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A Bubbly Party

Eminent chefs share recipes for sparkling wine canapés

Tim Fish
Posted: December 27, 2004

The best reason to pour sparkling wine at the holidays-and year-round-is its versatility with food. Various styles of bubbly from around the world can be resilient companions to the saltiest of snacks or the richest of concoctions, and make the life of any host easier.

With the holidays in mind, we turned to some of America's best-known chefs for ideas on what pass-around hors d'oeuvres and canapés to serve with sparkling wine at this year's parties.

"I think sparkling wine and Champagne are extremely food friendly," says chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York.

Chef Hiro Sone of Terra restaurant in Napa, Calif., is "a sparkling-wine freak," says his wife and partner, Lissa Doumani. As a chef who ends the evening in the kitchen with a glass of bubbly, Sone has given its food affinities much thought. "Sparkling wines have so many different characteristics," he says. "I think it's possible to do a whole meal with sparkling wine."

The best sparkling wines share certain qualities-vibrant acidity, a modest level of alcohol and an effervescence that cleanses the palate-and they will generally complement many of the same foods: fish, shellfish, poultry, caviar, mushrooms and nuts, plus they have a particular affinity for smoky, salty and spicy dishes. And yet there are a variety of styles of bubbly and each will bring out the best in certain ingredients and combinations.

Sparkling wines run the range from sweet and fairly simple styles, such as Asti, crémant, Prosecco and cava, to rich and complex tête de cuvées that are aged extensively on the lees. We focus on three popular styles: blanc de blancs, brut and rosé. Blanc de blancs is traditionally made with Chardonnay, and the best generally have a taut, steely acidity, a seamless and silky elegance and an understated power.

Brut is the most common style and is generally medium- to full-bodied and bone dry. Usually a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, bruts offer some of the richness and body of a red wine balanced with the vibrant acidity of a white.

The hardest of the three types to generalize, rosé is produced in a range of styles, from crisp and delicate with a pale salmon hue to ripe and full-bodied with a color akin to that of a light Beaujolais.

Rosés rely on red varieties-either as a grape used in the base cuvée or as a still wine blended into the cuvée later-to add body, tannin and fruit concentration. That makes rosé among the most versatile sparkling wines with food, particularly spicy dishes.

Because rosé can take on the staunchest of food challenges, we paired it with Salmon and Tuna Tartare on Cucumber Discs With Wasabi Tobiko, a recipe from Terra: Cooking From the Heart of Napa Valley (Ten Speed Press), by Sone and Doumani.

Sone believes that the blend of tuna and salmon makes it a particularly good match for a rosé. "I mix in the salmon because it gives you more fat and makes the dish more mild and creamy," Hone says. "And the tuna is such a meaty fish that it needs a wine that's more like a red."

For our match with a blanc de blancs, we selected Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps With Goat Cheese Mousse from The French Laundry Cookbook (Artisan). Keller says the saltiness of the crisps matched with the herbal creaminess of the goat cheese is ideal with a luxuriously styled blanc de blancs.

Bistro Cooking at Home (Broadway Books), by chef Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley's Bistro in Boston, provides our final canapé, which we match with a brut. Pissaladiere is the olive-and-anchovy tart ubiquitous to the Côte-d'Azur of France. Hamersley believes the full-flavored saltiness of this hors d'oeuvre finds harmony in a crisp style of white wine such as a brut.

Except for the usual wine-pairing red flags like asparagus and eggplant, red meat is just about the only food that Keller and Sone advise against using with sparkling wine. Sparkling wines simply don't have the tannin structure to tame the meat, although both chefs might use veal, foie gras, duck and pork with the proper bubbly. "When I see some of these rich meat dishes, I want to see something red on the table," Keller admits.

That's why we've shied away from hearty red meats with our menu of pass-around treats. As versatile as the wine is, there are some things bubbly can't manage-even at a holiday party.

Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps With Goat Cheese Mousse

1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (from a moist piece of cheese)
6 ounces fresh goat cheese
4 to 6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
A clean egg carton

Note: It's best to make only half the crisps at a time, because they may harden while you're working with them.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat, or use a nonstick baking sheet.

Place a 2-1/2-inch ring mold in one corner of the Silpat and fill it with 1 tablespoon of the grated cheese. Using your finger, spread the Parmigiano-Reggiano into an even layer and then remove the ring mold. Repeat to make 8 rounds, leaving at least 1 inch between them.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crisps are a rich golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for about 30 seconds to firm the crisps enough so you can remove them with a pancake turner. One by one, remove the crisps and gently press into a hollow in the egg carton to form a tulip shape. After a few minutes, remove the cooled crisps from the carton and make 8 more crisps.

To make the mousse: Place the goat cheese in a food processor and process (depending on the cheese used it may look smooth or crumbly). Pour 1/4 cup of cream through the feed tube and continue to process until the mixture is smooth but will hold a shape when piped; if necessary, add a little more cream. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste and mix just enough to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings. The mousse can be refrigerated for 2 or 3 days; let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes to soften slightly before piping.

Place the mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a medium-star tip. Pipe 2 or 3 tablespoons of mousse into each crisp and serve. Makes 16 crisps.

Adapted from The French Laundry Cookbook (Artisan).

Salmon and Tuna Tartare on Cucumber Discs With Wasabi Tobiko

Tartare:
6 ounces of sashimi-grade tuna fillet cut into 1/4-inch dice
6 ounces of sashimi-grade salmon fillet cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 teaspoon of finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
3 tablespoons tomato concassée*
4 teaspoons wasabi tobiko

Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sambal chile
1/8 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon grated garlic
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil

Also:
24 slices (1/4-inch thick) cucumber
3 teaspoons wasabi tobiko

Note: Don't add vinaigrette to the tartare until the last minute because the acid in the vinaigrette will "cook" the fish, turning it opaque and milky-colored. Sambal chile is available in Asian markets.

To make tomato concassée: Cut a small piece, about 1/4 inch, off the top and bottom of a whole peeled tomato, then cut the tomato lengthwise into quarters. Lay the wedges facing up, and with a sharp knife, cut away and discard the seeds and interior flesh. Lay the four pieces of tomato flat and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips, then cut across the strips to make 1/4-inch dice.

To make the vinaigrette: Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. Just before serving, combine all ingredients of the tartare in a medium bowl. Add the vinaigrette and mix well. Mound bite-size portions (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) of the tartare on top of the cucumber slices. Top each with 1/8 teaspoon wasabi tobiko and serve. Makes 24 discs.

Adapted from Terra: Cooking From the Heart of Napa Valley (Ten Speed Press).

Pissaladiere

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package dry active yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Topping:
About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon anchovy paste
3 to 4 ounces oil-cured olives, pitted and roughly chopped
3 to 6 anchovy fillets, well-rinsed (or soaked if salt-packed), patted dry and cut in half

To make the dough: Put the flour in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let the yeast proof for about 8 minutes, then add the 2 tablespoons olive oil and stir to combine. Pour the yeast mixture over the flour, stirring well to combine. When the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn it onto a floured surface and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Put the dough back into a clean large bowl and drizzle with the 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until it just about doubles in size, about 1 hour. Another way to tell if it is properly risen: When you poke it with the tip of your finger, the dough will not spring back.

To make the topping: If you use salt-packed anchovies, soak them in a few changes of water to rid them of their excess salt. While the dough rises, heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and black pepper and cook, stirring every few minutes, until tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the onions cook until they become golden brown and very soft, another 30 to 40 minutes. Add garlic, stir to combine, and cook for 2 more minutes. Let the onions cool.

To assemble and bake: Heat the oven to 425° F. Oil a 10-by-15-inch sided baking sheet with about 2 teaspoons olive oil. Punch the dough down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rough rectangle, about 12 by 18 inches. Fit the dough into the baking sheet, letting the ends of the dough ride up onto the sides of the baking sheet. Drizzle the top of the dough with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil. Spread the olive oil all over the dough, including the edges. Cover the dough again with plastic wrap and let it relax for about 5 minutes.

Spread the top of the dough with a thin layer of anchovy paste. Spread the onions over the anchovy paste in one layer. Scatter the olives over the top and lay the anchovy pieces-as many as you want-on top of the tart intermittently.

Bake until the crust is browned and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Serves 6.

Adapted from Bistro Cooking at Home, by Gordon Hamersley (Broadway Books).

Recommended Blanc de Blancs

Made from 100 percent Chardonnay in Champagne, blanc de blancs (meaning "white of whites") may include other white grapes, such as Pinot Blanc, in the United States. This style tends to be the freshest, most elegant type of sparkling wine. Citrus flavors often predominate, with floral and honey accents. As the wine ages, coffee and toast notes emerge. Though elegant, blanc de blancs are capable of aging well.