Alsace au Menu: Alsatian wines with Giovanni Apollo’s food, a match made in heaven!

18. Jun, 2010 0 Comments

Last Wednesday, I was invited with 75 other Montreal foodies and bloggers to participate to a very special event organized by Sopexa to taste Alsatian wines at Apollo’s restaurant.

The theme of the evening tickled my curiosity as we were promised a “mariage” of Alsatian wine and Asian food. How daring! I was already curious and my taste buds were ready to be surprised!

When I received the invitation for Alsace au Menu, I was excited to get a chance to experiment Chef Giovanni Apollo’s cuisine first hand. I had never been to his restaurants but I had tested many of his recipes from his first cookbook “Ceci est un livre de cuisine” and was already sold to his no-nonsense approach to food. In addition, this chef is really charismatic and he always have travel stories to tell and that night was no exception. Did you know that in his kitchen 27 ethnic groups work together in harmony? “Even better than the United Nations”, he says laughing.

Giovanni Apollo, Chef and Storyteller extraordinaire - Copyright Indigonat

The day of the event, it was pouring rain in Montreal, but everybody showed up! I guess we felt privileged of being part of the lucky guests and probably not even a snow storm would have stopped us! What we did not know is that we were in for much more than we anticipated. The food, the wine, the guests, the venue and the music carefully selected by Maria Sanz and Philippe Fehmiu made for a magical evening. In addition, each wine was described by Richard Kannemacher, marketing director for Vins d’Alsace and we got to hear some of Giovanni Apollo’s travel adventures in Asia. Philippe Fehmiu also did a great job as MC of the evening.

First I have to say that wine and food pairing is often underestimated in restaurants and even when we entertain at home. Well, not that evening! Every single tasty morsel of food that we ate was divinely paired with a great Alsatian wine, either a cremant, a riesling, a pinot blanc/noir/gris or a Gewurztraminer. Altogether we had a chance to taste eleven different wines from Alsace, plus a special selection made by Aurelia from Bu sur le Web, a wine enthusiast as bubbly and effervescent as the Crémant d’Alsace that we were served as an apéritif. A great communicator, Aurelia, is not for wine snobs! She makes wine tasting fun and less formal. Her Coup de coeur that evening was a pinot d’Alsace Métiss, made of Pinot blanc, gris et noir, with a touch of Auxerrois from Domaine Bott Geyl 2006. It was delicious!

Aurelia from Bu sur le Web - Copyright indigonat

Coup de coeur d'Aurelia - copyright Indigonat

Here is a video to give you a little “aperçu” of the evening:

Alsace au Menu: Asian menu and wine pairing (ad lib translation)

Aperitif

Crémant d’Alsace, Calixte rosé

1st course : China

Marinated tofu with ginger and scampies and lemon balm served with Pinot Blanc Arthur Metz 2008 (only 2009 at SAQ)
Steamed Dim Sum with sauces served with Gentil (Pinot gris, Riesling, Muscat and Sylvaner), Hugel 2008

Music : Jiang Xiao-Qing (& Feil Jianrong), Vacances d’amour

Coup de coeur d’Aurélia

Pinot d’Alsace Métiss, made of Pinot blanc, gris et noir, with a touch of Auxerrois from Domaine Bott Geyl 2006

2nd course: Japan

Tuna sushi with mirin and matcha green tea, wasabi and yuzu espuma, served with Riesling “Les Écaillers”, Léon Beyer 2004
Miso and Shiitake soup with roasted scallops, served with Pinot blanc, Trimbach 2007
Ginger Lacquered Pork with sake, served with sauteed udon noodles with caramelized pears, sesame and daïkon. It was paired with Pinot gris, Vignerons de Pfaffenheim 2008.

Music: Maris Kosugi, Dreams of Happiness

3rd course: Thaïland

Curry and lime sauteed shrimps served with Thaï veggies, Kaffir lime leaves, soy sauce and lemon. It was paired with Crémant d’Alsace, Pinot blanc Wolfberger
Thaï curry stuffed chicken, pressed jasmine rice, satay sauce. It was served with Gewurztraminer, Hugel 2008
Veal tenderloin in coconut milk and cardamom with a citrus salad. It was served with Andante (Gewurztraminer and Muscat), Cave de Ribeauvillé 2008

Music: Viparat Piengsuwan, Rak Tong Ror (Love Passion)

Desserts:

Coconut cake, with a lime and chile glaze, Vanilla and Chinese tea caramelized pineaple served with Gewurztraminer, Arthur Metz 2008 (2009 at SAQ)
Litchi donut, fried honey lotus roots and mandarin cream served with Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives, Léon Beyer 2000

Music: Yoshida Brothers, Fukaki Umi No Kanata

During the evening, many of the guests were also on Twitter to share their experience, with the “less fortunate” who did not have a chance to be there. You can see comments and photos by searching the hashtag (#): #alsaceaumenu.

Among the food bloggers who were there, just to name a few: Clarah Germain from Clarah…tout simplement, Catherine Lefebvre from L’Ethno-Gourmande, Evelyne Budkewitsch from Cheap Ethnic Eatz, Annie Michaud from Les2Capricieux, Katerine Rollet who gives us her “tuyau bouffe du jour” on Facebook and Maria Sanz from La table de Maria which will launch this fall.