Dine & Wine - Chris Rees

Chris Rees, Head Chef at the River Room Restaurant at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort Dine & Wine

Frozen mango parfait with hot caramelised pineapple and dark rum

Currently on the menu here at the River Room, this exotic fruit dessert concludes our Tasting Menu, offering a light, refreshing dessert that contrasts a rich wintery starter and main course which makes for a nice finish to the meal. It consists of a slice of frozen mango parfait topped with a piece of warm glazed pineapple. The two are separated by a thin coconut wafer to avoid the parfait melting and a dark rum syrup and a shaving of fresh lime to finish the dish. The parfait will take 6-8 hours to set before serving.

Ingredients – (serves 4):

• 120g mango puree (about 2 ripe mangos) • 60g sugar + 100g extra for the caramelised

pineapple

• 50g egg yolks • 50ml whipping cream • 1 pineapple • 2 passionfruit (juice and seeds) • 50ml dark rum • 1 fresh lime

For the Coconut Wafer:

• 65g egg whites • 50g sugar • 30g flour • 30g butter • 30g desiccated coconut

Method: For the Parfait

Place 60g of sugar and a little water in a saucepan and boil to 118°C to make a syrup. While this is cooking, place the egg yolks in a bowl, and when the syrup is ready, slowly drizzle it over the eggs while whisking. This should cook and thicken the yolks. Continue to whisk until the yolks and sugar have cooled, and then set aside. In another bowl, whip the cream to a stiff peak and when ready, start to gently mix together the mango puree, the passionfruit juice and seeds and the egg yolk mixture. Once these have been combined, carefully fold in the whipped cream. Line a small loaf tin or cake mould with greaseproof paper and pour in the parfait mixture, spreading the mix to ensure it is perfectly flat. Place in a freezer for at least 6-8 hours, or even overnight, until set.

For the Pineapple:

Using a sharp knife, cut the top and bottom off the pineapple then slice off the rind. Cut the pineapple in half from top to bottom along the stalk in the middle, then in quarters. Remove the central stalk and trim each piece into a suitable sized portion. Gently poach the pineapple slices in the remaining sugar and a little water. Once the pineapple has become soft, increase the temperature, and allow the sugar to caramelise until a dark gold colour is achieved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then add the rum. Set aside, and keep warm.

For the Coconut Wafer:

Melt the butter, then add the sugar, flour, and dried coconut, and mix well. Then add the egg whites. A thin, batter-like paste should be formed. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and using a pallet knife, spread the mix thinly on the paper. Bake this in an oven at 140°C until lightly golden. Once the wafer is ready, remove it from the oven and, while still hot and slightly soft, use a sharp knife to mark out rectangular shapes for the wafers (about the same size as the pineapple slices). When cool, these can be broken off into individual pieces.

To assemble the dish:

Place a cutting board into the freezer for around 10 minutes. Remove the parfait from the mould and place on the cold cutting board; this will prevent it from melting. Cut the parfait into slices, about the same size as the wafers and the pineapple. Place a slice of the parfait on a cold plate then top with a coconut wafer, add a piece of the warm pineapple on top and using a spoon, drizzle some of the warm rum syrup around the dish. Finish with some shavings of fresh lime zest and some dehydrated coconut. At the restaurant, we garnish ours with some fresh flower petals or herbs.

Wine Recommendation: A Sticky End Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2016, New Zealand

This dessert wine from Marisco Vineyards’ King’s Series is made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes that have been allowed extra hang-time on the vine, giving them extra ripeness, promoting the onset of botrytis, creating intense sweetness and complex flavours.

The hand-harvesting allowed special selection of the optimum noble bunches before being whole-bunch pressed into a stainless-steel tank. The sticky juice was then settled clear before being run into new and seasoned French oak barrels. Fermentation occurred slowly over winter.

On the palate, intense tropical aromas of guava and lime are knitted with hints of honeycomb and a slight nuttiness. The opulent palate is silkysmooth, deriving from late harvest sweetness with flavours of mango and passion fruit. Due to the acidity that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is famous for, the wine finishes moreish and dry.