IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS

In this instance I think ‘it ain’t over till the fat man sings’ is more appropriate.

As you know, ‘It ain’t over till the fat lady sings’ is attributed to a comment made by a sportscaster, Ralph Carpenter, during a close ball game in the mid 70’s.

It is an allusion to the final song in the last of Wagner’s Ring Operas.  The valkyrie Brunnhillde, usually a rather buxom and zaftig soprano, goes on for about 20 minutes in an aria.  At the end of the aria, it is all over for the Norse Gods and the curtain falls.  Forgive me, Wagner.

I started out my wine tasting trip with the goal of tasting 150-200 wines.  The final number is 138.  It is low in large part because when I did tastings in other countries, I usually got just a generous splash of wine in a glass.  Here you get a deciliter.  I have come to think of it as ‘deathaliter’.  My limit is six glasses at a sitting, which is more than three quarters of a bottle.  Actually, about glass number five, my nose starts getting fuzzy if I have consumed the wine at other than a leisurely pace.

I am spending my last four days here in Budapest.  I have brought with me four bottles of wine to consume: two Fekete Chardonnays, a Fekete Shiller, and finally a delicious Bock 2009 Royal Cuvee.  I distinctly remember tasting that last one.   The bouquet is delightful, and it has the feeling of liquid silk when it first hits the mouth.

I am going to the Central Market Hall to do my grocery shopping for my last meals here (other than a visit to Black Cab Burger for my hamburger fix).  My purchases include a little over a pound of goose foie gras, a 20 ounce T-bone steak, and a passel of fresh veggies.  I am then off to get my burger.

I choose the 10 ounce one loaded with toppings and an order of fries.  It is a struggle to finish the burger.  The fries are delicious, but I can’t finish them.

I go back to my apartment and take a nap.  The steak and foie gras spend the night together in the fridge.

The next afternoon I prepare the steak and top it with two generous pieces of seared foie gras.  Wine consumption begins in earnest.

Part of the evening is taken up with chewing pepto bismol tablets as the result of consuming too much rich food and wine.

The next morning I am confronted with most of the foie gras.  The answer is to prepare it in portions in a sous vide manner. I put individual portions in small cereal bowls and add a littler sugar water, as I have no sweet wine such as sauterne which you usually splash in the foie gras terrine.

It takes about an hour and a half on the stove top water bath for each of my three portions.  In the end I declare them quite satisfactory and eat two of them with veggies and wine. 

The next morning I make two enormous foie gras ‘sandwiches’ and pack them for my trip home.  FYI, USDA , I reached American soil sans foie gras.

Some end notes.  Budapest is a beautiful city filled with statues, cafes and the Danube.  It is definitely worth a visit.

Do not pay your sign painter in advance with your product.

You can gauge the price of your hotel room by what your fridge looks like.

And lastly, take my tasting notes only for what they are worth.  As I tell my friends when they ask me what they should drink, my answer is always the same - drink what pleases you.

On that note, it is interesting to see the divergence of views, even from the pros:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis