Hakkasan's sake expert shares his supping secrets

Hakkasan head of wine Middle East and Asia Olivier Gasselin takes Devina Divecha through a journey of nihonshu (Japanese sake) and food pairing, and imparts knowledge on the beverage

Hakkasan Dubai currently lists 23 sakes on its menu, with 12 of them exclusive to the brand, and Hakkasan head of wine Middle East and Asia Olivier Gasselin is extremely passionate about the subject.

In September 2014, as reported by Caterer Middle East, a sake training course was held at the restaurant in partnership with UK-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). Gasselin is a certified programme instructor, and continues to train the rest of the team in the region.

With sake, he says, the quality levels are determined by a variety of considerations, but the main point to bear in mind is the rice quality. This differs from the kind of rice commonly used in food preparation. He says sake can be compared to wine in that, with wine, a higher price is paid if the grapes used are of high quality.

Similarly, with sake, a higher quality rice used will command a higher price when it is converted to sake.
The quality of spring water used is also important, and Gasselin reveals that generally, sake breweries are located next to a spring. The iron content in the water creates a point of difference in taste. Where exactly the sake is produced is important — and what kind of soil is used.

Gasselin says: “There is another thing which is very important: the yeast used to produce sake. To put it simply: sake rice does not contain any sugar, and to produce alcohol you need sugar. Sake rice contains starch, which is same as beer — you need to convert the starch to sugar so you can start fermentation.

“So there are two processes in sake: one converts starch into sugar, and at the same time, the second process happens, which is fermentation. It’s what makes sake extremely complex: you have to do those two processes together.”

In Japan, sake with a long finish is not considered as being very good; rather, a short finish is preferred. Gasselin explains: “It needs to be easy to enjoy, and straightforward, and the very best sakes are not the most complex.” Usually, sake needs to be finished within two or three years of production; however, there are some vintage varietals which can be a decade or two old.

Cheap sake is called ‘futsu-shu’ and is of lower quality. Gasselin says the premium categories of sake are Honjozo, Junmai, and Ginjo, with the most premium varieties called Daiginjo.

What divides these into their categories is how much is polished off of the rice grain.

Gasselin says: “With Honjozo, you generally polish off 35-40% off the rice so it becomes quite small. Junmai is very flexible, it’s a category where you can keep quite a large portion of the rice because it’s part of the style. And the most premium varieties, Ginjo and Daiginjo, remove a lot of the rice grain. “The most premium of the sake we have is where 77% of the rice grains are removed, and only 23% remains.”

All the three sakes used in the tasting process (see box out on page 52) are sold in Hakkasan by the carafe. With each variety, the restaurant menu provides recommendations for whether the drink is ideally served chilled, warm, or at room temperature.

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Hakkasan has a selection process to ensure all food and beverages work together. Gasselin says: “In Hakkasan we have a programme called harmony tasting, where we work together with the chef to make sure that all the drinks work with the food. Any new product we want to list, we will taste with food.”

Taste testers are given a sheet with four different categories of food — mild, savoury, sweet and spicy, which correspond to some of the dishes on the menu. Every time a tasting session is carried out, the chef and sommelier work on two or three dishes per category “to ensure we have harmony between food and drink”.

A range of dishes including the Hakka steamed dim sum platter, scallion scallops with caviar, grilled Shanghai dumplings, Jasmine tea-smoked Wagyu beef ribs, black cod with truffle, venison puffs, tangerine wagyu beef, among other items, cover the four categories.

Then, each pairing is graded on a scale of ‘P+’ (a great match), ‘P’ (beverage and food works together), ‘?’ (a poor match), and ‘0’ (completely undrinkable). The final score is then based on the individual marking for each course. Gasselin has a lot of experience with these, and says he can now attempt blind tastings with ease.

He hosts a tasting every two weeks, and is proud that his sommeliers know the food menu perfectly. “We are not looking for something which works, we are looking for something which doesn’t. However, if the sake quality is high, there won’t be much of a clash.”

This beverage is very important for the restaurant due to the volume of sales, as well as the strong relationship with some of the top breweries in Japan.

Gasselin also reveals the restaurant company encourages training in order to promote from within as much as possible. “Hakkasan is very good because it offers possibility to study quite a lot,” he adds.

After finishing the tasting, it was interesting to note that most of scores were ‘P’ or ‘P+’ — echoing Gasselin’s sentiments earlier on about how each sake beverage had been chosen carefully to ensure complete harmony with all the dishes on offer.

Beverages used during the tasting
- Nanbu Bijin, Tokubetsu Junmai — preferably chilled, and from Iwate, Japan. Junmai is pure rice sake, full-bodied, with rice character.
- Ozeki “Karatanba”, Honjozo — can be either warm or chilled, and from Hyogo, Japan. Honjozo is fragrant sake, made lighter and more fragrant with the addition of brewers’ alcohol.
- Dewazakura “Izumi Judan”, Ginjo — preferably chilled, and from Yamagata, Japan. Ginjo is premium sake, with more of each rice grain having been polished away. It’s often fruity and aromatic.