Sunday food & wine pairing
Egg royal and Kovács Nimród Battonage Chardonnay
Are you one of those who celebrate Sunday with lazy hours in bed before getting up? Reading a book instead of scrolling Instagram? Watching a movie in pyjamas? Not even thinking of preparing lunch until noon? Our new Sunday food & wine pairing is for you then. Probably we can inspire you cooking something new, and maybe you can spend your Sunday with planning a trip to taste it in real life…
Egg royal – a dish from the era of King Matthias
Szaletly is a Michelin recommended, successful restaurant in Zugló, a lively district of Budapest. As Dining Guide magazine wrote about the owners, they “run Szaletly with heart and soul”. It is just enough look at the photo of the three owners, their smile and friendship being honest, one can tell.
The egg royal is a starter from the spring-summer menu, and its full name sounds royal indeed: steamed egg royal, marinated and fried mushrooms, truffle mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce. The team describes the dish as follows:
“Our dish pays homage to Hungarian bourgeois cuisine and the traditions of the Matthias era, reviving the elegance of classic steamed egg dishes. At its core is a delicate, creamy egg aspic, distinguished by its silky texture. The composition is enriched with seasonal mushrooms—portobello and shimeji varieties—served with an airy hollandaise foam and premium truffle mayonnaise.”
King Matthias (1458–1490), also known as “Matthias the Just,” is the subject of tales familiar to every Hungarian child, in which he mingles with the common people in disguise and ultimately dispenses justice at the end of the story. His celebrations were also legendary, thanks primarily to his Italian wife, Queen Beatrix, who introduced Renaissance culture and cuisine to the Hungarian court.
Dealing with the sommelier’s nightmare
Szaletly has a great selection of Hungarian wines (with some brilliant foreign wines) including evergreen classics from true superstars and artisan wines from small estates. The wine list also includes some “treasures”, memorable wines from the Hungarian wine scene. The multi award winning Sky Furmint is available from Kovács Nimród Winery, an iconic dry Furmint from the high altitude, prestigious Nagy-Eged vineyard of Eger wine region. A bottle at 16 890 HUF (around 50 EUR) is not for every wallet, but KNW Battonage Chardonnay is slightly more approachable, plus it is available by the glass at 3590 HUF (around 10 EUR).
Egg is not an easy thing to match with wine, it is also named as one of the “nightmares of the sommelier”. This dish is quite complex and ultimately creamy, it needs acidity, but also structure, body and intense flavours. KNW Battonage Chardonnay has all.
Nimród Kovács is an ambassador of Chardonnay in Eger, claiming that the wine region has many similarities with Burgundy (for the same reason Pinot Noir has a special importance as well). The spelling is deliberate, as Nimród Kovács says, he uses the American spelling as opposed to the French word (bâtonnage). Though Szaletly wine list does not state the vintage, the current one is 2024. “This iconic chardonnay has found a welcoming home in our sunny but cool Grand Superior certified Nyilasmár and Nagyfai vineyards, located in the village of Noszvaj. To produce an elegant wine that has both fruit-forward and silky characteristics, this wine was barrel fermented and aged on its lees.“
See Szaletly wine list here
More about Kovács Nimród Battonage Chardonnay 2024
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