ON the heels of the European Wild Game Festival, the Mandarin reprised the event with its own Night of Wines and Fine Dining at Tivoli.
A seven-course Chef?s Tasting Menu was paired with notable Austrian wine selected by noted Austrian chef Fritz Buergler, who maintains his own remarkable wine cellar back home and who shared celebrated labels for this degustation.
Venison, prepared by Buergler, elevates the meat once considered unsophisticated country folk fare to fine dining stature. Deer meat has become a popular alternative to beef on European tables, owing to a growing health consciousness.
The flavors are similar, but the nutritional benefits tip in favor of the antlered ruminant animal. It is much leaner, has lower calories, fat and cholesterol.
Deer meat is dense and will shrink minimally when cooked. Whether roasted, grilled or minced, it does not require extended heat otherwise it becomes a struggle to chew.
Chef Buergler, who owns a countryside inn called Zum Bierfiehrer, became adept at preparing wild game specialties. His family?s close ties to the hunters in Salzburg provided early exposure to animals that fed on natural food available in the forests.
The inn maintains a restaurant that seats 180 and has contributed to Buergler?s reputation as a master in the kitchen. His return to Manila provides adventurous food connoisseurs an opportunity to bite into the flesh of Rehruecken mit Waldpilzen.
Wines for dining
The Tivoli repast was a succession of flavors and textures interspersed by whites and reds. Smoked trout fillets with tomato chutney and horseradish cream preceded hare with autumn greens in cherry dressing.
It came with the 2005 Gruener Veltliner, Federspiel, Freie Weingaertner, Wachau. Wine tasting notes attribute a boldness with tastes of grapefruit. Described as clean and fresh with the class of fine Reisling, the wine served to enhance the gamey taste desired from such foods.
With some floweriness on the nose but without sweetness, it distinguishes itself as a food wine and not a wine to sip and swirl. It is not fruity, but has a ripeness that brings a play of spice, a hint of apples and a light, citric acidity to the palate.
Austria?s signature grape, the Gruener Veltliner has caught the attention of wine lovers. It is favored by vine growers in central Europe and covers a third of Austria?s wine acreage.
White and red
The progression to the sea scallop, served with sidings of broad beans and blood orange sauce, was accompanied by 2005 Gruener Veltliner, Smaragd, Freie Weingaertner, Wachau.
Smaragd is a special category of wine in the Wachau region. Game consommé with truffle oil brought a change of pace before the roast venison loin on a plate with forest mushrooms, celeriac puree, fondant potato and wild berry jus.
A 2004 Blaufraenkisch, Weingut Heinrich, Burgenland brought out the haut gout of the meat. The red, still wine from the Blaufraenkisch grape, combined traditional wine-making and modern technology?apparent in the bottle with a glass wine cap instead of cork screw.
The vines are cultivated in eastern Austria at the Vineyard Heinrich in Deutschkreutz, the heart of the ?Blaufraenkisch County.?
The supper wound down with warm camembert, roasted walnut in honey glaze and elderberry compote. A 2004 Blaufraenkisch, Weingut Heinrich, Burgenland and William pear, alongside citrus rice pudding with pineapple hollandaise, left a savory aftertaste.
The Night of Wine and Fine Dining featuring Wild Game was held at Tivoli on Nov. 28.
