I had the pleasure of previewing THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS film and organizing an at-home viewing party for members of The Napa Valley Reserve, which I was fortunate enough to test drive last evening. We brokered shipments of white truffles, at the tail-end of the season, with Tartufi Morra, one of the oldest purveyors in Alba, and Alessandro was such a dear that he sent me one as well.
Category Archives: Food
Anosmia
I never knew how much I loved my sense of smell until I lost it. I’ve always thought I had a rather terrible nose — either overly sensitive (ack, perfume!) or can’t pick out a violet from a gardenia. Turns out, it was working just fine until I got COVID.
I didn’t fully understand what it meant to lose your sense of smell. I didn’t occur to me that, while of course I can still inhale just (mostly) fine, in the place of aromas and/or odors, there is just absence. Complete and total absence. I can’t smell a thing. Not homemade pho, not a burning candle, not the eucalyptus extract that I bought in Morocco to clear my sinuses (think essence of Vick’s Vapo-rub), not even a whiff of gasoline.
For someone whose life pretty much revolves around cooking and eating and drinking Continue reading
A Passion for Sicily with Passopisciaro
It was a delight to be interviewed for the blog Somm’s Table about my work and love for the island of Sicily. Part 1 is all about the history of the island and some of my favorite general food and wine pairings, the changes in the Sicilian wine industry at large, and I how I found myself working part-time in Sicily. Part 2 dives deep into the work we do at Passopisciaro, one of the leading estates of the Etna wine revolution.
Eat: Glass Hostaria in Rome
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Winding through the streets of Trastevere in Rome, you hardly expect a door to open into a minimalist, open space, but clean and modern is exactly what you get when you arrive at the end of Vicolo Dè Cinque and enter Glass Hostaria. The design of the space puts raw materials to beautiful use, from the crumpled screens on the ceiling to windows in the floor peering onto bottles artfully laid across stones.
Cooking School Review: École de Cuisine, Alain Ducasse
Scallops were never something I’d thought much about: I recognized their white, cylindrical forms and enjoyed their smooth, rich texture and caramelized bits at restaurants. But growing up nowhere near the sea, I had no idea what the shell of a scallop looked like or really how it ended up on my plate. So when I found myself signing up for a cooking class that focused on preparing scallops two ways, I didn’t really know what to expect. And since it took place at the école de cuisine Alain Ducasse in Paris, I prayed that my long-dormant French would come back to life well enough to follow the teacher’s instructions.
Eat: Restaurant L’Ardoise in Paris
I arrived in Paris to join my grandmother for a few days while she was visiting the city. Completely unfamiliar with the 1er arrondisement, where we were staying instead of our usual Left Bank stomping grounds, we looked for places to eat that were not too far afield. Our hotel gave us a few recommendations, and my ears perked when I heard that the chef of a little bistro around the corner was formerly of the world-renowned Tour d’Argent. After meeting a friend for a brief apéro, we dropped by to see if they could squeeze us in. We were in luck; as it was toward the end of dinner service, they had a table that had just left, which they quickly cleared for us.
mas (la grillade) in New York
My boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary together a few months ago with a four course tasting menu at mas (la grillade) in New York. Here, everything is prepared on huge grills, with different woods paired with the different kinds of meat, fish, and other goodies featured on the menu. Continue reading
Vermont Blue Cheese Quiche & an ’81 Bordeaux
I love flipping through old notebooks and stumbling upon notes that remind you of a meal, a bottle of wine, a low-key but happy memory. That’s what happened tonight when I was going through my look-alike pile of black Moleskines to see what I should include here, toss, or file away: a few hand-scribble recipes for Julia Child’s quiche au Roquefort and pâte brisée and bottle notes on the 1981 Chateau La Tour Figeac. A happy memory of visiting the family summer home of my dear friend Anna in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom a few years ago. Continue reading
Pairing Notes: A Wintry Vegetarian Dinner
Putting together a pairing for this menu, which features “rich Mediterranean-inspired flavors,” I wanted to focus on the best ways to highlight its risotto centerpiece:
The citrusy creaminess of the lemon risotto needs a comparable wine in both weight and flavor. We recommend a heftier white like a Fumé Blanc from California, a richer style of Sauvignon Blanc that’s aged in oak. For something a little more festive, try a sparkling wine from Italy’s Franciacorta region in Lombardy, where risotto is a traditional dish; the bubbles will provide a lighter complement to the dish, refreshing the palate between bites.
Celebrations: Being Together with Good Wine
The last time I was together with both of my parents was in February, so I was excited that we were all able to be down at the beach for a few days. My little brother Scott was too busy turning 21 to join us, and what did he miss?
Dad in a kayak.
Aside from sea and marsh kayaking, fly-fishing on a motor boat that took us out to Cumberland Island, sea turtles, dolphins, and “The American,” he missed the opportunity to drink a wine as old as his big sister. And not just any 24-year-old wine. He missed a Latour.
Yes, that is a Premier Grand Cru Classé from 1986.
Most likely, Scott does not realize what a momentous occasion this was, at least for me. This wine, along with a few others, had been sitting at my grandmother’s beach house for who knows how long, cooking in the south Georgia sun when no one was on the premises to turn on the air-conditioning. So opening the bottle was as much of a gamble as anything. There were, however, a few factors in our favor: the ullage was high (the level of wine was above the neck) and the bottle itself seemed to be in pretty good condition. And I’d texted Stevie to know if the ’86 was drinking. Her one-word response? “Drink.”
Sniffing and tasting the newly decanted wine.
Boy were we well-rewarded. The liquid inside the bottle, a tawny color, neither smelt nor tasted of vinegar. Instead, it possessed the effect of tart, underripe blackberries — tight as the wine was first exposed to air in the decanter and in my glass — as well as notes of walnut dust, leather, and raisins. And it was immediately balanced, surprisingly so, as I’d read that many Bordeaux of that year were highly tannic. Then, the magic that I love about wine began to show itself. As we prepared dinner and let the wine breathe, it was suddenly rejuvenated: full of bright, ripe berry notes, and so incredibly smooth on the palate. No element of this wine overpowered another. I was utterly happy.
Taste-testing corn-fed beef (below) and grass-fed (above),
seasoned with smoky salt from Washington State.
The Latour proved an excellent complement for my first taste of my aunt Emily’s grass-finished beef. Life is really good sometimes.