More solace for little old me

Dear reader, you've been introduced to my good friend JT and his wife MT before, long ago enough for you to know that not only have we been friends for over 40 years but that we tend to eat wonderful things and drink rare and exciting wines when together, mainly thanks to their generosity, kindness and skill in the kitchen. Today was no exception, as we were celebrating JT's nameday (a couple of days late, but who's counting...) with a special dinner with wine to match.

Food is a wonderful thing which in its mundane form keeps us going on a daily basis, but also something that, with just an injection of love and attention, can become exciting, good, more-than-sustenance, joy-giving! There is pleasure to be had in food and it does not have to be elaborate to please - witness J&MT's delicious menu today, based on simple but good materials and wholesome tastes with little trickery, little playing about. The menu was as follows:

!. Gruyere gougeres, that most simple yet utterly delicious chou-like thing, an appetiser, with the fizz.
2. Cream of bean soup with trompette de la mort mushrooms, a complex yet simple recipe.
3. Osso Bucco with polenta, a version of an all-time classic just bursting with flavour.
4. Rocquefort cheese, aged and ...
5. Orange fruit salad, in juice.
6. Chocolates with a herb tea.

As you can see this was a winter menu that was simple but satisfying, properly tasty, with plays on texture and taste to match an intriguing selection of wine from JT's well-equipped and esoteric cellar. The wines were:

1. Roederer Cristal 1996, an aperitif hard to top for quality, never mind the status/prestige shit.
2. Swiss Valais wine from the Chasselas grape, 2009
3. Swiss Vaud wine, Grand Cru from the Chasselas grape, 2008
4. Bandol red wine 1988 in magnum,
5. Chateau Climens 1988, Barsac, a sweetie to match the cheese and dessert.
6. Grappa from the acknowledged master, now deceased, Levi.

Did we enjoy ourselves, I hear you ask, dear reader? Well of course we did. We laughed, ate, drank and laughed again - funny how so much of the conversation now that we are older comprises of flashbacks! But it's good that it does while we're still here to remember the good times, the bad times and all in between, together with the now-absent friends, because soon it will all be ancient history, remembered by no-one.

P.S. : I'll try and write up the tasting notes in a separate post, maybe tomorrow. Patience I am told, dear reader, is a virtue!