Matters of Taste

Falling in Love with Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon

About that wine I dangled in front of you yesterday. The one that totally blew me away on one of the first evenings of the New Year. The one I fear I cannot live without, now that I’ve made its acquaintance. The one that will put me in the poorhouse if I don’t get over it, fast.

My discovery of Caymus “Special Selection” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 was a doubly delicious surprise, given the fact that I am not a huge Cab fan and, in fact, probably don’t drink a dozen bottles of the varietal in a year. (I do, on the other hand, make a serious dent in the world’s production of Pinot Noir.) I was agog from the very first sip. The luscious fruit; the smoothness; the lively, concentrated,  come-hither aroma. I sensed the great character, elegance and all the other serious things, like body and acidity, that important wines are supposed to have. But all I really wanted to focus on was the delicious flavor.

The next day I did a little research and learned that Caymus winemaker Chuck Wagner believes that blending creates a ”friendly character in the bottle.”  This particular Napa Valley Cab is a blend of mountain fruit which lends structure and “enriches the sweet fruit of the Valley floor.” I also learned that the Wagner family, in Napa Valley since 1906 and making wine since 1972, also makes Meiomi Pinot Noir which fifth-generation winemaker Joseph J. Wagner calls a “pure-bred enjoyment wine” and which I call my house wine (I buy  it by the case at Costco for about $17).

The Wine Spectator had this to say about Caymus "Special Selection:" "Firm, intense and well-structured,  with a mix of spicy oak, red and black currant, mineral, sage and dusty berry. Turns elegant and refined, yet shows a sturdy backbone on the finish."

And Robert Parker weighed in: "A barrel sample of the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection offers terrific fruit intensity and purity, a more laid-back style, a meaty, chewy texture, and impressive opulence as well as length. It should evolve for 10-15 years." (For folks who care about the numbers, it gets 94 points from Wine Spectator; 92-94 from Parker.)

So now I know --- I’m a sucker for “laid-back” Cabs.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely I’ll get to enjoy my new true love again soon, if ever. According to Web wine merchant K&L, a bottle costs $169.99. I was lucky enough to have a generous neighbor who brought the bottle to dinner at our house last week.

Alas, as the old saying goes: “Better to have drunk and lost than never to have drunk at all.”

 

 

 

 

Giving Thanks…..for Yummy New Things to Eat and Drink

The last champagne glass has been washed. The last return flight to the East Coast has landed. And the turkey soup is bubbling away on the stove. It’s time to give thanks for all the delicious things that friends and relatives brought to our Turkey Day feast --- new foods, wines and ideas that I’ll incorporate into the feasts of the future.

A Pumpkin By Any Other Name  

Forget the traditional apple and mincemeat pies. I am now totally hooked on Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  These luscious treats incorporate all the flavors and aromas of Thanksgiving --- canned pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar and cinnamon. But, at the same time, they offer a touch of whimsy (and they’re great for breakfast the next day too).  

Our holiday Whoopie Pies came from a recipe on the captivating BrownEyedBaker Website. It calls for the soft, cake-like sandwich cookies to be filled with a fluffy mixture of butter, cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and real maple syrup. (There are many versions of Whoopie Pies on-line, including the lovely creation, pictured here, from Bon Appetit magazine which uses marshmallow crème and maple extract in the filling.)

The pumpkin poufs were a huge hit at our turkey day dinner, even though they were going head-to-head with a “Cookies and Cream” cheesecake from Brooklyn Cheesecake and Dessert Company (one of our guests bought it on RueLaLa)  and my mother’s chocolate ice box cake (a "log" of Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Wafers and whipped cream) that’s been part of our family’s holiday for more than 60 years.

The 24 sated souls at our table also made room for the fabulous homemade toffee from Cups & Cakes, a boutique sweet shop in Rumson. NJ. Both the Almond and Chocolate-Pecan versions are amazing, with multiple layers of first-rate milk and dark chocolate and a buttery toffee with the perfect crunch (not too soft or too hard). The shop also does show-stopping “celebration” cakes and lovely gift baskets.

Calling All Coffee Connoisseurs  

I’m not about to trade La Jolla for Portland, Oregon any time soon, but  I sure would love for one of that city’s beloved coffee purveyors to open a shop close to me! Stumptown Coffee is the darling of coffee connoisseurs these days, with a handful of shops in Portland, two in Seattle and one in New York City (in the Ace Hotel).

Our Thanksgiving weekend breakfasts were happy times, indeed, thanks to the two Stumptown specials brought by a Seattle friend.  The Hair Bender, said to be the best blend for espresso, was a heady brew, full-bodied, yet with elegant layers of flavor. The cute little business card tucked into the bag told the story about this “complex sweet and savory blend” and promised flavors of milk chocolate, caramel, jasmine, Meyer lemon, apricot and pineapple. I got the milk chocolate and caramel flavors loud and clear, and loved them.  The other, Guatemala Finca el Injerto (Bourbon), was also  intriguing with its notes of roasted nuts and earthy chocolate.  I’m not a big fan of regular brewed coffee, but that’s how I prepared this coffee and it was fantastic with a double dose of half-and-half.  

The other beverages of note at our festivities were gifts of our Walla Walla WA friends -- four distinctive, delicious wines from the wineries of that up-and-coming area. My favorite, the Garrison Creek 2005 Syrah, was lip-smacking good. This wine had the heft to stand up to a rich turkey dinner with all the trimmings, but also an elegance that made us sit back and say "wow." The requisite Syrah black pepper notes were there, but also an abundance of lovely fruit.  We also drank a lush Leonetti Cabernet  Sauvignon. From Walla Walla's first winery, this is a sophisticated wine, with ripe fruits, spice and dried herbs dominating the flavor profile, and an impressively smooth mouth feel.

Piqueing the Palate 

Choosing the right hors d’oeuvre for Thanksgiving Day is a challenge. It has to be something unusual for this once-a-year extravaganza, it has to be satisfying; but at the same time it has to be light enough to leave us hungry for the main event. One of our guests brought a platter of crisp endive leaves stuffed with goat cheese, green onion, walnuts and mandarin orange bits. It was colorful, elegant, and delicious. You can find the recipe, which was adapted from an original “Cooking Light” recipe, at NaturalNoshing.com.

 

 

 

 

THREE-PEAT: Cocktails at FIG, Charleston, S.C.

When was the last time I found myself in a bar downing Manhattans three nights in a row? Like, ah, never! Much as I love a good drink, hanging out in bars and belting back hard liquor is not my normal M.O.

But, I guess there’s a time and a place for everything, and last week in Charleston S.C. with about 50 fellow members of the Association of Food Journalists was clearly that time and place.

We were in the picturesque coastal town for our annual conference, four days of seminars, speakers, business meetings, tastings, field trips and fabulous meals. Straight off the plane on Tuesday night I headed to FIG (Food is Good) with two West Coast colleagues. We all knew about chef Mike Lata (who won “Best Chef Southeast” at the 2010 James Beard Awards) and our mouths were watering for such Lata specialties as Carolina Shrimp Escabeche and Tomato Tarte Tatin.

But the cocktail menu turned out to be a serious speed-bump.

For starters there was the list of Proprietary Cocktails that included the Marfa Daisy (Espolon Blanco tequila, elderflower liqueur, aquavit, grapefruit juice and grapefruit bitters) that was the sassy super-model of margaritas; and the Greenthumb (Cathead Vodka, green Chartreuse, lime, mint, cucumber and celery bitters).

Then there was the Make-Your-Own Manhattan extravaganza featuring 15 bourbons (and a few ryes), eight types of sweet vermouth, and 13 types of bitters, mostly homemade. Feeling like a kid in a candy store, I poured over the lists, then picked Old Overholt Rye (new to me but Lata' favorite), Dolin Rouge Vermouth (another new friend), and Angostura orange bitters. Served straight up in an old-fashioned “champagne” glass it was a delicious swirl of sweet, smoke, herb and tang.

The third page featured riffs on the Negroni, a classic Italian aperitif of Campari, sweet vermouth and   gin that was invented in Florence in the early 1900s. Calling it the “short and perfect aperitivo,” the menu lists nine versions including the Rhubarb Negroni with Farmer’s Gin, Zucca Rabarbaro (syrup) and Dolin Rouge vermouth;  the Negroni Sbagliato with Campari, sweet vermouth and Prosecco; and the Hummingbird (Beefeater, Campari, elderflower, Nouilly Pratt and crushed ice). (This photo is from a cool Website called Cocktails in Charleston that seems proof positive that I am not the only one who has spent time tippling in this historic town.)

Reporters being reporters, word about FIG’s creative cocktails and lively bar scene spread fast among AFJ members, each of whom by definition is obsessed with finding delicious things to eat and drink. So it was that I found myself back at FIG for nightcaps the next two nights, with colleagues who were equally smitten by the talented mixologists.

I’m now a big fan of subbing Prosecco for the gin in a regular Negroni (the sparkling wine makes for a lighter aperitif with no bite); and injecting a bit of the USA in the Italian drink with a splash of Buffalo Trace Straight Kentucky Bourbon. 

I'm also intrigued by Basil Hayden's minty bourbon; Blanton's "Original Single-Barrel Bourbon;" and Elmer T. Lee, the guy who makes Buffalo Trace. I now know that most sweet vermouths sold in the U.S. are Torino-style, and that there are a whole lot of new ones, such as Cocchi and Carpano, that I need to try.

And, I'm about to jump on the bitters bandwagon. There's been a surge if interest in these alcoholic sidekicks that are flavored with herbal essences and have a bitter or bittersweet flavor.  Today, homemade or small-batch orange, cherry, rhubarb and Aztec chocolate bitters are giving the old-fashioned Angostura a run for its money.   

Oh, yeah. FIG’s food. Fabulous.

The tomato tarte tatin (left),  “salted” with tapenade and smoothed with fromage blanc, managed to taste like mid-summer even though the season is just about over. The escabeche featured plump, tender fresh white Carolina fresh shrimp with the usual marinated vegetables and the unusual addition of grated ginger. 

We also flipped over the cloud-like ricotta gnocchi with Bolognese sauce; the local triggerfish with roasted cauliflower and caper; and the Coddled Sea Island Farm Egg that, when pierced, quickly swirled itself into the accompanying red wine-braised mushrooms and celeriac cream. On the side was a dish of chewy, pea- and prosciutto-dotted farro from Anson Mills that was so good I ordered packages of the grain on-line as soon as I got back to San Diego.

Dinner and drinks at FIG was a perfect introduction to Charleston, a town with only 300,000 people but a whole lotta knock-your-socks-off restaurants.

 

Caffe Affogato: The Hot New Way to Cool Off

As a longtime fan of this delicious coffee-and-ice-cream concoction, I was happy to see the recent Wall Street Journal blurb encouraging us to “embrace the affogato – the Italian version of a grownup soda-fountain drink.”

“The caffeinated wonder combines hot espresso with cold gelato to create a melty, spoonable (or gulpable) treat.”

The potion has been popping up on restaurant menus in New York where stratospheric temperatures have ensured it an enthusiastic reception. I’m hoping that the WSJ photo of pastry chef Sarah Cox’s single shot of espresso over “homemade double chocolate stout and milk chocolate ice cream” will rev up yet more interest in this Italian triumph of multi-tasking (dessert, coffee break, even breakfast, all in one).

I have fond memories of the first time I tasted an Eiskaffee, the German/Austrian cousin of Caffee Affogato. It was a layered production of cold brewed coffee (instead of espresso), vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream in a tall parfait glass. It was more than 30 years ago but I can still see the tiny café tucked away a cobblestoned alley in Innsbruck, Austria, and I can still taste the dark-roasted coffee, creamy ice cream and impossibly light whipped cream.

A more recent memory is of lunchtime last September at an outdoor café in Beame de Venise, France where my husband and I were biking with a Backroads bike tour group. The cranky waitress insisted she could not serve us caffe afogato or  eiskaffee, even though the restaurant featured a free-standing ice cream shop, and espresso, well, godssake, the French make an art of drinking espresso and smoking Gaulois. After listening to her emphatic “No, no, no, ce n’est pas possible,” I ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream and an espresso and, while she watched with an apoplectic stare, created my own affogato.

Here in Vienna I’ve found what is surely the most memorable take on this high-voltage brew.  At Pfarrwirt, a magical inn first established in the 14^th century (it’s said to be Vienna’s oldest restaurant), I was fascinated by the clever riff on Eiskaffee pictured here.

The tiny demitasse cup contained a shot of espresso crowned with freshly whipped cream; the silky panna cotta was flecked with vanilla beans;  crushed pistachios garnished the sphere of  soft vanilla ice cream; and, on the side, homemade cookies. Dark-roasted coffee beans dotted a decorative squiggle of buttery caramel sauce. It was a yummy surprise in a country where traditional usually trumps trendy.

We’re heading today to the Südtirol, Italy’s northernmost region and home of the imposing Dolomite mountains where we’ll trek for the next 8 days. Caffé Affogato will be our mid-afternoon coffee break each day.

If you’ve found a great version of this “energy” drink anyplace in the world, or concocted a great one at home, please do let this coffee-crazed writer know about it.

 

Aaaaaaah, Aperol!

In contrast to the Wall Street Journal’s burger story last weekend, which made me crave an all-American treat that I probably can’t get my hands on for several weeks, the paper's recent article about “sophisticated summer cocktails” told the story of the European-style aperitifs that I am happily sipping here in Vienna, Austria.

Readers of this blog already know all about Aperol, the Italian aperitif that’s made from rhubarb, gentian flowers, bitter orange and tree bark. I’m crazy about the stuff which I discovered years ago while hiking in Italy’s Dolomite mountains.  The Aperol Spritz -- club soda and Prosecco with a splash of rosy Aperol -- is popular with Italians and Austrians who even sip it mid-morning at the cafes surrounding the open-air markets here.

The WSJ article also raves about St-Germain, a trendy French liqueur made from Alpine elderflower blossoms that “tastes somewhere between pear, lemon, grapefruit, passion fruit…and heaven.”

Both aperitifs pack a lot of flavor into a few precious drops, which means the resulting “cocktails” are light, refreshing and low in alcohol, which means, in turn, you can drink more of them! (For even lower alcohol, skip the Prosecco and use just sparkling water or a flavored San Pellegrino water.)

Just grab a bottle of either, pour about a teaspoon into a stemmed glass, add a splash of Prosecco or other sparkling wine, plenty of sparkling water, and, as the Journal says,  “…presto, you've fixed yourself one of the easiest, continentally suave summer drinks one can whip up in less time than it takes to remember Berlusconi's first name. (It's Silvio.)"

Don’t miss the WSJ story. You’ll love the recipes.

Wow Wines.....Part 1

So many wines, so little time.

I’ve decided to keep a running tally of the delicious wines I taste, wines that I call Wow Wines. That’s not “wow” as in prestigious, expensive, rare or fabled. Rather, I’m talking about a wine that makes my eyes open wide and my mouth break into a big smile. It’s usually a fruit-forward wine, a fragrant wine, a wine that goes well with food. It’s also usually a good value, often under $15, rarely over $30.

When you get right down to it, there are a lot of wines out there that are “just fine, thanks.” Perfectly tasty, but nothing to write home about. I’d guess that 4 out of 5 that I open each week fit that category. Wow Wines will be a journal of wines worth writing home about, or at least writing on this blog about.

My newest love is a rather oddball blend that I discovered at Costco. I was attracted to the the Shiraz-Viognier from Domaine Terlato & Chapoutier because I interviewed Monsieur Chapoutier about 20 years ago while I was biking through France’s Rhone Valley and was impressed with that operation. 

From what I understand, the young Michel Chapoutier teamed up in about 2000 with Anthony Terlato of Terlato Wine Group, which imports Chapoutier wines into the U.S. Together the men created a winery in the Pyrenees vineyards of Australia’s Western Central Victoria region. In 2004 they released their first vintage of Malakoff Vineyard Shiraz which won a 90-92 rating from Robert M. Parker, Jr. The current vintages of the wine retail for about $35 a bottle.

Their Shiraz-Viognier, on the other hand, goes for about 12 bucks at Costco. I love the wine’s balance of spice and pepper with in-your-face fruit. It’s lush and velvety and food-friendly. It's so yummy I think I'll open another bottle tonight with our dinner of pan-fried Alaskan halibut and fresh white corn sauteed with diced bell peppers, bacon and maple syrup.

 

 

 

 

 

Winning Wines -- Four Delicious Discoveries

A half-dozen or so stand-out wines flowed my way recently. Wines that were so delicious they sent me to Google to learn more about them and to wine shops to see if I could buy more.

Apparently the cognoscenti (and even Oprah!) have been fans of BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS since it squished its first grape in 2003. But I just discovered this powerhouse of Pomerol-style wines this week, and it was love at first sip.

Blackbird Vineyards ARISE 2008 is the blend of 42% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc that knocked my socks off.  Called a Bordeaux-inspired blend (Merlot is the principle player in the region’s Pomerol wines), Arise is a luscious wine that pulls you in with its layered aromatics – cherry, plum, a hint of mint – then blows you away with rich black-fruit flavors and velvety mouthfeel. It’s an elegant wine, yet totally unintimidating.

For those who need to know more than the fact that it tastes great, I can tell you it’s aged in French oak barrels for 19 months; that the 2008 vintage was unusual because of weather conditions that created an exceptionally low yield, leading to great concentration of flavor in smaller berries; that 1570 cases were produced; and that winemaker Aaron Potts says the spice in this wine “reminds me of a Moroccan bazaar.” The 2008 Arise retails for about $50.

The Blackbird vineyard is in Napa’s prestigious Oak Knoll district. Guests are invited to taste and buy wines at Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley in Yountville. Limited quantities are available through an allocated mailing list direct from the winery and in fine restaurants and hotels.

The very clever Flock Box Collection contains a selection of six 50 ml. glass bottles containing samples of Blackbird’s Merlot and Cabernet Franc blends, such as Arriviste rosé, Arise, Paramour, Contrarian, and Illustration. The Flock Box costs about $48 through the winery.

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I also got lucky this week with an invitation to taste the wines of COTE BONNEVILLE, an award-winning  operation in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Our neighbors were hosting Cote Bonneville owner, Dr. Hugh Shiels, for a happy hour mini tasting and so I trotted over to join them. 

I was very impressed with the 2008 Chardonnay which has plenty of acidity balancing tropical fruit flavors (and a lovely whiff of vanilla); less excited about the Carriage Hill 2006 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (with a pinch of Cab Franc) which I applauded as smooth and well-balanced but found a little restrained for my tastes; and totally wowed by the Cote Bonneville DuBrul Vineyard 2005 with its come-hither aroma and supremely satisfying plum, black berry and cassis flavors.

Small wonder this Cab/Merlot wine scores consistently in the stratosphere with the “Wine” guys, that is Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator, who had this to say:

"Polished, focused, and juicy, with bright red fruit flavors that mingle appealingly with hints of chocolate and cherry as the finish lingers expressively on a refined frame. There's an elegance to this, and a depth that only becomes apparent with successive sips."

The Chardonnay and Carriage Hill retail for about $45; the Cote Bonneville DuBrul Vineyard 2005 is about $110. Available at Vinfolio.com.

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The captivating BOURGUEIL wine I tasted recently at Quinn’s in Seattle is now both a lovely memory and a big mystery.  The wine list said simply LE PETIT BON DIEU BOURGUEIL. Our server suggested a glass to accompany the terrific Crispy Skin Chicken with Celeriac Anna & Glazed Baby root Vegetables that I had ordered.  And I promptly fell in love with the wine’s lively fruit flavor, lovely floral aroma, impressive balance, and easy-going personality that also married well with our appetizers and my son’s Goat Confit with Foie Gras Barley entrée.

However, it seems unlikely I’m going to get another glass real soon because the folks at Quinn’s say it’s a special cuvee done for the Seattle importer A&B Imports, and a whole lot of Googling hasn’t turned up any retail leads.  I have learned, however, that Bourgueil is a light, bright red wine with a peppery perfume that’s made of Cabernet Franc grapes in the Loire region of France. Typically, it’s the whites from the Loire Valley that get all the attention. But I, for one, am going to be on the lookout for this intriguing Cab Franc and its neighbor wine, Chinon. Most Bourgueils and Chinons retail in the $10 to $15 range.

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D. H. PORTH DUNDEE HILLS PINOT NOIR is another recent find that’s a real steal at 13 bucks a bottle.   The second label of acclaimed Arterberry Maresh,  it doesn’t have the extended barrel-aging of the winery’s more exalted Pinots (which retail for $35 to $75) but it has a light, lively flavor that’s immediately appealing and enough body and charm to hold our attention.

The wine hails from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the Dundee Hills appellation. With its transparent  cherry-red color, good acidity, bright fruit, and modest 13.8 percent alcohol content, it’s a lip-smacking partner to good food and good times.

I discovered D. H. Porth (which is named for the Porth brothers, Ted and Fred, who helped run the Maresh farm and vineyard back in the late 1950s ) at Staple & Fancy Mercantile in Seattle. Our server suggested it to go with the savory, tomato-based pasta dishes I was craving.

It also played very well with the kitchen’s sensational take on pork belly (photo), a crackly, well-burnished hunk of goodness that managed to taste rich and voluptuous without being fatty or unctuous. The bright, crisp pearl onions and Brussels sprouts sharing the plate were the perfect textural counterpoint.

But, honestly, I’d drink this Pinot with just about anything – pizza, burgers, pasta, beef stew, chicken paprikash, omelettes, pork roast, you-name-it. A quick on-line check for sources showed availability only at stores in the Pacific Northwest. But this delectable bargain is worthy of more sleuthing.

 

 

Top Ten Tastes of 2011

I went. I saw. I tasted it all. These were my favorite discoveries at the Fancy Food Show, held last week at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

POCO DOLCE Sesame Toffee Bittersweet Chocolate Tiles with Grey Sea Salt are divine. So’s the Burnt Caramel Toffee Tile. These are chocolates to savor slowly, with lots of oohing and aahing. I was also fascinated by the company’s new Bittersweet Bar flavored with California olive oil and grey sea salt. This is one to eat slowly, allowing it to melt on your tongue and the olive oil essence to linger 

Say cheese, as in CAPRICHOS DE LA PASTORA TORTA DE OVEJA, and get ready to smile. This unusual spreadable cheese from Spain is sensational. It’s called a torta because it looks like a little cake. Let it come to room temperature, lop off the top, grab a spoon, a bottle of wine and a couple of dear friends and get ready to dine. It will be available on-line at The Rogers Collection, but the price hasn’t been determined as I write this.

The folks at POWELL AND MAHONEY must have felt bad for all us aspiring bartenders who desperately need a bottle of SIMPLE SYRUP simple syrup to create the cocktails of our dreams.  (Sure, you can make it yourself, but it’s a messy operation.) The company introduced Simple Syrup in a neat and tidy bottle at the show, so it won’t be in stores for a month or so. Look for it in gourmet shops and upscale liquor emporiums. Let Happy Hour begin.

 

All hummus is not created equal. In fact, all hummus is not even made from the traditional chickpeas.  At last week’s show, Tryst Gourmet unveiled an EDAMAME HUMMUS that is scrumptious and really good for you too. Made from baby soy beans, it’s flecked with yellow peppers, black sesame and ginger and is smooth, creamy and totally addicting. The Eat Well Enjoy Life line also includes edamame hummus with minced red pepper and toasted sesame, as well as a terrific Spicy Yellow Lentil Hummus (with sunflower seeds and apricot) and Tuscan white bean hummus with roasted pine nuts and herbs. I love them all. Not yet available in supermarkets, but watch for the groovy green lids in the refrigerator case of your market in the next few months.

I’ve always been a fan of LUCINI extra virgin olive oil, which sits in front of a dozen or so olive oils on my pantry shelf. Nonetheless, I shied away from their new line of bottled vinaigrettes because I’m simply not a fan of bottled salad dressings. Wow, did I get a surprise when I tasted the new Delicate Cucumber & Shallot Artisan Vinaigrette. Its light, creamy texture and bright flavors are a perfect match for salads, cooked salmon, steamed veggies, cole slaw, and even couscous fluffed with minced chives. A bottle costs about $7; Lucini is widely available in Whole Foods and most upscale supermarkets.

The newest pasta sauce from perennial award-winner DAVE’S GOURMET is a supremely satisfying merger of cultures called Masala Marinara. Its sweet-tangy flavor will do the obvious wonders for a bowl of bucatini, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with lasagna, lamb stew, chicken cacciatore and even pizza. A 25-ounce jar retails for $6 to $8; available in many upscale markets.

NUVOLA DE PECORA is a semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. The square, soft-rind cheese, which translates poetically as sheep clouds, has a bone-white interior and an awesome velvety texture. There’s a hint of sweetness playing games with the characteristic sheep’s milk tang. It’s distributed by Forever Cheese in Long Island City.

Gluten-free items continue to be big news. I was blown away by Stonewall Kitchen’s rich, satisfying GLUTEN-FREE-BROWNIE-MIX. (There’s also a gluten-free vanilla cupcake mix that I didn’t try.) I was also enchanted with the coastal Maine company’s Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Mix. The doughnuts are light and fluffy, with a heavily dusted, lip-smacking exterior.  They’re baked, not fried so that makes them guilt-free in my book. They’re also easy to whip up (with egg, butter and milk) using the molded mini donut pan that’s sold with the mix. (A package of mix is $8.95; the pan is $14.95.) 

LAVENDER SHORTBREAD schmeared with mascarpone….be still my heart. This was my favorite cookie from two-year-old, Napa-based Botanical Bakery which uses premium ingredients from Strauss Family Creamery and calls the cookies “Our take on butter, flour and sugar.” The Ginger Squared and Cardamom shortbreads are yummy too. A 3.5-ounce bag of bite-sized Shorties costs about $6.

Ever since the MAYA KAIMAL line of Indian simmer sauces was introduced in 2003, these savory sauces have made my Fancy Food Show Ten Best list every year. Originally available only in the refrigerated cases of the supermarket, the sauces are now available in shelf-stable glass jars, with a two-year shelf life. The line includes about a half dozen types of sauce, including Kashmiri Curry, Vindaloo and Madras Curry, but my absolute favorite continues to be the Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce with its cinnamon, cardamom and clove notes and perky tomato-ginger flavor. The sauces are available in upscale supermarkets; a 15-ounce container is about $8.

SWEET-RIOT calls itself an alternative to a chocolate bar. I see it more as an alternative to pigging out. This clever  product consists of the tiny nibs from the cacao bean, roasted and cloaked in three intensities of dark chocolate (50-, 65-or 70 percent). Just two or three nibs give a blast of flavor and a pleasing tickle to the tongue. Only 1 or 2 calories per bite, 140 in the whole tin. About $5 per tin.

 

Fancy That! What's New at Annual Gourmet Food Show

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE….and it is full of  blue cheese, bacon jam and BeBop Biscotti,  new-age hummus and seaweed snacks, herb-flavored water, teas that promise emotional well-being, and a veritable tsunami of coffee (flavored, socially conscious, pedigreed and preciously packaged), ancient grains, gluten-free you-name-it, deep-dish pizza for dogs, chocolate truffles and the stinky ones too,  one heckuva lot of flavored popcorn, and cheese, cheese and more cheese.

Those were some of the highlights of last week’s Fancy Food Show, the 3-day smorgasbord of gourmet food and beverage that’s held every January at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Staged by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade and open only to the trade, this year’s show featured more than 80,000 gourmet food items (from more than 30 countries), all hoping to be discovered by retail store buyers and catapulted to fame as the hot nosh of 2011. 

Here's a sample of the most interesting, delicious, trend-setting, tasteless, or just plain outrageous food and drink I discovered.

SAY CHEESE

Cheese has always been a major player at the Fancy Food Show, but this year there was more than ever. From Spain, an almost-liquid treasure (above) called Caprichos de la Pastora (see tomorrow’s post for a full description); from Montana, Mountina “Alpine” cheese with pleasing nutty flavor and smooth texture; from Italy, the voluptuous cow’s and sheep’s milk cheeses of Luigi Guffanti; from Rouzaire, a lovely Brie imbued with Grand Marnier that is sometimes available at Costco. Blue cheese was especially rampant, with hundreds of savory wheels including five from the family-run Willapa Hills farmstead operation in southwest Washington state; Crater Lake, Caveman and the new earthy, slightly funky, slightly sweet Flora Nelle from Rogue Creamery; Blue del Moncenisio; and Cashel Blue. There were also do-it-yourself kits for tasting (Artisanal Premium Cheese Co.) and mozzarella making (Roaring Brook Dairy.) 

CHOCOLATE

Show-goers (including manufactureres, importers, brokers and retail shop owners) couldn’t walk ten steps without bumping into a chocolate purveyor. There were fat truffles filled with envelope-pushing ganache flavors, slim bars, tiny pebbles, milk chocolate tool kits and bittersweet roulette wheels. There was chocolate dusted with coarse finishing salt or mated with caramel and toffee. There was chocolate with a schtick, such as Fearless chocolate which claims to be unroasted in order to preserve “natural nutrients, marvelous minerals and abundance antioxidants.”

The new truffle line from Fairytale Brownies, one of my favorite on-line purveyors of goodness, come in  three flavors -- pecan, espresso nib and toffee crunch – and feature intense flavor, fabulous crunch and a cloak of 60% Caillebaut chocolate. My only gripe is that each truffle is really too big for one person at one time. Knipschildt, a boutique that touts its fresh cream, butter and fruit and wins prizes for its packaging, had a winner with its Caramel Sea Salt Truffle Box which features four types of salt.

There was a veritable TEA party going on at the Moscone Center, and not a politician in sight -- black tea, herbal tea, white tea, green tea and even “extremely green tea,” as the Tamayokucha tea from Two Leaves and A Bud is known.  We’re talking artsy-fartsy tea brewing systems; Steaz, a blend of tea and sparkling water that has an unpleasant aftertaste;  tea in cookies, cakes and chocolate truffles; tea for folks who want to relax, and tea for folks who want to get up and go, and Teamotions for folks who’d like such herbs as neem (“for clarity”) and ashwagandha (“for joy”) and schizandra berry (“for hope”) in their afternoon brew. Then there’s tea seed oil. Make that wild tea seed oil.  It was all news to me. And after hearing a few facts (it does have a very high, 485 degrees, smoking point) and tasting the stuff, I don’t see much reason to learn any more about it.

OLIVE OIL still occupies an important place on the shelf in today’s kitchens and there were hundreds at last week’s show.  I was intrigued by the new three-liter box of Italian extra virgin olive oil from Lucini, one of my favorite sources for EVOO and pasta sauces. The box features an airtight seal and is guaranteed fresh for 12 months after opening. It costs $50 for the regular EVOO; $60 for the organic. Plus, it’s easier, neater and creates less trash. Though there’s plenty of olive oil coming from Spain, Tunisia, Greece and other countries, in my opinion the best still comes from Italy. Some of my other favorites are "Crudo" from Puglia, Regaleali and Tenuta di Capezzana; most available at Market Hall Foods and Olio2Go.

HONEY

The world's bees have been keeping busy. Puremiel organic raw honey is harvested  from bees in southerm Spain's Grazalema and Alcornocales natural parks by fifth-generation beekeepers. The packaging is especially attractive; the honeys are delicious.  Ditto the Abella honeys from Galicia in northwestern Spain. I also liked Breitsamer Tangy Forest Honey from Germany.

CONVENIENCE FOODS, such as international simmer sauces in jars and tubes, and GoGo Squeeze, a100% fruit squeezable apple sauce, grow increasingly sophisticated. And there’s increasing evidence that people want to eat healthier…..or at least say they want to. I found seaweed snacks called SeaSnax; chocolate bars with resveratrol, the chemical found in red wine (supposedly one bar has the resveratrol  of more than 50 glasses of red wine); alternative chips such as Flamous Falafel Chips, Beanitos Bean & Chipotle chips, and Turbana Plantain Chips (all of them delicious); Twice-Baked Potato Stix with Salt and Cracked Pepper; and lots of Blue Agave syrup as a substitute for sugar.

As always, LUXURY FOODS made quite a splash. Among them: jars of fragrant Italian black truffles from Savini Tartufi (these and a small tube of truffle paste will be available in coming weeks) and the fragile, flaky wisps of edible gold from Giusto Manetti that can garnish a dark chocolate mousse, risotto or even sushi; float in an Aperol Prosecco cocktail; or dress the rim of a Champagne glass with élan. Buy on-line at Market Hall Foods.

ALL THINGS ITALIAN

Our love affair with the sunny cuisine of Italy continues and there were scores of manufacturers and importers at the show ready to stoke the fire. I loved the heavenly Blood Orange Marmalade, from Marchesi di San Guiliano, that can be schmeared on breakfast toast, grilled chicken and swordfish alike, or folded into sauteed shredded Brussels sprouts or fluffy couscous. A jar costs about $13 and is available on-line at Market Hall Foods.

I also loved the lovely, coarsely ground polenta with a rosy-hued husk from Italy’s Trentino region that’s called Farina della Valsugana. It’s a winter-night wonder when cooked with a bit of butter, taleggio cheese and fresh sage folded in. (Not in markets yet.) Want to recreate the farro dishes that are all the rage in restaurants these days? Manicaretti is your go-to source for Rustichella d”Abruzzo Farro. Considered the “father of modern wheat,”  farro is a hearty grain with a pleasant nutty flavor. You can buy it in ground form and use it as you would polenta, or buy it made into pasta shapes such as orzo and bucatini, or as a whole grain for a trendy “risotto.” 

As at every Fancy Food Show, there were a few duds.  Chocolate-dipped Jelly Belly Jelly Beans seems to me to be an idea whose time never needed to come. Isn’t there enough already going on, flavor-wise, in a Chili Mango, Mixed Berry Smoothie or Strawberry Daiquiri jelly bean? Flavored cheese from Sartori Reserve? C’mon, guys. Raspberry-flavored cheese? Merlot? Chardonnay? Espresso?? How about a little respect for the poor cows trying their best to make cheese taste like cheese.

And Oregon White Truffle Oil. Let’s face it. We can’t all look like Brangelina. We can’t all play the piano like Lang Lang. And we can’t all harvest fabulous black and white truffles in our forests. So, get over it, America. Admit that there are SOME things that the French and Italians do better. The Oregon White Truffle oil I tasted, -- "the first all-natural truffle oil ever produced in the United States" -- had an odd, not-all-that-pleasant flavor.

Lastly, there’s a category I call “novelties” for lack of a better word.

Haggis potato chips, anyone? Didn’t think so. One of the six flavors offered by Scottish company Mackies  (another flavor is Aberdeen Angus Beef), the Haggis & Cracked Black Pepper chips come with an asterisk of sorts. According to press releases – “Unlike other flavors in the line which contain the actual ingredients that are in their name, the haggis flavor has been replicated with spices, explains Kristen Mackie, creator of the crisps.” Dang, I was looking forward to a potato chip imbued with sheep’s hearts, livers and lungs.

And, lastly, is it just me that finds nothing cute or appetizing about hot sauces called  Blair’s Death Sauces and Snacks? The company (which admittedly has a very cool Website) introduced new packaging at the show. Its three hottest sauces -- Sudden Death, Mega Death and Ultra Death – now come in coffins.

Check back tomorrow for my list of the TEN BEST foods I found at this year's show.

 

Life’s Too Short to Drink Cheap Wine

Unless, or course, it’s really delicious cheap wine.

According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal article entitled “Snooty? Not Today’s Wine Drinkers,” many Americans are doing just that…..opting for attractive, well-made wines in the $9-12 range, instead of the pricier quaffs they may have been drinking before the 2008 economic downturn. Reporter David Kesmodel writes: 

"The economic downturn was toughest for the U.S. wineries that sell wines for $20 a bottle and up. After switching to less-expensive wines in the downturn, many consumers are staying at those lower prices because they liked what they found, industry executives and analysts say."

More than a year ago, New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov also explored this phenomenon and predicted that Americans would come to love the less expensive options they were discovering in the wake of the economic upheaval:

"In the year or so since the economy plummeted without a parachute, Americans have not stopped buying wine. They’ve simply bought cheaper wine. Whether this will ultimately be seen as a time of sacrifice or an eye-opening education remains to be determined, but I have a hunch that many people will find it easy, when the economy recovers, not to resume their free-spending ways."

Wine prices started dropping even before the current economic crisis, in large part due to the “juice” glut in California. In 2003, I wrote about the impact of that glut on the proliferation of under-$10 and even under-$5 wines, and over the years I've developed a roster of favorite "value" wines. Since the WSJ article focuses on the $9-$12 range, I’ll do the same. Here are three delicious ways to drink to brighter days on the economic horizon.

ANGELINE CALIFORNIA PINOT NOIR is made of grapes from Santa Barbara, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Its intense aroma features fruit, vanilla and spice; its flavor screams “party” with layers of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and plum. No need to overanalyze this baby, just drink it with gusto. I like it with pizza, braised and grilled chicken, pasta dishes and mild fish such as halibut or Chilean seabass. It’s widely available; I buy it for about $12 at Costco.

LAYER CAKE PRIMITIVO

This varietal from Puglia (Italys’ stiletto heel) is, essentially, Zinfandel. And a truly delicious Zinfandel, with only 13.5 percent alcohol instead of the numbing 15 percent and higher of most California Zins. I initially shied away from the wine because of its rather silly name and label. But on a recent family vacation, I ended up serving it with dinner three nights out of seven because it was so compatible with a wide array of dishes – Israeli couscous with yellow raisins, spinach and lamb sausage; pasta Bolognese; Thai peanut butter chicken and coconut milk rice.

The winery’s Website has this to say about the Primitivo: A balance of elegance and power; inky black  fruit, spice and white pepper, jammy black cherries, plums, blackberry fruit, truffles, tar, and espresso. Warm and rich in the mouth with a creamy texture; the ripe fruit is well supported by the deep structure of the wine.

All is can say is “another glass, please.”

QUINTA DO CRASTO DOURO

In the name of “research,” I am diligently working my way through the Douro wines of Portugal. If you know what Douro wines are, bravo to you! I am just now discovering this fresh, fruity wine with the slightly spicy nose, pleasantly low alcohol point (13.5%), and gentle pricetag. (There are also very elegant, refined, high-priced Douro wines.)

There are many producers of this engaging blend of grapes from the Douro Valley. I especially like the QUINTA DO CRASTO DOURO that sells at Costco for about 11 or 12 bucks. It offers ripe, appealing fruit, plenty of spice, and an alluring berry aroma. It’s a wine to drink with food, not alone. And it’s happy with a lot of different foods, from burgers and ragus to pork roasts and tomato-based pastas.