Sasha tests our spirit for adventure this week by pairing our Onion or Garlic Soup theme with sherry: Lustau Amontillado. For a 10% discount on this and other wines at Bottlerocketwine.com, enter this promotional code at checkout through the end of February: 52FEB10
Don't forget to check out Sasha's website, Spin The Bottle, for more great tips on wine.
Sasha Smith writes about wine and food on her website, spinthebottleny. In her spare time, she is the Executive Director of a New York based media company.
What a great recommendation, definitely something I hadn't thought of yet but am now dying to try. I've seen nips of sherry served alongside soups and chowders at a few seafood restaurants, now I understand why. Do you serve the same amount as you would a glass of wine when serving it to guests at a meal?
Sherry is higher in alcohol, so I would definitely serve less -- try around half the amount. One of the few bummers about sherry is that once you open it, it doesn't stay fresh for very long. This is especially true for the lighter styles, like fino and manzanilla. These sometime come in half bottles, so that's a good place to start. Of course, after it's been open a few days and no longer at its best to drink, it will still be perfectly fine to cook with.
Interesting. I've never heard of serving sherry during a meal. Before, of course, or perhaps with cheese afterwards, but with, now that's a new one for me. I've always liked sherry, so I'll have to try this . . . now, if I can just decide which of the many outstanding new onion-family soup recipes to make first. ;o)
Yep, amontillado is great with anything with nuts, ham or olives. Fino or manzanilla sherry is terrific with seafood, fried fish and the like -- would be perfect with fried calamari, say.
Sounds like my Christmas Eve menu! Next year, I'll have sherry too.
That's genius -- do you do the 7 Fishes? My husband's family does too--now I know what wine I'm bringing next time! Thanks!
We have sherry often with apps or first courses (and have done so with my onion soup, too!), and you're right, it's also fabulous with fried seafood. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, but one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants when we still lived in Brooklyn (Moto) served a delicious nip of chilled sherry alongside a few pieces of their house made hazelnut chocolate. It was a perfect end to a meal there, and I've copied that pairing a few times at home. Sherry is so underappreciated here, so thanks, Sasha, for highlighting it here!
Spin: yes, 7 fishes, or rather, many fishes. :-) Q: Should you drink shery room temp, or does it not matter?
LND: I like the hazelnut chocolate suggestion! Will have to try that one.
Fino and manzanilla sherries should be served chilled-- as you would serve white wine. Amontillado and oloroso sherry should be served on the cool side.
The hazelnut and choc with sherry sounds delightful. One of my fave sherry serving suggestions is using PX Sherry, a very sweet and unctuous style, as a topping for vanilla or coffee ice cream. A sophisticated (and easy) sundae.
I am convinced! Need to go to the wine store tomorrow anyhow and now amontillado is on the list!
Great! Make sure to go for one that's dry...a lot of cheaper sweet amontillados aren't true amontillados and won't deliver the same great nuance you'll get from a really good one.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoI just finished a bottle of the Lustau Amontillado -- really great stuff.
I found the Lustau but mine says olo roso on the label - not sure what I got but it's tasty! Much better than the onion soup I tried to make up :-) I am going to try it with mariaraynals silky shallot soup soon
Glad you liked it! Oloroso is a different style of sherry. Unlike fino and amontillado, oloroso sherries are made without flor -- the layer of yeast I mention in the video. They're often higher in alcohol, fuller-bodied, darker, and more concentrated in flavor than finos (the lighest style) and amontillados. You'll find dry and sweet kinds. They're also great with hard/blue cheeses or nutty desserts.
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