky, peppery sea salt, and sweet sea scallops---a difficult combination to pair with. But the chefs pulled it off by going slightly tropical---but with a touch of Asian umami!. The mellow golden richess of the aged rum provided the base; the addition of piquant grapefruit countered the saltiness; the black cardamom tea, smoked in the asian style, added an intriguing herbal smokiness; and the "sweet/sour" pineapple bitters threw in a hint of bitter complexity to the mix. An excellent, balanced, and harmonious cocktail that got high marks for the pairing with the scallops.

Course III. herradura "lucky tiger" double barrel reposado, spanish brandy, sweet vermouth, smoked pecan syrup, bitters
smoked pork cheeks, chanterelles, saffron, pork belly spatzle

Smoked pork and mushrooms with saffron and german-style pasta? Big, rich dish that needed a big cocktail to handle it. The mixologists decided to go into unexpected territory here by avoiding the obvious whiskey, and choosing a surprisingly hearty tequila. The Lucky Tiger Reposado, referred to as a 'double barreled' reposado because it receives additional barrel influence before bottling, and is a special blend available only in Portland, was almost whiskey-like in body. When added to a dollop of Spanish brandy (Don Pedro), vermouth and home-made smoked pecan syrup and a dash of bitters, this cocktail handled the pork cheeks admirably. A superb combination of hearty food with a stalwart and complex cocktail.

Course IV. old forester signature bourbon, stout syrup, bonal gentian, maraschino ice cream, cherry bark tincture
apple bread pudding & vanilla bourbon caramel sauce

And yet another surprise from the mixologists! A sinfully rich apple bread pudding, slathered with vanilla bourbon caramel sauce, demands bourbon as a compliment, of course. But bourbon isn't usually served as (or with, for that matter) a sticky-rich bread pudding. Well, now it is.

For this cocktail creation, the mixologists began with the hearty and rye-heavy spice of Old Forester Signature 100 Proof Bourbon---the closest thing you can have to the bold, full-bodied bourbons of the 1800s---added flavors and textures of stout, bitter gentian, cherry bark---and then finished it with a tiny dollop of delicious maraschino ice cream right on top.

The dessert and cocktail were amazing together, for the cocktail balanced out the rich, fruity, intense sweetness of the bread pudding, making both drink and pudding taste better! The guests were both surprised and delighted at the creative combination.

In addition, guests were treated to an edgy aperitif cocktail using Galliano Liqueur and Sanbitter, and after dinner a digestif of the newly released 2010 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon.

By all accounts, the guests were quite happy with the cocktails and the dinner, and even more delighted at the pairings of the two.

This was a festive and auspicious beginning for Portland Cocktail Week and the Great American Distillers Festival---and signals even more exciting events over the next four days. To see the list of what's in store---and to get tickets to these great events go to the Portland Cocktail Week website, or to the Great American Distillers Festival website for details.

Wow - those are some pretty interesting cocktails! Sounds like a really fun supper.

We also have a "Cocktail Week" here, but I've not managed to get to any events the last couple of years.

Another tough evening for H. Harden

Another tough evening for H. Harden

And tonight, a Bourbon Dinner!

(bakground: Mel Brooks in "Blazing Saddles", "Work, work, work!")

Mike:

It was certainly interesting. Mainly because, after doing all those wine and food pairing gigs over the years, here I was looking at cocktails, not as a separate and distinct entity, but as a combination of components designated to enhance a food companion.

So, you break it into its constituent flavors, based on what the constituent flavors of the dish...with the same general principles of similarity or contrast, considering acids, sugars, bitter components, etc.

It was quite fascinating, and happened to be a great meal in toto.

Also nice in that, as of late (if you read any of the stuff I wrote about Tabla, that would be an example of what I mean here) I have gone back to the practice of having a cocktail prior to a dinner, sometimes in lieu of an app, sometimes specifically to "set up" the meal. Again, it has opened up new vistas, not only for the foods, but for the use of different spirits to set the tone.

(And I DO NOT find the old trope about 'spirits will dull or kill the palate and the ability to enjoy wine" applies. That is, in a word, bullshit.)

(And I DO NOT find the old trope about 'spirits will dull or kill the palate and the ability to enjoy wine" applies. That is, in a word, bullshit.)

Surely there are circumstances in which this would apply?

I'm thinking particularly that the sweeter cocktails and richer brown spirits would be the most challenging? Or maybe it just takes time to rinse the mouth and concentrate on whatever else is at hand. I certainly have been known to mix back and forth with an amazing amount of 'concentration'.

Rahsaan:

In some cases, most certainly. But I was speaking to the trope, the "rule" that you're not supposed to consume spirits before wine because, supposedly spirits dull or obliterate the sensitive little taste buds.

There are people who maintain that the poor wines---or the poor taste buds---just can't handle it. Which is bullshit.

But by using a modicum of sense---one would not, hopefully, gulp down a couple of sticky creme de menthe Grasshopper drinks just before opening a Romanee-Conti---conflicts can be avoided.

In Portland, the mass of disgusting sweet and sticky drinks are in the minority (at least at the places I drink), and the bartenders here are clearly in the "bitters" zone, and are looking for interesting and compellling----and taste-driven---cocktails. These types of cocktails are actually designed for the taste buds, and so are in keeping with the idea of consuming one prior toa meal rather than strictly alone, or after a meal.

One of the themes that is popular right now, as a matter of fact, is the 'culinary cocktail', where fruits and vegetables (and even things like bacon, yes) are used in cocktails. There's one at a local hip bar that uses as an ingredient duck fat (as a wash). I haven't had that drink.

It is common now to see drinks, especially aperitifs, that use Sanbitter, Aperol, Chartreuse, Cynar, Cocchi Americano, and the better vermouths. Common in Europe (where it is also common to use cocktails like this as an aperitif), but only now becoming common here.

So, yes, cocktails/mixed drinks can most certainly abuse the palate. But then, consuming certain wines can abuse the palate equally as much, not so? And one does have to assume a moderate amount of intelligence in the consumption of anything. Dangerous with many people, that; but there it is.