Fashion or Tradition – Beaujolais Nouveau?
AS momentum starts to grow for the festive season, this week sees a very different celebration take place: Beaujolais Nouveau Day.
This marketing phenomenon was the brainchild of Georges Duboeuf, who is widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most well-known wine merchants in France.
He, together with members of the UIVB (Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins du Beaujolais), came up with a way of taking local wine and, within six to eight weeks, making it available through adopting a unique harvesting, fermenting and pasteurisation process.
It was very profitable and captured a considerable gap in the market.
Misconceptions often abound related to the quality of this wine due to it being compared with it’s grander counterparts from the region.
Beaujolais nouveau is made from the Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc grape, better known simply as Gamay.
The grapes must come from the Beaujolais AOC, with those of the ten ‘cru’ appellations excluded.
It was officially launched in 1951 and now Beaujolais Nouveau Day is celebrated on the third Thursday in November each year.
Now in its 60th year, sales in France and the UK have fallen, however, its popularity is on the increase in Japan and the USA, which are the biggest markets outside of Europe.
I, personally, am not a great fan of this wine, although I must confess to having taken part in the race to be the first to serve it in London a number of years ago. The race however has now been abandoned for safety reasons.
I’m sure it would be suitable for this regional dish though, but any variant of Beaujolais will suffice:
Coq au Beaujolais (Serves 4)
Ingredients
1 bottle of Beaujolais
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
25g butter
1 large chicken, cut into 8 joints
50g bacon lardons, blanched
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
500ml chicken stock
300g button mushrooms
200g small button onions, cooked
1 tbsp arrowroot
Method1) Season and cook the chicken joints in the butter until golden brown.
2) Drain and place into a casserole.
3) Fry the lardons in the same pan, until crisp, and drain.
4) Cook the mushrooms in the pan, then the button onions, whilst keeping the three garnishes warm.
5) Cook the onion and garlic in the fat for a few minutes then drain off the fat.
6) Put the onions and garlic back into the pan then add half of the wine, and all of the stock.
7) Boil and reduce by half, releasing the cooking sediments from the pan.
8) Add the thyme and bay leaf and pour over the chicken, topping up with more wine to cover the chicken.
9) Cover with a lid and place in a moderately hot oven for about 45 minutes.
10) When the chicken is cooked, take out the joints and place into a serving dish, and keep warm.
11) Meanwhile, pour the stock into a saucepan and reduce by half.
12) Dilute the arrowroot in a little cold water then add to the simmering stock until the right consistency is achieved.
13) Season to taste and pour over the chicken.
14) Sprinkle with the garnish and serve with some new potatoes and French beans.
Bon Appetit!
