For the first half of this meal see the Food & Wine of Alsace Class 2 Part 1.

The second half started with

‘Grilled Munster Cheese Salad’

Following the richness of the ‘Flammekueche’ and the meatiness of the Baeckenofe, this salad was a bit of light relief. This course consisted of lettuce and tomato salad dressed with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette, and grilled Munster cheese on a slice of French bread.

Munster cheese wrapper

The Munster cheese is from the Alsace region. A soft cow’s milk cheese with a rind, it ripens in a similar way to Camembert or Brie. In this case, because the grilling softened it considerably, a less ripe cheese was chosen. To test the ripeness Chef Eric checked the softness along the edges of the cheese.

test the Munster cheese for ripeness by pressing the edges of the round

Munster cheese salad

It was served with a Pinot Auxerrois, a light dry wine typical of the Alsace. Chef Eric could not locate a French Auxerrois in Vancouver, so we tried the Gray Monk Auxerrois instead.

Gray Monk Pinot Auxerrois

‘Apple Tart with Kirsch Crème Anglaise’

The tart had a rich baked custard filling topped with slices of flambéed apple. At the time of serving, the Kirsch Crème Anglaise (a type of custard sauce) was poured over the tart.

the apples being flambéed

Alsace appletart with custard sauce

The Pinot Auxerrois that I had left over from the salad was much too sour for this dessert. However, those of us in the class that had any ‘Gentil’ wine left by the time dessert rolled around, found it quite agreeable with the lightly sweet dessert.

This series:

FOOD & WINE OF THE ALSACE

Class 1 Part 1: Our first cooking class in Alsatian food started with a very French Asparagus, Orange and Crab Salad, followed by Onion and Bacon Tart.
Class 1 Part 2: The main dish of the evening, Chicken & Cabbage & Prunes in Riesling was served with Alsace ‘Grand Cru’. Dessert overload began with a Kirsch Soufflé served with a Muscat followed by a Beer Sorbet with Läckerli Cookies.

Class 2 Part 1: Sauerkraut Soup with Smoked Sausage, Tarte Flambée or ‘Flammekueche’, and ‘Baeckenofe with Sweet and Sour Cabbage’ plus Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.
This post, Class 2 Part 2: ‘Grilled Munster Cheese Salad’ with a Pinot Auxerrois and for dessert, ‘Apple Tart with Kirsch Crème Anglaise’

Class 3 Part 1:  foie gras on toast with fresh fig along with the Alsace Grand Cru Gewürztraminer, and escargot in vol-au-vents paired with a Sylvaner.
Class 3 Part 2: ‘Munster Valley Pie‘, a pork pie done Alsace-style with a well-aged Pinot Noir, Seafood Sylvaner Choucroute, and for dessert, Fromage Blanc Tart, and with it another essential French experience: Eau-de-Vie Poire Williams.