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Mme. Daniele Raulet-Reynaud:
Bringing culture to the table
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French,
I can speak, after a fashion; escargot, I've actually tasted on
a visit to Europe not too long ago; but wines, I draw the line at.
Not that I have a problem with the liquid itself, believing, as
all right thinking men and women do in the philosophy of buying
by the gallon expressed in a famous Mike Bloomfield song titled,
not curiously, Wine (...some buy in pints, and some buy in quarts...
when you buy by the gallon, you are playing it smart, if memory
serves me right). What I have a problem with is the rituals involved
in either ordering wine, or drinking it. I can't tell a Shiraz from
a Merlot, leave alone knowing what each goes with. While travelling
abroad, I've survived by simply picking any red wine if I'm eating
white meat and any white one if I'm eating red meat. This has attracted
piercing looks from waiters with attitudes and probably contributed
some to the Occident's view of India as a whisky (bad whisky) drinking
country, but I have survived.
La Culture du Vin
I wouldn't have met Madame Danièle Raulet-Reynaud
if one of my editors had not insisted I do. "Get some culture,"
he said. So, there I was sitting across the table-one laden with
wine and cheese-from Raulet-Reynaud doing precisely that. The noisy
vendors of coloured sugared water won't like it but the French gastronomic
expert prefaced her conversation with the fact that she had banned
colas in her immediate family, even among children. Let them drink
wine, I could hear her saying, in the tradition of the most-quoted
Frenchwoman in history. "The moderate sipping of wine is preferable
to the colas that children lap up," says Raulet-Reynaud. My
dear Madame, where were you when I was ten?
This is the first time the sommelier (yes,
she's that, and one of the best in all France) is conducting a workshop
on the appreciation of French wine and cheese in India, a week-long
affair sponsored by France's food and beverage marketing board.
Thanks to rising incomes, an increase in the number of Indians travelling
abroad, easy availability of imported wines, and a desire to be
part of the smart set, a growing number of Indians (fine, I confess,
me included) would like to drink wine the right way. This segment
throngs Raulet-Reynaud's sessions for tips on wine protocol. And
on pronunciation. Boe-jo-lay, Bor-doe, Sha-blee, Long-dock-ru-see-yon...."No
cut glasses." "You must be able to see, hear (that's what
the lady says), and smell the wine...then sip it." I tried
it-no Bloomfield, but there was suggestion of Vangelis to my Merlot.
Then there's the thing about matching food
and wine. Mild wines go best with mild foods and strong wines with
strong foods, says Madame simply. "This will ensure that the
wine enhances the taste of the food." If you are going to serve
kebabs and curry, Raulet-Reynaud recommends a Tavel Rosé
(Rs 3,000 a bottle).
For those of us who have stuck around till
the end, the lady has a bonus-a session on cheese. Soft cheese,
hard cheese. Golden cheese. Orange cheese. Blue cheese. She introduces
us to more cheese than I'd care to know. "The 400 varieties
of cheese made in France means you could have a different cheese
every day of the year," she chuckles. And then, directed at
me, "Don't forget to eat the rind-that's where the flavour
is concentrated." This, when I am choking over some fungus-like
goat cheese. "You'll either love goat cheese or hate it,"
she says. "There is no middle path." She's right on that
one-I hate it. I'll stick to the wine. Cheese, especially the strong
smelly stuff with streaks of blue, is an acquired taste. Bon appétit.
CHEESE FACTS
A primer on the eight families of cheese (and
what to drink with them).
 Fresh
cheese: This is soft, creamy, and comes with a subtle flavour.
Goes best with light fruity wines
Soft cheese with edible white rind: Ripened
for between four and six weeks in special cellars, this variety
has a soft edible rind known as bloom. Goes well with rounded red
wines
Soft cheese with washed edible rind:
The shiny rind on this cheese varies in colour. It could be yellow,
orange, even red. This is best eaten at the end of a spicy meal
and is best complemented by full-bodied reds
Goat cheese: As the name suggests, this
cheese is made from goat's milk and dusted with ash, herbs or seasonings.
The flavour: goaty. Goes well with Côtes du Rhône, Chinon
or Bourgeil
Blue cheese: Made in the mountain regions
of France this cheese has fine blue veins. Among the most expensive
cheese (it could cost over Rs 3,500 a kilogramme), this goes best
with Graves, Saint-Emilion and Côtes du Rhône
Semi-hard cheese: This cheese has a
hard crust, and a mild flavour. Wine recommendation: Beaujolais
Hard cheese: Just the kind you see in
Tom & Jerry cartoons. Large, golden, with holes. Eat it with
a crisp white or a dry red wine. The price could go up to Rs 8,000
per kg.
Processed cheese: The result of blending
hard cheese with milk, butter or cream, flavouring it mildly, and,
sometimes, packaging it. Usually accompanied by light reds and whites
'TIS ALL IN THE GRAPES, HONEY!
Grape varieties and their aromas and tastes:
Whites
Chardonnay: Fruity, cucumber, tobacco, lime
Riesling: Floral, fragrant perfumed
Colombard: herbaceous, grassy, citrus
Verdelho: Spicy, herbaceous, grassy
Sauvignon Blanc: vegetable, grassy, peas, capsicum
Semillon: flinty, lime, apple, pea-pod
Chenin Blanc: herbal grassy, floral
Gewurztraminer: Floral
Reds
Pinot Noir: Strawberry, raspberry, plum, blackcurrant
Merlot: herbaceous, fruity, spicy, cherry
Cabernet Sauvignon: Tomato leaf, Eucalyptus, licorice, black
olive
Shiraz: herbs, mint, jammy, stewed plum, raisin
Grenache: spice, cherry, earthy, plum
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TREADMILL
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| How Much Is Too Much?
 Last
fortnight I'd talked about how you shouldn't lose more than
two pounds a week. That's less than a kilogramme. Everybody
knows someone who's adopted a crash diet (read starved) to
lose much more than that. Problem is that's not good for you.
Because starving or drastically reducing the calories you
consume is highly risky and can result in all manner of health
problem. So how much should you consume if you plan to regulate
your weight? Here's a simple calculator. Your body needs to
store 3,500 calories more than it uses over a period of time
in order for you to gain a pound or 450 gms. Similarly, if
you expend 3,500 calories more than you consume, you will
lose 450 gms. Now take a quick look at the table below, which
gives the calories per pound (or 450 gms) that you need to
maintain your current body weight.
My friend Shubho is 170 pounds and exercises in moderation
(brisk walks three-days a week). To see how many calories
he needs every day to keep weighing 170 pounds or 77 kgs,
simply multiply his weight in pounds by 12 (that's the cal/lb
for a moderate activity level). In this case you get 2,040.
That's the number of calories Shubho will have to consume
to stay at his portly 77 kg!
But weight control isn't just about numbers. Quality matters
too. Like restricting fat intake to less than a third of your
daily calorie intake and eating several small meals-to help
speed up your metabolism-instead of a few big ones. Plus,
it's very important-and what's the point of Muscles Mani writing
this column if it isn't-that you exercise at least three days
a week.
Cut to food again. Keeping fat from your diet is a cool
thing to do but do you know what stuff you should be adding
to it? In the next instalment, I'm going to talk about the
Food Guide Pyramid and how you should choose your daily diet
from it. Till then, watch your weight!
-MUSCLES MANI
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