68 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
APRIL/MAY 2017
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
WINE
THE MOST OUTRAGEOUSLY ostentatious use of champagne is
to bathe in it. Close behind is to cook with it. And that's what this
column is largely about.
For those of us who consider it to be mankind's finest achievement
— one that outshines the moon landing and the invention of
the five-day week — champagne is the ultimate benediction. Its
infectious gaiety has, unfortunately, pigeonholed it as merely e
Drink of Celebration. And sometimes not even the drink, more the
liquid expression of success, used to shower victorious Formula One
drivers and as locker room shampoo for Grey Cup winners.
But champagne, were it less
costly — and when I talk of
champagne I mean the real
McCoy, not Spanish Cava,
Italian Prosecco or even Crémant
from Alsace, Burgundy or the
Loire — could readily replace
coffee as the 11 o'clock pick-me-
up in offices across the nation.
e late countess of Maigret, wife
of the late heir to the Moët &
Chandon champagne company,
once told me that the best time
to drink champagne was at that
hour, accompanied by "thinly
sliced chicken sandwiches."
e thought of mixing
champagne with anything
but champagne is
seditious, while the
idea of cooking with
it can be downright
heretical. Yet there are
circumstances under
which both activities
— mixing and cooking
— are legitimate.
Of course you are
not going to make a
champagne cocktail (a
measure of brandy to a full
flute of champagne
over a sugar lump
wetted with a dash
of Angostura bitters)
using Dom Pérignon,
Roederer Cristal, or the world's most expensive champagne,
Krug Clos d'Ambonnay (close to $3,000 a bottle). For any mixed
champagne drink, choose the cheapest bottle you can lay your
hands on. Better still, downgrade your choice to a sparkling wine
from somewhere other than the Champagne region.
e best-known champagne-based drink is Buck's Fizz, half
champagne and half fresh orange juice (the breakfast of champions).
en there's Kir Royale, which is 3 oz. (9 parts) champagne with
1/3 oz. (1 part) crème de cassis. Less expensive is the Bellini, which
combines peach juice and Prosecco. e cocktail was created
| DETOURS |
Cooking with Champagne
No, it's not seditious to use champagne in the kitchen — or when mixing drinks, for that matter
CULINARY TIP Champagne can add flavour to poached
fish and other dishes, or be used in Kir Royale
