Brad S

Suvir, on that thread,the recipe I did was the second post. for me,it worked beautifully

Steve, What an excellent report!!! Thank you all for sharing your vast knowelage of wine. I thought it fruitful (pun intended) to talk also about the climates and the Rhone river herself. Along with the Rhine,Danude,Loire,Douro,garonne,and Moselle,the Rhone is one of the most important wine rivers in the world.Even in it's uppermost reaches in Valais,in Switzerland,there is extensive wine industry with great products.In the main part of the French section,from Lyon,the broad river valley runs almost dead straight southwards for almost 125 miles,with the foothills of the alps on one side and the massif central on the other side.For almost the entire stretch,the valley is covered with vineyards and large fields of vines,which between Vienne in the north and Avignon in the south constitutes one of the most varied wine growing regiens in the country,Around 124.000acres are planted to the vines in six departments and 163 localities,and the region boasts the most produced red wine appelation(cotes-du-rhone rouge)in France.The Rhone in a larger sense also includes a series of fringe areas such as Diois,the cotes du Ventoux,the coteaux du tricaction,the Costiers du gard and the Muscat de lunal region,with the last two names constituting a transition to the Langeudoc-Roussilon.The diversity of the wines is due primaraly to it's geographical constilation.In the northen part of the Rhone valley,where vines are planted mainly on the terraces of steep granite slopes,a markedly cooler continatal climate prevails than in the southren part with it's broad alluvial and sandy plains,where it can be very hot in the summer and remains mild in the winter.These climate differences are also the reason the northern sites produce single varity wines,as is the case in most northern wine growing regions of Europe,while in the south Cuvees prdominate The greatest resourse of the region is it's white and red grape varities which,although largly ignored,especcialy in France itself-are amoung the best in the world and have been long produced great wines outside there region of origin.The pride and joy id the blue Syrah,which-as mentioned before me has become a sort of designer grape.As far back as the Romans,the dark grapes with there small berries were known to have special quality.In the best conditions for ripeing,the dark and at the same time fruity,tannin rich wines can prove very complex and extremly ageble,and theyaccourd with the image of firm and yet harmonious wines such as are popular with consumers.Pure syrah wines are produced under the cote-rotie,Hermitage,Saint Joseph,or Croze-Hermitage appelations of the northern rhone,but they are being planted more and more often in the vineyards of the south as well. This thread has really been a wonderful learning experance,thank you all for your outstanding imformation

http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/showthr...&highlight=chai I hope this link works, This was a discussion on Chai we had a year or so ago

Hi Betty, please scroll down the Indian forum. There's a great thread on Chicken Curries

Dear Siman,Suvir and Steve. Thank you all so very much for your wonderful description and obvious passion you bring to this topic. This is truly a fasinating discussion. A question, What two books would you then recommend ,one for Indian culture and food history and the other for cooking. many thanks,and thank you for sharing Brad

Thank you for your detailed post, I guess learning about the harappan (sp) people was something very interesting.The fact that in rajasthan achaya found the first ploughed field found anywhere in the world.and his writings of sandscript by the aryans. The whole idea of using archaelogy and etymoly in unearthing history is fasinating to me. I can tell by my spelling that it's time for me to go to bed.

Don't have many restaurants to enjoy harira around here,but I have to admit it a wonderful concoction. I don't have a recipe in front of me right now,but I know chic peas,lamb,turmaric,saffron,ginger,cinnamon,smen,celery,onions,parsly,lentils,noodles,tomatoes,my kitchen sink all go in the pot to simmer.

Suvir, How do you feel Achaya has been able to codify and map out the evolution of Indian cuisine? I thank you very much for any feedback

Suvir, Sorry I wasn't more specific "safi" is a city south of casablanca and north of essaouira,well known for fish and seafood dishes where preserved lemons are prodominent in many dishes. I 1/4 th lemons without going all the way through,and sprinkle kosher salt on the flesh and the rind,I then put about a tablespoon of salt on the bottom of a mason jar,pack in the lemon and spices pushing down on the fruit to release it's juice to cover the fruit,if the lemon juice is not enough to cover I add some more,then cover,keep in a warm spot for about a month turning everyday and that's it. I always rince the lemon to get rid of all the excess salt before using. As for the kettle one martini,I just make a normal (very dry)martini and add a couple of slices of the cured rind.Love it. I hope you try it,Suvir,you can also blanch the lemons first to soften the skin before preserving,but I don't

I make my preserved lemons Moroccan style with a safi mixture,really just salt a cinnamon stick,cloves coriander seeds,black peppercorns and bay leaf. Besides using them in my kettle one martinies I primarily use them when preparing tagines.as far as the red thing,i'm not sure

Their are so many outstanding vodkas on the market now it's almost imposible to choose only one. But for me it's Kettle-One,up with an olive or two

A novice question... how does the new world style of Rhone wines compare with the old world style with regards to taste? Is one more flavorful than the other? Or are there other characteristics that separate them? Nina, thanks for starting this thread. I've already learned 100% more than I knew before. How old is old? Few regions in France can boast of a winegrowing tradition as ancient as the Rhone valley.The phoceans who founded Marseille in 600bc already new the the region was particulaery suitible for viticulture,and the planted vines.Under the rule of the romans,who were supposed to have learnt the art of improvment from the gauls,viticulture then spread to the central and northern part of the valley,where the gaulish tribes were certainly cultivating vines in 71 ad in cotes-du-rhone and hermitage areas. However the career of the cotes-du-rhone wines was checked by the powerful duchy of burgundy,which wanted to supply it's own wines to the most important markets in Londan and paris.They therefore impposed high transport duties on the rhone wines,or banned there transport down the only route avalible at the time,the saone,as was the position from the 14th to the 16th centeries.Only in the 17th century,when the conditions for overland transport improved,and still more in the 19th century when the first railways were built,did rhone wines become popular in Paris. The period after the second world war brought a dramatic loss of image.The cheap sourses of wines from the former french colonies of North Africa,used for blending wines to improve there color and streinght,dried up,promting many bordeaux Ch (illegally) to try rhone wines instead.Slack sales in the barreled wine market did really motivate growers in the valley to develope there own qualities.What reached consumerss under the cote-du-rhone label were at best simple but drinkable reds in the lowest price brackettes.It was only in the 1980s that growers reliezed the size of the potential avalible to them thanks to their unique terroir and still better grape varities.There is an amazing history behind these wines,and it is a valuble lesson to try rhones that are still produced in the fashion in which they were intended,instead of becoming to Americanized to satify our palette. I firmly stand by Guigal as one of the finest of all producers in the Valley,and am quite comfortible recommending M.Chapoutier as well,see if you can fin Chapotiers Tain l"Hermitage as have a problem not enjoying it emensly

I have it on-line right now, great looking loaves basildog.Nice clean kitchen too. Thanks for sharing :)

Hi Nina, I'm kind of new to eGullet,and have very much enjoyed reading these wine threads. I also love wine very much,and the wine of the Rhone are some of my favorites. I particulry enjoy the Northern rhone wine from the Cotes-du-rhone. The quality pyramid for this region goes like this,at the base you will find the cotes-du-rhone appellation manly from the lower reaches of the river,a step above you have cotes-du-rhone-villages.Products of a total of 95 communes in the departments of drome,gard and vaucluse belong to this group,with 16 communes of the AC designation being able to add there own village names to this.At the top are the "crus"geographically demarcated appelations such as gigondas or Cote-rotie,whose lables no longer bear any reference to there belonging to the rhone family. IMHO Syrah is the king of the red grapes in Rhone,as marsanne,rousanne and viognier make there wonderful whites.One of my all time favorite producers is E, Guigal..now run by Marcel guigal.He produces wines in almost every price range from his cotes-du-rhones to his single vineyard La Turque,and his hermitage and cote-brunes. I love cornas and st joseph as well as crozes-hermitages.Other northen rhone producers I love are Clape,Chapoutier,yves cuilleron,perret and grippat. Thers also a bountiful selection of Southren rhones as well,look for clos du joncuas Gigondas,B,alarys Cairanne and wonderful Tavels and beaumes-de- venise. Ch neuf du papes by nerthe and janasse are outstanding as well as rayas. I hope this helps a little bit.the most important thing is to just drink what taste good to you

Hi Basildog, something is not letting me open your page,it shows on my computer shelf,but dosen't open? can you post a link to it? BTW mynamejoe is a top shelf chef if anyone is interested

Hi Mike, I look at American cuisine in 5 distint regions. NorthEast SouthEast MidWest Pacific Northwest and Southwest Our country is so large and diversified that it's like we have mini countries within the US each bringing their own flavor to the table.Mix it all in a bottle shake it up and sometimes you have a masterpiece and sometimes you have..well, you know. Do you find this to be true?and is their a way in your opinion that the multi layers of American cuisine can be codified to one specific cuisine? Thank you Brad

Dear Jaymes, I'm very happy you like my idea,I hope you give it a try and let us know how it worked for you

I agree %100 with Beachfan,WS is a good rag for those starting out and want to get there feet wet,but parkers wine advocate get's my vote for truly being %100 dedicated to the wines of the world without all those cigar ad's and california biased writers. I have been getting a free subscription to wine country living edited by Jim Gordan formally of the WS,not really impressed,very predictable and glossy

1970 Fonseca vintage port

Hi jaymes, One very easy way I enjoy preparing chockes is a half cooked and half raw brushetta. I take my chockes and turn them down to the bottom,remove the chock and peel the stem,put in acidulated water. Take half of the chockes and toss them in olive oil,kosher salt,fresh milled black pepper a little chili flakes,fennel frongs and some whole garlic cloves. Then stand them in a cassarole (stems up) and pour the remaining stuff from the bowl over them,tent with foil and roast at 350 degree's for about 35 minuts or till just tender.Remove and let cool.Brush your bread with some evoo and grill,then place of a sheet pan. take the raw chockes from the water and pat dry,slice them papar thin and drizzle a touch of lemon juice,S&P and evoo.then slice your cooked chockes the same way and gently toss with the raw ones,adjust the seasoning,slice a little fennel bulb,and chop some kalamata olives and add to your vegetables,make a mound of this on your brushetta,top with dry asiago and run under the broiler until the cheese melts and becomes bubbly. I think you'll find the mouth feel of the cooked and raw chockes very pleasing

http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/showthr...light=bolongese

Take a look at some of these recipes, and if you get the chance pick up a Moraccon cookbook to find more options http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/showthr...reserved+lemons

All of you are ofcoure correct, different techniques should be used for different ingredients. The bottom line is to concentrate the natural sugars the exist in your product Extraction and reduction of natural flavores is the best way to go about your procedure. Ofcourse with fresh English pea's a touch a raw sugar and fluer de sel with highlight it's natural flavor,but if you let's say caralize a shallot or two in butter and add your pea's (that have been blached in salted water) to the sweetened shallots you will naturally highlight the sweetness of the pea's Carrots,unlike pea's do not loose there brillient color when cooked,so you need to be aware when preparing greens as to not destroy there fresh,bright apperence. I believe in cooking as much as humanly possible with the seasons,hence,less manipulation needs to take place to the ingredient because it is already at it's flavor peek.less is more in this situation. For those of you whom insist on strawberries in December,well that's another story. Also, taste and learn as much as you can about fresh herbs..there flavor profile can work magic in your dishes

Thanks Jinmyo, I forgot to say to slice the fillet on a bias before serving

I was in Manhatten last week and had monkfish as my entree. It sounds like it may be something similar to what you are looking for. The fish was quickly oven roasted, sliced and served with fava beans, chanterels and a excellent garlic jus. You could substitute blue foot or hedgehog shrooms for the chanterels. Just one idea to think about, But do look around the different forums to get ideas. cc __________________