Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé! It’s the perennial cry heard throughout Paris on the third Thursday of November as wine lovers celebrate the arrival of the Beaujolais red wine. This year, the festival falls on Nov. 19.
“It’s a time for celebration,” said Mark Grosz, chef/owner of Oceanique in Evanston. “The arrival of the first wine of the year is a special time in France. I was there one year. It was a blast! Locals drinking wine in the streets and sharing their wine.”
The celebration is all about grapes, and Angelyne Canicosa, new pastry chef at Vie Restaurant in Western Springs, is celebrating grapes this season in a new appetizer. First, she makes the classic Slovenian nut roll known as potica.
Potica can be made with a multitude of fillings — from raisin to apricot to walnut — that swirl through the center of each slice. Canicosa makes her potica with a pretty walnut filling. One tricky part of making the bread is in spreading the filling. Stay away from the edge of the rolled dough. “The filling will leak out if spread too close to the edge,” she said.
When the bread is baked, Canicosa cuts it into thin slices, fries each slice in clarified butter and tops each piece with a variety of robust flavors.
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“Serve the slices with Concord grape jam, shaved aged sheep’s milk cheese (six months or more), halved seedless grapes, and a sprinkling of baby mustard greens,” she said.
Canicosa’s new potica bites are the ideal pairing for this year’s Beaujolais nouveau. “A Beaujolais should rock with potica, especially a cru Beaujolais,” said Vie Restaurant Chef and Owner Paul Virant.
He thinks the walnut filling is perfect with Beaujolais. “Walnuts have a very significant presence in the Burgundy region of France. The earthy, funky components of walnuts work well with the funky, terroir-driven wines of the Beaujolais region with Bourgogne.”
Plenty of other area chefs will offer special menus on Nov. 19 and beyond. Michel Saragueta, chef/owner of Bistro Monet in Glen Ellyn, will offer a three-course prix fixe menu. He is still fine-tuning a special menu for the release party at Bistro Monet, but he is sure the dinner will feature Coq au Vin and other French classics.
Saragueta learned to cook while growing up in the beachside town of Biarritz on the southeast coast of France. His hometown is about seven hours from Beaujolais, but close enough to stay true to honoring Beaujolais Day.
Saragueta understands the excitement of the Beaujolais release. “The Beaujolais is like a ripe fruit,” he said. “It’s something new. It’s good only for a few weeks.”
Some consider May of the following year to be the cut off for the best tasting Beaujolais. The quality varies from season to season.
The Beaujolais is released at 12:01 a.m. and oenophiles around the world clamor for a taste of the wine while it is still fresh, as that is when it is considered at its best. Like Champagne, production requires that grapes be harvested by hand. One at a time, the Gamay grapes are pulled from the vines in Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages, France where thousands of Beaujolais vintners produce the wine. But the thing that really makes this wine so special is that unlike most wines, which improve with age, this one must be enjoyed young.
In La Grange, several downtown restaurant proprietors collaborate every year on a Beaujolais Nouveau tasting stroll on Nov. 19. The event helps raise funds for Child Link, a nonprofit organization that works to make human services available to children and youth in need of support.
“This event is different in that it’s free flowing,” said Bella Bacino’s owner and wine director Dan Bacin. People come, people go and it’s a celebratory atmosphere.”
For more information on the Beaujolais Nouveau stroll in La Grange, visit www.childlnk.org/events.
Walnut Potica
Sponge:
2/3 ounces fresh yeast
2 2/3 ounces warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons sugar
2 1/3 ounces all-purpose flour
Combine above ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Once thoroughly incorporated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place until the dough doubles in size (about three hours).
Dough:
1 pound, 2 ounces all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 large egg
2 1/4 ounces sugar
10 1/2 ounces milk
3 ounces butter
Combine flour and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer, and create a well in the center. Add in the remaining ingredients and with the paddle attachment, mix on low until a wet dough starts to come together. Add the sponge, and switch to the hook attachment. Continue to mix on low until the dough is smooth. Once the dough is ready, turn dough onto a clean surface and shape into a round. Lightly oil the entire surface of the dough to prevent sticking, and place on a sheet pan to rise. Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature until the dough doubles.
Filling:
8 ounces raw walnut halves
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2 ounces unsalted butter
3 ounces whole milk
3 1/2 ounces sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg white
Zest of half a lemon
While the dough is rising, make the filling. Toast walnuts in an oven at 325 degrees. Allow to cool. Chop the walnuts finely in a food processor and set aside. Brown the butter in a saucepan. To the browned butter, add the milk, sugar, and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and add in the walnuts. Allow to cool to room temperature, stir in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Once cooled, whip the egg white to stiff peaks and fold into the walnut mixture.
Forming the Loaf: Once the dough has doubled and the filling has been made and cooled, turn the dough onto a large floured cloth or napkin. Stretch/roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 14 inches wide, and 24 inches tall. Using an offset spatula, spread the walnut filling in an even layer over the dough, leaving a half-inch border on the left and right sides. Gently lift the cloth at the bottom (closest to you) and begin to roll the dough upwards, lightly stretching as you roll. Pierce the roll using a toothpick or cake tester to allow steam to escape and continue to roll the dough. Once completed, place the loaf seam side down in a 15-inch by 4-inch pullman loaf pan which has been prepared with nonstick cooking spray and parchment. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow the mixture to rise until double in size. Egg wash and bake at 325 degrees until a cake tester inserted through the middle comes out clean (about one hour). Turn potica out onto a cooling rack once it’s removed from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing.
Serving: Once cooled, slice the potica loaf in half-inch thick slices, and pan-fry each slice in clarified butter. Serve with Concord grape jam, shaved aged sheep’s milk cheese (6 months or more), halved seedless grapes, and a sprinkling of baby mustard greens.
Vie Restaurant, Western Springs