Friday, May 10, 2019

Of this and That, longer than i originally thought



Just kind of a short (I hope) “this and that” compendium of things worth mentioning, but maybe not dwell upon (hopefully). No particular order

Au
While the metal has been made into pieces to adorn humans


It is now showing up on menus and culinary items (as we have seen)


With apologies to the dear lady who supplied a sample for me to play with


 My question has to be “Why Gold”?  I suppose it has a wow factor, but why “guild the lily” (ha ha) of a perfectly good dish (in this case pancakes)?  I played a little with the sheet and it sticks to anything, blows away easily, so I have nothing but respect for the chef trying to make it behave.   And the question might be: “Is it okay to eat the stuff”?  the short answer is “yes” because: “Gold is considered "biologically inert," meaning it passes through the digestive tract without being absorbed”;  hmm without getting too graphic, if it passes without being absorbed….think briefly about the end result…. Nuff said.   Anyway, I might try to use it and see what happens!


Venues
Got a little more gouge on the history of the CD Café.  Apparently the original “Deb” (the “D”) and her original colleague “Chris” (the “C”) had a disagreement which led to splitting up, with Deb keeping the restaurant.  She may have sold it again recently.

A reader responded about “The Slice” in Leonardtown (old “Kevin’s” space) and allowed it was good, but that person likes “The Brick (nee: Brick Wood Fired Bistro)” in Price Frederick I think in the old “Jericho’s” space which, as I recall, burned.  You can peruse the menu here.  They also list local sourcing of their ingredients.

Tips
Among the lot of food magazines I get is “Cook’s Country” kind of a spin-off from Cook’s Illustrated, now part of the “America’s Test Kitchen” empire, which MAYBE had Chris Kimball involved originally, but he has since moved on to become president and founder of “Milk Street”, which has more of an international bent.    Anyway, back to Cooks Country.  It has some interesting recipes, equipment reviews, “how to’s” and so forth.  It also, like other publications of its ilk, always has a section of reader submitted questions.  There’s a doozy in the latest issue which should go to the Smithsonian archive of idiocy.  The person submitting it might have a hard time boiling water… (how do I..)  I will include the complete quote from “New York” for your edification (and hopefully not education!)

Recipes often call for slicing beef against the grain, but I don’t understand what this means or how to do it. Can you clarify?”  Okay, N.Y. immediately sell all your pots and cooking equipment, and find a different hobby, cooking is not for you.  The editors do not dismiss the query, but spend a couple of columns explaining fibers, etc., (including a photo of some eye of the round thing, clearly showing “grain”.) and helpful explanations like: “If you think of the fibers as a handful of dry spaghetti, you want to cut the bundle of spaghetti into shorter sections”

Hooey Department

Well, I will be the first to admit I am a fan of Robert Parker and his “Wine Advocate”, which originally had what I found to be valuable and reliable reviews of wines.  Of course there grew to be many “imitators” like Wine Spectator who, while it does contain some interesting articles, never met a wine they didn’t like, seldom rating anything below 90 points. 

Anyway the Wine Advocate has expanded over the years, spending more time reviewing international wines, and Parker has hired several “experts” who specialize in various wine regions (Italy – Monica Larner; Bordeaux, Sonoma County Bordeaux Varieties and Napa Valley by Lisa Perotti-Brown) and so on.  Well now that they can spend more time on narrower topics they seem to have taken the art of “Wine Speak” to new levels.   A quick and tiny sampling:

2018 Ausone (Lisa Perrotti): Deep purple-black in color, it is an impenetrable wall to begin, unrelenting without persistent coaxing, at last uncoiling to offer glimpses of preserved plums, blueberry coulis, molten licorice, and underbrush with emerging scents of lavender iron ore, crushed stones,  (mick???) charcoal and Indian spices plus a waft of red roses.

2018 Cheval Blanc (and le Petit Cheval)… “comes strutting out of the glass with …. Candied violets, star anise, …. Kirsh and unsmoked cigars”

2005 Joy! (Iron Horse vineyards, Sonoma; Erin Brooks)  It has a bright, saline-accented nose with mineral aromas of crushed stone and shell, lemon pith, acacia blossoms, and Golden Delicious apples. Not Macintosh, mind you, Golden Delicious!

I could go on forever (as did they!).   Give me a break!! Do they just make this crap up?  Is there a wheel in their office they spin for phrases?   Geez, it’s GRAPE JUICE!!  Some hints as to tannins, fruity or no, ready to drink or cellar, stuff like that is helpful to some degree, but “unsmoked cigars”..   C’mon, man!!

Okay enough for today
DFD and DAMJ

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