Modern Christmas Lunch

Aleksi Nurmi and Matti Lempinen guided us through the preparation of a modern Christmas lunch, without forgetting the traditional flavours. We also sampled Brancott Estate’s excellent wines to top it all off.

Cooking School Espa is a great place, like Master Chef, but with a lighter version. Aleksi Nurmi was happy to welcome us. Matti Lempinen got up to speed with the preparations. There was already a treat in store for the guests. I couldn’t wait to get my knife to the knife.

Lunch was hosted by Kaisa Kavekari of Pernod Ricard and fathered by Alex Nurmi of Chef School Spain

The name of the game was that it was not the best way to prepare a meal.Pernod Ricard’s Global Wine Ambassador Jim Robertson was visiting Finland and gave a tour of Brancott Estate’s production to a group of journalists. The idea was that we journalists, under the guidance of top chef Nurmi of course, would create a modern Christmas lunch that would not include a single box of ham.

With a little inspiration from Jim Robertson’s opening words, we sampled a superb Brancott Estate sparkling Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (unfortunately not available in Finland). On the side, we shared my dish responsibilities. For some reason I referred to the salmon in the cellar?! Fish filleting is definitely not my strongest suit. But the dice was cast – let’s get to work.

The sparkling wine was even a bit champagne-like. Of the white wines, Brancott’s “B” is perhaps the best NZ Sauvignon Blanc I’ve tasted. Too bad you can’t get it at Alko.

Jääbasement salmon
Glassmaster’s vegetables

Braised goose breast
Braised red cabbage, herb gnocchi and creamy red wine sauce.

Roman apple crumble
Vanilla ice cream and berry compote

The salmon marinade broth was given a Christmas twist with a hint of Christmas

Mikko Niemi / Aromipaja.fi listens to Aleksin sauce advisor

The salmon was diced and marinated in vinegar broth Marita Joutjärvi / www.maku.fi wonders with Jim where all the rum went in the food.

Red cabbage is simmering and goose breasts are roasting Tomi Naarvala / www.wineserver.fi is tight with herbs. Jim is following the situation as it develops. Goose breasts are greased with lattice cuts, pan-fried and then put in the oven.

Try an hour and the delivery chefs began to tuneä their creations on plates. So many dishes were served that the water came to the tongue. The bottles were already open, and the food was ready to be served!

The undersigned piled up the dishes with a pincer movement. Photo: Mikko Niemi

Jääbasement salmon and vegetables

See recipe

Hanhen breast, braised red cabbage, herb gnocchi and creamy red wine sauce

Apple juice&äinen, vanilla ice cream and berry compote

Lunch was like a better restaurant. It seems to me that the people live as they are taught, and it takes an hour or two to cook.

Brancott estate wines

If I have a somewhat monotonous image of New Zealand wines, that image was happily dispelled at our Christmas lunch. There seemed to be something distinctive about every Brancott product, something that set it apart from the rest of the country’s fine wines. The value for money is still excellent.

At the end of the meal, it can be said that Brancott wines are perfect for Christmas dinner.

Aleksi Nurmi brancott estate Christmas food Kaisa Kavekari Kokkikoulu Espa Matti Lempinen Pernod Ricard (1 reviews) Loading…