Recommendations

Artichokes and serrano ham with Tío Diego Amontillado

On the plate are artichokes in sixths, cooked al dente, with briefly fried Serrano ham and cubes of hard-boiled egg, dressed with olive oil and salt. The amontillado sets a dry, nutty wine against that, which takes on the bitter side of the artichoke.

Back to the recommendations

From the shelf

The bottle

Tío Diego comes from Valdespino and is an amontillado from the Macharnudo Alto pago near Jerez, made from one hundred percent palomino fino on albariza, the white chalk soil of the region. The wine goes through both ageing stages that the Consejo Regulador describes for this style: first eight to ten years biologically under the velo de flor, then it is fortified to 18 percent, which kills the flor, and it ages a further six years or so oxidatively with air contact. The solera has ten criaderas and the average age therefore comes out above fifteen years. The bottle is at 18 percent alcohol and comes in 75 centilitres.

Tío Diego Amontillado

The combination

Why this works together

Artichoke is notorious next to wine, and there is a reason for that: the plant contains substances that briefly disturb the perception of sweetness, so that an ordinary white wine tastes watery or metallic alongside it. An amontillado avoids that problem by working from another side. It has no sweetness of its own that can be disturbed, and it brings instead a sharp, yeasty bitterness from the years under flor: in this style almost 150 milligrams of acetaldehyde per litre have been measured, the highest value of all sherry styles. That bitterness stands next to the artichoke instead of against it. On top of that, the oxidative ageing adds a nutty layer that picks up the Serrano ham and the egg: ham brings salt and umami, and a wine of well over fifteen years is matched to that weight. The Consejo expressly names artichokes with amontillado.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 40 minutes
  • Type main course

What you need

  • 8 artichokes
  • 4 slices of serrano ham
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 lemon
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • bread, to serve alongside

How to make it

  1. Snap off the stems of the artichokes and remove the hard outer leaves. Cut each artichoke into six wedges and place them in a bowl of water with lemon juice, so that they do not turn brown.
  2. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the artichoke hearts. Cook them until al dente; allow fifteen to twenty minutes.
  3. At the same time, boil the eggs for eight minutes in a second pan.
  4. Plunge the eggs into cold water, peel them and cut them into small cubes.
  5. Cut the serrano ham into pieces and fry it in a dry pan for about a minute per side, just until it starts to turn crisp.
  6. Drain the artichokes and fold them through together with the egg and the ham.
  7. Divide everything over four plates, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and serve with bread.

In the glass

Serving

Serve this amontillado between 12 and 14 degrees, the temperature the Consejo Regulador uses for oxidatively aged sherry; Valdespino gives 10 to 12 degrees on its own data sheet, so slightly cooler is fine. Use a white wine glass or catavinos of about 200 millilitres, filled one third. An opened amontillado keeps much longer than a fino: count on about two months with the bottle closed and stored cool.

Everything about Tío Diego AmontilladoBack to Recommendations from ’t Bockje

Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. NIX18