Recommendations
Roquefort and fig jam with Cálem Port LBV
On the board lies a wedge of Roquefort with a small pot of still-warm fig jam made from fresh figs and orange zest beside it. Opposite that stands the port, a late bottled vintage, whose residual sugar softens the salt of the cheese and whose tannin is absorbed by the cheese fat.
From the shelf
The bottle
Calem is a port house from 1859 with lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia. This bottle is a late bottled vintage: port from a single harvest that matures in cask for four to six years before it is bottled. That is exactly the period the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto sets for this class. During those years in large casks the wine evolves slowly and with little oxygen, so the fruit of the year is kept and the tannin is slightly rounded off. The bottle is at 20 percent alcohol and comes in 75 centilitres. For port of the ruby style, the institute sets a serving temperature of 12 to 16 degrees.
The combination
Why this works together
Roquefort is the classic counterpart for port, and there are three reasons for that. The cheese is distinctly salty, and sweet dampens salt more strongly than the other way round: Green and colleagues saw the perception of salt in a mixture with sucrose come out 82.6 percent lower. The residual sugar of this LBV does the same to the salt of the cheese, so the plate does not turn sharp. In addition Roquefort is a sheep's cheese with a lot of fat, and that fat catches the tannin that would otherwise bind to the salivary proteins and dry out the mouth. And then there is the fig: the jam brings ripe, almost dried stone fruit with orange zest, and that connects with the dark fruit that an LBV has after years in cask. The blue mould vein gives a sharp, almost metallic prickle that is flattened by the same residual sugar.
At the table
The dish
- For 4 people
- Ready in 40 minutes, plus cooling
- Type cheese course
What you need
- 300 g Roquefort
- 1 kg ripe figs, quartered
- 150 ml water
- the grated zest of 1 large orange
- 400 g granulated sugar
- the juice of 1 lemon
- sturdy bread or crackers
How to make it
- Put the figs with the water in a large heavy-bottomed pan. Bring everything to a gentle boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until the figs soften and release their juice.
- Stir in the orange zest, the sugar and the lemon juice. Bring it all to the boil.
- Keep cooking the jam, stirring regularly, for 5 to 7 minutes until thick. Skim off the foam that rises to the top.
- Take the pan off the heat and let the jam stand for 10 minutes.
- Spoon the jam into sterilised jars and seal them. Let them cool completely.
- Take the Roquefort out of the fridge half an hour before serving and serve it on a board with the jam and the bread.
In the glass
Serving
Serve this late bottled vintage at 12 to 16 degrees. Use a tulip-shaped glass and fill it no more than a third. This bottle was fined at bottling, so decanting is not necessary. According to the institute, an opened bottle of LBV keeps for four to five days. Stand it upright in a cool place with the cork in; the next day's cheese course can still come out of it.
Everything about Cálem Port LBVBack to Recommendations from ’t Bockje
Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. NIX18