One of the interesting things about wine and food is how everyone approaches it in their own way. Sometimes people stick with the rules. Sometimes they look for how to break the rules. And sometime people just do them. At this year’s Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, I saw all three.
In the first session I attended, Sugar & Spice, I got to see how everything nice could happen with the combination of sweet and savory notes. If you’ve read my wine pairing posts, you’ll know I’m fascinated with the juxtaposition of opposite tastes to make a good pairing. That was basically the case with the combinations that were the focus of the session. Three pastry chefs from three restaurant groups I admire demonstrated how sweet and savory pairings can work, and work really well.
We started with a peach. How can you get more Georgia than a peach, especially one from my favorite vendor, Pearson Farms? They served it without and then with salt. The salt made it more juicy and fruity and amazing.
Then there were the chocolates. They gave us chocolate ganache plain, with sea salt, with MSG (which I skipped because I didn’t want to spend the day in the bathroom), with pumpkin seed miso, with mushroom garam, and then as white chocolate with baking powder, which mimicked the flavor of birthday cake mix. Each additive I tried gave the chocolate a different flavor. Who knew chocolate could be so fruity, tangy, and rich? Okay, I’m a chocoholic, so I’m perfectly comfortable extolling its virtues, but it’s interesting to see how it can be enhanced. It’s enchanting, which is why chocolate is so wonderful. I may have been a bit tipsy as I write this. There was wine at the later sessions.
Chess Pie 
Pastry Chefs 
Peaches & Chocolates
The other thing served during the first session was a green pea chess pie with benne seed cream, sesame seed seaweed crumble, and strawberry jam. In other words, a savory-sweet melange. Yes, it was from the Asheville pastry chef. Because everything is better in Asheville. Considering how many books I’ve finished there, I cannot argue. Okay, maybe I only finished one of my books in Asheville, but still… Finishing a book is a big deal.
As for the next session… I’ll admit, I’m a little obsessed with my Instant Pot. Let’s be honest- there’s nothing instant about it. The appeal is that it helps you cook things more quickly or in the same amount of time than you otherwise would have but without having to check on it. Like oatmeal. I like being able to do oatmeal without having to stir it every two minutes.
Chefs…with pots! 
Cassoulet 
Korean Stew
The “One Pot Wonder” session was great for several reasons. First, I found out that cassoulet doesn’t have to take a week (a la Julia Child). Second, risotto can be easier than one thinks. Third, Asian food, especially braised Asian food, doesn’t have to be complicated or take forever.
The third class I did was “Mudbugs and Bubbles.” I expected there to be different crawfish dishes paired with different sparkling wines, but it was more four sparkling wines paired with a crawfish boil and etouffee. The crawfish boil itself was too spicy for my taste. Of the four wines provided – Prosecco, Cava, Champagne, and off-dry, the two that paired best were the Cava and off-dry because they were fruity. Good to know – there’s that sweet/savory magic again. We left with French 75 cocktails. Or some number. I’m not really clear on what it was, but it was good. Hence why I wrote the first draft of this post slightly tipsy while at Cafe Intermezzo with my own sweet/savory combination of coffee and chocolate.
I was so glad I didn’t have to get up early on Sunday, btw. We decided to go on our five-mile run Saturday morning. I logged 16,400 steps for the day as of the writing of this post. That totally makes up for all the extra calories I consumed, right?
I’d like to give Café Intermezzo Midtown some props for allowing me to sit at the bar and blog while eating Dark Magic chocolate cake (chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache) and drinking a “generoso” Café Giandjua (hazelnut stuff and other yummy stuff). The Gianduja is like a chocolate pretzel in a big cup, and I was happy for it.
By the way, we made it to the tasting tents, but we didn’t last long because after our run, the long day, the booze, and the heat, we were both feeling like…
