Pass the Pepto bismol

by Chris Losh

I’m guessing you’ve heard of aversion therapy? You know, that thing where they shut smokers in a room and force them to chain smoke until they are puking their guts up.

Well, last week I was putting my gastric system through a Bacchanalian marathon. All in the name of art, of course.

I was a judge at the British heats of the Copa Jerez, which involved being shut in a room with five other judges (two chefs, two sommeliers and another hack) and asked to pick the chef/sommelier team who would go on to represent the UK at the international final in Spain later this year.

It was a tough day for everyone. The contestants had basically 90 minutes to prepare their three course meals, and we had half an hour to taste each three-course meal with the various selected sherries plus grill the chef and sommelier about why they had chosen to cook/serve what they had.

As one dessert was being cleared away, the next set of starters was being lined up outside. I felt rather like a foie gras goose...

After five three-course meals in the morning let’s just say that I was rather regretting the digestive biscuit that I troughed down at half ten. And as for Leith’s providing us with lunch... I couldn’t have eaten it if you’d paid me. By the time the last mouthful of chocolate sponge and PX hit my stomach at five o clock, I was dreaming of mineral water, salad and a brisk walk!

But it was a fascinating day. Some of the sherries chosen were simply magnificent – and it was great to see restaurants seeking out 30 year old palo cortados or manzanilla pasadas rather than just going for the basic stuff.

There was some majestic food, too – often beautifully presented. How the guys from Cinnamon Club and Number One in Edinburgh produced their food in the time I’ll never know. The equally spectacular effort from Podium Restaurant in Manchester only scraped into the allotted time span by the skin of its teeth!

The problem was that, although there was some great food and some great wine on show, all too often, the matching between the two wasn’t there. Or it may have been there for one dish, but not for the others.

Crucially, this wasn’t simply a chance for chefs to show off, but a competition that relied on food and wine getting equal billing, and working well together.

 Sometimes you could tell the chef’s ego had got in the way – they’d handed the dish down to the sommelier who had then done their best with what they got.

At other times clearly there simply wasn’t a deep enough understanding of the world of sherry, with poor, or inappropriate selections. If this showed me one thing, it showed me that most sommeliers really don’t know enough about sherry, beyond parroting what they’ve picked up from WSET courses.

The winners, though, stood out for their harmony. The food was simple, but nicely balanced – the presentation honest rather than poetic. But the sherry choice was intelligent and informed, and the reasoning behind it well articulated and absolutely spot on. 

Congratulations to Becky and Jacques from Salt Yard in London... though I felt bad about so many other good contenders going home empty handed, you definitely deserved it.