Discover Burgundy Gastronomy With These Main Courses & Wine Pairings
Discover the Main Dishes and Wine Pairings Served at Domaine de Cromey
As many of you may know from reading our Burgundy gastronomy blogs, the Domaine de Cromey in Burgundy – our baronial manor house, open to guests for parties and mix and mingle events - is home to burgundywine.com by Elden Selections. "Elden" is a combination of the names of its owners, Dennis and Ellie. While Dennis advises on the region's wines, Ellie is an expert in Burgundy gastronomy, as well as haute cuisine from Italy and beyond. She has Italian heritage too, which she draws on to get inspiration for all her dishes. You can see that Italian ancestry is present in her recipes, which this article explores, especially in the pasta and risotto dishes.
In 1983, she moved to France to study its cuisine, and her lifelong passion for Italian cuisine, influenced by her own Italian heritage, remains strong. Ellie and Dennis also toured on a barge called Papillon before starting land-based tours to share their love for local culture and cuisine. Ellie's cookbook, "At Home in Burgundy – the Papillon Recipes," is inspired by this period.
We often feature Ellie's top recipes, which use produce from Cromey's organic gardens and the best local ingredients from nearby producers. This article is a celebration of all of Ellie’s favourite main course dishes from her cookbook (click here to buy your copy). You’ll find unique things to do with meat and poultry (including how to use the famous Bresse Chicken, and create the best Beef Bourguignon), as well as some simple fish and shellfish dishes, and finally some of the most unique crossover dishes of pasta and risotto, which use the finest ingredients and techniques that Italy and France have to offer. So why not be a gastronaut for a while and try some of these mouth-watering recipes for yourself at home?
Our Favourite Burgundy Meat Dishes
Our tour through Burgundy gastronomy begins with some meaty dishes. In this category, Ellie has included some of the most legendary and well-loved dishes that Burgundy has given to the world. Of course, at the pinnacle of Burgundy meat cuisine is a dish you will undoubtedly have come across (and maybe even cooked yourself?) - it’s the classic Beef Bourguignon – a dish which has gone from humble rustic beginnings to being the standard in French meat cuisine. If you can get Charolais beef then use it, but if not then use what you have available. The important thing is to pair it with good red Burgundy wine - the richer and more complex the better!
Other meat dishes you’ll be itching to try include a Wild Boar dish accompanied by an intriguing Burgundian Potato Galette (you can also use Venison for this dish); a flank steak recipe which utilises one of the most famous cheeses this region has given to the world – an Époisses sauce – and a fresh, vibrant twist on a beef salad with anchovy dressing. One thing is for sure with these dishes – nobody will be going hungry! We’ve paired this dish with wines from Pommard and also Nuits St Georges.
Click here to read the full article on our Best Burgundy Meat Dishes.
Our Top Burgundy Poultry Dishes
Next up on our whistlestop tour of Burgundy gastronomy are the poultry dishes. Our favourite Burgundy Poultry Dishes include all sorts of fowl, some which you may be familiar with and some which you perhaps have not tried cooking with yet. That’s why we’re here, to help give you new ideas and broaden your culinary horizons... We start with duck, a firm favourite of ours and one that lends itself to a very wide array of complementary flavours in other foods. For example, our Citrus Cured Duck Breast is done with a salad of fennel, grapefruit and hazelnuts, and the overall effect is a sublime hit of sweet, salty and umami all in one. Another duck dish is served with a quince paste sauce – again, not familiar to everyone, but which provides an unctuous accompaniment for the meat, and itself makes a great choice with sides like wild rice, cress and snow peas. Wines which go well here include ones from Santenay, for example from the Domaine Borgeot. There are quail dishes too (which we serve with Cromey veg from our potager), and also the ubiquitous and much-loved Bresse chicken.
Click here to read the full article on our Best Burgundy Poultry Dishes.
Our Best Burgundy Fish Dishes
These dishes provide a handy reminder that Burgundy gastronomy is not all about meat – and that despite not being close to any coast, Burgundy has built up a very respectable repertoire of dishes which showcase a wide variety of fish. For example, who could resist Roast Turbot (unbeatable with a Pouilly-Fuissé wine), as well as Monkfish with tapenade and tomatoes?
It also allows us to demonstrate that fish dishes don’t always have to be served with white wine – yes, you can serve them with red wine too, and very successfully! We have the examples and tips to help you do just that. For example, the two which we use in our dish Pike-Perch with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Artichoke Sauce can be served with a light fruity red wine such as a good Bourgogne Rouge form the Cote de Beaune. You could also opt for a light Beaujolais. For meatier fish like tuna, there’s no reason why you can’t eat them with heavier red wines from, for example, the Cote de Nuits. Especially if the fish has barbecue or charred flavors, there are Burgundy wines which will capitalise on them and bring those out even more.
Click here to read the full article on our Best Burgundy Fish Dishes.
Our Tastiest Burgundy Seafood Dishes
Sticking with this theme of the sea, this category of fruits de mer dishes provides some great examples of how well the wines of Burgundy can pair with the mineral, salty flavors of seafood dishes. It’s almost as if Chablis was created for this purpose alone, and Ellie makes full use of some of the best wines we have in our cellars. To name just a few of these dishes for your delectation, there is a Gratin of Squid and Zucchini (pair it with a wine from Saint-Romain), Fish and Shellfish Marmite (which is a sure-fire success with one of Jean Dauvissat’s Chablis wines); and Hake and Mussels in a Parsley and Garlic Broth (again the minerality of white Burgundy wines from Saint Romain are the gold-standard here). The top of the tree in terms of really special wine pairings in the seafood category comes with the Jean-Jacques Girard Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru which we recommend with our Mussel Bouillon with Saffron, Chervil and a Crush of Butternut Squash – it's a peerless giant of a wine and has to be tried to be believed.
Click here to read the full article on our Best Burgundy Seafood Dishes.
Our Top Burgundy Pasta & Risotto Dishes
This is where Ellie’s Italian heritage and passion for a wide range of European cuisines really comes into its own. For those willing to try snails, one of France’s most historic and unique delicacies, then you won’t go far wrong with her recipe for Snail Ravioli, which Ellie serves in a bouillon of white wine, garlic and herbs. These ‘helix pomatia’ create a wonderful ‘gravelly’ flavor which demands a wine like a Chablis and is a firm favorite when it comes to Burgundy gastronomy.
There’s also a recipe for Flaked Trout and Tarragon Tagliatelle, which is cooked and infused with lemon and tarragon and baked, served with a buttery cream. Wines to look out for to pair with this dish include those from Auxey-Duresses, Saint-Aubin and Chevalier-Montrachet. Keeping to the Italian theme Ellie also includes a recipe for a Venetian Pea Risotto. What could be more Italian and tasty than this dish? She uses ‘vialone nano’, a short-grain type of rice which is soft and highly absorbent. This is a dish to put you in a spring-time mood!
Click here to read the full article on our Best Burgundy Pasta & Risotto Dishes.
Experience a Higher Level of Burgundy Gastronomy while Staying at Domaine de Cromey!
There’s nothing quite like eating Burgundy food, paired with Burgundy wine, in the region itself. That’s what we offer when you come to stay with us as our guests at Domaine de Cromey. Maybe you’ve heard of our place amongst the vines in Burgundy, and maybe you haven’t. Let us set the scene a little. The estate includes not only beautiful gardens, pool area, salon, tasting room, dining room, and luxurious accommodation, but also the promise of one of the best locations in Burgundy as a base for your vacation stay. The staff will treat you like royalty, and strain every fibre to make sure your trip is the holiday of a lifetime.
There are a couple of options when you stay with us – a Burgundy House Party, which pretty much explains itself – bring yourself and up to 11 others friends or family to stay with us. The second option is to attend one of our Mix & Meet weeks! If you don’t quite have a large enough group for a House Party, then come and socialise with other Burgundy fans and soak up the atmosphere and the spirit of the place. There are activities galore if you want that sort of a trip – hot air ballooning, cycling, climbing, hiking – but there are also wine tasting sessions and cooking demonstrations to get involved in if that’s your thing. Why not visit our website here, or take a look at our sample itinerary to get a taste of what you can expect?
We hope that has whetted your appetite for Burgundy gastronomy. If you want more, then click here for the Burgundy Vacation Blog — Domaine de Cromey, and here for the BurgundyWine.com blog. And did you know we have a fantastic Burgundy Wine Club that you can join?
