Ja 50 rum unleashes charm on the Second City
Published:Thursday | July 19, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The slow-moving thick legs, rich oaky tones and underlying vanilla, tanned the taste buds, as Jamaica's Appleton Estate 50th Anniversary Rum stopped in Montego Bay last Thursday to rub shoulders with foodies and liquor aficionados at Iberostar Grand.
Arriving under the distinguished patronage of Iberostar Jamaica's managing director, Philipp Hofer, and Spanish Ambassador Celsa Nuño, the Wray and Nephew rum titillated the senses, proving this was a winner for the country's master blenders.
Escorted by senior blender David Morrison, the man who has received tutelage from master blender Joy Spence, Morrison took the small handpicked group of people who turned out for the private tasting and dinner on the journey of a very carefully aged rum, perfected to a blend that is absolutely smooth.
GREAT CLOSE
Morrison's tasting session was the close to an evening of fine food, paired with some of the most fantastic wines available in Jamaica.
Iberostar Grand's executive chef, Mario González, and his first-class culinary team whipped up a seven-course meal, the standard found only in places such as France, Spain and the heart of London.
Chef González opened the evening with a variation of the classic Spanish omelet, serving a sandwich with concasse tomato. The idea was to create a small bite sandwich. The crispy bread and the sweet tomato combine perfectly with this dish.
For the second course, he introduced mango and smoked Salmon ravioli with mustard and honey. Always trying to make a fresh salad, the culinary team delivered a classic combination of smoked salmon with a tropical fruit. In this case, they changed the presentation to ravioli form, with the salmon as filling. The mustard and honey played a perfect accompaniment to heighten the flavours.
Prized possession
The conversation piece, Turkey cream soup with confit egg and black truffle, hit the jackpot. A soft poultry cream was the prized possession here, with the egg cooked at low temperature and mixed with the black truffle.
As precursor to the entrée, chef González served a red snapper with herbs emulsion and cauliflower vinaigrette. This seared freshly caught snapper was finished with white wine, a light herb sauce and some zucchini-wrapped onion purée.
The big deal, a hearty mushroom risotto wrapped with roasted rib eye, garnished with crispy potato cylinders filled with Aioli drizzled with red wine juice was the entrée that literally seized the moment.
It is normal to serve a sorbet as a palate cleanser when changing from one wine to the next, but chef González left the best for last. Proving he is among the country's best culinary giants, he played havoc with the senses by ending the evening with a fresh strawberry tartar with julienne of local mint served atop a yoghurt soup, crispy strawberry sorbet and balsamic reduction.