Valentine’s Day Feast
Valentine’s Day is almost here. For those of you planning an intimate dinner for your sweetheart, we have researched the top choices for foods that are traditionally associated with romance. And of course we have recommended some wine pairings!
Oysters with caviar, lemon, and Rosé
Appetizer: oysters with red-wine mignonette sauce
Suggested wine: Rosé of Pinot Noir
No food is more closely linked to romance as are oysters. Casanova, one of history’s most famous lovers, is said to have eaten fifty of them a day. We like the small and briny Kumamotos the best, simply served with a mignonette sauce. To be really decadent, put a little caviar—another aphrodisiac—on top.
At any time of the year, we might recommend a Champagne or a Sancerre, but for Valentine’s Day there can be no better match other than Rosé.
Seafood stuffed avocado with pomegranate and Chardonnay
Salad: avocado stuffed with lobster
Suggested wine: Chardonnay
Avocado was considered such a provocative-looking fruit—the Aztec name for it means “testicle”—that Spanish priests banned it. For Valentine’s Day, why not stuff it with rich and decadent lobster meat? After all, lobster has featured in some of the most famous romantic food scenes. In Tom Jones, the title character and a woman he meets at a tavern start their flirtation by cracking and sucking lobster claws; Jennifer Beals ate lobster sexily in Flashdance; and the mermaid played by Darryl Hannah was endearing as she ate a lobster, shell and all, in Splash.
Steak, asparagus, and Primeval Pinot Noir
Main course: sweetheart-cut ribeye steak with truffle sauce accompanied by asparagus
If lobster is the richest seafood available, beef is the meat equivalent. While we love big marbled ribeye steaks, we suggest an elegant tenderloin roast for your darling. The delicate nature of the tenderloin is the perfect canvas to show off the sensual, primal aromas of truffle. The great French food writer Brillat-Savarin said: “Whoever says ‘truffle’ utters a great word which arouses erotic and gastronomic memories.”
As an accompaniment to the roast, we suggest asparagus. In the nineteenth century, French bridegrooms were fed three courses of asparagus just before their wedding day.
Chocolate covered strawberries and tawny port
Dessert: chocolate-covered strawberries
Recommended wine: Tawny Port, Kopke’s 20 year old
Red is the color of Valentine’s Day, and we suggest ending your meal with heart-shaped strawberries dipped in chocolate. The Romans associated strawberries with Venus, the goddess of love. The Aztec king Montezuma, meanwhile, was said to drink 50 cups of chocolate a day to increase his sexual prowess. Whether you subscribe to these ancient beliefs or not, you have to admit there is something alluring about a fat, juicy, red strawberry. And there is no single food that evokes Valentine’s Day like chocolate.