Cafe Spice Namaste

In his new book, French writer Laurent Moujon is out to bust myths about the difficulty of pairing Indian cuisine with Bordeaux wines

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Vinexpo 2019 in Bordeaux, the extremely popular sushi pop-up was doing booming business. And right in the middle of it all was French culinary writer Laurent Moujon. Wine bottles in hand, the author was setting up a tasting session: sushi paired with Bordeaux wine. It turned out to be a sold-out success.

I can see your eyebrows raised in surprise, reader. But hang on a sec. In today’s climate of mix-and-match and individualized preferences, we are encouraged to play around with our food and beverage choices as well – by the pundits, no less. Besides, everyone knows the vast and growing Asian market is regarded as the golden pot at the end of the rainbow. It makes sense for Bordeaux to look east, something they have been doing for several years. Whether culinary purists like it or not, this is just the next step to reach out to a different market. And taking the challenge head on is Moujon and his series of publications, Bordeaux World Heritage and its Wines.

Moujon, a Bordeaux-based writer and wine professional is no stranger to the does-Asian-food-go-with-Bordeaux-wine conundrum. His ‘Bordeaux Pairing Wines with Indian cuisine’ is the latest in the series, after authoring two books which saw top Bordeaux wines featured alongside the cuisines of China and Japan. It stands to reason that the ever-popular Indian cuisines would be next.

Moujon is busy talking to media at the press centre in Vinexpo, running from one interview to the next. I catch him for a quick coffee and chat. Food and wine is such a personal journey. But the overwhelming world view is that the rich tannic structure of Bordeaux wine is a no-no with the delicate, complex flavours of Asian cuisines.

Not so, Moujon avers. Take the success of recent informal pop-up at Vinexpo.  Plenty of questions were asked, and several aha moments happened with customers. Besides, his book covers not just the great reds of Bordeaux, but also its whites and sparkling wines (known as crement de Bordeaux.)

He should know.

Five years ago, during a visit to  China, Moujon was repeatedly asked about Bordeaux wine pairings with Chinese food. It set him thinking. Two years later, the first of his 3 books was published. Chinese cuisines paired with top Bordeaux classified growths, interspersed with images, tasting notes and recipes. (Ed – His favourite pairing? Peking duck with Sauternes). However, he insists this is not meant to be a definitive doctrine,  “It is to give you ideas about pairing possibilities. The idea is to get everyone to sit around a dining table, open up a bottle, share it with friends, make your own decisions. Every cuisine is very different.”

As is each one’s palate, I add.

Moujon agrees, “I was surprised at how well the tandoori-spiced octopus, stir-fried cauliflower, Malvani style coriander sauce paired with the Château Beychevelle 2012 (Saint-Julien) in February at Cinnamon Club.” This pairing was just one of several triumphant moments during his collaboration with leading chefs of Indian cuisines, in this case Chef Vivek Singh. His team, consisting of Rameshwar Kulkarni, Brinda Bourhis (consultant and BTW’s guest columnist) and Ujwala Samant worked in tandem with top Indian chefs – Cyrus Todiwala (Café Spice Namaste, London), Sanjeev Kapoor, Sriram Aylur (the Michelin-starred Quilon), Akshay Bharadwaj (Michelin-starred Junoon, New York), Manjit Gill and Vivek Singh (Cinnamon Club) among many others. The book includes 67 recipes from 16 celebrity and masterchefs of top Indian food restaurants in 3 countries – UK, India and the USA, paired with wines from 33 Bordeaux chateaux. It encompasses recipes, stories of featured Bordeaux chateaux and wine routes, offering “discovery of their vineyards and wines, architectural, historical and family treasures.”

“The Indian chefs said yes right away, they were happy to be part of the book ‘because you speak of our food, our culture,’ they told me,” says Moujon. The self-published glossy book which Moujon has also designed, consists of recipes of beloved Indian dishes and suggested pairings with Bordeaux wines accompanied by glossy photographs of the chateaux and the food and expert commentary on the concept.

At Chef Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Club 5 course sit-down dinner, Château Latour-Martillac Blanc 2013 “gave power” to its pairing with Colombo- spiced king scallop and Spencer Gulf wild prawn, tomato lemon sauce, says Moujon.  A couple of weeks ago in June, Moujon and his team headlined another successful dinner, this time at Cyrus Todiwala’s award-winning Café Spice Namaste in London where the wines included Château Desmirail and Sauternes’ Chateau Guiraud 2002 with beetroot and coconut soup Kerala style and Portuguese chicken cafreal. The 5-course wine-paired dinner was sold at GBP 90 a head with proceeds going to AFB the Soldier’s Charity to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of D-Day. Winemakers from the chateaux were present and magnums of their wines auctioned raised GBP 1000. The India leg of their promotion tour will start in February 2020 with dinners in top cities with the chef-contributors at the helm of the food and top Bordeaux chateaux showcasing their wines.

“It is not just another cookbook,” says Moujon, “Read it also for the stories of the chateaux and the people behind the wine.” The China book is available for 15 euro, the Japanese for 18 euro, while the hardcover India book (in English) will be available for 22 Euro. Next on his list, possibly the cuisines of Canada. Paired with wines from the chateaux of Bordeaux, but naturally.

More information at www.bordeauxworldheritage.com

E-mail: bordeaux-tourisme-editions@orange.fr