Move over champagne, Prosecco’s been a crowd favourite for a while now. With its versatility, delicate effervescence, and too-easy-to-drink taste, there’s no doubt it’ll be on our menus to stay.
As I’ve always been a fan of the liquid dinner, my weeknight wine dreams came true during a delightful evening of Prosecco aperitivos and a hands-on cooking masterclass at Sydney Seafood School — brought to us by Zonin Prosecco.
“It’s not just a sparkling wine, but a wine that sparkles,” describes Vice President of the brand Francesco Zonin, our host for the evening.
As a brand of wine and product that’s been in their family for centuries, the Zonin family take extreme pride in the wine’s exquisite taste and popularity. Francesco drew attention to the wine’s versatility to be paired with a wide range of food, explaining its incredible appeal as a drink loved and enjoyed by all.
The evening’s event began with a detailed demonstration of four Italian recipes curated and instructed by chef Giovanni Pilu of Pilu at Freshwater Restaurant in Manly. A talented chef, he talked us through various tips and techniques for working with seafood, while Francesco gave us the history behind certain ingredients — keeping the tutorial fun and interesting.
We were then escorted to our assigned cooking stations, fully equipped with pre-portioned food items, tools, and utensils. We tried our hand at four different recipes: Mozarella En Carozza, Hiramasa King Fish (Sashimi), Herb-baked ricotta with roasted tomatoes on crostini, and for dessert, Zabaglione with mixed berries. Each dish was accompanied by, or incorporated a generous splash of Zonin Prosecco as a key ingredient. Afterwards we ate altogether in the school’s grand dining room, enjoying our creations with a drink both in our hands, and in our dinner.
Francesco taught us that rather than the grape the wine is made of, “Prosecco” is named after the traditional home of Prosecco in its Italian city of origin Veneto. After the drink became wildly popular and Italians began enjoying it before, during, and after dinner — rather than saying “the wine from Prosecco”— villagers came to simply call it “Prosecco”. Judging by how deliciously easy these bubbles are to drink, we could be calling it “Sydney” pretty soon.
– Jill
Jill is a Sydney-based journalist who enjoys a liquid lunch, as much as she does a fine dinner. Follow her on: @jillamint.
Zonin Prosecco is set to become on of Sydney’s top drops. To find out more visit their Facebook page.
