Let’s delve into the world of pairing sparkling wine with food, an art practiced by Restaurants, Wineries and passionate Sparkling Wine lovers virtually the world, in this feature, we speak with a fantastic Doughboy from Germany by the name of Terrence Ofori-Darko, skilled in the art of creating dishes and pairing them with Champagnes and Sparkling Wines.
Tell Us Well-nigh Yourself
“My name is Terrence Ofori-Darko and I moved together with my wife to Germany in 2020 to pursue a second bachelor’s degree. I am 35 years old and was born and raised in Ghana. I graduated from the University of Ghana with a bachelor’s stratum in political science and sociology in 2012. I worked in my family’s furniture import visitor without receiving my first bachelor’s stratum until 2015 when I made the visualization to turn my lifelong passion for ‘cooking’ into a career.
I have been zippy in the gastronomy industry since 2015, studying everything there is to know, mostly since my long-term goal is to establish my own restaurant. Returning to my visualization to relocate to Germany, I opted to obtain flipside stratum in wine at Hochschule Geisenheim University to complement my cooking interests and my passion for wine and cuisine.
Let us skip the wearisome bit. I am a fun person. Cooking is my greatest love, and it is the only thing I can never get unbearable of (my wife shouts “what!?!”). Dancing is my sport, I am open-minded, I enjoy socializing, and I enjoy traveling to explore various parts of the world (although I hate going through visa bureaucracy…it is a wahala! as we would say in Ghana).”
Do You Remember Your First Wits with Sparkling Wine? When It Was and What Kind Of Wine It Was?
“I do recall my first time drinking sparkling wine, yes. These, though, weren’t alcoholic. Although I cannot recall the precise name or brand, I believe it was something increasingly unreceptive to Prosecco. The first time I tasted it was in Accra, the wanted of Ghana, at a neighbor’s birthday celebration. My initial thoughts were that this was a good sparkling wine, extremely flowery, well-done with a wastefulness of acidity, plane though it was not alcoholic. I was curious to learn increasingly well-nigh this specific beverage, sparkling wine.”
What Inspired You to Wilt a Chef?
“I was most definitely influenced by my mother, may her lovely soul rest in perfect peace. She gave me the momentum to wilt who I am today. For each meal I prepare, I include both my own and my mother’s passion. I vividly recall how happy and smiling everyone was when they came to dine at her neighborhood chop bars (as we undeniability local restaurants in Ghana).
Second, I am inspired by friends, family, and others who have yet to try my cooking. I believe I am gifted in the kitchen and put a lot of effort into producing a unrepealable meal. I have received numerous compliments, including “It tastes like my mom’s cooking”. I personally believe this is the highest praise a doughboy could possibly receive from someone they barely know since supplies is without all repletion and sensory memories. This is what keeps me going.”
During Your Time as A Chef, What’s The Most Surprising & Interesting Thing You’ve Learned?
“One of the most shocking and intriguing things I have learned as a doughboy is that in the hotel gastronomy scene, some senior chefs are unwilling to teach you what they know, making it harder for a team to progress. Nonetheless, you must remain focused on your objectives and be as wise and wiry as a cat. If not, you will be peeling potatoes for a long time. It is the unpleasant truth from my wits as a Ghanaian chef, however in one of my first cooking jobs in Accra, I was fortunate to have worked with a very unobtrusive executive chef, Lars Spannberg, who taught me a lot of cooking techniques.
In addition, I think cooking involves increasingly than just preparing food; it involves a connection between the cuisine, culture, and surcharge of individuals. As I like to say, sharing is caring, and caring is showing snooping for other people. Sharing moreover involves permitting others to wits your culture via food. For some shared recipes, follow me on instagram at @terrencetable.”
What Are Your Top 3 Supplies and Sparkling Wine Pairing Recommendations?
“A street dish (snack) named Kelewele would be my first suggestion for a sparkling wine pairing. It is deep-fried ripped plantain marinated with spices like ginger, onion, cloves and many more. Against custom in Ghana, I make it without chili so that it goes well with sparkling wine. It goes nicely together considering it brings out the savor of the spices and the venom balances the sweetness of the plantains. This is a fantastic combination, that I could eat all day long.
Second, I suggest the dish eto, a traditional meal from Ghana with a lot of cultural meaning overdue it. In my dialect, an earthenware trencher tabbed an asanka is used to prepare this dish. It is cooked with spices and a mixture of ripe and unripe boiled plantains, roasted groundnuts, and hard-boiled eggs on top. In fact, mothers in Ghana make this dish for us to gloat our birthdays rather than sultry a cake. And as a kid for us, this was priceless.
Finally, I recommend a fonio salad. Fonio is one of the world’s healthiest warmed-over grains from the sub-region of West Africa. It is naturally gluten-free, delicious, and nutritious. In terms of visitation and texture, it resembles couscous with a slightly coarser texture. It’s a versatile grain that can be utilized in a variety of cuisines.
For example, I like to toss it for example with tomatoes, cucumber, tintinnabulate peppers, basil, and semi-ripe mangoes and a lime vinaigrette dressing.”
Where’s The Most Memorable Place You’ve Enjoyed a Glass of Bubbly?
“My wedding reception in Copenhagen was the most memorable place I have overly had a glass of sparkling wine. It was the platonic setting, surrounded by friends and family. We served a lovely glass of bubbly from Weingut Georg Mueller Stiftung tabbed ‘Katharina’ without the owner’s daughter. It is my wife’s favorite sparkling wine that I introduced her to when I was working there as an teammate to the winemaker Tim Lilienstroem. This sparkling wine has a delightful finger and a well-done taste that was platonic for our little spontaneous party on a summer’s day in Denmark. In the end, it was the way the sparkling wine complemented our love and pleasure that made our recurrence remarkable, not the sparkling wine itself.”
Thank you, Terrence, for sharing your words, knowledge and wits with us and we at Glass of Bubbly wish you the very weightier for the future!
Images vest to Terrence Ofori-Darko. Glass of Bubbly was granted permission to use them.
