Hanging with the boys
Yes, I am a woman and proud to be one. It can be complicated at times, but it’s always quite fun. However, somehow, something deep down inside of me makes me feel sometimes that I should’ve been born a man. I would have made a damn good one, too. I think, perhaps, I was one in a past life. Probably a young, roguish, English aristocrat studying Egyptology in the 1930s, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars on my leather club chair in my private library.
What does this have to do with any sort of epicurean activity? Well, I don’t want to stereotype, but some things are commonly true and men and women tend to have very different tastes. However, in comparison with many of my girlfriends, sometimes my tastes make me feel more comfortable being at the boys’ table. Although I must admit, many of my closest girls are Alpha Females and well, happy hours are not made of Cosmopolitans but of cold, drafted blond pints.
I prefer a scotch or vodka on the rocks any day instead of some fruity, electrically colorful cocktail. I’ll take beer over a wine spritzer on most occasions. And unless beside a glorious seaside or desperately trying to lose a few pounds, I’ll probably order that simmered Kurobuta pork belly instead of the grilled salmon. Oh, and every so often when in good company and it’s appropriate, I’ll smoke a cigar.
Last Thursday, I went to a beer-and-cigar-pairing event at a nice Italian restaurant on N. Garcia Street, L’Incontro. They make an awesome mushroom risotto, which filled whatever space in my stomach that the aged stout didn’t. The event was organized by Jim Araneta of Global Beer Exchange and Roman Ripoll of Tabaqueria. Two really kind, friendly men’s men whose wives are so used to their boisterous laughter and funny antics that they just shrug it off with loving smiles.
I met Roman sometime ago when I was invited to a most interesting dinner by the Joseph brothers, the owners of Ralph’s. It was a whiskey-and-food-pairing dinner. Although the pairing was a bit strange at times, the company was quite entertaining. Roman’s a cigar-smoking, whiskey-drinking, steak-grilling, hard-laughing vegetarian, who calls his camera “Kodak.” That evening I hand-rolled my own cigar at the Tabaqueria stall that was there.
Jim and I worked together for a Beer vs. Wine-pairing dinner we cooked up at NuVo last October. He treated the different kinds of beer from various specialty microbreweries all over the US as if he was holding bottles of a year 2000 Chateau Margaux. He was, however, far from stiff or snobby, but captivating us willing “beer tasters” with the individual stories that went with each bottle. Did you know that Iron Chef Morimoto has his own beer? Well, he does, and it kind of tastes like lychee.
It seems like a more likely combination to pair whiskey and cigars. I mean, how does a bubbly and somewhat grassy beer pair with a full-bodied, musky cigar? I must admit that although I still prefer a beautifully golden Nikka Miyazaki single malt with my cigar, the Rogue IPAs and stouts held up pretty well.
There was one in particular, Rogue XS Imperial, an aged stout. First of all, this was the first time I’d ever heard of aging beer. And for those who don’t know what a stout is, it’s a dark beer — the most famous one in the world is Guinness. It was served to me in a wine glass and instinctively I swirled it around. I mean, how pretentious of me, right? No one swirls beer! But in that moment I discovered the richness of this brew. It had legs! Syrupy, ebony legs elegantly snaking down the wine glass. The nose was full and charming, smelling of roasted coffee beans and dark cacao. When that dark liquid kissed my lips, it was rich and buttery, almost like liquor — a perfect balance of bitter-sweetness and creamy velvet. For all you diehard Harry Potter fans out there, I’ll bet you anything this is what butter beer tastes like.
Pair this with a Tabaqueria de Filipinas Antonio Gimenez cigar. Don’t inhale, just fill your mouth with the tender smoke of slightly vanilla-tinged tobacco. I was, for a moment, a modern Clark Gable or straight out of a scene from Mad Men, wearing a chic double-breasted gray pinstriped suit and my trusty fedora.
In this fast-paced, modern world of abundant health concerns — heaven knows that tobacco is one of the worst things you can do to your body — I have to admit that I do sometimes enjoy this guilty, nostalgic pleasure. In utter moderation, of course. It reminds me of a time when women gave engraved silver cigarette cases or signed photos as gifts, and gentlemen always carried a handkerchief ready to wipe away any lady’s tears. And perhaps because of my love for old films and gentlemanly chivalry, I have this fascination for all things that were emblematic of this classic man. I love weathered leather club chairs, hats, well-tailored suits, pocket watches, beautifully sculpted canes, chic cigar cases, monogrammed cufflinks and cut-crystal whiskey glasses with honey-colored single malts.
More than anything, I think it is representative of the era when people took the time to enjoy life’s every little detail and it wasn’t about buying the latest gadget or newest flat-screen TV. It was all about artfully crafted wit and conversation, letter writing, theater and classical music, drinking to enjoy what you drink and not just to get drunk. There’s nothing wrong with indulging in your epicurean desires as long as you keep everything balanced and moderate. So raise your beer mug and have a toast to life because as Greek philosopher Epicurus, once said, “It is not what we have, but what we enjoy that constitutes our abundance.”
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L’Incontro is located at 207 Nicanor Garcia St. (formerly Reposo), Makati. For more information, call 899-0635/9.
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You can contact me at http://twitter.com/stephaniezubiri.
