LCBO Food and Drink Holiday 2016

BASICS  MAKE ROOM FOR BRANDY

* A gift they will never forget!

QUINTESSENTIAL COCKTAIL

The Glory of Cognac A bottle of really good Cognac makes a spectacular gift. Hine Rare VSOP ( LCBO 356857, $95.40) comes in a splendid decanter and offers extraordinary quality for the price. Hine was founded in 1763 by Thomas Hine, an Englishman, and the company describes this Cognac as its flagship, a blend of 25 brandies with an average age of 10 years. Hine is renowned for finesse and a restrained use of oak; expect less spiciness and more candied apricots, honey, orange and roasted apples wafting out of the snifter. Martell Cordon Bleu ( LCBO 55145, $240.55) belongs among the exalted Cognacs of the XO level. Martell (estbd. 1715) uses an unusually large number of brandies from Cognac’s Borderies region in the blend, eaux de vie that are exotically floral when young. Age them 25 or more years, however, and they evolve into mellow magnificence, with notes of mocha, toasted almond and sugar plums that linger on the palate for ages. This Cognac always stands out in a crowd, impeccably sophisticated but rich enough to be mistaken for a great Armagnac.

The Sidecar recipe on page 240

The nonpareil of brandy cocktails was invented during World War I for an American army captain who climbed out of a motorcycle sidecar at the Ritz hotel in Paris, complaining of a sore throat. The better the Cognac, the better the cocktail… My version calls for the extravagance of elegantly smooth, floral, subtly spicy Meukow Feline VSOP ( LCBO 600551, $84.95).

A DASHING HORS D’OEUVRE

BRANDIED MUSHROOMS WITH CHÈVRE STUFFING

From Food & Drink Early Summer 2002, recipe at foodanddrink.ca A little goes a long way. The brandy provides the je ne sais quoi to these juicy, cheese-filled appetizers, a hint of dried fig and oaky spice that gets cooked into the mushrooms before they’re cooled and stuffed. With a creamy texture and a spicily oaked finish, Raynal Napoleon VSOP ( LCBO 107169, $25.95) is a handy brandy in the kitchen.

84  FOOD & DRI NK HOLIDAY 2016