Wining and Thai-ning
Wine matching with Thai cuisine |
It's not easy to please everyone when it comes to food, and I usually try to avoid the common food aversions, like lamb for example. Lamb is like the national meat of Australia. I love lamb. In Malaysian cuisine, you'll find that mutton is often used instead of lamb. Mutton is also known as goat, or the meat that comes from older sheep. It has a stronger taste and smell compared to lamb that people may find offensive, and the meat tends to be very tough. Because of this, I prefer my mutton to be slow-cooked in rich spices to cloak the strong gamey taste, and if done well, it can taste quite exotic and delicious. Mutton curry and mutton soup (Malaysian "Sup Kambing") are some of my favourites. On the other hand, lamb is quite different and does not have the overpowering taste of mutton. I digress.
I suggested to Mr G that he got some of his friends together for a wine pairing lunch with a Thai-inspired menu. As I had never met them before, there were no expectations about their food preferences. Therefore, I had no qualms about putting lamb on the menu, although I prepared a contingency dish of Thai barbecue chicken ("Gai Yang") just in case. We seldom have wine with Asian dishes as the highlight of the meal is always the food, not the wine. It can be tricky when choosing the right wine to match especially when the dishes are spicy, which tend to kill the flavours of the wine you're drinking. Wines that are high in alcohol, tannin and oak are best avoided when eating spicy food. A glass (or two) of ice-cold water is probably the first thing I would reach out for.
Anyway, I spent some time planning out the menu and developing the recipes. With some help from the staff at the liquor store, I think we made some good selections with the wine matching, and all within budget. Here's a snapshot of what we served:
The Menu
Oysters with lemongrass, ginger, chilli and lime
Torresella Prosecco - Extra Dry
Thai-style Roast Duck Salad
Emperor's Prize Pinot Noir 2010
Spicy fish mousse
Tolley Musica Pinot Gris 2012
Massaman lamb shanks
2009 d'Arenberg The Custodian Grenache
Oysters with lemongrass, ginger, chilli and lime Torresella Prosecco - Extra Dry |
Spicy fish mousse Tolley Musica Pinot Gris 2012 |
Thai-style Roast Duck Salad Emperor's Prize Pinot Noir 2010 |
Massaman lamb shanks 2009 d'Arenberg The Custodian Grenache |
We had the lamb shanks with our final bottle, a Grenache, which was more full-bodied and earthy with a long finish. It was an excellent pairing with the Massaman lamb, which was mildly flavoured and with hints of sweetness from the palm sugar. I think the fact that the lamb was quite subtle in taste (after hours of slow-cooking which probably infused it with all the spices) made it "palatable" even to those who didn't usually eat lamb. For the recipe, please click here.
Honeydew and sago pearls in coconut milk |
We ended our meal on a sweet note with honeydew sago, made with honeydew, sago, coconut milk and sugar syrup. After a busy morning in the kitchen, I figured this would be an easy one to prepare. The sweet and ripe cubes of honeydew immersed in cold sweet coconut milk, interspersed with little sago pearls, made for a delightful bowl of dessert which was light and refreshing. At the thought of coconut, Malibu rum sprang to mind and I brought out the bottle should anyone decide to continue with the booze fest we were indulging in that afternoon. It's no surprise that a splash of Malibu worked really well with this dessert, much like an essence of coconut with an alcohol hit. Adults only, please. And in case you were wondering, no kids were intoxicated in the making of this lunch.
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