Morels and Truffles

Ahoy there! The seafood wine-pairing dinner at Ingredients Cafe on July 31 felt like a cruise around the world. We were entertained with tastes as far afield as Asia and the North Woods. Our wines came from nearly every luxury port-of-call known to wine lovers. Sheila Stewart of The Wine Merchants brought maps that showed the area where each wine was made.
We began our voyage with a trip to the Orient with a crispy lobster eggroll with green papaya and cashew salad. What a wonderfully crisp way to start the meal! The vinegar and cilantro dressing was refreshing and bright spots of passion fruit sauce added a sweet delicacy. Sheila poured a very clean Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio from Fruili, Italy. It disappeared with hardly any aftertaste, enticing us to take another sip. The second course brought us to Spain with a lump crab salad with hydroponic cucumbers and gazpacho vinaigrette. The creamy taste of avocado was interspersed with shots of lime and mint. The wine, appropriately enough, was from Navarra, Spain. The Red Guitar Garnacha Rose was made from old vine grapes, Sheila said. They packed a powerful punch and went very well with the dish. When tasted on its own, the alcohol in the glass was overpowering.	Crispy lobster eggroll with green papaya and cashew salad
Now, for our third course, did we go to Provence, France or Louisiana? Steaming bowls of bouillabaisse with broth the color of a fiery sunset were set down at each table. Hidden in its saffron-tinted depths were shrimp, mussels and toothsome bits of halibut. A dollop of spicy rouille, an aioli with a heavy dose of red pepper, sat on a crisp piece of toast. Once stirred into the soup, it added an extra luster to the fennel-infused liquid. To temper these hot flavors, Sheila poured a cooling Chappellet Napa Chardonnay from Carneros, California. It was sweeter than the Pinot Grigio from earlier in the dinner, but had similar fruity notes. The fourth course may have made a few of the diners a little jealous.	Lump crab salad with hydroponic cucumbers and gazpacho vinaigrette
If any of them prided themselves on whipping up a mean walleye fish fry, they would begin to have self doubts after taking one bite of the “Manitou Island Salad,” a local take on a Caprese Salad. It will be hard to return to cookstove or campfire and know that your latest catch won’t beat the wonderful melding of flavors presented by the panko crusted walleye, heirloom tomato slices, house-pulled mozzarella and lemon butter with basil puree. The Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, smelled and tasted like someone had tried to smuggle pink grapefruits in the bottles. Sheila said the flavor was due in part to the decision by the vintner to not use oak in the winemaking process.	"Manitou Island Salad"
For the finale, we were the recipients of a wonderfully rare treat: a fruit tart made with the freshest summer fruits around. The tart was filled with Grand Marnier pastry cream that added a lovely orange undertone. The Two Hands “Brilliant Disguise” Moscato from South Australia smelled of a perfectly ripe concord grape. Its flavor was sweet and light carbonation gave it a crisp note. Join us in August when we plan to celebrate the bounty of summer.	Summer berry fruit tart with Grand Mariner pastry cream