Merry Christmas to all

Last Sunday, Christians throughout the world celebrated Christmas Day to commemorate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ. And many Filipinos believe Christmas means the family being together, giving thanks with the best one can afford, renewing the faith, affirming the bonds rooted in culture (Doreen Fernandez, Palayok). Tradition dictates that during the Christmas feast, only the most immediate members of a family share this most intimate celebration of the Christmas.

Members of the print media especially in the Lifestyle section, are usually overloaded with work during the Christmas season and the Philippine version of this season is the longest in the world, although it official starts on December 16 with the Roman Catholic Church celebrating the Misa de Gallo. The invitations came as early as November 23 from Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino for the Christmas Tree Lighting and nearly all the better hotels of Cebu uphold this tradition.

Your favourite food columnist tried to attend all the confirmed invitations until the seasonal flu virus hit me and I was forced to rest.

One of those invitations I was able to attend was the wine pairing dinner at the Acqua, Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa with American wines from the Beringer Vineyards (said to be the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley since 1875) meeting the culinary traditions of Italy. In the Philippines, Beringer wines are distributed by Happy Living Fine Wine (JMS Bldg. 1375 P. Ocampo Sr. Avenue, Makati City, telephone nos. 895-6507/08; 896-0336, e-mail to [email protected]). 

This business of wine pairing is very different from degustacion or food tasting or wine tasting (or any beverages with alcohol). In food tasting, you sample small portions of the food and relate it to your culinary knowledge and experience. If the dish is French, you can dissect it based on what you have tasted before (preferable you have been, excuse me, to France) and start to make comparisons.

In wine tasting, especially if there are more than ten samples, you do not swallow the wine, you spit it out. In wine pairing, the wine served must match the food being served and this is one of my duties as an officer of La Chaine des Rotisseurs and, at times, the cost of the wine is included in the evaluation.

There were four courses during the Wine Pairing Dinner and for appetizers we had the Mille Feuille of Parma Ham which consisted of

Parma ham and Filo dough with Ricotta cheese and Vegetables (Mille foglie al prosciutto di Parma con ricotta e verdure) paired with the Beringer Chardonnay 2009 Napa Valley.

The second course was the Black ink Tortellini with Grouper and Speck, served with Concasse of Tomato and Oregano (Tortellini di cernia al nero di sepia e speck, serviti con concassea di pomodoro e oregano) and the wine served was the Beringer Zinfandel 2007 Clear Lake.

Cleaning the palate was the Basil and Calamansi Sherbet (Sorbetto di calamansi al profumo di basillico) before the main dish was served; the Seared Beef Tenderloin and Beef Cheek Stew, served with aged balsamico jus and fondant potatoes (Filetto di manzo scottato e spezzatino di guanciale di manzo, servitor con riduzione a balsamico e patate fondant), paired with the Beringer Pinot Noir 2007 Napa Valley. If this was food tasting, the Beef Cheek Stew tasted better than the Tenderloin but when paired with the Pinot Noir, the Seared Beef was the better dish.

A fitting end to this wonderful dinner was the Citrus Fruit Salad with Cream Cheese Mousse and this was paired with the Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel

Advance Happy New Year to everyone and hail the mighty Dragon this coming 2012!