A couple years ago I was invited to a “test dinner” night at my friend Jordan Mackay’s house where he was hosting the acclaimed Texas chef John Tesar (here he is with a 200+ day aged lobe of foie gras!)…
They were working on a book together and we had the privilege of eating the results of their research, like these steaks, ranging from 25 day aged to 120!
Like good guests, we offered to bring wine, but what kind would he like us to bring. We were all shocked when he said “For the foie gras, please bring some top Champagne, and for the aged steaks please bring some top white burgundy that has seen some new oak.” What?! Isn’t the correct pairing for foie gras a sweet wine from Sauternes? And white wine with steak? And an oak aged one at that? But lo and behold the pairing was amazing.
I always though that those pairings were just a fluke. That John had somehow learned these by chance encounter. But what was the reasoning behind why they worked so well?