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The Devil in You
Sage on the Coast will host a wine dinner Sunday evening, February 24, with winemaker Andrew Hood, who’ll present
several varieties from his Tasmanian labels Frogmore Creek and 42 Degrees South.
Yes, that Tasmania—the pendulous
arrowhead of an island State that drops from Australia’s brawny neck. Once known as Van Diemen’s Land, last outpost
of assassins and reprobates culled from the mere doves transported to the Colony to the north, Tasmania has a varied
geography (part southern England, part Big Sur) and intricate microclimes. Without the heat and acreage of the
continent, Tassie vineyards are boutique operations, producing limited quantities of premium wines from cool-weather
grapes. For the unique five-course meal prepared by Chef Kris and Chef Rich, Mr. Hood will pour a sparkling Rose,
one Chardonnay, two Pinots of distinct terroir, and a ruby port made from pinot noir grapes. The cost is $75 per
person and seating is limited, so reserve early.
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Tri-Polar
Three new fish appear on the Sage menus this winter, from clean, deep, frigid waters at the ends of the earth.
The Ocean Trout and Arctic Char at Sage Eastbluff, and the Loch Duart King Salmon at Sage on the Coast, are
all in the Salmonid family, and responsibly cultivated in rugged, pristine environments. Arctic Char
(Salvelinus alpinus) is the northernmost freshwater fish, resembling salmon but genetically closer to
trout, and its flavor combines the best of both. Dolly Varden, Mackinaw and brook trout are all species
of char native to North America, but Arctic Char is circumpolar, inhabiting the freezing rivers of Labrador,
the Scandinavian fjords, the glacial lakes of Siberia, and the icy banks of Nunavut, where the Inuit,
who prefer it over sculpin or cod, call it iqaluk. An opportunistic survivor capable of bewildering
interspecies variation, char, unbounded by permafrost or waterfalls, make a sea-run in spring and summer
into Hudson Bay or the Arctic islands, returning to fresh water in fall grandly engorged and gaudily colored.
Successfully farmed for over a decade in Canada, Iceland, Norway and Ireland, Arctic Char is an ocean-friendly
alternative to most farmed salmon, and its pale orange flesh, mild taste and high fat content make it excellent
for dry heat cooking and grilling. It recently appeared on the Eastbluff tasting menu with silver skin crisply
intact, served with a soy apple cider glaze, baby Brussels sprouts, roast kabocha squash, wilted arugula, and
topped with fennel-radish slaw.
Sea-run trout, rainbow trout that leave fresh water for their own unknowable reasons, are called, in America, steelhead, in France, truite de mer, and in Australia, “ocean trout.” Penned in the protected wilderness of Macquarie Harbour on the west coast of Tasmania, over deep water (blended salt- and freshwater, red with mineral tannins and hiding a powerful, muscle-conditioning, Southern Ocean current), Tasmanian Ocean Trout are always, according to Charlie Trotter, “rich and luscious.” Small net harvests from less industrialized sources make for better quality fish, and Sage’s ocean trout are well-marbled, deep red, firm and clean-tasting, served recently at Eastbluff with lobster sauce, celery root puree, spinach, artichokes and English peas.
When the force-10 storms, rope-abrading tides and net-nibbling otters allow, Loch Duart, an independent, Scottish-owned, sustainable-salmon outfit with only sixty employees, based in Sutherland, North Scotland, aims to give their fish “a good life, with no impact on the environment.” Their three-year rearing cycle is monitored by a “fish welfare officer.” They minimize the stress of handling and grading, and keep the fish at low densities, with shorter fasting periods and veterinary care. With more space to swim, the salmon are more muscular, and natural tides ensure clean water. Loch Duart uses a rotational fallow system, moving the pens regularly about Loch Laxford, Loch na Thuille, and Calbha Bay, and uses only Havsbrún feed, made from fresh fishmeal, with no hormones, no antibiotics, no flours, no meats, fats or oils from land animals and no nasty bits from other farmed fish species. “It’s not as flat-tasting as other salmon,” says Chef Kris, “it has a real wild salmon taste because it’s fed real fish.” Loch Duart King Salmon is clean and mild, yet flavorful enough to stand up to his wild mushroom risotto, beet greens and pinot noir sauce. It’s a treat for the senses that’s also healthy and soothing to the conscience.
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Afternoon Tea
Eastbluff, February 21
He heard she had been unwell, and found he could with perfect propriety pay her a visit to inquire. She could entertain his inquires while just perceptibly pitying them, and cheerfully postponed her outing. When she could postpone no longer she invited him along, claiming it was her sole indulgence, although he suspected he had become, for her, yet another. “The cucumber sandwiches are divine,” she insisted. And it was just so precisely what they had wanted: a cozy tea room--toasty even--the dull dreary dripping winter day banished by the exotic aromas and the arrival, presently, of fresh scones and raspberry jam. He listened, could give his all to listening, in this secluded spot with the radiant tisanes and curative pastries, to the low murmur of burdens companionably shared and acquaintances charmingly renewed. She seemed to be offering him solace, which amused him, as she poured with her accustomed brio sweetened milk into a masala chai redolent with ginger and pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. He meant to be kind, and not demonstrably clever, but held fast to his Mao Jian, a Jiangshu furry tip of superior provenance. If it were a question, for him, of the greater indelicacy, of challenging her or allowing her to persist in her beautiful delusion, he could hang fire with another sandwich, a salubrious little marvel of farm fresh egg or chicken apple salad, shorn of crust, or perhaps the smoked salmon with dill and cream cheese. “Have another lemon bar,” she teased, “I won’t tell.”
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Panna Cotta
In the hilly region of Piedmont called the Langhe, home of Barolo wine and Alba truffles, a woman thought to be Hungarian transformed the local budino (pudding) culture in the early nineteenth century by inventing the panna cotta. So successful was the upstart innovation it was soon recast as a timeless and indelible part of local tradition: a pudding made without eggs, by simply simmering milk and cream (thus the name ‘cooked cream’) with sugar and setting it with “fish glue” made from fish bones. Right. When gelatin was substituted (not so long ago), and vanilla added to the cream for flavoring, the panna cotta took off all over Italy. It’s an easy recipe; the cream can be flavored with fruit or spice or cocoa, and, once turned out of its mold, a berry coulis or chocolate sauce can dress it up. But the easiest recipe can, in the hands of the right cook, yield a finished product that’s far from ordinary, and that makes panna cotta really seductive. Mark’s panna cotta at Eastbluff revitalizes one of the great culinary synergisms—citrus and ginger. Disregard, dear Reader, their current vogue in cocktails, candles and body washes, for their combination is a revelation. On first taste, the texture is lighter and silkier than crème brulee, and the flavor only subtly sweet. Then there’s a note of unexpected depth, remote yet intriguing—the infusion of ginger. Finally there’s an onrushing, high-singing finish of orange and springtime. On top are segments of Satsuma and sweet grapefruit with orange coulis, and, on the side, two warm squares of white chocolate-ginger shortbread, maybe the best cookie Mark’s ever baked. He promises to keep it on the menu until Valentine’s Day so you can share it with your innamorata.
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