11 Feb Uncorking the Secret of Champagne
Tasting a glass of this delicacy is as divine a sensation as you’ll ever experience. Perhaps it’s the millions of tiny bubbles – to be exact, around 50 million per bottle – that tickle your tongue, or the whim that Champagne is synonymous with luxury, but Champagne has long been touted as the celebratory beverage. The fizzy spirit is the most popular New Year’s Eve midnight toast. Its sexy appeal makes it a sensuous sip for Valentine’s Day, and its crisp sweetness will transcend your everyday crazed mind into a state of zen.
Do not mistake sparkling wine for Champagne. While technically a sparkling wine (all Champagne is a sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne), true Champagne only comes from the specific region of Champagne, France, located 90 miles east of Paris. Anyone can make a sparkling wine using the same method as the Champenoise, but the imperial name is limited to bottles produced in that exact region of France.
While only three grape varieties are used to make Champagne – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – a diverse selection of Champagnes is available for sipping. Champagnes range in color from pale gold to rich pink, as noted by their varietial name Blanc de Noirs, Rosé, Blanc de Blancs. But it doesn’t stop there; besides the range of colors, the level of sweetness and flavors vary from toasty to yeasty and from dry to sweet. You can see a detailed description of these in this month’s Champagne dossier.
But Champagne is worthy for more than just drinking; it is also a delightful and sophisticated ingredient for cooking. Its effervescence adds a unique depth and flavor to ordinary dishes like chicken, seafood, vegetables or sauces, as well as a refreshing finesse to desserts.
Using Champagne in your recipes is much like cooking with any wine, only more glamorous. You need not use the expensive bubbly — just a bottle you would drink because, as with any wine, the majority of alcohol content will burn out during cooking, concentrating the flavor of the final product. The core flavor of your dish will impart the flavors of the wine, so if you do not like the flavor of the wine, you will not like the final product.
With all this in mind, the test kitchen created a range of sophisticated pleasures made with Champagne to tickle and indulge your tastebuds. So pop open a bottle, celebrate the bubbles fizzling on your tongue, and enjoy this week’s sweet and savory creations!