Autumn is the season for game meat.
Culinary delights can be awaited that let us look forward to eat them every year.
But sometimes classic dishes need a new, innovative twist. That’s why I created a Sake cranberry cream sauce for a deer entrecôte with spaetzle, red cabbage and caramelised chestnuts.
My choice for that was the Kameman Genmaishu.
This Sake made with unpolished rice is characterised by wonderful roasted flavours, toffee and cacao notes that greatly combine with this dish’s flavours and tastes.

Werner Maus, Restaurant Beaufort:

Tuna steak with a sophisticated Sake chili sauce and zucchini, accompanied by a bowl of rice.

For a dessert captivating in its simplicity you don’t need much.
My latest creation consists of a Crème de la Gruyère ice cream with small pieces of meringue and an apricot coulis served on a  Kirin Vintage 2014 Sake mirror sauce.

The sweetness and full-bodied character of the sake along with its great notes of honey, toffee and a tinge of fruitiness create an exciting, wonderfully harmonious combination with the ice cream, meringue pieces and apricot coulis.

Pink Yuzu by Charly Iten

To make a refreshing summer drink that excites everyone requires no magic.

All you need is the following: two parts of Fukuju Yuzu Sake, one part of Amabuki Apollon Blood Orange Sake Liqueur and a handful of ice cubes.

And ready is the Pink Yuzu on the rocks!

Werner Maus, Restaurant Beaufort:

Savoury pork fillet in a light puff pastry coat and a mixed salad with a delicious plum yuzu vinaigrette.

The ideal Sake for this dish was a Hatsuhinode Daiginjō genshu from the north of Kyōto, available only in Japan in a limited edition.

This undiluted, powerful Sake with a slight fruity note reminding of pear and melon is also characterised by a nice dryness. The dryness on the one hand combines ideally with the pork fillet. On the other hand it creates an interesting combination with the acidity of the vinaigrette.

Pan-fried salmon fillet with crispy skin and lemon-flavoured mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and fennel.

This was served with a highly aromatic yuzu Sake liqueur that can be enjoyed either straight or mixed with some Prosecco.

The wonderful lemon notes of the yuzu Sake create especially along with the salmon and the lemon-flavoured mashed potatoes a great combination.

The different aromas enhance each other and develop regarding the rather fatty salmon fillet a pronounced and lovely lightness.

The prefecture Niigata is famous for their sake style known as tanrei karakuchi: light and dry.
The brewery Imayo Tsukasa has released with their new product Imayo Tsukasa Black the driest sake available at the moment with a Nihonshudo (Sake Meter Value) of unbelievable +18 (the scale normally ends at +15).

When you drink this junmai sake straight you can perceive wonderful notes of rice along with a light fruitiness, a medium body and a fantastic dryness, indeed.

In order to find out how this sake can be paired with food, I just tasted it together with a veal steak topped with morel cream sauce and potato gratin.
The sake just wonderfully matched with this dish, the rather heavy character of the morel cream sauce and potato gratin got a perceivable lightness thanks to the strong dryness and the meat’s flavour was emphasized in a well-balanced way.

The Swiss people’s most favourite dish during Christmas is without doubt Fondue Chinoise, a hot pot where beef, veal and poultry meat is being cooked in a shared aromatic broth. Together with all ingredients consisting of different sauces, fruits, salads and potato chips you get in regard of aroma and taste a highly savoury dish.

To find an alcoholic beverage that fits well in an ideal and harmonious way with all the components is quite an interesting task.

My choice was a Fukuju Chōtokusen Junmai Sake from Nada (Kōbe area), which pairs great with different kinds of meat dishes. Having a dry note it creates a nice balance with the various sweet and fruity components of this dish. It also combines great with the spicier ingredients like curry and becomes an ideal partner for the meat due to its full-bodieness , but without being dominant.

Freezy Pear by Charly Iten

Looking for some new drink?

Well, just take a tablespoon of pear sherbet and 3cl of a premium Sake like Shichiken Velvet and shake all together until the sherbet and sake build a creamy, fluffy mixture.

Pour this mixture in a white wine glass and combine it finally with 3cl of a nice sparkling wine.

Enjoy it!