James Beard Foundation Black History Month Dinner
The James Beard Foundation honors Black History month in a Tasteful Style.
Coming in from the cold on Thursday night we were greeted by a warm welcoming of down-home comfort and great food. The evening started off with crab and blue cheese hushpuppies and pickled assorted vegetables served with a Cerdon de Bugey sparkling rose. A fine way to begin celebrating Black History month by featuring some of the regions top chefs representing the cuisine of the African diaspora. As the snow continued to fall outside and the crowd grew bigger in the downstairs lobby, barbecued rabbit on skillet cornbread and a shot glasses of oysters soaking in Absolute Citron-Lemongrass Mignonette were passed around to the frosted guests who were beginning to warm-up inside.
We were then ushered to the upstairs dining room and introduced to the chefs responsible for the evening: Jerri Banks, Delilah Winder, Marvin Woods and Delilah Winder all of whom were present to take questions and interact with the guests before and after dinner. The first course, Lobster Dumpling with Braised oxtail on a warm Vanilla Bath was an inventive combination of land and sea. Each component stood strongly on its own and combined together their individual qualities were enhanced. The next dish, Colombo-Dusted Sea Scallops with Roasted Corn and Red Peppers was also delicious and served over a large dollop of light-blue mashed potatoes. The Southern Lamb Cassoulet was thick, spicy and heavy the kind of dish that would be perfect on such a winter night and with the pairing of Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers red wine, the spiciness was mellowed.
The dinner's finale, Triple Ginger Flourless Torte with Toasted pecan Chips, Wild Strawberry Oil and Clementine Anglaise was absolute heaven and paired with the delicious sparkling desert wine, Brachetto d'Acqui the evening's meal was a perfect execution of down-home traditional ingredients transformed into pure elegance.
Words and images by Jenine Lurie
