...Pastisio? I have always loved Greek food. And, I have made it a personal mission of mine to stuff myself silly with copious amounts of the stuff on numerous visits to Greece - the islands and the mainland (and even at a favourite Greek restaurant, when I was growing up, in Liverpool). So, tonight for dinner I decided to make Pastisio - baked pasta. Oh yum! The lamb, the bechamel, and the nutmeg really hit the spot! I wish I had had a Xinomavro to pair with this dish. Alas, none of this wine, made from a northern Greek grape variety of the same name, was to be found in the cellar at Vinoland. Instead, I settled for an extremely peppery Syrah (grown by me)...it was a serviceable pairing. Still, I can't help but wonder if even a lowly Lambrusco would have been a better pairing.
10 comments:
I do remember you not liking various bits of goats inards on Ithaca!
Yes, the Xinomavro at Yanni's certainly help remove any reminder of the plated goat gonads that had burned into my memory.
Yes, to the lowly Lambrusco over the peppery Syrah, but be glad it wasn't Retsina!
Retsina is pretty filthy stuff isn't it, even in Greece. I've read 'though that there are some smashing whites coming from Greece now. Assyrtiko anyone?
Nah. I reckon you've done well. Syrah's always a winner with lamb in my book, and the pepperier the better.
"an extremely peppery Syrah (grown by me)..." How I wish I could write that...
As it happens I'm off to Santorini this summer.
Vamos a ver...
Vinogirl.Due to the coalitions 'Spending Review' Lord Roby has been bottom fishing of late.It's bad enough trying to get a genuinely good bottle of wine for under £5, but when they confuse me with vino-terminology, I get very indecisive.Can you explain what the difference is between,tannins,polished tannins and supple tannins? Or are they just retail gobbledegook to bamboozle the naive punter?
Thomas & Ron: A glass of Retsina is alright - when followed with an ouzo chaser!
Cesar: Like I said, the Syrah was OK but now I am curious as to whether or not a Lambrusco would work with this dish. Enjoy Santorini.
Lord Roby: Tannins, those polyphenolic substances without which we would not have age worthy wines, or good shoe leather,
(though you can have an age worthy wine if the acidity is high enough to preserve the wine until such time the fruit drops off.) Polished? Supple? These are two ways of saying that a wine does not contain highly extracted, sharp tannins - whether they came from the skins, stems or the barrel the wine was aged in. In a young wine, supple tannins will have formed polymeric phenol chains that are just long enough to assure an enjoyable tipple - instead of the tooth-enamel-stripping astringency one gets from a highly tannic wine.
I am positively mad for Greek food. Yes, in copious amounts. *drool* Now I'm going to have to rustle up a Mousaka soon. Call me lowbrow, but I never minded retsina-- that astringent weirdness seemed oddly fitting with the bold flavors of the food, to me.
Yes to the Greek food! As for the retsina, you can have my share :)
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