The President of the Secret Sherry Society is pleased to present this week’s author on “Sherry Blogger of the Week,” Dr. Michael Lim of The Travelling Gourmet.
An internationally renowned Travel, Food & Wine Writer/Chef, Dr. Lim has traveled the world in a relentless search for good food and winsome wines. Trained by top 3 Michelin Star Chefs, LeNotre Culinary School in Paris & CIA (Culinary Institute of America), he is also a parachutist, fencer, SCUBA diver & big game hunter.
Each week we will feature a new wine blogger committed to sharing with readers their passion and knowledge of wine. If you are a wine blogger and are interested in being featured on our website please email us at secretsherrysociety@gmail.com.
Stupendous Sherry!
The intrepid Travelling Gourmet tells you about Spain’s gift to the world…
By Dr. Michael Lim, The Travelling Gourmet
My fondest memories of Sherry are from when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. Every time you visited your friends or Professors socially, they would offer you a nice glass of Sherry. Inevitably, it was Harvey’s Bristol Cream. Then you would sit by the blazing fire in the living room and chat. At Christmas time, Sherry was the tipple to go with beloved Christmas Plum Pudding Flambe served with lashing of Rum Butter or Brandy Butter. OMG! It was super yummy! And who can resist that classic English dessert…Sherry Trifle with jelly, strawberries and custard! Made with Lady Finger sponge biscuits soaked in…lots of (what else?) Sherry!
Sherry actually comes from the Moorish language – “Seris”. In Spanish, Sherry is Jerez which is also the name of the Spanish town which is the center for Sherry production.
A typical sherry has a nose of blue steel like that of my favourite H&K USP 9mm pistol, light amber in colour, bone dry in the mouth, it is so powerful your first taste may be a shock to your taste buds…
John Harvey & Sons was founded in 1796 in Bristol and Harvey’s Bristol Cream has become the world’s best selling Sherry. How “Cream” became a part of this famous label is the stuff of legend. In the 1860s Harvey’s already had a popular blend called Harvey’s Bristol Milk. When an aristrocratic lady visited the cellars and tasted a new blend, she promptly declared: ”If that be the milk, then this is cream!” Made exclusively from Palomino fruit from their own Spanish vineyards in Jerez Superior appellation, it is a blend of four wines. They are Amontillado, Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez from more than 50 different Soleras with an average age of 8 years on bottling. Heady caramel and raisin aromas entice with a palate of dried fruit and nuts plus a lingering voluptuous finish…like the kiss of a ravishing woman. The cobalt blue bottle has been a distinctive feature since 1990.
Sherry’s Humble Beginning
Dry Sherry or Fino Sherry accounts for 95% of Sherry production. From a simple white wine crafted from the Palomino grape grown in this arid region of southern Spain, it is fermented till there is NO residual sugar. American oak casks are filled till five-sixths of the way and left partly covered.
Some, not all of the barrels develop a layer like cream cheese. Called Flor, it comprises Saccharomyces yeast and shields the wine from oxidation. The wine is lightly fortified and will be used to make Fino.
More alcohol is added to barrels without Flor. The wine oxidizes and they become Olorosos.
Solera aging
This is very complicated, which is why there are Almacenistas who are specialists in this art. In a nutshell, a part of the younger wine is added to an older barrel. From the older barrel, a part is added an even older one, and so on…A 100 barrels or more can make up a Solera! They are carefully arranged in a pyramid with the oldest at the bottom. Simply put, it is a precise form of fractional blending
Make mine a Fino…
Finos from Jerez, where the hot summer burns off the Flor, are heartier. while those made In Sanlucar, the milder weather is conducive to growing Flor all year-round and they are more delicate. The latter are known as manzanilla, perhaps because have nuances of chamomile tea which bears the same name. An example of ‘terroir’ or the taste of the place.
These wines are pale, light…to be enjoyed young. Chill before drinking for the best taste. On the contrary, having taken on unique flavors from the flor, Finos are very popular due to the collection of unique and complex flavours from the Flor. It is like caviar and foie gras an acquired taste, not for the hoi polloi.
Fino is generally young, about five years old. Age it to obtain Fino Amontillado. It begins to take on oxidative characteristics as the Flor disappears. Almonds and hazelnuts, toffee notes and a deeper colour. In the Soleras the younger more vibrant & expressive wines are foiled by the older, more complex wines.
OMG! Oloroso
Olorosos are older…richer and more costly but worth it if you are partial to such flavours and complexity. Oloroso means “fragrant” in Spanish. Sweet Amontillados and Olorosos are lovely with Crème Brulee, aged cheese and of course, a perfect match for Ye Olde English Sherry Trifle. Sweet Harveys Pedro Ximenez VORS Sherry explodes on your palate with voluptuous flavours of figs and Arabian dates. A dash of sherry also brings out the flavour of Lobster Bisque.
Say cheers to suprising Sherry…Salud!
The Travelling Gourmet’s SAS (smooth as silk) Sherry Trifle
A ravishing English lady taught me this recipe…
Ingredients
- Big clear glass bowl for the Trifle
- 1 packet of Lady Finger sponge biscuits
- Fresh Strawberries.
- Fresh Raspberries
- Chocolate curls
- ½ cup Orange Juice
- Strawberry Jelly
- Pedro Ximenez Sherry
- Sliced almonds
- Custard or Crème Anglais.
Method
Place the Lady Finger sponge biscuits to line the bottom of the bowl.Then pour on orange juice and sherry to taste ( 5 tablespoons). The sponge will soak up the juices and sherry.
Add in the fresh strawberries. Make some strawberry jelly and pour carefully in. You can add strawberry jam to the jelly for more texture. Let it set in the refrigerator.
Before serving, make the custard, let it cool and pour it on top of the set jelly. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh strawberries, raspberries, chocolate curls and serve immediately. Enjoy!
On Valentine’s Day, make a heart on top of the custard with strawberries, raspberries &cherries. Michelangelo always said: Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle!
