Brazilian Cooking with Slovenian, French and English Fizz

‘An evening full of Brazilian cuisine with a Brazilian cook along with three amazing bottles of fizz and within a wonderful setting of The Baldwin Gallery in SW12, London.‘

Brazil is a nation that offers a diverse selection of cuisine thanks to it’s history of immigration from Europe and Asia which will see dishes vary from region to region with an abundance of specialities and styles.

There is no better way to experience some Brazilian cuisine that to have a friend who is native to the country and a passionate cook so Daniela Paiva, a past judge at The World’s Finest Glass of Bubbly Awards, decided to put together a menu for which it was over to me to find three sparkling wines. Our host for the event was Dr. Dennison Baldwin Smith who is owner of the wonderful ‘The Baldwin Gallery‘ located off from Etham Rd in Blackheath, London.

Menu:

Appetizer: Fried Cassava

Main: Moqueca with pirao

Dessert: Passion fruit mousse

 

Wines:

Istenic D.O.O. – Prestige Extra Brut 2011 (Highly Commended Medal Winners Love or Hate 2017)

Champagne Autréau – 1er Cru Brut NV

Camel Valley – Pinot Noir Rose 2014 (Summer Days Trophy Winner 2017)

 

Below are the tasting notes and information about each of the sparkling wines and where to find them / purchase:

Fried Cassava with Istenic D.O.O. – Prestige Extra Brut 2011:

Wine review: “Crisp and dry taste sensation. Minerals and citrus flavours.”

Pairing review: “A soft citrus burst initially then savoury flavours from the cassava with a dry savoury finish. The Istenic sparkling wine from Slovenia tempers the oily deep fried flavours and texture nicely allowing the cassava flavours to be enjoyed fully.”

The Istenic D.O.O. – Prestige Extra Brut 2011 is available from Novel Wines.

Moqueca with pirao with Champagne Autréau – 1er Cru Brut NV:

Wine review: “The Champagne is well balanced and gives fine yellow fruit, mineral flavours. A relaxing glass of Champagne to enjoy.”

Pairing review: “The dish is spicy and full of flavours. The Champagne reacted well here cancelling out the spicy flavours initially to then show citrus and fresh vegetable flavours in the length. A nice balance here with the Champagne very able to compete with the spice from the dish.”

The Champagne Autréau – 1er Cru Brut NV is available from Connoisseur Estates.

Passion fruit mousse with Camel Valley – Pinot Noir Rose 2014:

Wine review: “The aromas give you raspberry / white strawberry with citrus and a touch of rose petals. It is a bowl full of strawberries, raspberries in a bowl with a cream topping!”

Pairing review: “I am so pleased that I picked out the Camel Valley Pinot Noir to go with the dessert within this menu. Unanimous from all those present on the evening that this was the dream pairing with comments including ‘orgasmic’ and ‘wedding dinner worthy’. Here the sweet notes from the dish are thrown out and replaced with fresh ripe red berry fruits with a creamy length making it uncontrollably more’ish.”

The Camel Valley Pinot Noir sparkling wine is available from Waitrose.