When wine dinners come to mind, the least likely food one would expect for pairing with a fantastic array of Beaujolais has to be a seven course snake dinner – but in Hong Kong anything is possible.
Actually, in Hong Kong culture snakes are considered medicinal in local practices and thought of as a warming food; and the blood of snakes is often mixed with liquor to produce a concoction that supposedly increases virility.
Snake meat has roughly half the calories and one third the amount of fat of a similar amount of sirloin beef steak. For the diet conscious, fewer calories and less fat content for the same weight of meat might be appealing.
But, I am not on a diet.
However in the interest of intrepid food/wine matching, TLNHK joined Cottage Vineyards at the Sportful Garden Restaurant in Wan Chai for an unforgettable wine dinner: Snake and Beaujolais
For this eclectic "Snake and Beaujolais Wine Dinner" winemaker and winery owner Bruno Bered of Domaine de la Madone came was on hand to experience this unusual pairing. Bruno freely admitted that the only snakes he'd encountered before were the vipers that sometimes slithered through his vineyards in the summer.
And so, after a brief introduction to the wines themselves and with Mr. Bered pouring all guests a taste of his Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2011 from a limited edition 3 litre Jeroboam diners got down to the serious part of the night, dinner.
The menu was thus:
1) Crispy sucking pig with sweet sauce and fried gourmet snake rolls paired with Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2011
2) Traditional braised five-snake soup paired with Beaujolais-Villages Cuvée Fûts de Chêne 2009 & 2006
3) Signature giant prawn with creamy pineapple sauce paired with Beaujolais-Villages Blanc 2010
4) Slow cooked snake and sea turtle clay pot with Chinese herbs paired with Beaujolais-Villages Tradition 2009
5) Mildly spiced yellow cattle veal with Wolfberry and marinated fruit paired with Beaujolais-Villages Cuvee Jean-Baptiste 2007
6) Stir fried glutinous rice with preserved Chinese pork and liver sausage paired with Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2011
7) Duet of Osmanthus jelly and fried crisp with Gratiot Delugny Brut Reserve Kir Royale
While it's common to describe all things not usually consumed as tasting a bit like chicken, please note that snake is an exception. It does not taste like chicken but has a consistency, texture, and flavour more of frogs legs, which is also a popular food stuff in Hong Kong and one that is often described as tasting like...you guessed it...chicken!
With over 50 snake-eating lovers and Beaujolais aficionado’s to experience the meal the dinner was a resounding success. The wines were crisp and fresh and paired very well with the food, although I must say the braised turtle did not do anything for me at all. Still, when washed down with a nice glass of Tradition 2009 it was bearable.
Ada Leung, CEO of Cottage Vineyards is well known around Hong Kong for her food and wine pairing abilities and once again she did not disappoint.
Whilst it was a beautifully crafted and wildly adventurous menu, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to eat more snake any time soon but as an experience it was one to behold.
If you’re feeling up to it, head out to your nearest snake restaurant and see what they can cook you up. My advice is to take a nice bottle of red ( the Cru Beaujolais worked well) and a white and see how the food stands up to your choice of wine.
Contributed by Alasdair Nicol, TLN Editor – Hong Kong
