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.
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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.
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