AN URBAN GIRL GOES COUNTRY FOR HER TWO FAVORITE THINGS

Reason to Return to NYC #1: Supper Clubs

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:11:43 -0500

Out of all the things I missed from NYC while I was traveling (like a firm mattress and indoor heating), the one thing that stayed on my mind were its supper clubs. This “underground dining scene” with its hush hush locations and creative & uber locally sourced menus, have been all the rage in New York City. Before I set forth on MakeWineAndCheeseWithMe, I got to dabble in the supper club scene briefly myself with Hapa Kitchen. Basically I learned that creating and planning a secret supper club event was really fun, and that I absolutely loved the crazy and chaotic food frenzy of cooking with a large group of people for the big dinner. So since then, I’ve been hooked and last night I eagerly made my way to my first supper club event since being back in the urban jungle: the Underground Food Collective’s “A Dinner In Celebration of Winter” event at The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs.
Here was what was promised:
Underground Food Collective, Sweet Deliverance, and Brooklyn Kitchen Labs, and the Meat Hook bring you a series of dinners celebrating Winter - focusing on the under-appreciated bounty of the season as well as diverse methods of preservation. House raised, slaughtered and butchered meats, pickles and preserves, homebrew, and the heartiest of hearty vegetables will make up these multi-course meals.

Menu:
Bread & Butter
Pork Brawn over Sunflower Shoot w/ Sweet Potato Chips
Pork Rillete w/ chopped Black Radish, Apples, & Sauerkraut
Duck Breast Tartare with Radicchio cups
Roasted Beets w/ Citrus, Pea Shoots, & Pistachios
Salad of Endive, Pears, Pecans, & Smoky Ricotta
Shaved Carrots, Salsify, & Sunchokes w/ Sheep’s Milk Dip
Pork Pot Pie
Frost Sweetened Spinach Salad
Fermented Lemon Cake
Lemon Verbena Tea

Phew! Let’s just say that the meal was an exceptional presentation of winter foods and ingredients I usually find myself bored with at this time of year after I’ve been seeing beets and carrots, and the like at the farmer’s markets for months. Menu standouts included two raw dishes: the Shaved Carrots, Salsify, and Sunchokes Salad (I would have never have thought to combine these together - let alone as a salad) and the Frost Sweetened Spinach, which was really just super delicious, thick & hearty, big leaves of spinach tossed with the teeniest bit of oil, lemon, and salt. I felt like a happy, satisfied rabbit each time I reached across the table to shove a huge spinach leaf into my mouth.

I also learned that UFC actually got its inspirational start as a result of figuring out what cool eating and dinner events they could come up with during the lean winter months in Madison, WI (the supper club’s home). And last night’s dinner was a true example that they’ve obviously perfected it.

Parents Turned Farmers. Say Wha?

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:04:43 -0500

Memories of food when I was a child consists Top Ramen (I think I was addicted), Mac & Cheese, iceberg lettuce salad with globs of ranch dressing, and plain, microwaved hot dogs. Because of the “instant-ness” and “processed-ness” of these foods, I have reason to believe that this is why I am currently obsessed with all things locally grown, organic (biodynamic even better), and just home-made.
Even though I’m all grown up with a grown up appetite very different from my childhood, each trip back home to see the parents would lead me to the same kitchen with a pantry full of all things canned, boxed, processed while the fridge and freezer would be full of random packaged crap from Costco. This was no longer food to me. It was just clever marketing covering bad ingredients. The whole situation would always result in me tirelessly trying to talk with my parents about the wickedness of the industrial food industry, the importance of supporting the local and organic food economy, and eating more whole foods in general. My argument was always, “You can eat better.”
And after years of all my huffing and puffing in which I didn’t think would ever make a dent, my parents...planted a garden. Say wha?
When I was in Italy talking to my mom on the phone she casually mentioned that they were growing broccoli and brussel sprouts and that she hoped they would be ready for eating when I returned to the States. The idea was so weird for me to think of that I quickly dismissed it, not knowing what the hell she was talking about. I remembered that dad had written earlier saying he tore up the backyard to create some beds, but again, the idea was so foreign that I didn’t know what to think.
So when I arrived at the family casa for xmas, my mom was promising “fresh salad from the garden” for dinner. I curiously followed her to the backyard to see what the fuss was about and entered into not just a garden, but a beautiful garden full of some of the healthiest and biggest vegetables I’ve ever seen: broccoli, cauliflower, salad, beets, and fatty brussel sprouts (unfortunately too young for eating).

Hot damn! My parents were farmers and my entire time at home was spent thinking of yummy ways of transforming the very local bounty into tasty things for dinner. Ironically enough, during this time I also found out that my grandmother used to be a mean baker and that my mom grew up selling produce at the farmer’s market. My, how everything has come full circle.
Seeing the opportunity wide open, I snuck in a family viewing of Food Inc. and I think I convinced my parents to start buying local, grass-fed meat. My mom is even talking about having chickens in the backyard. Fingers crossed!

The farmers.

Fried Apples & Friends

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:00:33 -0500

I love my girlfriends in San Francisco. We met back in college our freshman year at UCSB (pictured below) and even though we have all gone off to do different things, we have somehow all independently come to the point of being obsessed with really good food, whether it’s shopping for it, gardening and watching it grow, or best of all, cooking it with each other. In all of our kitchens you can usually find very northern Cali-esque food staples such as a bottle of tamari, a big jar of mate tea, some nutritional yeast, and random fruits and veggies from the farmer’s market.

While I was in town, we all came together for a yummy veggie feast of roasted spicy-cinnamony squash, braised brussel sprouts, brown rice, baked tofu (which tasted like chicken - weird!), and the highlight finale: fried apples with lemon, spices, and candied pecans served over gingerbread brownies and topped with fresh whipped cream. The brownies had little pieces of candied ginger, the whipped cream was organic, and all of us swooned in joy over just how darn good everything was being put into our mouths. Fried apples forever!
Fried Apples
* Slice up 2-3 crisp, tart, and sweet apples, such as Pink Lady

* In a non-stick pan, add a dollop of butter and add apple slices when melted. Make sure all of the apples are evenly coated with butter.

* Add two halved lemons and a sprinkle of cinnamon and stir.
* Stir occasionally until apples are soft and toss in candied pecans when apples are almost finished.
* Done! Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Extreme (& Expensive) Foodies in San Francisco

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:18:01 -0500

As someone who is quite passionate about food, in the most common sensical terms, I consider myself a foodie. I also happily consider a lot of my friends foodies too. However, when I reached San Francisco to visit friends and family for the holidays in my home state of California, the term foodie changed a lot for me.
The foodie debate first began during a conversation with one of my best friends Colleen. Colleen has worked in Bay Area farmer’s markets for the past four years, loves gardening things like swiss chard and carrots, and has a knack for spicing up food with interesting and lovely flavors. However, when I casually called her the “F” word during a home cooking night in her kitchen, she got totally pissed and refuted my comment saying “Foodies are only rich, white people.” Wtf? With her unexpected comment, I considered my own past frustrations with organic food usually being more expensive than conventional and some of the annoying aspects of Whole Foods (like the NYC stores only selling apples from New Zealand when local, amazing apples could easily be sourced locally, etc.) but overall, Colleen was expressing a really angry tone that I really didn’t understand or knew where it was coming from...that is, until I went to the San Francisco saturday farmer’s market in the Ferry Building.
When I arrived at the farmer’s market, everything seemed to start off swimmingly. There were incredible fruits and vegetables galore, misted with droplets of dew from the afternoon rain, and because I had been away from California for so long, everything seemed so foreign yet heartwarmingly familiar all at the same time. I saw some really great Japanese yams and decided it would be a good idea to use them in place of potatoes for a blue cheese/potato dish I had planned for a potluck that night with ForageSF. Two yams later, I was $5 bucks deep. Geez, pricey yams. I next walked over to another stand which offered samples of different fruit. I tried an orange wedge and was immediately brought back to being 12 years old in my back yard picking buckets of oranges in December. I was in memory heaven and just had to have one. “How much for an orange?” I asked. “$1.75.” “For one???” “Yep.” “Wtf???” “Yep.” I took my orange, irritatedly handed over the money, and ran. Afterwards, I think I stood looking at the Bay Bridge for a full five minutes to contemplate just how a single orange could cost so much. My father had also recently told me a story of a gas station close to our house that was advertising if you fill up your tank you’d get a whole bag of oranges. Wtf?

Yikes. I was beginning to realize Colleen might be right. I didn’t remember these prices when I used to go to UC Berkeley four years ago nor did I ever get the feeling that I was totally being cheated.
I walked into the Ferry Building in hopes of some relief from the farmer’s market I all of sudden felt uncomfortable with. Yet, as soon as I entered, I seemed to have made my way into a foodie circus, complete with androgynous, mohawk mysteries hawking fine Italian pastries and “make your own” mushroom mini farms. Everyone possible was handing out samples left and right. There were tons of people taking pictures of food porn (fine, I admit I was completely guilty) and the whole scene just made me feel so...sad. I had just come from Spain where I could get a good glass of wine for two Euros or a perfect piece of chevre in France for one Euro and here I was in my own country where food just felt...not like food. It was too marketed. Too in your face. Too capitalistic.
ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!
Scenes from the SF farmer’s market at the Ferry Building:

MWACWM on “Let’s Eat In” Radio Show

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 12:26:04 -0500

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest on Cathy Erway’s Let’s Eat In Radio show, which is part of the Heritage Radio Network (please check out this site - they are doing some really cool things and it’s all centered around awesome foodie things and sustainability!). The show focuses on Cathy being “an invaluable ally in your quest to woo that special someone with a delicious, memorable (and affordable) meal. Dating experts, sexologists, food personalities, advocates, cooks, artists, entertainers, and anyone who has felt their heart soar or break beside two plates and some silverware will join her in the quest to help you be loved and stuffed.” How cute is that?
So the theme of yesterday was DIY food wooing for that special someone. I had the chance to discuss how to best utilize your lust power with cheese and wine (obvi!) and Erin Bried of the new book How to Sew A Button, got to talk pie, bread, and beer making. Basically the result was a bunch of girl foodies geeking it out all the way. Highlights include an accidental swiss chard pie, pre-date jitters and drinking, and my new favorite cheese, Kunik, from Nettle Meadow Farm in upstate New York that I recently discovered at the new NYC cheese shop Lucy’s Whey. Hope you enjoy the clip!
http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/episodes/446-Let-s-Eat-In-

Wuz Up NYC!

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 14:42:54 -0500

I have to say, I’m sooo excited to be back. I think leaving the city was the best thing for me. Now everything here just seems so...fresh. Fresh as in really cool because believe me, NYC doesn’t ever smell fresh, it just is fresh. Sorry, forgive me in my attempt to sound urban. But seriously, New York has so much to offer and it’s really liberating to be back in a culture where there isn’t a language barrier to hold me back in talking my face off.
In terms of food and drink, I had a Blue Pointe Toasted Lager last night and I just about swooned with joy over the lovely hop-iness and malted flavor. Yay, beer with flavor! And despite the fact that I got to eat VERY well in Europe I really missed my staple of brown rice and avocado with just a sprinkle of sea salt and a swish of olive oil. Yum! Next on my list of foods to eat that I’ve been craving in the past three months are lobster rolls, sushi, tacos, and Korean food.

As for wine and cheese, to be perfectly honest, I’m not exactly sure what lies ahead. However, I do know that the wine and cheese adventure can’t ever really end. There are just too many good things to put in your mouth. So even though I won’t necessarily be getting my hands dirty working with producers any time soon (well, never say never), this whole wine and cheese experience has been so monumental in in realizing that I am completely driven by my stomach and senses means that the journey is JUST beginning. So, I’m stoked for that and I will try to reflect on this as much as possible going forward...

Winemaker Telmo Rodriguez

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 09:53:04 -0500

When I realized that I would be bumming around Spain for a bit, the winemaker I was immediately referred to was Telmo Rodriguez. Besides being one of Spain’s biggest winemakers, Telmo is known for also being a supporter of the Return to Terroir movement in addition to creating authentic Spanish wines at a reasonable price point, in opposition to the popular Super Riojas that also happen to be super expensive. With seven different wineries around the country, Telmo is most definitely a busy man. However, I was lucky enough to be able to steal him away for a tea break to discuss surfing, art, and oh yes...wine.
Telmo is an avid surfer and the first thing he mentioned was that he was escaping the wine world the following day in search of the famous wave Rodiles found in northern coastal city of Asturias. As someone originally from California, this was music to my ears to know about a man so influential in the Spanish wine industry. In fact, the more I learned about Telmo, the more I realized that the art of surfing happens to be very in line with the art of Telmo’s winemaking. For example, in order to be a good surfer, you must first be aware of the fact that you are not the one in control. Instead, the big 15 foot wave coming at you is. So a surfer must find a balance between respecting nature, knowing how to best use nature to catch the wave, and once this is met, simply enjoying the ride.
Like surfing, Telmo is adamant about respecting nature, so much so that all of his wineries are organic, with a few biodynamic. Respecting Spanish traditions, Telmo decides to stick to the old style bush vines instead of the world wide popular style of trellising, that according to him, aren’t interesting and destroy the landscape. The revival of indigenous Spanish grapes are also very important to Telmo who has been very outspoken in the past regarding his fight against the colonization of international grapes in Spain. All of this, in addition to small size wineries that emphasize the “human” element in winemaking, allows Telmo to not just make good organic wine, but real wines with real tastes; wines that are easy, honest, and good quality for the money.
Telmo also happens to be a big lover of art and a key player within the art and cultural organization La Fabrica located in Madrid. While writing some wine stories for La Fabrica’s art house magazine Matador, Telmo also enjoys directing art and wine projects such as a recent “literary tasting” which consisted of pairing wines with selected literary works including a passage from Shakespeare. Participating within in the art crowd is essential for Telmo who believes that it’s important to seek inspiration from non-wine people and to mix it up because after all, “Life is a lot of things. Not just wine.”

Compañia de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez, S.L. El Monte s/n 01308 Lanciego (Álava) Spain
Phone +34 945 628 315 Fax +34 945 628 314 info@telmorodriguez.com

Birthday Weekend in Madrid

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:41:40 -0500

I think I have a life goal of always celebrating my birthday away from the home turf. It’s just more interesting, no? So, the thought of being in Madrid for the big day sounded absolutely perfect. For me, Madrid turned out to be such an awesome city. I felt immediately comfortable with the colorful energy and loved that the city went to bed really late and everyone seemingly loved to get crunked.
Instead of going the hostel route, I was able to stay with some lovely people through CouchSurfing,com - a networking site that has been essential during my time in Europe.
My first CouchSurfing host was a super nice guy named Mikel who barely spoke English, and even though I don’t speak a word of Spanish except some surfer lingo like “Donde est mes pantalones?” aka “Where are my pants?” we seemed to get along swimmingly. Mikel and I walked endlessly through the central part of Madrid and saw all the gorgeous and old architecture that dots throughout the city. We also got to see the modern art museum Reign of Sofia where a ton of Dali and Picasso works are shown, eat lots of tasty home cooked meals in the traditional Basque style of Mikel’s home, and finally, spend way too much money at the Sunday Flee Market which I have to say is wickedly amazing. I bought a leather jacket (sooo Madrid), a leather purse with lots of studs (also very Madrid), an artisan mermaid ring, and some very cool birthday blue suede shoes (pictured above).

Birthday breaky of beer, tortilla, and shrimp on toast.

The next couchsurfing spot was with the lovely international couple, Gabriel (Brazilian) and Kaylin (Canadian). They are both teaching English and seem to be having an great time experiencing life together in a different country. My last night in Spain consisted of making an terrific paella at home (a lot easier than I thought), drinking fantastic wine from OSSIAN, eating some funky cheese (see below), and just celebrating life with new friends...

Best Cheese in Spain Alert: Torta de Casa is supposedly the most famous cheese in Madrid. And no, it’s not like a Manchego. Instead its uber gooey and super smelly and such a nice contrast to the majority of the hard and mellow Spanish cheeses. It’s made in the very small town of Casa, not far away from Madrid, and is never exported so if you’re on a cheese mission, you won’t be able to really find it anywhere else except the Spanish capital.

Good Foodstuffs in Spain

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:22:52 -0500

Joselito Jamon: I’m not a meat eater but when I was presented with “The Best Jamon in Spain,” I told myself that I might as well try it. Now this jamon was comparable to a beautiful plate of sashimi. I couldn’t get over the fact that it was actually meat. I was told that it’s important to serve jamon at ‘blood temperature” so that the fat melts off your tongue. What makes the Joselito Jamon special is that the pigs are fed their entire weight in acorns and lots of other things. If you see Joselito Jamon anywhere, grab it and run.

Pulpo a la Gallega: This is a simple dish traditional of the Galacia region in the north of Spain. For lunch we stopped into a small pupleria and ordered this delicious dish of boiled octopus and potatoes tossed with olive oil, paprika, and rock salt. The octopus is always cooked in copper pots and just slightly cooked so that it’s still very tender.

Wine in Cups: Last night I was in a old taverna in Madrid with lots of young, pretty things smoking it up every five minutes. I noticed the bar serving wine in stemless cups (a complete no no in France) and I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a trendy thing or what. However, I was told that traditionally when the older generation of Spain used to drink wine for calories and energy, the glass cup was the norm because back then wine wasn’t fancy. Instead it was just part of your diet like bread. I was also told that the older generation traditionally drinks a glass of wine or vermouth after breakfast to get their day going. Ole

OSSIAN: Viticultura Ecologica

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:02:19 -0500

I’m only here in Spain for a week and I wanted to take things easy for my last days in Europe. So while I was planning on passing the time by checking out the Spanish queso scene and filling up on tapas, my host Amy suggested that I check out a nearby winery: OSSIAN. What little I was told, I learned that OSSIAN was one of the leading organic wineries in Spain, they only produced white wine made with the indigenous Verdejo grape, and that they were supposedly doing some very cool stuff with compost. Sounds great! I’m there. So this morning, after two buses and one giant pastry for breakfast, I arrived at OSSIAN, located outside the tiny village of Nieva in the Rueda DO.
OSSIAN is owned by Javier Zaccagnini and Ismael Gozalo, whose family has been making wine in the area for generations. In fact, winemaking in Nieva dates back to the 11th century when monks used to make wine in the monastery (OSSIAN still uses the church’s old bodega to house barrels). So, even though winemaking is nothing new for small village, OSSIAN is definitely a unique and unconventional project all of its own. The small winery of 33 hectares is only five years old but its Ossian 2007 has already been awarded 97 points by Spanish Wine Guides Penin and Andres Proensa and the award of “Best Wine in Spain,” previously only held by red wines.
Here are some other OSSIAN unique qualities:
White Winemaking: Indigenous Spanish Verdejo grapes grow on pre-Phylloxera bush vines in sandy soil. Only yellow grapes, not green, are picked at peak ripeness with 2-3% dried raisins for concentrated sugar and complex flavors. Grapes are then pressed in whole bunches (similar to Champagne) and receive cold maturation for just a few hours to bring out fruit flavors. The pH is also very low usually ranging from 2.8 - 3.1, which results in a slow maturation rate that will help develop fruit flavors and conserve quality over the time.
Unfiltered White Wine: Yes, OSSIAN filters its wine, however filtering occurs only 10 tens days before bottling for as much complex flavor development as possible. Though in the perfect OSSIAN wine world, their wine wouldn’t be filtered at all. According to Ismael, when wine is filtered, the lees (proteins) that are removed also in effect, remove the “life” in the wine. So, the more time lees has contact with the wine, there is more opportunity for a slow evolution in flavor development and also the possibility of a longer shelf life.
A Bottle For Each Crop: Spain makes it difficult for a bodega to have more than two or three wines (usually separated into categories of white and red or low and high price point). However, Ismael believes that each of his 38 parcels of vineyards are so unique that he would love to make a separate wine for each, creating the ultimate representation of OSSIAN’s terroir.
Biostatics: The OSSIAN vineyards are certified organic, so when I asked Ismael about his thoughts on biodynamics, his answer was, “To be honest, I don’t understand biodynamics at all. So, I’m in the works of creating my own version of working with agriculture naturally. It’s called Biostatics.” Say wha? Biostatics was originally created by Ismael’s partner Javier. Unfortunately I didn’t get the full scope on Biostatics but keep a look out for it as the next thing in natural agriculture.

OSSIAN: C/ San Marcos #5 / 40447 Nieva Segovia ESPANA / www.ossian.es

Ismael at Nivea’s monastery where OSSIAN houses barrels:

Sandy soil in the vineyard for a unique terroir:

OSSIAN 2006: