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MEMBER PROFILE: TAMARA WAGNER

Cooking up a storm

Whisky journeys often start in unexpected places. This was the case when German member Tamara Wagner read a novel featuring a whisky-loving protagonist who drinks Kilchoman 2010 quarter cask single malt. A quick internet search led to her ordering a similar bottle. And from there, her whisky journey began. Today Tamara has self-published her own cookbook, Cooking and Baking with Whisky, which is available in both English and German. Mads Schmoll tells Tamara’s story…

“It was love at first sip,” says Tamara when asked about how her whisky journey began. “In November 2018 I read the latest novel written by Chris Carter, The Caller. The protagonist is a whisky aficionado (as is Chris himself) and Kilchoman’s farm distillery was described,” she says. “He drank Kilchoman 2010, quarter cask single malt. By then I was not aware what that meant, stopped reading and looked it up online. I was lucky to find a (similar) bottle, ordered it and three days later my whisky journey began.”

In search of more whisky, she headed to a local whisky shop. “I had some nice chats and drams and discovered the wide range of flavours,” says Tamara. “My attention however was attracted by those nice green bottles with the strange and funny names on them.” SMWS ambassador for Germany Craig Fyfe led the introduction with a whisky tasting. “My very first whisky tasting was a Society one,” says Tamara.

From there she began to immerse herself in the world of whisky. “I love to play and experiment with flavours and don’t take whisky too seriously,” she says. “Soon after I became a whisky fan, I tried to cook and bake with whisky or paired food with it.” She shared her creations on Instagram via her handle, @bottle.n.barrel. Not long after, her recipes and pairings caught the attention of the SMWS Germany team. “They got in touch and asked me to create recipes with particular Society bottlings, events or themes,” Tamara says. “Doing so I developed more and more recipes – too many to share on social media.”

During lockdown, Tamara began to spend even more time in the kitchen. “One day I chatted with a friend from Scotland and wrote, as a joke, that someday I would publish a book Cooking and Baking with Whisky,” she says. “This joke became a dream. It all started with me thinking that I should properly document my recipes. The next step was that I wanted to create more recipes for different categories, i.e. starters, chutneys, mains, drinks and sweet treats.”

Regardless of the recipe, the process starts in much the same way. “I always start by drinking a whisky neat and try to find its character and flavour nuances,” says Tamara. “Without really thinking about it, it will come back to my mind either while cooking or at any other time. That’s why I have a lot of ideas in my notes app.” While the next steps take place in the kitchen, it’s as much about using intuition and flavour knowledge as it is about the physical ingredients. “When I cook or bake I only add a bit of whisky and try a lot. The dish should not taste like whisky, but just add another dimension like any other condiment,” she says. “With time you get a feeling and experience for what happens to the flavour during cooking or baking and can adjust. If you want to have a more dominant whisky taste, you develop ideas on how to add a bit of whisky to the finished dish.”

For members keen to try their hand at cooking with Society whiskies, Tamara suggests starting with the same approach – nose and try it neat. “Use either a contrasting or complementing flavour profile, e.g. a Peated flavour profile whisky in a creamy dessert or an Oily & Coastal whisky in a fish dish,” she says. “And don’t use too much whisky; in most cases it should be a condiment only and not the dominant flavour.”

Although she has favourites from each flavour profile, Tamara loves the Society’s Spicy & Dry and Oily & Coastal flavour profiles. If you’re still new on your whisky journey, her top tip is to try and find your favourite flavours first. “Try different flavour profiles, get an advent calendar, samples or go to your local shop to try and find your favourites,” she says. “You don’t need to start with a 'light' whisky, neither flavour-nor abv-wise.”

And most importantly, she says: “Drink whisky as you like it the most – add ice, water, soda, drink it neat or pair it with food. The possibilities are endless and there is no wrong way to enjoy whisky.”

Members can purchase a copy of Cooking and Baking with Whisky (available in both English and German) directly from Tamara. Just send an email to tamara@bottlenbarrel.de or get in touch via Instagram (bottle.n.barrel). The book is 15 Euros (plus shipping).

COCONUT-TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 200 ml vegetable stock
  • 100 ml orange juice
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 50 ml whisky (fruity)
  • 1 sweet potato (approx. 180 g)
  • 1 banana
  • 200 ml sieved tomatoes
  • Fresh or dried herbs (chives, parsley and coriander)
  • 1 tbsp whisky (fruity)
  • Lemon juice, salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Chop the onion and fry it with the tomato paste in a little olive oil. Add the vegetable stock, orange juice, coconut milk and whisky and bring to the boil briefly. Cut the sweet potatoes and banana into pieces or slices and add to the pot with the sieved tomatoes. Simmer everything together over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
  2. Puree with a hand blender, add water according to the desired consistency, stir in herbs and whisky and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
  3. Serve with fresh bread, dried bananas, herbs and if desired, roasted chicken skewer.

SWEET POTATO STACKS WITH PULLED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Pulled Chicken

  • 2 chicken breast fillets
  • 1 tsp each paprika powder, turmeric, black pepper and salt
  • 2 onions

Sweet Potato Stacks

  • 3-4 sweet potatoes, approx. 800 g
  • 6 carrots, approx. 500 g
  • Salt, pepper, nutmeg
  • 3-4 tbsp whisky (smoky)
  • Coriander

Marinade

  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • 60 ml whisky (smoky)

Method:

Pulled Chicken

Preheat the oven to 100°C (circulation air).

Rub the chicken with the spice mixture and place in a casserole dish. Cut the onions into thin rings and place in the dish next to the chicken.

Mix all the ingredients to make a marinade and spread over the chicken. Alternatively, a barbecue sauce (recipe see "Barbecue Sauce") is also very suitable as a marinade.

Place the casserole dish in the oven and cook the meat for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Afterwards immediately shred the chicken breast fillets with two forks into pieces.

Sweet Potato Stacks

Wash, peel and chop 700 g sweet potatoes and all the carrots. Put the vegetables with a little salt into a pot of cold water, heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (circulation air).

Drain the carrots and sweet potatoes, mash coarsely with a fork and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and whisky. Fold in some fresh or dried coriander.

Pour the vegetable mash into two serving rings (approx. 10 cm diameter), press down lightly and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

During this time, grate the remaining sweet potatoes, deep-fry very briefly and place on kitchen towel.

Garnish the vegetable tower with deep-fried potatoes and coriander and serve with chicken and coleslaw.

The vegetable mash and salad ensure that it doesn't matter if the chicken is dry. If it is still too dry, you can add some barbecue sauce.

CRUNCHY OAT BISCUITS

Ingredients:

  • 125 g soft butter
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 egg
  • Pulp of a vanilla pod
  • 50 ml whisky (spicy)
  • 250 g flour (a little more depending on the consistency of the dough)
  • 100 g rolled oats or multigrain flakes
  • 50 g cocoa nibs
  • ½ sachet baking powder

For decorating:

  • 50 g icing sugar
  • 5 tsp whisky (spicy)
  • Walnut halves

Method (makes about 25 biscuits):

  1. Beat the butter, sugar and egg until fluffy, before stirring in the vanilla and whisky.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir into the butter mixture.
  3. Quickly mix to a soft dough and form into rolls with a diameter of about 5 cm. Depending on the consistency, add more flour to the dough as needed.
  4. Wrap each roll in cling film and leave to set in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180°C (circulation air).
  6. Take the dough rolls out of the fridge, cut them into slices about 0.5 cm wide, shape them a little if necessary and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  7. Bake the biscuits for about 12 minutes and leave to cool on the baking tray.
  8. You can decorate the biscuits as desired. The whisky flavour will be a little more intense and the walnuts provide an additional flavour component.
  9. Mix the icing sugar with the whisky to make a rather firm icing and stick one walnut half onto each biscuit.