Burgundies and black truffles

I was fortunate enough to be invited for some home cooking this evening.  My hosts are passionate about food and wine, and having missed an earlier meal last month I wasn't about to turn down their second invitation!  This would turn out to be a fantastic evening.

We started with some delicious spring rolls.  These looked beautiful and tasted good, too.  I stopped myself after having two of these, knowing there was plenty of food to come.

The pâte de foie gras was light and fluffy.  Delicious.  Never had it on garlic bread before, though... and it was kinda interesting.

I then tried some burrata and cherry tomatoes.  The burrata was sooo soft and creamy, and the combination with ripe cherry tomatoes and the lovely balsamic vinegar...  Mmm mmm good.

The bouillabaisse was delicious.  There was plenty of yummy seafood, simmered for a long time with the fish bones, saffron and other spices.  My bowl was empty in no time.

The main event was the roast poussin stuffed with black truffle.  Now, I've had the same type of poussins come out of my oven, but never stuffed with anything as fancy as black truffle.  This was, of course, on a different level.

My eyes opened wide when my host brought out his rice cooker and produced a racquetball-sized lump of beautiful black truffle.  He opened the lid of the cooker, and proceeded to shave more than half of the truffle on top of the rice.  The fragrance of this black truffle rice was unbelievable...

There were also some veggies as side dishes.  The baked aubergines and zucchini in cheese and tomato sauce was actually pretty nice, and it's a shame that it remained largely untouched.  The strong fragrance of garlic was particularly mouthwatering.

The cauliflower and broccoli fared a little better, and I took in some of this to balance out my diet...

I was very full by now, and as much as I was tempted by the array of delicious cheese on the table, I ended up sampling just a little.  I took some Epoisses made from pasteurized milk, which was soft enough but didn't have that pungent ammonia flavor; and some soft, young Comté.  The truth is that I was much more interested in the sweet cherries and those wonderfully sweet strawberries.

But let's not forget about the wines!  Our hostess has a fondness for Burgundy, and naturally we made sure to bring a few good bottles.

1990 Pol Roger - yeasty nose, a little caramelized.  A little sweet on the palate with good acidity balance.  The oxidized nose which showed later was very, very nice.

2002 Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet - nose of sweet grass, lots of ripeness and alcohol here. A bit of orange, lemon and minerals.

1995 Leroy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot - nose was pretty cardboard, mossy with lots of straw. I initially suspected it was a little corked but it probably wasn't. Very sweet nose with a hint of ginger.

1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes - nose of lemon, ripe and oxidized, caramel, toasty oak. Really open and lovely, especially after 3 hours. I'm glad my last bottle of this wine drank well.

2002 Ponsot Griotte-Chambertin - herbs, a little perfumed with some mushrooms. Still a bit alcoholic and tannins were still obvious.

1999 Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - floral and lily notes, with game meat, animal, minerals, iron and smoke.

1993 Leroy Corton-Renardes - acidity was a little higher than the rest. A little floral with red fruit notes. Very elegant. Not bad at all.

1976 Leroy Volnay - floral, game meats, a bit toasty and pop corn. Not bad at all.

8 bottles between 6 people = very drunk... and very full.  What a wonderful evening...