Champagne Food

[epyrarw]

I am getting married later this year in October and am planning a trip to France in a couple of weeks to purchase some wine.

I plan to buy some Champagne to serve before the Wedding Breakfast and after the Service and would like some food to serve with it. Rather than traditional canap�s, I was thinking of just one item that people could eat with their Champagne, for example strawberries (out of season in October??) or the pink Reims biscuits. However I have heard that these biscuits do not actually go very well with Champagne.



Can anyone advise on these and / or suggest some other item? My concerns in having standards canap�s are the cost, the fact that the wedding breakfast will not be served too late, and most of all I am not convinced the venue caterers will be up to anything complicated so I am trying to keep the food simple!

[theotherdave]

Marrbury smoked salmon with dill cream cheese

[nfn]

ooh yes, and most very fresh fruit will compliment champagne.

[camille79]

You should still be able to get British strawberries until mid-october - if you're needing a large quantity, try to find a grower who sells to the supermarkets.  They will have ever-bearing varieties still producing the fruit when you need it.

[rampart]

I had a couple of thoughts for you.

You could dip the strawberries in white chocolate. It is beautiful and not so expensive. And if the strawberries are a little bitter that time of year, the chocolate helps offset that.

Also, it is quite fashionable in some places to serve mimosas, which is simply champagne mixed with orange juice. Mimosas can be served any time of day. This also reduces the alcoholic content, which might be smart at breakfast.

[subsub]

It all depends on the sweetness of the Champagne.

I think the mistake a lot of people fall into is to serve Extra Brut after the meal, and with people's palates still tasting their pud, it makes the Champagne VERY acidic.

If cost is an issue, I would go for a New World Sparkler, such as Green Point or Pelorus, or if you want something more traditional, go for a Cr�mant de Bourgogne or Cr�mant d'Alsace.

The other option is to go for a sweet Champagne with/after the pud. They are not naff in the slightest - in fact, it's only in recent years that dry Champagne became the norm.

But for dry styles, seafood/fish dishes are the best matches.

[Hot Chef]

Strawberries dont go that well with dry champagne,some pate de foie gras or just a mousse de foie de canard on small pieces of toast would be better.Most French supermarkets will sell the mousse de foie de canard at the deli counter,just take a cool box with you and pack it with ice to keep it cool

[epyrarw]

Thanks for all your help - just to clarify, the champagne (and potential nibbles) will be served before the meal, so I am interested in getting ideas for something small to niblle at about an hour or two prior to the meal to keep  people from feeling hungry!  I am not sure yet which type of champagne we will be serving (any recommendations?), but cost is more a constraint for the food items, and the easier it is to prepare the better (no preparation e.g. fruit or biscuits would be ideal!)

[Hot Chef]

You can buy soft sponge fingers in France "Savoyade" I think but not 100% that go very well with Champagne or try Italien biscottie.

Depending on how much you are buying if you go to a good wine wharhouse in France you should be able to taste go for an independant champagne house that is small  andf not that well known