Remembrances of menus past—A Society of Bacchus American Bacchanalia
From the chapter: Menus—through the past
November 1994
I’ve dubbed this an “American” Bacchanalia in retrospect because we cooked American, or locavoristically (i.e., sourced from Hawaiian Islands), even when composing dishes for classic French wines, while erring on the French side of our French-Asian fusion cuisine in terms of technique.
This menu was composed for members of Society of Bacchus, more than half of whom flew into Honolulu from other states for this event:
Flat Iron Grilled Scallops with Crispy Lumpia and Mango
Pouilly-Fumé, Baron de Ladoucette 1990
Pouilly-Fumé, Baron de Ladoucette 1989
Hawaiian Seafood Sausage with Caramelized Fennel, Maui Onion and Tuscan White Beans
Trimbach, Clos Ste. Hune Riesling 1981
Trimbach, Clos Ste. Hune Riesling 1976
Wood Roasted Rocky Senior Chicken with Kona Lobster, Sweetbreads and Truffle Oil
Corton-Charlemagne, Louis Latour 1983 & 1979
Full Moons of Oxtail with Porcini, BoKe’ Farm Escargot and Foie Gras
La Tache, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1972
Vosne Romanée “Les Petits Mons,” Leroy 1972
Kupua Cooperation Ranch Lamb with Puna Chèvre Crépinette
Château Gruard-Larose⏤
1961 Double Magnum
1953 Magnum
1943 Jeroboam
Fresh Hawaiian Poha Berry Crème Brûlée
Château d’Yquem 1976
Vintage Hawaiian Chocolate Petits Fours
Blandy’s Malmsey, Solera 1808
What is it about wine collectors with d’Yquem and DRC? These wines became unavailable to the common man (and even to common wine professionals) long ago; but there were still many occasions to have fun with them.
The poha berry is a wild, natural Hawaiian variant of the gooseberry (it’s said New Zealand Sauvignon blancs smell like gooseberries), and its typically soured green, sticky/oily sweetness added a sharpness to the palate that the big, fat vintage of d’Yquem perhaps lacked. The creaminess of the crème was just enough to make the contrast work.
If, of course, this subtlety was even noticed at the end of this frankly Bacchanalian feast. For me, the highlight was in the middle: Smoke tinged, free range chicken rolled with sweetbreads and lobster and bathed in a silky, sensuous double (or was it triple?) strength natural stock. If ordinary California Chardonnay is for everyday roast chicken, this was surely the answer for the two vintages of heady, faintly charred, expansively matured Corton Charlemagne, electrified by its mildly acidic underpinnings and stony notes of terroir.
The first two courses were the warmups; although on any other night, they would have qualified as events in themselves. Starting with proper restraint, we played with the slightly riper fruit tone layered over the minerality and lemon acidity of the two Baron de Ladoucette Pouilly-Fumés by infusing essences of mango in lemon butter drizzled over an iron seared scallop and tiny Filipino dumpling.
Trimbach Rieslings in their second decade tend to take on perceptible fusel oil, increased minerality and non-oak related notes of butterscotch while retaining an acid edge in their extended palate feel. Therefore we felt we could build something a little more lavish⏤sort of a miniaturized deconstructed white bean cassoulet with dabs of white sausage composed of briny Hawaii seafood, in a sauce infused with caramelized fennel and sweet Maui onion⏤to pay suitable culinary respect to those effortlessly well matured, multi-layered Alsatian classics.
For the 22-year old La Tache and Vosne-Romanée: Steamed rounds of Asian rice paper were used to wrap slow roasted oxtail punctuated with goose liver, porcini and the meat of Hawaiian raised snails. It’s a far cry from beef vin à la bourguignonne, but pretty much accomplishes the same earthy, soft, savory meatiness that classic red Burgundy calls for.
Lamb with red Bordeaux is not innovative. It's predictable, like oysters and Sauvignon Blanc, although Yamaguchi craftily wrapped the Hawaii raised lamb in caul fat with Big Island goat chèvre⏤a mildly earthy/grassy/acidic goat's milk cheese, adding to the natural cohesion with the mildly earth toned 33, 41 and 51-year old bottlings of second growth Saint-Julien. Like a hand in glove.