The closing ceremonies

the bottle: Vina Zorzal Graciano 2007 Navarra
the movie: Chariots of Fire, 1981
the meal: Oven-roasted winter root veggies with Spanish chorizo, shallots and braising greens.
I have been meaning to get an Olympics post in here, but last week was challenging due to travel. And the week before, we opted for a Valentine’s post, bypassing other great opportunities in the Chinese New Year(2/14), Presidents' Day(2/15), Mardi Gras(2/16) and Ash Wednesday(2/17), all of which would have made for excellent food-related post opportunities. (All except…er, Ash Wednesday, that is.) Envisioning jiaozi dumplings and sake with Eat Drink Man Woman. Or Crawfish Etoufee, King Cake and Hurricanes with A Streetcar Named Desire. Laissez les bon temps rouler!)

But because the Winter Olympics happen only once every 4 years, we feel it deserves a place in the journal of bottle movie meal. And since we’re closing in on the closing ceremonies, it’s now or never. Sunday will be the official closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games so our menu-movie planning should “dovetail” well with the extinguishing of the flame and a wind-burned, achy-good retrospective. (Sunday also happens to be Purim, so if you want to modify a bit by adding some pastries like hamantash, then please indulge. And it’s even appropriate, considering the movie selection.)


Instead of featuring a more classic and well-loved Winter Olympic-themed movie like Miracle, or a wackier one like Cool Runnings or Blades of Glory, I felt a hankering to pull out an old Summer Olympic-themed favorite that captures what I feel is the essence of the Games in an evocative and timeless way. Chariots of Fire is the wonderful story of two very driven British athletes preparing to compete in the 1924 Summer Olympics, each for different and intense personal reasons. But underlying each athlete’s reason is a shared sense of morality with strong religious underpinnings. Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a young and proud Cambridge Brit, who is also Jewish in pre-war Europe, uses his gift of speed and athleticism to overcome anti-Semitism from those who would question his true Britishness, including the Cambridge institutional elite themselves. Abrahams runs against both the dusty, decaying British Empire, and Eric "The Flying Scotsman" Liddell (Ian Charleson), who is driven equally hard and passionately, but by a devotion to his Christian convictions and the calling of God. Eric sees his gift of speed as a calling, and channels that calling so devotedly that he determines he cannot run in his preliminary heat at the Games that are held on the Sabbath.

What an incredible screenplay this is. The interplay between the religious overtones in the drive of the two different characters is fantastic, but not at all overplayed. There is an unsubtle parallel between each man’s refusal to sacrifice his ideals in spite of the odds or easy way out, but it works because of great acting, underplayed dialogue, beautiful art direction, and of course, the now famous score from Vangelis that lifts the picture to the podium in our hearts.

In today’s world where fame and the culture of the individual drives so much in our media crazed world, it is refreshing to see a look back in time to when more powerful and culturally significant themes played into our sports narratives. And for the fashionistas out there, this movie is notable for its famous beach running scenes which, accompanied by the Vangelis soundtrack, inspired legions of art directors and photographers from Ralph Lauren to Calvin Klein. And not to forget, on the medals front, Chariots of Fire won four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Less Olympic in scope, our menu-planning instead relies on simplicity and the athlete’s best friend: pasta. There’s nothing like a hearty and savory bowl of pasta, brimming with fresh root veggies and crisp braising greens, then sprinkled with a tangy romano or parmesan reggiano. This is a lighter form of wintertime comfort food for me and provides not only the sensory and gustatory fuel for the common cold weather, but the caloric punch necessary to get off the couch and put in a few miles of my own. This recipe is in the kitchen-sink freestyle category, relying on a smorgasborg of bright winter veggies, with emphasis on the root variety, onion or shallot, and some good Spanish chorizo. It’s an oven-roasted medley of dense, sweet earth sugars, and toothy whole wheat pasta, all tossed together in a light fruity olive oil for melding. It’s done in about an hour, so you can prepare it during the curling events and be sitting back down in front of the tube in time for the hockey finals.

Our gold-medal winning wine this week is this high-performing Graciano from the far south of Navarra in northern Spain which seemed appropriate for the dish. (It won a gold medal in the International Wine Challenge.) The desire was to have a lighter but full-bodied glass with the pasta dish, and the Viña Zorzal Graciano 2007 Navarra fits the bill perfectly. This is a ripe, well-structured and heady pour with a spicy scent that is just a little tart and fruity to counter the spiciness of the sausage. According to my email friends at Garagiste who brought this wine to my attention, it has a “full and deep red fruit character but the desirable yin-yang of low alcohol (much like a Loire red or an old-school Cotes du Rhone vinified in cement).” As a wine of such character, it’s a great match for those of Harold and Eric, and at under $10 it makes the medal easily within reach.

And now back to Shaun White and Kim Yu-Na.

Recipe for pasta
Chop into 1/2-3/4" pieces root veggies like: sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, beets, carrots, turnips, and rutabegas with an onion, cut into eighths, or even better, three or four quartered shallots. (1 each of the larger ones, and 2 to 3 each of the smaller)
Chop a cup of Spanish chorizo into half inch pieces.
Toss with olive oil in a big bowl. Grind sea salt and pepper into the veggie mixture.
Spread out into one layer of a sheet pan so that the veggies are not crowded. Then place into preheated 400 degree oven. Every fifteen minutes pull out the veggies and turn over to brown equally. After half an hour add another sheet pan of large torn pieces of braising greens, also tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper.
After 45 minutes for the root veggies and 15 for the greens, pull out everything and toss with whole wheat pasta. I use Whole Foods 365 brand Penne because it has great tooth and tastes great.
Grate fresh Romano or Parmesan Reggiano over the pasta and serve.