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The Hills are Alive
(With the Culinary Music of Chanterelles)
One beautiful Indian summer evening, that had the look and smell in the air of forest primeval, especially the wild mushroom. I was off to be treated to a showcase of chanterelles by that noble chevalier of culinary skills, Swiss Chef Gerd Voigt, of the former Winchelsea House.
The Maitre d’ informed us that Herr Voigt has a menu planned, and the wines arranged. Our first course of sheer delight was a puff pastry vol au vent shell placed slightly off centre of the plate, filled with chanterelles, spilling out, as though from a cornucopia.
Thinly sliced sweet potato, glazed in jalapeno butter, was fanned out along the inner plate. Around the shell was a green peppercorn and whiskey cream sauce. A thin slice of gorgonzola capped the top of this elegant affair. The chanterelles had been sautéed with spinach, shallots and sun-dried tomatoes. Cream and peppercorns were added and left to reduce before filling the vol au vent shells. These combined flavours did not overpower the taste of the chanterelles. They still retained their distinctive earthiness, while the sauce was a silky bite that stroked rather the pricked the tongue, and robed the ingredients in a creamy pepper stung gloss, while the crisp, flaky puff pastry created a contrasting texture. A subtle stab of the gorgonzola suddenly makes itself discernable, lingering on the palate.
The dish had similarity of the intricate yet seemingly simple lyrical interplay of melody and accompaniment of a string quartet. All different entities that come together as one – an elegant piece – a gastronomic opus.
With this was a Gigondas ’95 Cote du Rhone by Michel Bernard, providing a full bodied taste, filling the palate with flavour and bouquet.
Next came a fillet of halibut, coated in cornmeal, seared brown, and then baked in the oven, which allowed it to retain its moist succulence. Accompanying the halibut was a slice of gravlax (made in house), delicately a stringent with salt, sugar and dill, an unexpected but tasty pairing. The halibut lay in a salpicon of chanterelles, roasted garlic,, and tomato. With this was a timbale of couscous and lemon zest, lending a lovely salty, slightly bitter citrus peel flavour.
A crabapple from a local orchard was poached in star anise, with a light raspberry vinaigrette, making a light sweet and sour apple anise flavour to set off the halibut, gravlax and couscous.
Herr Voigt’s plates remind you of his Swiss Alps and hills. You think the Alpine valley behind you was the pinnacle of taste…only to climb higher and have a new vista open before you, with its height, depth, colour and texture. It’s a gastronomic adventure, trekking through one of his dinners.
One last lofty experience was the deep dish peach pie with a warm crumble on top, set amidst a raspberry coulis, with thick coconut milk and cardamom quenelles on the side.
Herr Voigt greeted us at the table for coffee, grinning from ear to ear. It is hard to tell when he’s grinning through his handlebar moustache, but I can tell because his ears move up and down. He asked how we enjoyed it all, and since words failed us, we broke into applause. Always adroit, he rose with aplomb and took a bow to the sound of that music!