Food and Wine tasting is one of the special highs that I get when I attend these kinds of events. And yesterday, was just one of those days. I had one more ticket to redeem at the New York Vintners which I bought several months back, so I looked over their schedules of classes. And since I have been writing about cheeses lately, the “Fondue and Mozarella Making” was what I signed up for.
In previous classes, there would be about 30 some people joining, but since this was a hands on class
we were but really only a handful.
As I entered the shop, I was greeted by our sommelier with a glass of Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine which generated its popularity in 2000 and was considered a substitute version of a champagne. As in all classes, empty wine glasses were laid out in front of you, the number corresponding to the wines that will be presented for tasting. We were given a pen and a card where we could write down our notes.
The sommelier started the class with an introduction of a Sicilian white wine which he poured on our glasses. We were then given its history followed by a systematic approach to wine tasting.
First, we had to look at the appearance whether it was bright, clear, dull or hazy. Then to check the intensity whether it was pale, deep or opaque in color Next, we had to smell it and check the condition whether it was clean or unclean, or that it was fruity or flowery. The palate was the most important one because this is what determines your preferentials in wine. Not everyone has the same taste, so it is very subjective. But for as long as you know what you are looking for, there are no absolutes, just generalizations.
After the first wine we had, Chef Ryan then taught us how to make mozarella cheese. We gathered around the kitchen where a huge bowl of curds cut into chunks were laid out. He had a pot of hot water on the stove, a box of Kosher salt plus another empty stainless steel bowl which was used for the mozarella making and a plate of cut up heirloom tomatoes. On our end, we had a ceramic square plate and a bowl with ice cubes that seemed to have melted halfway through, some knives and latex gloves in case we needed them.
Chef Ryan then got some hot water and placed it on the stainless steel bowl, added some Kosher salt, and with a heap of curds in his hand he dropped them on the bowl of warm water. While the curds were melting, Chef Ryan explained the production of curds and how it gets separated from the whey and added more information about cheese productions. It was a good 5 minutes when Chef Ryan decided that the cheese could be handled and thus started to scoop out the melted stuff and formed it into a ball. He then dropped it into the cold water to stop it from cooking and let it rest for 2 minutes before scooping it out again, where he then placed it on the plate. From curds, it was now transformed into mozarella balls.
We did as we were told, each having our own individual bowls and doing the process. In the end, we had our own plate of mozarella with heirloom tomatoes, and some microgreen basil leaves. With mine, I added some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and the ground red pepper to it. So delish!!!
We then went back to our tables where the sommelier again poured us a glass of a French red and added more information about wines . Later, we took our glass of reds and went back to the kitchen counter, where chef Ryan was preparing for the fondue making.
This was easy, since he just told us to grate our preferences of cheese presented. There were s couple of hard cheeses such as the gruyere, manchego, a kind of mustard cheese, asiago and some other cheeses which the name now escapes me..(hmmm, I think that will be my next class). Then chef Ryan also asked us to cut up our own dippers like sweet peppers, chorizo, apples and boiled potatoes. We were grouped into teams, where one had to grate the cheese and another to cut up the fruit and veggies for the dippers. There was already a basket of cut up french bread in our tables.
The fondue we had was wine based, so when chef Ryan heated up the wine and bubbles started to appear, he dropped some already grated cheeses and stirred it with a whisk . When everything was melted, he took the pot off the flame where it was ready for dipping. After trying chef Ryan's melted concoction, we then took our own ingredients and headed back to our tables where our fondue set up was ready.
We did just what chef Ryan taught us and amidst everything, there was laughter, exchanging of notes and more cheese and wine chatters. Everyone had a great time and left with a smile on their faces. Not only did we learn something that afternoon, we met knew friends, had some great cheese and wine, but most of all, we had an awesome afternoon! Till the next class, can't wait to sign up again!
