How to pair wine with sea cucumber

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

David,

Let’s cook together! Where you at?

22

I have no experience with sea cucumber.

As long as we’re stirring the pot, I’m always curious as to why people write in looking for pairing suggestions. It seems to me that 999 times out of a thousand, the poster goes with his original idea. It’s a curious exercise. I always wonder why it’s necessary to have others propose wines to reject, why not just consider all the possibilities in one’s own mind and make a selection?

23

Rob,

It’s a fun parlor game. I like it when people ask.

24

I don’t have any desire to stop anyone from doing anything. I love coming to a place where I’m stimulated to think about the kind of wine that might go with sea cucumber. I see what’s in it for me. I’m just curious as to the motivation of the people who ask. I’m never the asker. When I need a pairing, I just go through all of the possibilities in my head and pick one.

25

I would pick a Sicilian wine because Sicilians specialize in red wines that can pair with seafood. COS Cerasuolo di Vitorria is medium bodied, nice acid, and earthy. I believe a medium bodied wine will play nicely with a delicate fish, the acidity will play refreshing counterpoint to the sauce and the earthy quality will harmonize with and accentuate the umami in the dish.

26

The Poster might go with what they know this time but that doesn’t mean next time they won’t bend the preparation slightly toward a different pairing. And sometimes the Poster may have something that works but they want to know if someone else has something that’s next level.

27

Baidu!

I think it will be a tough pairing - cru beaujoais perhaps - nice acidity and a touch sweetness?

28

As Chris said, it’s fun. Also makes you think about what wines to serve yourself with a given meal. Drinking wine is in good part a mental exercise, it seems.

29

the seafood has nothing to do with the pairing, the pairing ought to be around the sauce. The sauce David is discussing is a heavy dark sauce, almost like a braise. You wouldn’t drink champagne with that type of braise

Probably look something like this

30

So is (non tannic) Merlot or syrah grenache blend crazy?

31

I vote masculine domestic Pinot…

32

That’s why I’m thinking something medium bodied, red, earthy, with nice acids.

Need something to stand up to and cut through the sauce.

A good CdP could work, but I’d suggest something from '99 or '04 vintage like Charvin, a little more elegant and acidic.

One time, some friends invited my wife and I to dinner. We showed up and it turned out, the guy’s hobby is Asian food. I brought a '04 Pegau, but when I saw it was going to be Asian food, I told them to just save the wine and have it with something more appropriate. “Nonsense,” said the wife as she popped it open.

Turned out surprisingly well.

The wine really harmonized with the Asian food.

It went with everything.

I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t taste it myself.

33

I’m thinking that one of them thar orange wines might work.

P Hickner

34

If the poster goes with his original idea, then hasn’t he, in fact, done exactly that: considered all the possibilities in his own mind and made a selection? I would venture to guess that everyone who starts a topic of this sort has spent time mulling over the options, and wonders if they have missed some idea that might be even better. By writing in with the question, one gains insight from others’ knowledge and experience, even if that information does not get applied immediately. One also contributes productively to the group resource. Something which so many posts do not.

35

My intention is not to just pick a “perfect” wine to pair with my dish. I do not think it exist. I like to have several wines with the help of my coravin to pair with one dish. It is a very interesting game to see how food and wine changes each other. I learn a lot during this type of experiment.

I found it is easy to pair a wine to certain flavor. It is much more difficult to pair wine to a certain texture. And often I find the texture of the dish plays very important role changing the mouth feel of a wine.

For me, I am not looking for a good pair. I just want to learn. And discussing this on the board, I also learn from other people’s thought process, which is also very valuable. Cheers,

champagne.gif

36

I am in Chicago. You are welcome to cook in my house together when you visit Chicago. We can get some board member together do a pot luck/ wine tasting.
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37

How did this priceless comment get ignored?
flirtysmile [snort.gif] pepsi

38

Interesting – Thanks!

39

Once, some years ago in winter, I took some guests down to the Maine coast. We went to Stonington, which is very picturesque, and had then even more than now a predominantly “real Mainer” population. As we walked out on the dock, a fishing boat was pulled up next to it. A fisherman on board lifted up a sea cucumber to show us and shouted over: “would you eat THAT?”

Of course they were being exported to Asia for a very good price.

40

NEVER! Of all the foods in the world that I have tasted, Sea Cucumber is the worst, the second worst, and the third worst, combined. AND that was before I, as a certified scuba diver, saw it live in the ocean. I have not read this thread except for the first two posts, so this may have already been said, but Sea Cucumber is a giant sea caterpillar, or sea slug, that looks more disgusting than it tastes, and eats detritus on the bottom of the ocean. Stronger letter to follow.