echriste

My turkeys come from the farm. We have Thanksgiving on Saturday so I will pick up the turkey this morning from the farmer. Then it gets a dry rub rather than a brine as this year I don't have the time or space for a brine.

I just spent a week in Oxford and can recommend the covered market. There are three fantastic butchers there and the veg stand is excellent. You will also find that in general, the grocery stores like Saintsbury's will have very good produce and meats. While there I ate at a few restaurants, but I can only recommend the Petite Blanc - a French bistro that has reasonable wine prices and very good French bistro food. http://www.oxfordrestaurantguide.co.uk/le_petit_blanc/ For a very erudite pub experience I can recommend The Old Tom. I stopped in for beer a few times. It is a wonderful freehold pub full of Oxford students. Enjoy your stay.

Hello all, Here is a segment of my delayed Salone report. I've been struggling a bit with inserting pictures so I've put them up on a .Mac site. My Salone Pictures The first day was a complete sensory overload. It is still a bit of a blur. But there are many high lights for me. 1. Even after 4 days of handing out samples, sometimes talking about the uniqueness of their products, sometimes just trying to get something out for people to sample, the people that represented their products were truly passionate. This even held true for the league of Italian volunteers who translated for non-Italian speaking presenters. What struck me was the low production for most products. Most people talked about the impact of Slow Food in bringing consumer attention to their products. 2. The quality was so high that even products that I've had before were sublime in taste and mouth feel. The hundreds of salumi, jambon, and prosciutto I tried were so fresh and delicious - it took me three days to work through them all. One particular delicious product I had was a Salsicciotto del Vastese from Abruzzo that was so fresh it was spread between two slices of rustic bread. In front of the booth there were 10 people all slowly eating and reveling in the taste. 3. The enoteca was one of the best wine tasting experiences I have ever had. There were 2400 wines to sample - mostly Italian and Austrian. Most were one euro per healthy pour. The top Barolos were three euros per pour. If one wanted to, you could spend five days of tasting and not even try half of what was there. 4. The number of children struck me. Whole classes of kids were being led through the tasting areas and were given individual presentations. What a great opportunity for kids. I believe that Slow Foods provided a curiculum guide for schools. What a great way for kids to better understand the links between producer and consumer. 5. Sharing dinner with Ore. I got a chance to meet up with Ore at the Salone. This is a chef to watch. He truly loves food and shares that knowledge and interest with everyone. It doesn't hurt that he has movie star good looks and the energy of a perfectionist. After describing his use of a cryovac to encase a pork belly braise, I can't wait try his food. I hope to take a trip to Naples before he finishes his work at the restaurant there. What I would do differently next time: 1. Brush up on my Italian - very helpful. 2. Go on Thursday - the crowds are literally shoulder to shoulder 3. Go with at least two friends who share the intensity - you can split up and identify products for others to try. 4. Get the Slow Food Presidio products book and read up first to pick a few things you don't want to miss. 5. Sign up for more tasting seminars early! - the interesting ones fill up quickly 6. Make dinner reservations early! Most of the restaurants I wanted to try were already booked. That’s all for tonight. I'm making my list of memorable products and tastes for my next post.

Sorry for the delay in getting an updated post. My Treo was on it's last legs and I forgot my charger. I'm putting together my notes and photos, but in general the Salone was one of the most memorable food experiences of my life. It was not the complete sensory overload or the intensity of the crowd, but the passion of the producers that I am most remembering. I had a great conversation with the representative of the Rapa di Caprauna (a "sweet" white radish from the mountains in Piedmonte) about how good there flavor was. I was so inspired that along with the salumi and cheese, I bought two bags of radishes. I just made a simple pasta sauce tonight with the rapa and there is some great food chemistry going on here. My simple Cote du Rhone is tasting like a Cote Rotie Blond et Blond with exotic spices and bright red fruit. This is truly a great tasting radish and it is exactly what the producer talked about. I now understand why Slow Food is picking products and giving them exposure - this would be flavor treasure not to be missed. From beans to curly haired pigs to unique olive oils to anchovies to Amazonian fruit, Slow Food brought 90,000 people (including Prince Charles) to one place for people to discover these rare and wonderful food stuffs. Hopefully, someday, everyone will have a chance to try a Rapa di Capruana that Slow Food has helped preserve. I'll be posting more during the week.

I've just walked in the door. this is over the top. Everything here looks delicious. Everyone is smiling and having a good time. The experienced ones have brought wheeled shopping baskets. One guy has modified a hand truck to carry at least two cases of wine and any think else needed for the larder. Off for a glass of prosecco a bit to eat and to plan my three days.

I'd second Madame Claude's for Mussels and I'd add their Steak Frites! So I guess that makes two things they do really well. (My house in the US is down the street and I'm there at least three times a week when I'm in NJ)

...an extra ten - no make that 15 - seconds of shaving that beautiful white truffle onto the steaming risotto... and then opening one eye after reveling in the the aroma to see the couple at the next table leaning over to catch a whiff themselves.

Hello Robert, This is a quick confirmation that I will take pictures and keep my notebook handy between sips and bites. Sounds like we are all in for a treat - those who will attend in person and those who will vicariously attend via the thread. Thanks for proposing some organization for "on-site" correspondents.

I'll be attending Salone del Gusto for the first time. With all of the possible tasting opportunities, I'm looking for suggestions from others who have been there before how to make the most of the four days. I've signed up for a couple of workshops, but it seems like the food halls and the tours would be just as interesting. I'd appreciate any advice on preventing the kid in a candy (or pork) store dilemma.