SWISS_CHEF

Hello Ed, I've just received a mail from Pedro about this. I've emailed a few producers in Portugal about it, let's see what they say. However 1945 is one of the myhtical vintages, and therefore VERY expensive! Does it have to be a Vintage? There's also Colheita, which is normally cheaper than Vintage. Will get back to you when I have some news/ideas. Cheers, Luis PS: I sometimes travel to Lausanne. Where are you exactly? ← Hi Luis! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! I think it should be vintage, but maybe not a Niepoort this time. We live about 30 minutes west of Zürich. That's about 1 hour and 45 minutes north of Lausanne. You are certainly MORE than welcome to come here for a visit. We have good wine friends, drinkable wines and a nice spare bedroom! Kind regards, Ed

Sorry... Didn't mean to offend..... ← Not at all! I was just kidding

Thanks, Pedro, Jackal and Mikey for your help. I told my client via e-mail how tough this is going to be....She was hoping to keep it around 500 bucks but would go to a thousand if I thought it was worth it (thus the pressure)......Frankly, I think all these prices are crazy! I had a case of '63 Sandeman that I sold 10 years ago and as hard as I tried I could only get $50 a bottle! I don't even want to see what they are asking for '63 Sandeman today! Anyway, I have asked if she would consider a Cognac or Armagnac because it would'nt be hard to find and it would make my job a bit easier. Pedro, I hope Mr. Gutiérrez has time to read all this. I would be more than happy to buy the wine directly from a Portuguese cellar. 19 years ago I toured the wine makers of Oporto and really enjoyed it there but I didn't make any contacts. Thank you all for your help, I wish I could pour each of you a few glasses from my cellar!!

Old fashioned!? .....Horsefeathers, poppycock and balderdash!

I was looking through an old cookbook and I found a couple of nice pics where they plated on antique porcelain and did a really nice job. Infact in the book I don't think they ever used white plates! Maybe there is hope for us antique buffs yet!

HA! I just got a quote of £50 to ship one bottle of wine from London to Switzerland! I could go and get it on Easy Jet for that!

I would much rather that a dinner guest show up late than not say thank you.

Ten years ago I was a chef in Vermont and during leaf-peeping season we got slammed every day by huge bus loads of tourists. Chefs are paid by the hour and we got the same pay even if we served 200 people an hour, at the same time the wait-staff came in howling about one fifty dollar tip after the other. It wouldn't piss me off if just once in a while a customer would come in the kitchen and say thanks to a chef too. Before tipping, I ALWAYS go to the kitchen first and say thank you to the chefs.

Well, that's what I thought.... but, I have spent most of the day on the phone with half a dozen different merchants and ten times out of ten I get a "twenty-something" that "knows it all" and is used to selling much more expensive wine than my pathetic $600 bottle and with far fewer questions asked, thank you very much! You know what? ...this reminds me of why I don't drink expensive wines any more. It is all a giant muscle flexing competition for sad wankers that don't have the self confidence to seek out and find really great $20 wine and share the discovery with their friends. Sorry, I'm just a bit down on this whole process. I wish I didn't have to do this.

Interesting comment about RP. I have never thought about it that way but I think you might be on to something there!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. The wine is for a birthday so I can't wait around for an auction and I have to admit I never buy from auction because I think it is largely a dumping ground for poorly stored wines. This wine is going to cost between 500 and 1000 bucks so I want to really try hard to find one that has been cellared properly. I think I will start working the English dealers and see what I can come up with. Selling this kind of stuff makes me kind of nervous though, if the bottle is bad, I'm going to look bad to one of my best customers.

I have to attend huge tastings that are put on by my suppliers. Last week there was one with 300 different wines. It is really hard to be objective when tasting wine this way. I did my best and managed to work my way through almost 200 of them. Yes I spit. I was even in fine condition for the drive home. One thing I do notice is that huge monster reds still taste great and stand out even on a burnt palate.

My interest in wine is a direct result of the times I shared with my Swiss grandfather in the late 70's. He kept a wine cellar of a couple hundred bottles in his home in Zurich and I remember him taking me downstairs to the 'Keller' after breakfast to choose a bottle for lunch. It was an old house built at the turn of the century and he had a big ring of keys that unlocked several doors that protected the wine from the outside world. Then with the flip of a switch the bottles were illuminated, all neatly laying in a row on their sides next to each other. He would show me two or three different bottles that were important to him and then pick one for lunch. There was always a bit of ceremony involved. Then we went back upstairs to open the bottle and let it come to the right temperature before lunch. During lunch he and I would drink and eat and discuss things, it was then that I noticed for the first time that the wine changed him. He became more open and accepting of me. The conversation flowed from us in spite of the fact that I had to struggle with my German. At that time I became closer to him than I ever had ever been in the past. Those memories of my Grandfather and our times together in Switzerland sparked my love of wine and are greatly responsible for my return to Switzerland six years ago.

A customer of mine needs a 1945 Vintage port. Anyone have any reliable sources? Thanks in advance, Ed

Hopefully this won't be considered changing the subject but I often serve 'family style' and it is a little bit of a challenge to make it look sexy. Here are a couple of my 'family style' plates This is called 'Berner Plate' it is a Swiss regional dish made from smoked pork shoulder, smoked sausages, dried green beans and potatoes. And this is just a chicken and roasted potatoes. I would love to see how the rest of you do 'family style'.

Thanks Tony, WHAT? YOU DON'T LIKE MY ANTIQUE ROYAL WORCESTER!!! LOL, actually I went to Ikea and bought some 99 cent simple white plates last week and the food does look better on them. I guess our hand painted reticulated Dresden is totally out of the question!? Seriously though, since my first profession is really an antiques dealer, how do you make food look good on plates like these? At about $500 each it's a shame to put them in storage. PS: I think the cauliflower tastes better really dark.

Hi Tony, I have really enjoyed this thread. Here are a couple of pics of my plates. They were taken before I read your posts so I am looking forward to trying things your way! Thanks for doing this! It will help me alot! Edit: These were just cooked at home, not in a restaurant. Salmon, leeks and couscous Chicken breast, Puy lentils and mixed wild rice Pork filet and roasted cauliflower

That looks nice and simple (usually the best sauces are) I like the tangerine twist. I wonder how it would work with lobster. I'll give it a go. Thanks Paula!

It's simple. We turn vegetables because McDonald's doesn't.

The Nano Pan Chronicle: March 15, 2005 Getting a handle on things... I would have never thought a handle would have made much difference in the performance of a frying pan, but it actually does. You have much more control with a longer handle bacause it fits under your forearm and helps to balance the pan better. Here is a picture of the 7.5 inch Ikea pan handle in my hand. This is the grip on the 9.5 inch Swiss Nano Pan Handle in my hand. See the difference?

I hate smoke and Switzerland is still way behind in providing nonsmoking areas in restaurants. Things are changing though. I found this site that guides you to the smoke free places. http://www.eat-smokefree.ch/

The Nano Pan Chronicle: March 13, 2005 I made a pasta prima-vera tonight and I thought I would post a picture: Notice the two caramelized cherry tomatoes. They held their form perfectly and were caramelized before they could fall apart. Nice! Another picture:

Hi Ore, If you get caught they just take it away. You don't get busted like drugs. I got some foie gras through pre 911. The beagle sat down next to our bag but we had a cat there too and the lady thought he sat because of the cat and she kept on going By the way Eric gave us some of the Pancetta and it's GREAT! Regards, Ed

These sound great I'll try them, thanks! I sure miss Montreal. We once did the Christmas buffet at the Beaver Club. I have NEVER seen such a lavish display of fine food anywhere in my life!

Mexican oregano is more intensly flavored. I've only seen the dried version in regular markets. And I haven't looked for fresh in Mexican markets. Anyway, in that recipe it seems that Italian oregano would be fine. A plain white wine vinegar seems suited for that recipe. But then again I am left totally speechless by it. But nullo is a more is more kind of egulleter which is great. ← You know...plain white vinegar is the one vinegar I don't own!!! LOL! Actually it is hard to find here in Europe. The closest I can come is white wine vinegar. Well never mind...mine will be a "version" of the sauce.