1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II Beeing an Exotic Drinking Book

THE EXOTIC DRINKING BOOK

WORDS to the DRINKING WISE No. XXI, on the EXCEL–

LENCE of SERVING THE CHEESE BEFORE the DESSERT

The French they are a canny race. Knowing that only a sip of red

wine can possibly harmonize with cheese, then change our order, and

serve it before the sweet-thus enabling a guest to use his

final

few

sips of Burgundy in proper fashion. Otherwise it means

extra wine

course like a good port. Try it some time. No one will notice

until

the thing is done, then they will see the logic.

WORDS to the DRINKING WISE No.

XXII,

on the BEST MO–

MENT for SERVING CHAMPAGNE at a

MEAL

Just note the sequence above.

other wines precede it, always serve

the champagne with the

first hot meat course,

this case the game.

sparkling wine is served after too many hot courses, gases are re–

leased more potently, causing a tendency toward heartburn, for those

who tend.

great many tend.

A THOUGHT

SERVING ONE WINE THROUGHOUT

theMEAL

Many gourmets often and connoisseurs who know whereof they

speak, claim that all this business of having four or five varieties of

wine with a meal is sheer boasting, and that

a wine is sound enough

to deserve to serve at all, it is good enough for the whole meal. . . .

Usually this means some white wine-Rhine, Moselle, Bordeaux, still

Burgundy white, or something similar. A white wine will go with

the meat whereas red wine simply doesn't seem to suit caviar, oysters,

delicate boiled fishes, and seafood like shrimps and lobsters-and

with sweets or dessert a white wine fetches out the flavours better.

· . . In

fac tl there is one school which calls for a dry champagne of

decent vintage now and then for a complete meal, claiming that with

fruits and desserts ·of all sorts the harmony is particularly gratifying.

Sometime when we elect to serve champagne right thro

ugh a meal

make the added gesture of serving a dry type with the meal up to the

dessert, then changing to a slightly sweeter kind-as dry wine does

not march quite so well with sweets, and sweet pastries.

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