Meeting 313 -A Bread Tasting
Held at Waltham St Lawrence - Friday 18th April 2008
“Eat thy bread with joy, and drink
thy wine with a merry heart” – the Bible often matches bread with wine but that
is not, today, an obvious connection, so when Frank de Mengel offered to
present the IWFS Berkshire Branch with a Bread Tasting we were all very intrigued.
Frank is the Head of Bakery at the Hospitality and Catering Department of
Westminster Kingsway College and, having run a bakery himself at one time,
knows almost everything there is to know about this important staple food.
We
organised to pair the bread for each course with the appropriate food and
matching wine. This resulted in a gourmet 6 course dinner with 7 wines to accompany
the 11 breads; a veritable orgasm of the palate!
The starter was Ciabatta and
Italian rustic bread with parma ham, artichoke hearts, semi
dried tomatoes, humous (home made by Dayle Mair) with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar dips. The
Pastrana Manzanilla Pasada set this off very successfully. The following course
was Spelt & Rye mix with smoked salmon washed down with 2006 Nautilus
Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.
The next course was simply bread and wine: 100% Wholemeal made using the
sourdough system paired with a 2006 Gewurtztraminer Turkheim. The distinctive
flavour of the grape went very well with the strong bread.
The main course was
rack of lamb with a brioche & herb crust served with petit pois à la française
and accompanied by a 2006 Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir from Errazuriz.
Walnut & Sultana,
Soda and Rye breads were
baked for the cheeses which were all English. Lyburn Gold hard cheese from Salisbury(Wilts.),
soft brie-like cheese from Risley (Hants.) and Buffalo Blue from Overton (Hants.)
were tasted with a really excellent Tinta da Ănfora, Alentejo from Portugal, which drank well above its
price of £4.99.
Finally, as a kind of coup de grâce, Panforte, Cantouche and Panetone were tasted with
Taylor’s 10 year old Tawny port. The Panforte is a real eye opener being very rich, dark and chocolatey.
Frank had prepared notes and recipes and told
us about the history and practicality of bread and bread making, liberally
sprinkled with amusing anecdotes.
The food was, as ever, perfectly prepared by
Charlotte Turner, and Colin Mair with help from Chris
Graham selected all the wines from Majestic.
Frank has
threatened us with a return visit to present on the topic of Chocolate – the
only question is "How soon?" (CG)
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| Aperitif | La Marca, Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene (£6.99) | ||
| Starter | Air Dried Parma Ham Artichoke hearts Semi-dried Tomatoes Humous Olive Oil/Lemon dip Olive Oil/Balsamic Vinegar |
Ciabatta Italian Rustic |
Manzanilla Pastrana Sherry (£8.49) |
| Fish | Smoked Salmon | Spelt and Rye Mix | Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2006 (£7.49) |
| Inter | 100% Wholemeal using sourdough | Gewurtztraminer Turckheim, 2006 (£6.99) | |
| Main | Brioche & herb crusted rack of lamb with petit pois à la française | Erraruriz Pinot noir, Casablanca Valley, 2006 (£6.99) | |
| Cheese |
Hard- Leyburn Gold Blue - Buffalo Blue |
Walnut and Sultana Soda bread Rye Bread |
Tinto da Ânfora, Alentejo, 2005 (£4.99) |
| Petits Fours | Cantouch Panforte (dark) Biscotti |
(2)All the Cheeses came from Wellington Farm Shop nr. Reading
(Food details and Picture Gallery to follow)