OLOROSO SHERRY—A PERFECT HOLIDAY WINE

 

Oloroso Sherry, perfect wine with holiday foods, from apéritif to soup, pâté to dessert.

I always have a bottle of dry fino Sherry or manzanilla on hand, both for sipping and for using in cooking. But, to celebrate World Sherry Week., I decided to expand my horizons a little and try something different. I chose a bottle of oloroso seco Sherry without knowing quite how best to enjoy it.

 

I turned to my friend, Shawn Hennessey, a Sherry educator, for some advice about what to pair with oloroso. Shawn gives Sherry tasting tours--with tapas, of course—in Sevilla where she lives. 

“Oloroso,” says Shawn, “is aged oxidatively, without the velo de flor [yeast covering], so, while still a dry wine, it maintains its original residual sugars and glycerine. This results in a fuller, rounder caramelly flavour that goes great with meat and game dishes.”

Shawn is sampling a different Sherry every day during Sherry week. Day 4 was her oloroso day. She posted on Instagram pictures of montadito de pringá, fatty meat and sausage piled on a bread roll, and rabo de toro, oxtail in a rich sauce that accompanied the oloroso.

I was reminded of the old adage about pairing Sherry with food. It says that “Si nada, fino o manzanilla; si vuela, amontillado; si corre, oloroso”. If it swims, choose fino or manzanilla; if it flies, amontillado; if it trots, oloroso. I can think of plenty of exceptions! Ibérico ham, for example, comes from a trotting animal, the ibérico pig, but it’s best with a fino Sherry, while smoked salmon, a swimmer, proves the rule and demands a good manzanilla. Toasted almonds, which neither swim, nor fly nor trot, are gorgeous with amontillado.

While mojama, salt-cured tuna—the “ham of the sea”—is best with manzanilla, a rich tuna takaki might very well pair nicely with robust oloroso. Oloroso pairs with foods that are salty, smoky, spicy, strong, fatty, robust or rich in collagen.

Topaz-amber-mahogany in color, oloroso is rounder, fuller and more structured than fino Sherry, akin to a medium-bodied red wine.  It is a fortified wine with an alcohol level of about 20º, which makes it different from most table wines.

After a week of tasting and cooking with oloroso, I can tell you, it’s the ideal holiday wine—it goes with all those special foods, from soup to nuts! Are you splurging on rich micuit de foie gras (duck liver)? Oloroso is your wine. Aged cheeses? Pair them with oloroso. Try this mellow wine in the consommé, in the mushroom stuffing for the Thanksgiving bird or the turkey gravy. Serve it with venison, duck or turkey. Hey, turkeys don’t really fly much, do they? Oloroso will complement a nut torte or chocolate-covered fig rabitos for dessert. Cocktails? Combine oloroso, fizzy water and a slice of orange. 

Serve oloroso with sausage and mature cheese. Pictured here, ibérico chorizo sausage,  glistening with fat and a little spicy, and aged sheep's milk cheese with considerable bite. 

To serve with apéritifs, an easy chicken liver pâté made with umami ibérico pork fat. 

Spiced with ginger, cumin and pimentón, this butternut squash soup needs an equally robust wine.

Here are two recipes suitable for a holiday meal, both with oloroso—an ibérico-inflected chicken liver pâté and a spicy pumpkin soup.

Ibérico Pâté of Chicken Livers

Pâté Ibérico de Higadillos de Pollo

Fat—butter, duck fat, pork fat, chicken fat—is what makes pâté rich, smooth and creamy. This version is made with rendered ibérico pork fat. 

Rendered ibérico pork fat.

You will need about 16 ounces of fresh ibérico tocino or panceta to make 1 cup of rendered fat. Cut it into small dice and cook in a heavy skillet on moderate heat until the fat is melted and the pieces just begin to brown. Remove from heat and very carefully pour the fat through a heat-proof sieve into a heat-proof bowl. Reserve the pieces of tocino or panceta for another use. 

If pork fat is not an option, use rendered duck, goose or chicken fat. 

To make a really smooth, velvety pâté, after grinding the livers in a food processor, force the paste through a fine sieve. This step is not essential, but it adds a luxurious touch. (However, I ate all the chewier paste left in the sieve!)

The pâtë keeps, refrigerated, up to a week. Or freeze it up to 3 months. Serve the pâté with crisp toasts, crackers or fresh bread. Oloroso Sherry is the perfect wine to pair with this pâté. 

Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups of pâté.

Fresh thyme leaves for pâté.

1 pound chicken livers

1 cup milk

1 cup (8 ounces) rendered ibérico fat, room temperature

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons oloroso Sherry

¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Grating of nutmeg

Sprigs of thyme to garnish

Green peppercorns (optional)

Use kitchen scissors to remove any membrane or discoloration from the livers. Place them in a bowl and pour over the milk. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

Drain the livers, discarding the milk, rinse them in cold water and pat them dry.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the fat in a heavy skillet. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté them gently until softened, 5 minutes, without letting them brown. 

Livers still pink inside.

Season the livers with ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon more of fat to the skillet and add the livers. Sauté them on moderate heat, turning to brown them on all sides, about 5 minutes. Cut into one piece to test for doneness. Livers are done when they are still pink inside. Skim out smaller pieces first. 

When all the livers are done, remove them. Add the Sherry to the shallots remaining in the skillet. Cook off the alcohol, 30 seconds. Scrape the shallots and pan juices into a food processor bowl. Add the livers, thyme leaves and nutmeg. Process until finely chopped. Add half of the remaining pork fat and process again. Add remaining fat and process until the livers are completely smooth. Taste and add additional salt, a half-teaspoon at a time.

Sieving is optional.

Optional: For a very smooth pâtë, press the chicken liver paste through a sieve.

Pack the pâté into a 2-cup crock or bowl. Smooth the top. Place a sprig of thyme on top and, if desired, spread with green peppercorns. Cover the pâté tightly and refrigerate. Remove the pâté from the fridge 20 minutes before serving, so it softens slightly.

Serve the pâté with crackers or toast.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Crema de Calabaza 

With a swirl of yogurt or, vegan, without.

Roasting the pumpkin or squash makes it easier to peel and adds flavor. It doesn’t need to cook completely, only to get nice and toasted. This step can be done a day in advance. I used butternut squash, but any winter squash or pumpkin can be used.

Make this soup vegan, if you like, by using vegetable stock or even water. Garnish with cashew cream or toasted pumpkin seeds instead of the suggested Greek yogurt.

If you like, add another spoonful of Sherry to the soup before serving. Serve the soup with oloroso seco Sherry.

Serves 4.

Fennel seeds.

2 pounds pumpkin or squash

Olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chopped leeks

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup peeled and chopped red bell pepper

Pinch of fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon smoked pimentón picante (hot paprika)

½ teaspoon sweet pimentón (paprika)

3 tablespoons oloroso Sherry

6 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

Strip of orange zest

Sherry vinegar, to taste

¼ cup Greek yogurt, to garnish

1 tablespoon orange juice

Chopped scallion greens, to garnish

Preheat broiler to 500ºF.

Toast squash under broiler.

Split the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice it crosswise, skin and all. Place the slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler 5 minutes. Turn the slices of squash and broil until tops are somewhat browned, 5 minutes more. Remove. When cool enough to handle, cut away the skins and discard them. 

Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a soup pot. Sauté the leeks and garlic on medium heat until softened, 4 minutes. Don’t let them brown. Add the chopped pepper, fennel and cumin. Stir in the hot pimentón and sweet pimentón. Add the Sherry and cook off the alcohol, 30 seconds. Add the pieces of squash, the stock and the strip of zest. Add salt to taste. (If using stock, the soup may not need any salt; if using water, season with 1 teaspoon or more of salt.)

Cook the soup, uncovered, until the squash is very tender, 20 minutes. Fish out and discard the strip of zest. Cool the soup slightly. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Taste the soup and add a spoonful of vinegar to balance the sweetness of the squash. 

Reheat before serving the soup. Combine the yogurt, orange juice and ¼ teaspoon salt. Swirl the yogurt into the soup bowls. Garnish with scallions.

Serve Sherry in narrow-mouthed catavino glasses, as shown, or in white wine stemmed glasses. 

Shawn Hennessey, pictured here with a copita of fino Sherry, is a certified Sherry educator. See more about her Sherry and tapas tasting tours in Sevilla. Azahar-Sevilla.

More pâté recipes:

Partridge and Chicken Pâté.

Monkfish Liver Pâté.

Fish Terrine.

Piquillo Pepper and Tuna Pâté.

Olive Pâté.

More food and Sherry pairings:

Lamb Shanks with Prunes.

Oven-Braised Beef Cheeks.

Oloroso-Glazed Chicken al Ajillo.

Sheet Pan Rabbit with Oloroso Sherry.

More about Sherry:

The Wine That Goes with Everything.

A Week to Celebrate Sherry.