Today in the New York Times, Eric Asimov writes about wines (in addition to good beers) that pair well with Asian food.
This same topic was covered last fall on public radio's The Splendid Table. The program host, Lynn Rosetto Kasper, interviewed Edwin Soon, author of Wine With Asian Food: New Frontiers of Taste and Pairing Wine with Asian Food. You can listen to the podcast by clicking this link and scrolling down the page to the section on featuring Mr. Soon.
One general guideline from these sources? When choosing a wine to accompany Asian food, select a low alcohol, white wine with no oak flavors. Thus: Chardonnay? No. Riesling? Yes.
Showing posts with label Splendid Table. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Splendid Table. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
A Year in . . . Cookbooks
For months I've been reading that publishers expect to do big business selling cookbooks this holiday season. On the one hand, this seems difficult to believe. Who needs another cookbook when the internet provides a treasure trove of recipes and cooking information?
On the other hand, folks who enjoy cooking also enjoy reading and collecting books about it. A good book or two is always welcome, especially when venturing into new areas of cooking. This year I started experimenting with Indian cooking and bought two excellent books by Madhur Jaffrey: Quick and Easy Indian Cooking and From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail.
If cookbooks are on your reading list, or holiday shopping list, check out the Washington Post which recently published a collection of some of the best cookbooks from 2008. Two of the books on its list are also in my own 'to read' file.
The first is BakeWise by biochemist Shirley O. Corriher. Ms. Corriher's previous book, CookWise, won a James Beard Foundation award. She has appeared on Alton Brown's Food Network program, Good Eats, and also with Lynn Rossetto Kasper on NPR's Splendid Table. When listening to Ms. Corriher I've always learned something interesting about the science behind food preparation, which makes BakeWise very intriguing.
A second book that looks interesting is Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson. This book was mentioned in a previous post about book cover designs. It was recommended by Lynn Rosetto Kasper on The Splendid Table. For me, thinking about the history of milk brings to mind old news reel footage of dairy farmers spilling milk on the road because of concerns over the price. Also, my parents both grew-up on dairy farms. As a kid visiting grandma's farm, I developed a fondness for cows. (Chickens? Not so much.) In any event, Milk also sounds like an interesting read.
A third cookbook, which is not on the Washington Post's list but one I want to get a look at, is Cooking Up a Storm by Judy Walker, Food editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune. When folks in New Orleans lost their possessions in Hurricane Katrina, they also lost their recipe collections. After the storm, the Times-Picayune began getting contacted by people looking to find copies of old recipes, many of which had been published by the paper as far back as the 1940s and 1950s. This book is the result of a project to help people recover their food and their culture.
It's the weekend. It's the holidays. Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler and T.G.I.F.
On the other hand, folks who enjoy cooking also enjoy reading and collecting books about it. A good book or two is always welcome, especially when venturing into new areas of cooking. This year I started experimenting with Indian cooking and bought two excellent books by Madhur Jaffrey: Quick and Easy Indian Cooking and From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail.
If cookbooks are on your reading list, or holiday shopping list, check out the Washington Post which recently published a collection of some of the best cookbooks from 2008. Two of the books on its list are also in my own 'to read' file.
The first is BakeWise by biochemist Shirley O. Corriher. Ms. Corriher's previous book, CookWise, won a James Beard Foundation award. She has appeared on Alton Brown's Food Network program, Good Eats, and also with Lynn Rossetto Kasper on NPR's Splendid Table. When listening to Ms. Corriher I've always learned something interesting about the science behind food preparation, which makes BakeWise very intriguing.
A second book that looks interesting is Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson. This book was mentioned in a previous post about book cover designs. It was recommended by Lynn Rosetto Kasper on The Splendid Table. For me, thinking about the history of milk brings to mind old news reel footage of dairy farmers spilling milk on the road because of concerns over the price. Also, my parents both grew-up on dairy farms. As a kid visiting grandma's farm, I developed a fondness for cows. (Chickens? Not so much.) In any event, Milk also sounds like an interesting read.
A third cookbook, which is not on the Washington Post's list but one I want to get a look at, is Cooking Up a Storm by Judy Walker, Food editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune. When folks in New Orleans lost their possessions in Hurricane Katrina, they also lost their recipe collections. After the storm, the Times-Picayune began getting contacted by people looking to find copies of old recipes, many of which had been published by the paper as far back as the 1940s and 1950s. This book is the result of a project to help people recover their food and their culture.
It's the weekend. It's the holidays. Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler and T.G.I.F.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Food and Drink: Gifts of Wine
Thinking of giving someone a bottle of wine as a holiday present? Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of public radio's The Splendid Table, a fabulous program about food produced by American Public Media, and her guest Joshua Wesson, Senior Director of Wine, Beer and Spirits at the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, recently discussed what wine to give as a gift.
Mr. Wesson's recommendations are below. For an explanation on each item, check out the podcast. I particularly like Mr. Wesson's suggestion of giving a bottle of Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny Port NV. This is good port and a great idea for a present. For someone special go one step further: Add to the port a chunk of nice Stilton and a package of walnuts and you have created a fantastic gift.
Mr. Wesson's recommendations are below. For an explanation on each item, check out the podcast. I particularly like Mr. Wesson's suggestion of giving a bottle of Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny Port NV. This is good port and a great idea for a present. For someone special go one step further: Add to the port a chunk of nice Stilton and a package of walnuts and you have created a fantastic gift.
- For your supervisor/boss/partner: Estancia Meritage 2005, a California Bordeaux blend "Meritage" in a tall, heavy bottle. In the $25 to $30 range.
- For the parking attendant or mail carrier: An Argentinean red or white. About $6.
- Friends looking to try the next new thing: Sicilian Nero d'Avola such as Rapitale Campo Reale Nero d'Avola 2005. About $15.
- For people who buy wine frequently: Hardy's Whiskers Blake Tawny Port NV for about $14.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Food and Drink
Jason Wilson discusses 'cocktail scholarship', old guides to preparing cocktails, in his article The Literature of Booze at Table Matters. Wilson, who is editor of Table Matters and also writes for the Washington Post food section, has a collection of such guides. In this entertaining post, he writes that inside one of his books from 1944, there is a scribbled-in recipe for a Morning Mashie Pickup, composed of a jigger of gin, an egg white, the juice of half a lemon, two dashes of absinthe and a dash of anisette.
A Morning Mashie Pickup sounds quite . . . bracing; certainly it would have some sort of impact on a golfer preparing for an early morning round. (A mashie is a wooden-shafted, typically pre-20th Century golf club, equivalent to a 4-iron.) At the link, Wilson also provides a recipe for an Aviation Cocktail.
Cocktail scholarship was not an official course of study when I was an undergraduate, although many who, like me, attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison certainly undertook it as an informal, undeclared major. No word on what proportion of cocktail scholars were liberal arts majors; one suspects that it could be significant.
Say gin and absinthe are not your thing. During the November 1 broadcast of The Splendid Table, host Lynne Rossetto Kasper talks with wine guru Josh Wesson about affordable wines. Mr Wessons's recommendations:
The Splendid Table is a terrific radio program for everyone who loves good food and drink. Ms. Rossetto Kasper's new cookbook, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, is loaded with great recipes. As the inevitable march to the holidays continues on, it is a book to absolutely consider for someone on your gift-list who is interested in cooking and eating delicious dishes.
A Morning Mashie Pickup sounds quite . . . bracing; certainly it would have some sort of impact on a golfer preparing for an early morning round. (A mashie is a wooden-shafted, typically pre-20th Century golf club, equivalent to a 4-iron.) At the link, Wilson also provides a recipe for an Aviation Cocktail.
Cocktail scholarship was not an official course of study when I was an undergraduate, although many who, like me, attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison certainly undertook it as an informal, undeclared major. No word on what proportion of cocktail scholars were liberal arts majors; one suspects that it could be significant.
Say gin and absinthe are not your thing. During the November 1 broadcast of The Splendid Table, host Lynne Rossetto Kasper talks with wine guru Josh Wesson about affordable wines. Mr Wessons's recommendations:
Feudo Monaci Primitivo 2006, an Italian red.
Quinta de Pancas Parrotes 2006, a red from Portugal.
Columbia Crest Two Vines Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Gran Sarao Brut NV and Grand Sarao Rosé NV, cavas from Spain.
The Splendid Table is a terrific radio program for everyone who loves good food and drink. Ms. Rossetto Kasper's new cookbook, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, is loaded with great recipes. As the inevitable march to the holidays continues on, it is a book to absolutely consider for someone on your gift-list who is interested in cooking and eating delicious dishes.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Food and Drink
The Splendid Table, a public radio program that is both entertaining and informative, had a particularly interesting episode this week (August 23). To begin, there was discussion about at what temperature to serve red wine (short answer: warmer than you refrigerator, but cooler than room temperature if the room is at 65- 70 degrees).
In addition to that discussion, the big idea from the broadcast is instruction on the correct method to steel a kitchen knife from Chad Ward, author of An Edge in the Kitchen, The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives. Listen to the program - the directions are very simple (frankly, it would take me longer to type it out than for you to listen to the broadcast). Go to the link above and scroll down to Kitchen Knives.
Finally, there is a discussion about Japanese scotch. It sounds delicious.
Check out the complete broadcast - an easy but delicious idea for pasta is presented during that portion of the show where folks call-in with questions.
Per usual, close your eyes, and recall how it sounded when the late, great, Julia Child said the following: bon appetit!
In addition to that discussion, the big idea from the broadcast is instruction on the correct method to steel a kitchen knife from Chad Ward, author of An Edge in the Kitchen, The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives. Listen to the program - the directions are very simple (frankly, it would take me longer to type it out than for you to listen to the broadcast). Go to the link above and scroll down to Kitchen Knives.
Finally, there is a discussion about Japanese scotch. It sounds delicious.
Check out the complete broadcast - an easy but delicious idea for pasta is presented during that portion of the show where folks call-in with questions.
Per usual, close your eyes, and recall how it sounded when the late, great, Julia Child said the following: bon appetit!
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