Category Archives: Culinary Arts

Culinary Profiles: The History Of Italy’s Oldest (And Most Famous) Cheese “Pecorino Romano”

From an ItalyMagazine.com online article:

Pecorino Romano Cheese - Italy MagazinePecorino Romano today is still made from rich sheep’s milk (pecorino comes from the Italian word for sheep, pecora) and the cheesemaking process closely follows the traditions of the ancient Romans. But most of it is now produced on the island of Sardinia, rather than in the countryside around Rome and Lazio. So why the shift? 

Millennia before cacio e pepe became one of the Eternal City’s trendiest pasta dishes and a social media sensation, its starring ingredient graced the tables of Roman emperors. Cacio refers to Pecorino Romano in Roman dialect, and its origins go back to the aged sheep’s milk cheese that was prized by the ancient Romans. They depended on it as an important source of nourishment for legionnaires—its nutritional value and ability to endure on extended marches made it an ideal food for the soldiers, who were allotted a daily ration of 27 grams.

To read more: https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/pecorino-romano-story-behind-one-italys-oldest-and-most-famous-formaggi

Top Culinary Events: Breckenridge Wine Classic In Colorado On September 12-15, 2019

Breckenridge Wine Classic WineriesThe Breckenridge Wine Classic is a premier destination event where master winemakers, culinary greats, and our distinguished guests gather to play, wine, and dine in beautiful Breckenridge, CO. Experience more than 100 food artisans, wineries, breweries, distilleries, epicurean purveyors, and locally-made products at this ultimate food and wine experience. Whether you are a full-fledged foodie or an emerging gourmand, you are sure to find more than one event to whet your appetite at the Wine Classic. There is something for everyone – from food and wine tastings, to seminars and luncheons, to outdoor adventures with food & wine influences, there are tastes and temptations at every turn.

2019 PARTICIPATING WINERIES

Bread & Butter. Chronic Cellars. Copper Cane. Disruption Wine Company. Foley Family Wines. Hahn Family Wines. J. Lohr Vineyards. Marble Distilling Co. Mionetto USA. Oak Ridge Winery. Palm Bay International. Prestige Wine Imports. Riboli Family Wines. Rodney Strong Wine Estates. Scheid Family Wines. Spruce Creek Spirits. Wente Family Estates. Western Spirits.

https://breckenridgewineclassic.com/

French Wine Values: Red Burgundies Are Top Long-Term Values (Exceeding S&P 500 Over Last 15 Years)

From an Economist.com online article:

Collectors who have drunk most of their Pinot already may need another glass after seeing the results. By the end of 2018, red Burgundy had returned 497%, versus 279% for the s&p 500. (Our index does not extend to 2019, since many of the wines it contains have not been traded this year.)

Wine Price Index Economist August 2019

 

The index has also been less volatile than stocks are, though this may be an artefact of how it is calculated: no one knows what each wine would have sold for in the crash of 2008-09. Bordeaux and Champagne rose by 214% in 2003-18; everywhere else did worse.

Predicted Wine Appreciation from Economist August 2019

 

Wine collectors like to proclaim that “all roads lead to Burgundy.” They often wince at the plonk they drank when starting their hobby. In America and Australia, a common entry point is local “fruit bombs”: heavy, alcoholic wines that taste of plum or blackberry; bear the vanilla or mocha imprint of oak barrels; and should be drunk within a few years of bottling.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/08/24/burgundy-wine-investors-have-beaten-the-stockmarket?cid1=cust/dailypicks1/n/bl/n/20190828n/owned/n/n/dailypicks1/n/n/NA/299647/n

World’s Top Restaurants: “Under” In Norway Is “Half-Submerged Into The Sea”, Serves Creative Seafood

From a BusinessInsider.com article:

Under Restaurant Norway Interior“Under,” which opened in March, is Europe’s first underwater eatery.Designed by Snøhetta, the restaurant sits half-submerged into the sea and has three-foot thick walls designed to withstand the area’s rugged seas.

Guests at Under can gaze at marine life through a 36- x 13-foot panoramic window in the dining room, which seats between 35 and 40 guests each night. Muted lighting was installed on the seabed so that guests can see the marine life in any weather conditions.

The cuisine is, of course, seafoodDanish chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard Pedersen will create locally sourced dishes that include cod, lobster, mussels, and truffle kelp, which is a local type of seaweed that apparently tastes like truffles.

Under Restaurant Norway

https://under.no/

To read more click on the following link: https://www.businessinsider.com/underwater-restaurant-norway-photos-2018-11?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Business_Insider_select&pt=385758&ct=Sailthru_BI_Newsletters&mt=8&utm_campaign=Business%20Insider%20Select%202019-08-28&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select

Top Food Experiences: Farmstead “Farm-To-Table Restaurant At Blackberry Farm In Walland, TN

From a Jetsetter.com online article:

Blackberry Farm Tennessee Farm to table dishesEnjoy the fruits of their labor during dinner at Farmstead, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant, known for its hyper-seasonal dishes like thyme-basted golden beets and hen of the woods mushrooms drizzled with pine syrup.

As one of the pioneers in the farm-to-table movement, Blackberry Farm is better suited for traveling foodies who’d rather roll up their sleeves in the garden than idle all day by the pool. On a pastoral 4,200-acre farm and estate in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, the food here has a real sense of place: ingredients are tilled from the gardens, milk and cheese is provided from the livestock, and wild mushrooms and blackberries are foraged from the surrounding area. Even the award-winning craft brewery utilizes sour cherries and persimmons picked right off the grounds.

http://www.blackberryfarm.com/wine-food/

Central Coast Wineries: Laetitia Vineyard & Winery Delivers Quality Pinots And “Sparkling” Views

Boomers visited Laetitia on August 25, 2019:

Laetitia Winery Tasting Room August 2019Laetitia Vineyard and Winery in Aroyo Grande, Ca is known for its respected Pinot Noir and “seven unique sparkling wines”. Santa Rosa-based Vintage Wine Estates recently (February 2019) bought Laetitia for an undisclosed sum. Here is the wineries mission statement as posted on the website:

A deep and abiding respect for Laetitia’s estate-grown fruit is the mark of Eric Hickey’s winemaking. Beginning his hands-on training in the cellar at the age of 16, Eric has lived and breathed Laetitia all the way to the top, where he is now the Head Winemaker and the winery’s President. “I keep it simple,” he says, “and I stay eye-to-eye with Lino (Bozzano) because the interplay between us is what determines the wines’ quality. Everything done in the cellar starts with what we do out in the vineyard.”

We tasted the 2014 Brut Coquard Sparkling wine (rated 93 points). We appreciated its balance between sweet fruit and dry hazelnut. The view from our picnic table north of the tasting room was spectacular.

2014 Laetitia Brut Coquard

Laetitia Vineyard TrailThe property offers a Bocce Ball area to have fun with as you sample their extensive wine flights. Additionally, there is a hiking trail through the 1986-acre estate. Here is a description of the estate from their website:

The Laetitia Estate Vineyards were first planted to grapes in 1982 when French viticulturists found ideal growing conditions in the Arroyo Grande Valley for producing wines of similar character to those of San Luis Obispo Wine Trailtheir homeland in Epernay, France. Nineteen years later, the property would be acquired by Selim Zilkha, founder of a successful wind power development company and champion of environmental sustainability. Between his qualifications in renewable energy solutions and his passion for the pleasures of the harvest, Selim has developed Laetitia into the home of some of California’s highest quality, sustainably-produced wines.

As you exit Laetitia, a “San Luis Obistpo Wine Trail” sign explains just how dynamic this wine regain is.

Edna_Valley_at_Sunset Wikipedia Commons

Boomers

 

 

http://www.nadiawines.com/resources/wine-club/wineClub1463612468573cf43430aa61.09541936.pdf

White Wine Reviews: Mr. Sommelier, What Exactly Makes This A Dry Wine?

From a Wall Street Journal online article by Lettie Teague

Dry White Wines Wall Street Journal Illustration by Heather Landis 2019There is no official definition of what constitutes a dry wine in the U.S. The amount of sugar left in the wine after fermentation or added afterward is, however, sometimes noted on a wine’s label, in grams per liter. According to Mr. Ramey, a wine generally considered dry would have less than 1 gram per liter RS (residual sugar), or 0.1%. Beyond that, a wine with 1% RS (10 grams per liter) is off-dry, and a wine at 3% RS (30 grams per liter) or above is sweet.

WHAT’S A DRY WINE? If this seems like a question with a straightforward answer, then you probably don’t work in a wine store or restaurant. Retailers and sommeliers tell me they are regularly asked to recommend dry wines by customers who don’t seem to know what they really want. These customers offer examples of the “dry” wines they favor—which often turn out to be technically sweet.

To read more click on the following link:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-you-sure-that-wine-you-ordered-is-actually-dry-11566492508

Top Travel Destinations: Portland, ME Is A “Food-Lover’s Paradise” And Cultural Experience

From a Wall Street Journal online article by Margot Dougherty:

Peaks Island by Greta Rybus for the Wall Street Journal 2019
Peaks Island
GRETA RYBUS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

JAMES BEARD AWARD-WINNING RESTAURANTS   line cobblestone streets, breweries turn out serious suds and the lobster roll is in a constant state of upscale reinvention. Portland, Maine, is a food-lover’s fantasyland, but the culture goes well beyond the plate. Works by Renoir, Homer and Picasso hang at the Portland Museum of Art, and Mother Nature puts on an all-seasons show. Set on the water—the Casco Bay islands make for picturesque day trips—the former capital of the state is rife with trails winding through its parks and promenades. Visitors are prone to mid-hike epiphanies: Why not live here? Soon after novelist Richard Russo and his wife, Barbara, moved to town, daughters Kate and Emily followed. Emily opened PRINT, a bookstore in artsy Munjoy Hill. “Our roots in Portland are very deep,” said Mr. Russo, whose new book, “Chances Are…” was written there. “I can’t think what would get us out of here now.”

Click on following link to read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/portland-maine-an-incomparable-insiders-guide-11565791068

Kitchenware Of The Future: “DuoPot” By That! Inventions Brews Both Coffee And Tea Stylishly

From a ThatInventions.com online posting:

That! Duo Pot for Tea and Coffee PhotoThe DuoPot’s premium glass body, pure and clear, is a new kind of visual sensation, while the clean chiseled stainless steel inside exudes sophistication and chic.  Together, they emanate a quiet beauty that incites love at first sight.  But the flippable filter design is really what all the raving is about, with its ability to brew coffee or tea with a simple twist of the wrist!  No more hassles with switching your drinking apparatus.  No more headaches with finding yet more storage space!  Delight your life with ingenuous design and lose yourself in the joy of making that perfect cup.

That! Duo Pot for Tea and Coffee Photo

THAT! Inventions, the kitchenware company that consistently amazes, recently introduced yet another pleasant surprise: a glass pot that brews coffee… and tea!  With an elegant, clever design that beguiles and delights, it brings a brand new level of convenience and fun to anyone who love both coffee and tea.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.thatinventions.com/blogs/news/that-duopot-enjoy-a-life-on-the-flip-side-where-you-can-have-it-both-ways

Gastronomic Events: The Eiffel Tower’s “Le Jules Verne” Restaurant Reopens With Spectacular Makeover And Menu

From an Architectural Digest online article:

Le Jules Verne Eiffel Tower Restaurant Menu 2019Eating well on the Dame de Fer, a.k.a. the Iron Lady or Eiffel Tower, is tradition. When it first opened in 1889, there were already four restaurants on the first floor, tucked away in wooden pavilions. And to celebrate the landmark’s 130th birthday this year, three-Michelin-starred chef Frédéric Anton (of Le Pré Catelan in the Bois de Boulogne) will take the helm of the City of Light’s highest gastronomic destination, soaring 410 feet above the city.

Located on the second floor, with direct access via a private elevator on the south pillar, the Jules Verne Restaurant—named for the celebrated French novelist, poet, and playwright—is reopening on July 20, entirely refurbished by architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman, founder of Culture in Architecture. With some six million visitors every year, around 80 percent of whom are foreigners, Chef Anton wants his cuisine to mirror France’s “culinary excellence,” he says. Revisiting the great classics with seasonal and local products, Anton intends to create a gastronomic experience in the arts décoratifs tradition, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

To read more click on following link: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/eiffel-tower-jules-verne-restaurant-redesign