This is the third post and second dish related to a recent 7 course drink-paired menu Jess and I prepared as a gift to my parents for their birthdays. Following the amuse bouche described in the last post, Jess prepared a Wagu Spinalis Tataki. The Spinalis Dorsi is also known as the Rib Cap or Cap of Ribeye, is attached to the Ribeye on the cow, but is seldom sold that way as it is so much more tender than the rest of the Ribeye and more flavourful than other tender cuts like Tenderloin.
(If you really want to geek out on beef info, check out beefresearch.org, they publish all kinds of research related to beef including the Ranking of Beef Muscles for Tenderness which ranks tenderness based on Warner-Bratzler shear force values).
So not only was this one of the best cuts of meat available, but it was also Wagu Spinalis, so it was from some of the best cows too. Needless to say it was pretty delicious. Given the quality of the meat Jess chose to serve it tataki style to showcase the natural tenderness and flavour of the meat. The dish was served with a fried Kushi oyster, puffed quinoa, fresh green apple brunoise, grapefruit soy caramel, and miso sauce.
I wanted to play with the fruit flavours and freshness of the dish so I created something called the Peninsular cocktail. The quick backstory is that the dish was originally going to be slightly different and I was going to use Licor 43, but as the dish evolved I needed to change the drink and ended up opting for Giffard Pampelmousse (Pink Grapefruit) instead. This cocktail is therefore not historically accurate, because in the Peninsular war between the Spanish and the French, the Spanish won, but in this cocktail the French did.
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The Peninsular Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 oz Calvados
0.5 oz Giffard Pampelmousse
0.5 oz Lime Juice
2 Dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Method:
Shake on ice. Strain into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with an slice of apple.
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If you have to occasion to try this cocktail, I can highly recommend trying my original version, incorporating Licor 43 instead of the Giffard Pampelmousse at the same ratios. As with all the drinks in the meal, I created smaller portions due to the number of drinks we would be consuming, so you will need to increase your volumes slightly for a regular size drink.
