Cava and Colombian Food

On Saturday, some friends came over to teach me how to cook Colombian food. We had a great afternoon, and I really appreciated the thought they put into their lesson and the time they spent teaching me their home cuisine. We made ajiaco, a hearty potato and chicken based soup, arepas, which are grilled cornmeal dumplings that can be filled with cheese, meat, or vegetables, and plaintains stuffed with guava paste and cheese. All of it was delicious, and I'm so excited to have some new recipes to play with.

When we finished cooking, we sat down together to eat. My husband had already poured us glasses of Cava Brut Nature from 1+1=3 that I ordered from the Champagne Warehouse. This cava is predominantly Xarel-lo grapes mixed with a bit of chardonnay. I was impressed at what a good match with the food it was, as cava has the stereotype of being a summer aperitif. This cava had wonderful rich flavours of toast and nuts with the dishes we had, and I was pretty sad when my glass was empty.

That sadness was short-lived. As I was cleaning the kitchen, I discovered that my husband had saved me a little of the cava to try without the food! I quickly finished the dishes, and settled on the sofa with my half-glass of cava. It had very strong citrus aromas that carried through in the taste. Without the food, though, the cava was surprisingly bitter, tasting of grapefruit pith. I preferred this cava with food, I wouldn't serve it on its own.

This was the last bottle of 1+1=3 from my mixed case from the Champagne Warehouse, and overall I've been really pleased with what we've had!