Le French GourMay 2013
Le FrenchMay has with an ongoing series of high-quality performances and productions over many years established itself as one of the cultural highlights of the year in Hong Kong. Slightly less well known is the Le French GourMay, now in its fifth year, which promotes gastronomy with a french flavour. Each year the festival chooses a region of France to focus its offerings around and in twenty thirteen it’s Bourgogne a thickly forested region in Eastern France – better known to wine lovers as Burgundy – blessed with south-facing slopes and a moist, cool climate perfect for grapes.
The most famous wines produced here—those commonly referred to as “Burgundies” are dry red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes and white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Burgundy has a higher number of appellations d’origine contrôlée (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions. Although archeological evidence establishes viticulture in Burgundy as early as the second century AD, the practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy goes back to medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry – currently Bourgogne has nearly 28,500 hectares of vines in production, over 100 classified Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (A.O.C) and produces about 200 million bottles annually.
Burgundy cuisine is symbolic of so much that is French and Burgundians are as passionate about their food as their wine – Escargots à la Bourgogne (Burgundy Snails), Boeuf Bourguignon, and Coq au Vin are just three of the famous regional dishes. Food in Bourgogne is filled with danger and death. It is not the gentle, vegetable cooking of Provence dribbled in olive oil. Burgundy cuisine is imbued with garlic, violence and what one daintily names ‘variety meats.’ Beef tongue (langue), sweetbreads (ris de veau) or calf’s head (tête de veau) and kidneys (rognons) are among the region’s favorite cuts. Pork feet (pieds), braised jowls (joues), and pork intestine sausage (andouillette) pop up everywhere on Burgundy menus. Hearty meals these, but the regions chefs have also updated their cuisine to appeal to modern tastes, and there are 29 Michelin stared restaurants, including three with three stars, within Burgundy.
There’s a wide range of promotions throughout GourMay and the full programme can be found here www.frenchmay.com/gourmay. At W Hong Kong in West Kowloon GourMay offers include
The Winederlust Date @ Woobar
10 varieties of Burgundy wine paired with tasty regional cheeses and coldcuts to entice any monsieur or madame. From 8pm to 10:30pm every Wednesday in May, HK$258+10% per person
The Star-Crossed Pair @ Sing Yin
West and East converge as Chef Bryan Lee creates a 7-course wine dinner offering local flavors complemented by selected Burgundy wines matched to each dish. Lychee wood-fired crispy skin chicken is the signature dish of Sing Yin. The chicken is seasoned overnight before being roasted with aromatic lychee wood, cinnamon and premium Longjing (Dragon Well) tea leaves. Fired to a golden finish, the tender meat and crispy skin are laced with flavour. This entree is paired with Louis Latour Savigny les Beaune 2003. Its rich bouquet of red fruits draws out the tender taste of the chicken. The entire menu is available at HK$888+10%. (Wine expert Mark Allen will also be there to share about his winery insight on May 23.)
The Chef’s Passion @ Kitchen
Burgundy’s Two Star Michelin Chef Florian Muller will join hands with W’s Culinary Director Gunnar Kuchenbecker from May 16 to 26, to bring a French flair to the international delicacies at Kitchen. The esteemed Chef himself will even be present during this period to interact with guests and talk about his own cooking experience, engaging all in his amour for food while serving specially created GourMay dishes.
Dinner: Monday – Thursday, 6pm – 10pm; HK$498 per adult, HK$249 per child;
Dinner: Friday – Sunday, 6pm – 10pm; HK$538 per adult, HK$269 per child
*All prices are subject to 10% service charge
Bookings at www.w-hongkong.com
