COMITÉ CHAMPAGNE
Champagne Brunch
The scientific reason you should choose Champagne at brunch Françoise Peretti, Director of the Champagne Bureau UK, shares groundbreaking research on why Champagne is such an enticing and versatile partner to food.
Wine and food pairing can seem a mysterious art. It has always been a matter of taste, but of which kind – culture, or chemistry? Trends, tradition or tastebuds? We know that Champagne is incredibly versatile and works deliciously with many of our favourite dishes, but why? This is the question we asked Professor Barry Smith, Founding Director for the Centre for the Study of the Senses and his colleague Ole Mouritsen from the University of Copenhagen to investigate. The results were fascinating. As we all know, our sensory perception of food depends on both taste and aromas, with much of our experience coming from our sense of smell. But while we recognise the contributions made to the tasting experience by salt, sweet, sour, and bitter, many of us forget, or are unaware, that the satisfying taste of many of our most loved dishes is down to umami. Discovered in 1907 by Professor Kikunae Ikeda in Tokyo, umami is the characteristic savoury taste we find in a stock broth. It’s the intense flavour of shitake mushrooms, the joy we find in a deep meaty stew and the succulence of seafood. Going deeper into the science at the molecular level, the taste of umami is created by the presence of glutamic acid and ribonucleotides, both of which are present in many fresh and fermented foods. Further than that, when glutamates (free amino acids + glutamic acid) combine with specific nucleotides, it creates synergistic umami – an experience that makes our tastebuds fire, delivering a greater sense of pleasure. Naturally, foods that combine these elements have integrated
themselves into our culture, simply on the basis that they taste great. Bacon and eggs for example. A ham and cheese baguette. Anchovies and tomatoes on pizza. Champagne and oysters. So what role does Champagne have to play? Upon conducting their research, Professor Barry Smith and Ole Mouritsen discovered that due to its lees ageing (sitting with the yeast in the bottle) all Champagne contains free glutamates. All Champagne produced is aged in the Producers ‘cellars: for a minimum of 15 months for Non-Vintage Champagne, a minimum of 3 years for Vintage Champagne and up to 10 years+ for Prestige Cuvées (We currently have 1.3 billion bottles of Champagne ageing in the Producers ‘cellars). Therefore, Champagne has the potential to create synergistic umami when paired with the right foods, delivering exceptional pairing experiences. Upon investigation, this is what happens with Champagne and oysters providing all the building blocks for umami synergy. Other pairings include chicken and morels and delicious scallops with pea purée. Right in season now. As London’s hospitality scene roars into action this June, with more vibrancy and creativity than ever, many of us will be indulging in enjoying food out with friends – and at the heart of the capital’s culture – brunch. So when you go, opt for Champagne. Our recommendations are Champagne and eggs benedict, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, bacon, or a mushroom omelette to unlock the power of synergistic umami.
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