Gourmet

It may be winter in Chile right now, but up here in the Northern hemisphere it's time to enjoy some cool, crisp, lighter wines from that country. But these particular grapes may surprise you. I'm not going to be reviewing Sauvignon Blanc or Carménère in this post. Also, these wines were shipped with a pair of GoVino wine glasses. They're made out of flexible and recyclable polyethylene terephthalate, a BPA-free, food-safe plastic. I've used the Riedel O series in the past, but these glasses were a lot of fun for casual sipping. You can drop them or smack into them without any problem, but just don't put them in the dishwasher. I've heard they are quite popular for outdoor parties, and speaking of convenience, all of the following wines are enclosed with screwcaps. 2012 Cartagena GewürztraminerSan Antonio Valley100% Gewürztraminer$17, 13% abv.Imagine that you're playing Taboo or some sort of other guessing game, and you give the clues "Cartagena" and "Gewürztraminer". I doubt that Chile would ever enter into the guesses before the little hourglass timed out. But Cartagena is also a picturesque coastal area in the Valparaíso region of Chile. Pablo Neruda wrote there, and I'd highly recommend his saucy "Ode to Wine". Julia loved this one, with a bright nose of ripe peach with some floral undertones and just a little spicy edge. Good acidity and fairly dry. Quite a difference from the California expressions of this grape that I've tried over the years. 2012 Cono Sur Bicicleta RieslingValle Central100% Riesling$10, 13.5% abv.This one really surprised me with a very German profile. Wet rocks and petrol, light white fruit aromas, clean finish. Great minerality, decent acidity, and a little earthy on the finish. I'm hoping that I'm tasting the red clay soils in the true spirit of tasting on terroir. A great bargain, and one that would be a perfect ringer to put in a blind tasting among friends. 2012 Calcu RoséColchagua Valley 50% Malbec, 40% Syrah, 10% Petite Verdot$13, 12% abv.A great blend of grapes that manages to be still lighter and drier than you might expect. Ripe aromas of red cherries and plums, tart acidity, and a long finish that has just the barest hint of tannins. Dry rosés are wonderful in the summer, and this one did not disappoint. I kept it in a bucket of ice outside while I was smoking some lamb chops for dinner. On top of that, I love the dancing cow on the label, somewhere between abstract watercolors and the careful curves of Lascaux cave paintings. Highly recommended.Note: These wines were provided as samples.

WORLD WINE WATCH (LCBO VINTAGES TIP SHEET) FOR JUNE 22, 2013^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^By DEAN TUDOR, Gothic Epicures Writing deantudor@deantudor.com. Creator of Canada's award-winning wine satire site at http://fauxvoixvincuisine.blogspot.com. My Internet compendium"Wines, Beers and Spirits of the Net" is a guide to thousands of news items and RSS feeds, plus references to wines, beers and spirits, at www.deantudor.com since 1994. My tastings are based on MVC (Modal Varietal Character); ratings are QPR (Quality-to-Price Ratio). Prices are LCBO retail. Only my top rated wines are here. NOTE: The LCBO does NOT put out all of the wines of the release for wine writers or product consultants. Corked wines are not normally available for a re-tasting. ======>>>> ** BEST WINE VALUE OF THE RELEASE *UNDER* $20 Graham Beck Brut Sparkling Wine NV: a 54/46 blend of PN and Chardonnay, great yeastiness due to bottle re-fermentation, long lingering finish. Drink all summer long. +593483, $18.95, QPR: 90+ ======>>>> ** BEST WINE VALUE OF THE RELEASE *OVER* $20 Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Chardonnay 2010 VQA Niagara, +33936, $30 retail. TOP VALUE WHITE WINES under $20 or so.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1. 13th Street White Palette 2011 VQA Niagara Peninsula: lovely blend of five aromatic grapes (including sauvignon blanc for some spine), grapefruit, herbs, some lychee. Enough acid for first course, but it is mainly as an aperitif. 12.5% ABV. Twist top. +207340, $14.95, QPR: 89.2. Henry of Pelham Estate Riesling 2010 VQA Short Hills Bench: juicy, but with mostly a dry finish, peaches and flowers, value. Twist top, 11% ABV. +557165, $15.95, QPR: 89.3. Lone Birch Pinot Gris 2012 Yakima Valley: zesty, full flavours on the mid-palate, some overripe tones from melon family, pear drops. Twist top, 13.5% ABV. +324905, $15.96, QPR: 89.4. Familia Bianchi Chardonnay 2012 San Rafael Mendoza: new US oak, sur lie treatment, malolactic, coconut and cloves. 14% ABV. +1461, $14.95, QPR: 89.5. Montes Kaiken Terroir Series Torrontes 2012 Salta: wonderful aftertaste and crispness, lip-smacking flavours, muscat-like peach and orange tones, 13.5% ABV, twist top. +330407, $15.95, QPR: 89.6. Vinum Africa Chenin Blanc 2011 WO Stellenbosch: more on the savvy zesty side, but with more fruit than savvy. Very credible. +739995, $15.95, QPR: 89.7. Mallory & Benjamin Talmard Macon-Uchizy 2011: another mouth-filling value snapped up the by the LCBO. Softly fruited, tastes unoaked, 13% ABV, cork finish. +733956, $14.95, QPR: 89. 8. Domaine de la Gravelle Vieilles Vignes Muscadet Sur Lie Sevre et Maine 2011: textbook style Muscadet, great price for older vines. Gold Medalist. +322610, $12.95, QPR: 89.9. Barnier Fontaine du Clos Muscat Petits Grains 2011 IGP Vaucluse: stylish, no oak, aperitif or cheese wine, even first course with a crisp finish. Great muscat tones. +329078, $16.95, QPR: 90.10. Villa Tonino Grillo 2010 IGT Sicilia: very aromatic, off-dry, a crowd-pleaser, peaches and tropicality, 13% ABV. Slight refreshing cleansing bitter on mid-palate. +289579, $14.95, QPR: 89. TOP VALUE RED WINES under $20 or so.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1. Vineland Pinot Meunier 2011 VQA Niagara Escarpment: delicious earthiness, great tang of red fruit, 12% ABV. Cork finish. The back label needs to give more hype to the grape variety. +225508, $17.95, QPR: 89.2. Juan Benegas Malbec 2010 Cuyo Mendoza: textbook style Malbec, 14.5% ABV, dark fruit and mocha tones, +222273, $14.95, QPR: 89.3. Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Syrah 2009 Maipo: nicely aged black fruit and plums, 14.5%, cork finished, some anise and smoke lingers. Intense. +19042, $19.95, QPR: 89.4. Peyres & Fils Chateau Correnson Reserve Speciale Cotes du Rhone 2011: delicious integration of three grapes, plummy flavours, blackberries, long, long finish. Gold Medalist. 14.5% ABV.

Now this is what the Manhattan Project should've been about. (Still thirsty? See Liqurious)

Easy and delicious Sangria for summer (Still thirsty? See Liqurious)

I am here to tell you about a recipe for pasta that you cook in one pan. One pan, people! Dried noodles, sauce ingredients, water—they all get thrown into a big pan and boiled for less than 10 minutes. You end up with a totally delicious dinner, and a party trick. I know this recipe is making the rounds. I would even bet that it is blowing up in Pinterest (is it?). I imagine that anyone who saw this in Martha Stewart Living this month knew they needed to try it. It is such a simple idea that I am surprised we haven’t all been doing this the whole time. I like the recipe because it allows you to get dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes. It is also fun for the cook. That first time you make it you wonder if it will all come together. Is this even possible? Then, the noodles begin to soften, the liquid reduces into a creamy sauce, and you know you’ve got a winner. The real brilliance of the recipe is that by cooking the noodles with the sauce, they absorb so much more flavor than a pot of salted water could ever provide. Salt is your friend in this dish, don’t skimp! You need a big skillet, big enough for the linguine to lie flat across the bottom. One-Pan Pasta (adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Living) 12 ounces linguine 12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large 1 onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/2- 3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 2 sprigs basil, plus torn leaves for garnish 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 4 1/2 cups water Lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and water in a large straight-sided skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly evaporated, about 9 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, divide among 4 bowls, and garnish with basil. Serve with oil and Parmesan. Permalink to One-Pan Pasta | No comments yet

The deadly, deadly tomato. Photo Credit: *Kicki* via Compfight cc In the late 1700s, a large percentage of Europeans feared the tomato. A nickname for the fruit was the “poison apple” because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on this particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time; the tomato was picked as the culprit.  Around 1880, with the invention of the pizza in Naples, the tomato grew widespread in popularity in Europe. But there’s a little more to the story behind the misunderstood fruit’s stint of unpopularity in England and America, as Andrew F. Smith details in his The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery. The tomato didn’t get blamed just for what was really lead poisoning. Before the fruit made its way to the table in North America, it was classified as a deadly nightshade, a poisonous family of Solanaceae plants that contain toxins called tropane alkaloids. One of the earliest-known European references to the food was made by the Italian herbalist, Pietro Andrae Matthioli, who first classified the “golden apple” as a nightshade and a mandrake—a category of food known as an aphrodisiac. The mandrake has a history that dates back to the Old Testament; it is referenced twice as the Hebrew word dudaim, which roughly translates to “love apple.” (In Genesis, the mandrake is used as a love potion). Matthioli’s classification of the tomato as a mandrake had later ramifications. Like similar fruits and vegetables in the solanaceae family—the eggplant for example, the tomato garnered a shady reputation for being both poisonous and a source of temptation. (Editor’s note: This sentence has been edited to clarify that it was the mandrake, not the tomato, that is believed to have been referenced in the Old Testament) But what really did the tomato in, according to Smith’s research, was John Gerard’s publication of Herball in 1597 which drew heavily from the agricultural works of Dodoens and l’Ecluse (1553). According to Smith, most of the information (which was inaccurate to begin with) was plagiarized by Gerard, a barber-surgeon who misspelled words like Lycoperticum in the collection’s rushed final product. Smith quotes Gerard: Gerard considered ‘the whole plant’ to be ‘of ranke and stinking savour.’… The fruit was corrupt which he left to every man’s censure. While the leaves and stalk of the tomato plant are toxic, the fruit is not. Gerard’s opinion of the tomato, though based on a fallacy, prevailed in Britain and in the British North American colonies for over 200 years. Around this time it was also believed that tomatoes were best eaten in hotter countries, like the fruit’s place of origin in Mesoamerica. The tomato was eaten by the Aztecs as early as 700 AD and called the “tomatl,” (its name in Nahuatl), and wasn’t grown in Britain until the 1590s. In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors returning from expeditions in Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica were thought to have first introduced the seeds to southern Europe. Some researchers credit Cortez with bringing the seeds to Europe in 1519 for ornamental purposes. Up until the late 1800s in cooler climates, tomatoes were solely grown for ornamental purposes in gardens rather than for eating. Smith continues: John Parkinson the apothecary to King James I and botanist for King Charles I, procalimed that while love apples were eaten by the people in the hot countries to ‘coole and quench the heate and thirst of the hot stomaches,” British gardeners grew them on

3. MASTER CLASS WITH TOBA GARRETT; cake artistry and advanced decorating techniques (Wiley & Sons, 2013, 228 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-58122-3, $65 US hard covers) is by one of the US leaders in cake decorating and design. She has won many international gold medals for her work, and she teaches at New York's Institute of Culinary Education. She has written many books, her latest being "Professional Cake Decorating, 2d ed" last year. Her current book has the techniques, and recipes to create showstoppers. There are full-colour photos for techniques and finished plates. After a primer (stringwork, scrollwork, lattices, piping), the chapters cover anniversary cakes, birthday cakes, groom's cakes, wedding cakes, seasonal cakes, and "small bites" of decorated cookies and cupcakes. There's a selection of basic recipes covering meringues, ganache, icings, buttercream, pastillage, jams and curds. At the end there are 16 pages of templates for patterns, all sized at 100%. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents. The photos are gorgeous.Audience and level of use: pastry makers, chefs, hospitality students.Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: headdress cake; Australian stringwork cake; Venetian mask cake; antique clock.Quality/Price Rating: 89. 4. BETTY GOES VEGAN; 500 classic recipes for the modern family (Grand Central Life & Style, 2013, 480 pages, ISBN 978-1-4555-0933-1, $26.99 US hard covers) is by Annie and Dan Shannon, both animal rights activists. With log rolling from other vegan cookbook authors, the Shannons had set out to "veganize" The Betty Crocker Cookbook. So it is a basic vegan cookbook eschewing flesh and animal products such as eggs, milk and honey. There's a primer on the vegan kitchen, followed by chapters dealing with breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, baked desserts, apps and snacks, and holiday faves for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter and Passover. Dinner entrees cover the range of casseroles, pizzas, melts, pasta, beans, and international flavours. Preparations have their ingredients listed in only avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.Audience and level of use: vegans, vegetarians, those seeking a more healthy style of eating.Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: hot and sour shiitake mushroom miso soup; Mandarin vegan chicken salad; green chili lasagna; baked spinach gnudi; strawberry and rhubarb pie.The downside to this book: you'll need to eat a lot of tofu and soy-textured products.The upside to this book: good database, and great idea.Quality/Price Rating: 88. 5. GET STARTED BAKING (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0195-3, $15 US hard covers) and 6. GROWING VEGETABLES (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0196-0, $15 US hard covers) and 7. GET STARTED PRESERVING (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0194-6, $15 US hard covers) and 8. GET STARTED WINE APPRECIATION (DK Books, 2013, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4654-0201-1, $15 US hard covers) These four books are part of a new introductory series from DK Books, aimed at novice cooks or those who just want to learn the basics about a particular part of food preparation. They are uniform in format, same length, same type of close-up photography (about 350 pix in each book), and same editorial control. They have been described as a "visual reference series". Each title simulates classroom lessons by question-and-answer, step-by-step explanations, and graded projects and assessments. There's a primer section to identify key techniques, a series of practice projects with sharp photos, and annotated completion pix with troubleshooting advice. For example, baking starts with cupcakes and meringues, and then moves on to moist brownies, wobbling cheesecakes, and ends up with gateaux, piping profit

At the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen over the weekend, genius chef Richard Blais further solidified his place as a Vine master by posting brilliant 6-second video clips on F&W's account (foodandwine) and his own (richardblais). He wasn't th...

Exploring emerging wine regions is always a fascinating endeavor even if their wines are not readily available outside of that region. It is an educational experience that can reflect the realities faced by many other emerging regions. It is also fascinating to witness the early growth of a wine region, to be one of the first to see their potential. During TasteCamp, our three-day exploration of the wines, beer and food of Quebec, we encountered one of these emerging regions, which has an approximately thirty year history, and an even shorter history with vinifera grapes.Quebec's first winery, established in 1981, was Côtes d’Ardoise and it is still in existence. In 1982, the L’Orpailleur vineyard and winery was founded by four men, two from France and two from Quebec. These men purchased a 20-hectare farm not far from Côtes d’Ardoise and their winery is now the largest in Quebec, producing over 160,000 bottles of wine annually. Currently, there are over 100 wineries in Quebec, though there appears to be some contradictory information online, with a few sources claiming that there are only around 50 or so wineries. Nonetheless, Quebec has a small wine industry which continues to grow each year.One of the biggest challenges facing Quebec wineries is the cold weather. It makes it difficult to grow vinifera grapes, and the frost can decimate much of your vineyard. If you lose 50% of your crop or more in a given year, that certainly makes it more difficult to turn a profit. That risk tends to lead to higher prices for vinifera wines, which can make them less of a value. Hybrid grapes, which can be much hardier, generally grow better in this climate yet some feel they don't possess a sufficient cachet, and won't put Quebec on a competitive level with the rest of the world. There is some validity to that argument as a significant number of wine lovers seem to have a prejudice against wines made from hybrid grapes. They shouldn't possess that prejudice, but we cannot deny it exists. If vinifera grapes don't grow well though, what should the wineries do?This division of opinion as to what grapes should be planted in Quebec seems to extend to a greater division over many other issues. There are two winery organizations in Quebec, the older Association des Vignerons du Québec (AVQ) and the newer Vignerons Indépendants du Québec (VIQ). For a small wine industry, to have two such organizations working at cross purposes, may not be beneficial. At TasteCamp, we heard little about these organizations though we did hear about some of the differing opinions of winery owners and winemakers. These organizations should work together to benefit the entire Quebec wine industry, helping its growth.Based on my own tasting experiences with the wines of Quebec, I felt that, in general, the white wines and ice wines were of better quality than the red wines. Some of my favorite wines were also made from hybrid grapes. None of that means they cannot make good red wines in Quebec, but I think it is going to take more time and experimentation to increase the overall quality of the reds. Due to the risks of the weather, price is going to be an important factor, meaning you might not find many value vinifera wines. One finds much passion in the winery owners and wine makers, pioneers who are working hard to produce wine in a less than ideal climate. Improvements in the Quebec wine industry will continue to come.Located along the St. Lawrence River, our first winery visit was to Vignobles Carone, owned by Anthony Carone. The winery was established in 1997 by Anthony's father and originally grew only hybrid grapes, as that was all that was available. However, his father wanted to experiment with vinifera and starting bringing home grape vines from Italy in his luggage. Would you have ever imagined that anyone in Quebec would grow Italian grapes like Sangiovese and Nebbiolo?Anthony, pictured above, has been following in his father's footsteps. The vineyard cons

This week’s roundup from Tasteologie and Liqurious includes Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots, Korean Bibimbap, Individual Cheese Fondues and more. (Still thirsty? See Liqurious)