By Brian Freedman
FAR TOO OFTEN, SPICES are equated with spiciness, which could not be further from the truth.
There’s a huge distance between the aromatic complexity provided by well-chosen spices and
the palate tingling heat of chile peppers and the like. It’s a distinction that’s slowly finding its
way into popular American food logic, but at least the process has begun. Philadelphians,
however, had a spectacular opportunity to explore the world of spices early this past March at
Zahav, where Chef Michael Solomonov teamed up with Master Spice Blender Lior Lev Sercarz
of La Boîte à Epices, and wine expert John Toler from Boutique Wine Collection, to create a
dinner unlike any I’ve ever attended.
Chef Michael Solomonov
The concept was deceptively simple: To utilize Sercarz’s custom-
blended spices as the backbone of the 5-course menu. What
made this dinner unique, however, was not the fact that the
spices were used in the first place — that’s been done for
millennia — but, rather, that they actually dictated the nature
of the ingredients themselves. “The spices were…the first step,”
Solomonov said. “We decided to use ingredients that would
highlight the spices I think more than anything.”
The question he kept in mind as he smelled and tasted the
spices while planning the menu, he said, was “What would
be the best vehicle for this spice?” That kind of open-
mindedness led to a dinner that incorporated everything from
more traditional ingredients like Spanish mackerel to more
exotic ones like boar and duck heart. And despite the wide
range of ingredients, flavors, and textures that were on
display over the course of the dinner’s five dishes, they all
shared two important attributes: A sense of balance, and a
masterfully chosen wine to accompany them.
The spices of the first course highlighted Moroccan-inspired flavors (cardamom and rose petal
among them), and consisted of succulent duck rillettes, insanely savory foie gras, and
barbecued duck heart. The richness and aromatic complexity of the trio was matched perfectly
with Champagne A. Margaine’s Demi-Sec, whose own smoky-sweet notes matched beautifully
with the food, yet whose acid and bubbles cut through the richness. It also possessed a far
more subtle sense of sweetness than so many demi-secs, and was all the better for it.
Spanish mackerel with confit beets and labaneh “gnocchi” (the waiter told me, upon describing
the dish, that Chef Solomonov had gone a bit “molecular” with the preparation) benefited from
the soft smokiness of Sercarz’s Amber No. 2 spice blend, whose ancho and annatto notes
framed the fish in a brand new and wholly unexpected way. The complex aromatics of the Heidi
Schrock Muscat 2007 from Austria’s Neusiedlersee could have been custom-made for a dish like
this one.
The most interesting textural experience of the evening (aside from the dense meatiness of
that duck heart) was the poppy-seed crunchiness that the Coquelicot No. 24 spice blend
brought to Tasmanian sea trout with pumpernickel and mustard. Wild boar, which is thankfully
seeing an uptick in popularity these days, found its perfect partner in the exotic aromatics of
soft stick cinnamon (which is to the storebought stuff what, say, Dom Perignon is to Korbel).
And the wine, Castro Ventosa’s El Castro de Valtuille 2005, from the Bierzo region of Spain,
brought out both the mineral notes in the boar and the perfume in the spices.
Even the persimmon cake with raisin ice cream and almond milk was lifted by a hit of spice.
Of course, this is probably the natural next step in a trend that’s really begun to catch on:
Utilizing savory components in dessert preparations and sweet ones in entrée-type dishes.
These days, it seems, more restaurants are offering unique dinners — like this one — that
afford guests the opportunity to explore ingredients or wines that they might not have
had a chance to in the past. And in a city like Philadelphia, where the collective hunger for
interesting, unique dining experiences is growing all the time, they are feeding a very real
desire. The opportunities for both an education as well as a great meal are tremendous.
What struck me most about this particular dinner was how seamlessly all of the components
were integrated. Not only was each aspect of the meal — food, wine, and spices alike —
afforded ample opportunity to shine, but they were all made better by the presence of the
other two. It was, indeed, a great dining experience, and a heck of an education, too.