Wednesday, March 31, 2010

FANDANGO Catering Offers Easter Wine Suggestions

FANDANGO Catering offers wine suggestions for two traditional Easter foods.

For a ham:

  • For red-wine lovers: Pinot Noir
  • For white-wine lovers: Gewurztraminer
  • Also rosés and white Zinfandels go well with ham.

For paella--this is has been the traditional Easter Sunday dish for Spanish families since about the 1960s, when it became the custom to vacation seaside in Spain for Easter:

  • If a mixed paella of chicken and fish: a Spanish rosé
  • If a seafood paella, or one with more seafood than chicken: a Spanish Albariño

If your Easter menu is neither of these, general wine/food pairing guidelines are already on previous blog posts, or e-mail me at kristina@fandango-catering.com for suggestions.

A Happy Easter to All!

Kristina

Kristina Ríos de Lumbreras, Ph.D.
Partner, Director of Sales & Operations
FANDANGO Catering
(281) 796-9841

Monday, March 22, 2010

FANDANGO Catering Launches Spanish Menus

FANDANGO Catering has launched new Spanish menus for 2010. Our new Spanish menus include starters/hors d'oeuvres, main courses, and desserts representing the best of Spanish cooking.

Our Executive Chef, Jesús Lumbreras-Calvo, a Madrid native and a Scottsdale Culinary Institute grad, has created menus of wonderful regional foods from his home country suitable for dinners, parties, receptions, and other occasions, and we offer wine pairing suggestions for the menus as well.

Here are a few of our new Spanish menus dishes:
  • Breaded Mushrooms, Shrimp Pancakes, and Crab Emapanaditas with Sherry Vinegar Alioli
  • Pork Tenderloin Rubbed with Sweet and Hot Smoked Spanish Paprika, Served with Orange-Cream Reduction
  • Potatoes Infused with Sherry Sauce
  • Breaded Eggplant with Sephardic Honey Sauce

Chef Jesús will be offering a Spanish cooking class for the Casa de España Houston in April 2010--look for details in upcoming blog posts.

Also look for ideas on using wonderful Spanish foods and presentation ideas for your spring and summer events in upcoming blog posts and in our monthly e-newsletter.

¡Que aproveche!/Bon Appetit!

Kristina

Kristina Ríos de Lumbreras, Ph.D.
Partner, Director of Sales and Operations
FANDANGO Catering
www.fandango-catering.com
(281) 796-9841

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter: info@fandango-catering.com

Monday, March 15, 2010

FANDANGO Catering Offers Wine & Cheese Pairing Tips

Following up on our wine pairings tips of previous blog posts, here are some guidelines for pairing wine and cheese, another area of mystery for most people.

  • Swiss, Emmantaler: Riesling, Gewurztraminer
  • Cheddar, Edam, Gouda: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Rioja
  • Gruyere, Provolone, Jarlsberg: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Beaujolais
  • Mozzarella: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio
  • Muenster: Beaujolais, Zinfandel, Cream Sherry
  • Blue Cheeses: Strong reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux, or a Port
  • Monterey Jack: Chardonnay, Cream Sherry
  • Brie, Camembert: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Dry Port
  • Cream Cheeses: Champagne or Sparkling Wines
  • Gorgonzola: Champagne or Sparkling Wine
  • Goat cheeses: Chenin Blanc, Pouilly fume

Next time: Pairing Fruits and Cheeses

¡Salud!

Kristina

Kristina Ríos de Lumbreras, Ph.D.
Director of Sales and Operations
FANDANGO Catering
281-796-9841
kristina@fandango-catering.com

Thursday, March 4, 2010

FANDANGO Catering Offers Dessert & Wine Pairing Tips

FANDANGO Catering has easy pairings guidelines for wines to serve with desserts.

Not everyone serves wine with desserts. Some other options with dessert are: coffee, hot tea, or a fortified product like a port wine (best with a fruit and cheese dessert).

If you do want to serve a wine with your sweet dessert, it should be different from the wine you served either with your main course and/or your appetizers.

Here are some easy guidelines for serving wine with a sweet dessert:

With most desserts:
  • Rieslings
  • Muscat-based wines
  • Sparkling wines, especially from Italy
With chocolate desserts:
  • Sparkling wines, especially from Italy and France
  • Non-sweet sherries such as a Pedro Ximénez--this is more for wine buff types who know a thing or two about wine

With fruit and cheese, or a cheese course:

Here a stronger, dryer wine is in order; but it depends on the type of cheese, so ask either your cheese vendor for a wine recommendation or ask at a wine shop for a specific suggestion for the type of cheese you plan to serve.

The important thing to remember is that sweet desserts do not go well with the dryer, stronger flavors of wine that DO go well with appetizers and main courses.

In general, when planning an event, in order to choose specific wines within these types of general guidelines, it's always good to get to know the knowledgeable people at a good wine or liquor store. They can often make recommendations at no charge. And if you know at least the general rules of thumb it makes the wine mystery less mysterious!

­¡Salud!

Kristina

Kristina Ríos de Lumbreras, Ph.D.

Partner, Director of Sales

FANDANGO Catering

(281) 796-9841