Wines, innards and wines: and how to mix
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WANT a more energetic and healthy life? Then eat more innards. The exact definition of the terms offal, organ, variety and mystery meats or pluck varies from culture to culture but one constant is their health benefits. Today’s iDeal section examines vitamin B rich food sources including innards.
Loved by some and reviled by others, innards offer some of the densest sources of essential nutrients such as B vitamins, fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K as well as magnesium, copper, phosphorous and iron.
In the modern world of nutritional science, we call them superfoods.
One of the first people to champion the benefits of innards was doctor Weston Price, a dentist.
Price’s passion was studying the relationship between diet and health. He traveled the world researching the traditional diets and health of indigenous people in the Americas, Africa and Asia.
In his groundbreaking book, “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” published in 1937, Price concluded that the modern western diet high in flour, sugar and processed oils was inferior to traditional diets.
Another key finding was that consumption of internal organs was much healthier than steaks, chops and other meats popular with Americans. Quite controversial in his day, modern nutritionists now agree with Price and fondly refer to him as the Isaac Newton of nutrition.
I never had an issue with Price’s stance. Considered an eccentric eater by my American peers, since early childhood I’ve always had a great affection for organ meats. Even today when I travel to Italy beef tripe is a must, in France sweetbreads are compulsory and while touring the famed Scotland whisky trail heaping helpings of haggis keeps me satiated and sober. Perhaps my favorite innards dish is calves’ liver.
Liver is a nutritional powerhouse and when cooked properly this delicate meat offers some of the gourmet world’s unique delicious flavor and textures.
In China, I can’t fathom enjoying a mala hotpot without copious servings of pig’s intestines, sheep’s stomach and beef tripe.
Wherever available, I’m also more than happy to throw a pig’s brain in the hotpot. Other Chinese innards favorites include Jiangxi style savory hot and crispy tripe, Sichuan style deep-fried intestines and Taiwan-style sautéed pork liver.
The “offal-truth” is that the only thing better than a well-prepared innards dish, is the same dish accompanied by the right wine.
Depending on the organ of your choice and preparation method, there are countless wine companions. One of my go-to wine varietals for innards is Syrah and a region that offers classy Syrah wines at affordable prices is the Northern Rhone Valley. No I don’t mean the legendary Cote Rotie and Hermitage reds, for as great as these wines are they can hardly be described as affordable.
Instead I’m referring to their lesser cousin Crozes-Hermitage
Surrounding the elevated hilltop Hermitage vineyards are the Crozes-Hermitage vineyards that feature a combination of rocky, sand and clay soil types. Crozes-Hermitage is the largest AC in the northern Rhone accounting for approximately half of the region’s production.
While by no means as structured or complex as the grand Hermitage and Cote Rotie wines, good examples of Crozes-Hemitage wines offer a lighter, more approachable style of wine. Quality Crozes-Hermitage wines exhibit some of the typical qualities of Hermitage wines, albeit in a less concentrated, more simple style. Crozes-Hermitage wines are an elegant and classy Syrah wine that are quite suitable for every day drinking. They also happen to be lovely companions to many offal dishes.
Wine has been cultivated in the Rhone Valley since the Romans arrived two millenniums ago and Hermitage wines were first documented in the 10th century.
Crozes-Hermitage is a much newer wine. In 1846, regional winemakers held a tasting of red wines and found many favorable qualities in the wines made from the lower vineyards surrounding the Hermitage vineyards. This panel concluded the wines offered some of the genuine qualities of Hermitage.
In 1937, Crozes Hermitage was officially recognized as its own appellation and granted AC status.
By regulation, Crozes-Hermitage wines must be least 85 percent Syrah and up to 15 percent local whites Marsanne and Roussanne. Many modern Crozes-Hermitage wines are 100 percent Syrah and there’s a tendency toward too much oak aging.
When too much oak is used to make Crozes-Hermitage, stylistically they start resembling New World Shiraz.
If you want a New World Shiraz, then buy one.
But, if you want an authentic Crozes-Hermitage experience I suggest choosing wines more reflective of their traditional heritage of being lighter and less serious versions of their weightier hilltop neighbors.
Where to buy in Shanghai
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