To eat, drink and be merry

Christopher Lim | The Business Times | Fri Dec 25 2009

by Christopher Lim

Singapore, December 25, 2009

A Symphony Of Taste (below)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Singapore Symphonia Company
Rating: B+

ANYONE who has listened to the same piece of music in different environments will probably realise that music affects you differently depending on where you are listening to it, as well as what you are doing.

A soothing classical soundtrack for your culinary adventures in the kitchen this festive season will probably be welcome, but how about taking an integrated musical approach to your yuletide recipes?

That’s the concept behind  A Symphony Of Taste ($125 at Books Kinokuniya and sso.org.sg), a recipe book lovingly put together by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.

The SSO worked with 10 chefs to create 32 original recipes suitable for everyday meals as well as special occasions. The recipes span Asian and Western styles, and are even divided into the four seasons.

The book also comes with two CDs of the SSO performing well-known classical compositions live. The track list includes concert stalwarts like the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, and Mozart’s entire Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

The CDs capture the SSO in fine fettle so they are enjoyable to listen to on their

own, but the idea is to cook with them.

We’re not talking about just randomly blasting any old tune while the pasta is

boiling, however. You’re supposed to approach utensils and ingredients like parts of an orchestra, and are even encouraged to use musical pieces to time your cooking.

Take the Cooking Is Musical chapter, for example. Ravel’s Bolero goes with boiling penne pasta, while the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite goes with gnocchi and fettuccine.

Not every piece of music referred to in A Symphony Of Taste is included in the two CDs, but a lot of it is. For example, the Bolero isn’t there, but the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy is.

A word of caution is in order, because while the music on the CDs is as approachable for classical music beginners as for seasoned listeners, the recipes are quite elaborate.

Even the White Bean Wafer that accompanies the Squid Ink Paella Croquette has seven ingredients and precise preparation instructions.

Pairing wine with food is hardly innovative, but pairing wine with music is relatively new territory. The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has collaborated with the Viennese orchestra Concerto Classic Wein to produce Rendezvous Wein & Musik (US$38, including shipping, from concerto-classic-wien.at).

Rendezvous Wein & Musik (below)
Concert Classic Wein
Discover
Rating: B

The two-CD set comes with a very slim booklet that explains the project’s approach. There are three pieces of classical music matched to each type of wine, and you are supposed to listen to all three while sipping your wine, and then select which piece expresses the essence of the music most appropriately.

The wines are divided into eight broad categories, but since this is an Austrian Wine Marketing Board project, you are mostly restricted to Austrian varietals such as Gruener Vetliner and Beerenauslese, although more familiar ones like Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling are also present.

Pick your own wine that roughly matches each category, and you are good to go. The flexibility in the scheme makes it fairly easy to put together a selection of wines for this musical experiment, even if not all of them were made in Austria.

There’s obviously been a considerable amount of thought put into the pairings. For example, you are given three options for Riesling: the first movements of Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto, Brahms’  Fourth Symphony , and Schumann’s Third Symphony.

All are energetic, but with very
different overtones of musical flavour, so you can choose which reflects the Riesling characteristics that stand out most to you.

The Concerto Classic Wein is a very capable ensemble that pulls off the wide-ranging material – Dvorak to Strauss; Schubert to Bizet – admirably.

The orchestra also works closely with the excellent classical record label Discover International, so the ensemble acts as a springboard for promising young musicians to branch out into solo or small-group careers. Look out for its next project, Much More Than Classic, next year.