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Video Transcript: Lobster Flambe and the Versatility of Cognac

Written By: ClassicWines.com Team on Thursday, August 21, 2008

Brian Freedman: Welcome to the Classic Wines Minute brought to you by classicwines.com; I am your host Brian Freedman. Today we are in New York at Brasserie Cognac and we are joined by Chef Florian Hugo.

Florian Hugo: Hello!

Brian Freedman: Hello, and by Manager Roberto Manfe.

Roberto Manfe: How do you do?

Brian Freedman: And today we will be tasting one of their signature dishes, Lobster Flambe. Now what's so interesting about this dish is that it uses cognac in a way that most people are probably not used to be using it. Most people use cognac I think as a digestif, they have it after dinner to calm down the stomach, but cognac can really be used for more than just that. How are you using it here?

Florian Hugo: We use it in many dishes on the menu. Some of the sauces, some of the soups, we have the lobster bisque and the great aspect of the -- the great originality of the alcohol is that a sort of emphasize on the flavor itself of the dish, lobster taste is going to come out much better with a drop of cognac in the sauce, in that case we have some in the sauce and then we add some cognac in the pan to cover the whole lobster with cognac.

Brian Freedman: So it's almost like the ultimate pairing, not only does the cognac go well with the flavor of the lobster, but you are intensifying the nature of that pairing by actually really making -- we are actually pairing today the Remy-Martin VSOP, this will really make the flavor of the lobster come out that much more.

Florian Hugo: Correct!

Brian Freedman: Alright, so Roberto, it's all you?

Roberto Manfe: Nice.

Florian Hugo: We just add some butter to make this sauce a little bit thicker.

Brian Freedman: And butter makes everything better.

Florian Hugo: Not too much because we don't want to cover the taste of --

Brian Freedman: Right.

Florian Hugo: -- of the cognac and the sauce that the chef prepared.

Brian Freedman: But you shouldn't be afraid to use butter.

Florian Hugo: No, we are not.

Brian Freedman: And it's a shame, it smells so unbelievable here between the lobster and the butter cooking; this is spectacular.

Florian Hugo: My father says if you want to get fat, you would get fat with the good stuff. So who are you; you want to be afraid to use butter.

Brian Freedman: So if you get fat with the good stuff, it's okay.

Florian Hugo: Of course!

Brian Freedman: I couldn't agree more with you.

Roberto Manfe: In France we say the conductor of a flavor. Once you put butter in the sauce or in the dish, it connects all the flavors together.

Brian Freedman: Right.

Roberto Manfe: So, we don't see it as a bad thing in France.

Brian Freedman: At the end of the day, butter tastes good.

Roberto Manfe: It tastes good, yeah.

Brian Freedman: It tastes very good. So Roberto you are up?

Roberto Manfe: Yeah.

Brian Freedman: And I will step back here.

Florian Hugo: Yeah, you don't want to get a new haircut; you don't need one, sorry!

Brian Freedman: No. So what happens here actually is this is on fire, now that's the alcohol cooking off. So when you go to taste the lobster you won't get a big mouthful of alcohol, correct?

Roberto Manfe: No, no.

Brian Freedman: Right, just that wonderful flavor of the cognac. Now it's also possible you are fabulous Sommelier here, Alessandra, she actually pairs cognac with a dish like this, is that correct?

Roberto Manfe: Yes, she does.

Brian Freedman: Alright, now you are one of the few restaurants in New York that actually does a flight of Remy-Martin cognac.

Florian Hugo: Absolutely correct!

Roberto Manfe: That's correct.

Florian Hugo: And we also have a lot of aperitif culture with cognac-based -- they are very.

Roberto Manfe: You could have the whole dining experience from A-Z with the cognac, starting from the aperitif with a cocktail or then you go, you order main course like the Lobster Flambe or the filet mignon, also Flambe or the lobster bisque and then you finish also with a fruit salad where we add a little drop of cognac in our special sauce.

Brian Freedman: So you are staying very true to your name.

Roberto Manfe: Yes.

Brian Freedman: And I think form the point of view of your guests, it is very interesting actually see that you can enjoy cognac from the beginning to the end of the meal and that's not something most people do. I think it's one of the many reasons to come here.

Roberto Manfe: That's right, and the great thing is that it's very versatile so you don't have to just sip it by itself.

Brian Freedman: Right.

Roberto Manfe: You can accommodate so many different preparations whether it's cooking sauce or vinaigrette or fruit salad yet you are not completely drunk at the end of your meal you just have the flavor of the cognac that's the particularity of this alcohol. It has a very nice strong flavor.

Brian Freedman: Right, and at the end of the day cognac is really just wine.

Roberto Manfe: Yeah.

Brian Freedman: That has been distilled to a higher alcohol.

Roberto Manfe: Exactly.

Brian Freedman: Right, well this smells unbelievable, we have it on a --

Florian Hugo: Oh, it tastes good.

Brian Freedman: -- on a plate with braised romaine we have a pureed celery I believe with black truffles, some lobster butter; this is actually difficult to concentrate on what we are talking about here with the smell that's going on here.

So gentlemen Florian, Roberto, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a pleasure.

Roberto Manfe: Thank you very much. My pleasure!

Brian Freedman: Thank you, and from all of us here at classicwines.com we would like to thank Brasserie Cognac. I am your host Brian Freedman and until next time please drink your cognac for more than just an after-dinner treat, till next time, cheers!

Florian Hugo: Cheers!

Roberto Manfe: Bon Appétit!

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