Friday, February 25, 2005
The Sissy-fication of Gin
A martini is straight alcohol, it is meant to be strong. The flavors of gin are supposed to be herbal and intense--the vermouth offers a roundness and another dimension of herb flavor and the olive (or onion) give the complimenting salt and acid.
The "high end" gins released over the past 8 years have been fruity and wimpy, better suited to gimlets or G&Ts. Tanqueray had a release of Malaca gin a few years ago that was fantastic with lime, and the 10 has a nice flavor but it is NOT martini gin!
Adding vermouth to a fruity, bland gin tastes awful because there's no balance. The flavors clash. So, of course, you don't want to do it. But it doesn't make you a connoisseur. On the contrary, it means you don't understand the drink at all.
If you'd like to give the classic cocktail a try, mix about 10 to 1 dry gin like Bombay Dry (not sapphire), Tanquery, (not 10) or even Gordon’s (a Hemingway favorite) and high quality vermouth. You will stir this with ice. You can stir vigorously, we are not double-oh-seven and this is not vodka, so do not shake gin. It does bruise and the flavor is marred if you shake it. Strain it if you like, into a high stemmed glass, or have it over ice with a nice big pimento olive. If you want a giant martini, please do make two small ones. It should be a small, forceful, aperitif--cold, not a bucket-o-gin. I've heard that martinis are excellent in the sommelier-type champagne flutes (which are kind of diamond shaped,) as well. If anyone tries this, please do let me know.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
1994 Ridge Jimsomare Cabernet
We quarreled over what to drink it with, as my companion loves to pair wines with foods, but for me, when the food or wine is so good, I do not want to be distracted. He held his ground, but I think I won, since we finished the bottle without accompaniment.
*As red wine ages, it turns orange and clear. So, generally, when you get a "blue" red, thick looking wine, it will be young. Of course, some wines are bluer than others, a Petit Syrah will stay blue for a good long time (decades, really, but this is a wine that ages very well for decades), whereas a Pinot Noir may be quite orange early on. Still, if you compare like wines, you will find the bluer is younger. Or, perhaps this only works for Cabernet and Sangiovese based wines.... Of course, if it is very orange, it is probably oxidized. Regardless, when you see a gem-like clarity, and a slightly caramelized ruby color in a Cabernet, go ahead and feel a little excited.
What are you doing still sitting here? Go and buy the wine!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
My People
I do not have to tell you that there are few places in this area that provide good service.
Or, maybe I do. Because poor service exists in so many places, and no one seems angry about it except me. Part of the reason is that too many people do not know how to act when out to stores, restaurants, departments of motor vehicles.... People who try to get their way by bullying, repeating requests, escalating the situation emotionally (beyond what is warranted given the often mundane consequences,) destroy the spirit of the rare exceptional customer service professional. Curse you for doing that! May you come back to this world as an overly industrious and particularly slimy insect.
Remarkably, in the face of you evil people, a few places manage to be good. Please don't go and ruin them.
If I were a restaurant owner, I would recruit servers at the Chili's at Santana Row in
I cannot overstate how good the meat department is at Whole Foods in
They are that good. Go ahead and ask any one of them how to cook something. Try to challenge them by requesting a recipe that can make a gourmet meal for four with a toaster oven in a half hour. They know everything, and they are nice!
Thursday, February 17, 2005
When Your Salad is Soda
Anyway, I had an adventure today, and it was cucumber soda. It was fabulous!
I am sure it is common somewhere, but it was the first time I had tried it. Even though I have had the V8 carrot-orange atrocity and the vaguely brothy Salad Water by Coca Cola Japan, this was new to me. I’m not sure it would be good everywhere, but it seems that they make it fresh at the Long Life Noodle place at the Metreon in San Francisco.
Do not even ask me why I was eating at a food court—but I will tell you the surprise of delightful vegetable soda was even more wonderful considering my low expectations. Further distractions from the McAtmosphere: the black and white photos of 1920’s Chinese people getting high in opium dens. I have some re-education for whoever thought that was a good idea.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Political Rant
If you are not comfortable with cute furry animals being killed for food, and yet you still want to eat them, then you might be a little bit of a hypocrite.
But OK, so what? Who is not?
I don't care about that.
However, if you are SO afraid of facing the fact that your food was alive that you can't even ask where it came from, that you don't even want to know ANYTHING about its content, then you are abusing your privilege. Oh, and you are gross.
Because, pay attention: the killing is not the gross part.
If you have no choice what you eat, maybe you do not want to know where it came from. You can not do anything about it, so why dwell? But most of you I know have so many choices at the store, and even more on the Internet, there is no reason to ignore quality.
Unfortunately, much of the information I have seen regarding farming and nutrition is unbalanced and repellent to those who form the market. Why on earth would I care what vegetarians think about the cattle industry, really?
Do you really need the federal government to tell you to eat less food, that is of higher quality? Your body should tell you this. Good taste tells you this.
You don't have to think about the violent details in order to ask for a carefully prepared, high quality product. It is OK to ask if the chef washed his hands, if your steak contains antibiotic medication, what coatings cover your apple.
While you're at it, it is no deep secret to common sense that locally raised perishables are likely to reach you fresher than those imported to you from great distances.
For a fairly balanced NYT article, visit http://www.napafreerangebeef.com/html/links.htm# and click on "Power Steer". It explains the dilemma from the farmer's point of view as well as the health of me.
If you are willing to stomach a blush of anti-commercialism on this site, you can find some information on small, clean farm producers here:
http://www.factoryfarm.org/
Thursday, February 03, 2005
My Favorite Wine That I Hate
I have spent many years masking borderline alcohol abuse in snobbery. Or maybe I am masking snobbery in alcohol abuse...Hmmm....anyway..
Either way, my level of snobbery is so snoberocious that sometimes, it is sort of, well, mainstream. You can go too far, and then you come back around. Do you know what I mean, Darling? Like, "I simply do not care what you other fools say! Budweiser is a good beer."
This is not like that.
I am going to tell you that I like Merlot. Two years ago, I would have taken myself off of the guest list for being so basic.
But I have, "come around," as they say--to French wines that are broadly known for being good, which would naturally make me think they were pedestrian dog wash. Because holding the common opinion is just not something I will permit, unless of course I have arrived at this opinion by uncommon means. In this case, oui, I have.
Having drunk just about every other type of wine available, after traveling great distances to try Duriff and Vlašský Ryzlink, who would have imagined that Merlot would be the "hot" thing??? Merlot from
However, it turns out that it is true. I cannot even have the salvage of pride to say it is expensive. You may even find a
I do not recommend trying out this experience with your favorite Californian wine. French only! I will of course inform you if I find any other acceptable expressions of this varietal. Next time perhaps I'll tell you a secret about Chardonnay.
Caio!
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