A New England Christmas

Christmas Dinner 2008, Hank Mann in the Traditional Role of the Lamb Santa


Hank Mann is a great chef. The food he has served me in his home is simply some of the best food I have ever eaten. Hank has served me the best mussel I've ever eaten, the best shrimp, the best artichoke, the best paella, the best curry, the best bouillabaisse, and just this thanksgiving, the best turkey I've ever eaten. He and his wife Carol were kind enough to extend an invitation for Christmas dinner this year, there is no where I would rather be, and no one I would rather dine with, so I gladly accepted.

Dinner at the Mann's can be an epic experience, not only for the quality of the food and wine, but for the sheer scale of the evening. Hank routinely cooks for over twenty people, and often serves meals of six, seven, eight courses. It is not uncommon to arrive for dinner at 2pm and eat and drink for eight hours until you simply have to leave and go lie down. Once, he hosted a 2005 Spatlese Riesling tasting, we lined the wines up on a small antique drop leaf table, there were so many wines that the table gave way, sending wine to the floor. We lost a dozen or so bottles, still I counted forty-six wines that we tasted through over a four hour period. Then we had dinner, with a whole new set of wines.

I've had 1982 Ch. Latour at his house, and 1970 Ch. Gruaud Larose and 1975 Ch. Pichon Lalande. I've had 1990 Ch. Rayas at his house and consumed so much 1978 Ch. Beaucastel that I smelled like Mourvedre for a week. Once when I mentioned to his friend Ken that I had never had a Trockenbeerenauslese before, Ken produced from his bag two bottles from two different vineyards and we drank them standing in the kitchen talking about drainage in the vineyards of the Great Ramp in the Mosel.

Hank and Carol live deep in the woods of Stonington on an old homestead that was first settled in the 1600's. The original house was lost to fire and replaced by the current home built in 1777. There are still ruins and outbuildings that provide insight into Colonial life in the woods of Connecticut. They have an earthen ice house with a stone roof by the pond, and a spring house, and an old barn with a flat rock foundation with no mortar, there is even a family cemetery on the hill. The house itself has wide board floors, exposed hand hewn beams and a wide shallow fireplace with a deep granite hearth. In short, a perfect place for Christmas.

I arrived at two o'clock with a bag of goodies and had the singular treat of cooking with Dr. Mann. We began with a plate of Sliced smoked duck breast, Pate de Foie Gras with 2% truffle, and a very ripe Epoisses. I opened a bottle of Domaine Dujac Chambolle-Musigny, and I was like a kid at Christmas. I had been holding on to that bottle of Dujac for over a year, with very high expectations. It has a magnificent reputation and an unfortunate price. The wine did not disappoint, It was dark red with black undertones, fully opaque, with raspberry and brambles, fine strong tannins well integrated into the fruit with a touch of iron. The wine paired perfectly with the stinky Epoisses, also from the Cote d'Or, and the earthy, loamy Foie with truffles and smoked duck.

As we ate and drank, we prepared the next course, duck confit. We unwrapped the duck legs and trimmed the excess fat to expose the meat. We boiled the potatoes for three minutes, then tossed them with butter and salt. We placed the confit in the center of a wide shallow pan, surrounded them with the potatoes, added in the trimmed duck fat and dusted the potaoes with rosemary. Then into the oven at 425 for 35 minutes. As the duck legs cook the fat is rendered out providing a fantastic medium for the potatoes to cook and crisp and brown.

While that cooked, Hank had me try some of the curry he had made the night before. "The trick is to add the chicken late so that it doesn't overcook, it stays moist and keeps it's texture that way, and here try this". He added a dollop of ginger pickle and lime pickle paste. In twenty years of eating curry this was the best I've ever had.

After the taste of lime pickle had subsided, we pulled the cork on a bottle of 2005 Ch La Vielle Cure and prepped the lamb. With a nice hard wood fire going in the fireplace in the dining room, we set up a grilling rack and placed the lamb loin over the open flame and glowing coals and sat at the dinner table drinking wine and watching lamb roast.

I opened a bottle of 1983 Hermitage La Chapelle and decanted it. I have had this wine many times, and at twenty-five years old it still seemed a little young. Thankfully, both the duck confit and the lamb provided just the thing, the perfect key to unlock the wine and allow it to express itself, fat. Gamey, dark fat.

Carol set the table with her grandparents 19th Century china, beautiful stuff signed by hand on the underside. I have always loved good china, it makes for a beautiful canvass for the artistry of great food. It was a small gathering on this night, Hank, Carol, their son Tommy and their daughter Melanie, and myself. It was a very happy day in my life. We sat and ate like a family, like I was part of the family.

For dessert Carol brought out a cheese cake with a raspberry orange sauce. We opened a bottle of 2001 Hugel Gewurztraminer Vendage Tardive Grains Noble, that at first glance seemed a little shy on the acidity, but with the tart raspberry sauce, it was perfect, perfect.

This was the quaint New England Christmas you see in the movies, it was Norman Rockwell with cool people. It was the Christmas I have always wanted, it was the Christmas I finally got.