Sugar Cube (29 page)
Authors: Kir Jensen
VARIATION:
•
IF YOU OMIT THE SHERRY
, you have an incredibly useful truffle base that you can flavor all kinds of ways. Try adding different flavors of spirits or ground spices. Instead of cocoa powder, you can roll these truffles in other tasty things, such as toasted coconut or chopped toasted pecans.
There are hundreds of fancy sea salts out there for a reason: They all taste slightly different. The minerals in the seawater and the harvesting techniques can all contribute to salts with slightly different flavors, colors, and textures. Then, of course, there are the flavored salts and smoked salts, which range from subtle to intense.
With all this selection out there, it makes no sense to use ordinary, processed table salt in your cooking. It’s like using old, dry herbs instead of fresh: One whispers, the other sings. True, sea salt can get pricey, so I buy it in bulk from natural food stores that have a good bulk selection. For the fancier salts, a little goes a long way, so I just buy small jars and use them judiciously. I love to stop by The Meadow, a Portland salt shop, to pick up little bottles of exotic salts to play with. It’s one of my more affordable addictions.
To get your salt fetish going, try serving these truffles with a flight of at least three different kinds of salt—Japanese plum salt is especially good. If you want to get really fancy, serve them on a pink Himalayan salt block, which you can reuse as a cooking plank.
•
Truffles should be served like a good piece of cheese: at room temperature. This will allow you to experience the full flavor and texture explosion that is about to set off in your mouth. For an extra side of awesomeness, sprinkle a few grains of salt on top of each truffle, or serve them with a small dish of fleur de sel. Chocolate and salt are a match made in heaven.
•
Don’t forget to save your cocoa powder. Just sift out any chocolate remnants and store it in an airtight container.
•
Don PX has this amazingly complex flavor, with lots of raisin notes—but in a good way. If you can splurge, get the Don PX Gran Reserva ‘82. Just save the rest for special occasions or to sip by the fire. A little goes a long way.
•
I particularly love Felchlin Cru Hacienda 74 percent for these truffles, because it has rich flavors of citrus, mild tobacco, and tropical banana, plus an incredible mouthfeel that just melts away. But feel free to find your own favorite, just don’t skimp. There are plenty of specialty stores and chocolatiers that can help you select a good-quality chocolate for this recipe.
I know what you’re thinking: Who in their right mind would drink vinegar? But trust me; this is a fruity, thirst-quenching, refresher of a drink that is not at all mouth puckering. I love to serve this potion in a mason jar with some fresh raspberries or blackberries to liven it up even more.
MAKES 1 SERVING
- Ice
- 1 cup ginger ale
- 1
/
2
to 1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger - 1 to 2 tablespoons japanese plum drinking vinegar (called
ume
), or more to taste
- FILL A TALL GLASS
halfway with ice. Pour in ginger ale. Add fresh ginger and top with the plum vinegar. Mix with a long-handled spoon and voilà!
VARIATIONS:
•
ADD A SPLASH
(2 or 3 ounces) of good-quality chilled vodka or a couple scoops of
champagne sorbet
or
Cherry Lambic Sorbet
.
•
ADD A SCOOP
of lemon sorbet.
•
P.S.:
Take it from me, this drink is great for hangovers. It’s a good way to get hydrated, and it settles the tummy. It’s what I prescribe whenever I see a customer shuffling over to my cart, looking a bit queasy.
•
Drinking vinegars, which are very popular in Japan and are thought to promote good health, are available in many flavors at bigger Asian food markets. Just ask specifically for drinking vinegar. Or you can buy them online from sources like
AsianFoodGrocer.com
. They’re not as acidic as regular vinegar, so make sure to store them in the fridge once opened. A word of advice: Stay away from the lemon and strawberry flavors; they taste artificial.
Sexy Kir
Kir royales are one of my favorite things to sip at this sweet little Portland wine bar called Kir. Now, I’ll admit that there is a special kind of awesomeness to sitting in a wine bar with your name on it, drinking a drink with your name on it, but both would get pretty old pretty darn quick if they weren’t awesome all on their own. And they are. Kir is owned by Amalie Roberts, a friend of mine who has seemingly infinite wisdom about wine, especially rosé, which is how I got turned on to these gorgeous kir royales, which are made with sparkling rosé instead of Champagne. Amalie highly recommends Oregon-made Clear Creek cassis because it’s very concentrated in flavor and less sweet. She’s also careful to pair the cassis with a wine that is higher in acid to balance out the sweetness of the berry liqueur.
MAKES 1 SERVING
- 1 teaspoon crème de cassis liqueur, such as Clear Creek cassis liqueur
- Sparkling or still rosé
- SPOON THE CASSIS
into the bottom of a Champagne flute or coupe if using sparkling wine or the bottom of a wineglass if using still wine. Top with wine and enjoy!
•
For a sparkling rosé, Amalie recommends O. Rosal Cava. It has a dry, bright, crisp, clean finish with floral and cranberry notes. For a still rosé, she recommends Rochette Beaujolais Rosé. It comes from the southern region of Burgundy and has a pleasant creaminess, rich flavor, and nice herbal notes on the finish.
