Craig Camp

He better do a little more research. As fine as these products are in Spain and France - Italy is the king of this category producing a staggering variety of products. Pigs live a dangerous life in Italy. Craig - careful what you say. I've heard serious Italian food experts admit that the best ham comes from Spain . And I feel they are right. I would say that Italy and Spain are up there together. v Serrano ham is one of God's gifts. You know an Italian that thinks it is superior to proscuitto crudo?

He better do a little more research. As fine as these products are in Spain and France - Italy is the king of this category producing a staggering variety of products. Pigs live a dangerous life in Italy.

He really should devote some attention to Emilia Romagna - if there is 'a' region for cured meats this is probably it.

US boycott starts hurting French wines

Which is it, exhausting or enlightening? How do we get it? It was exhausting for me - hopefully enlightening for you.

Marlene - that recipe was from memory. I got it from a cookbook in Italy although I believe it has been translated into English. Let me check the book and I will let you know.

Sounds delish have you first heated/ blended the parm and butter into mantacare? would you recommend scallops for those allergic to shrimpies? No the mantacare - which is a very important step as it adds a final richness and extra creaminess to the risotto - is added at room temperature and then it melts into the hot risotto. They need not be mixed beforehand. Scallops? Why not?

This is a recipe from the Villa d'Este on Lago di Como: 5 cups beef broth - hot 1 cup 'carnarino' - water in which a whole lemon rind has been boiled - hot. The peel of one lemon grated. 2 cups arborio rice 8 tbls.. butter 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Melt half the butter over medium high heat in a large saute pan - do not let it brown. When the butter is melted add the rice and toss well with the butter making sure it is well coated. (there is no soffritto in this recipe) Add the beef broth 1 ladle at a time for the first 10 minutes - stirring gently but continuously. After 10 minutes add the grated lemon peel and add the carnarino one ladle at a time until gone stirring gently and continuously. Use remaining beef broth to finish if rice is not done. When just al dente remove from heat and blend in the mantacare - the remaining butter and Parmigiano. The sauce: Saute 4 large cleaned shrimp per person in a small amount of olive oil. Add one cup of white wine and evaporate. Add chopped parsley and 1 1/2 cups cream and reduce until thickened. Serve over the top of the risotto with parsley and lemon strips for garnish.

My mother who is somewhat health obsessed only had skim milk at her house. When my children were small they always complained about having to drink the "blue milk" at grandma's house. It is kind of blue and totally flavorless. It is kind of like drinking alcohol free beer instead of Pilsner Urquell.

HW uses half and half for mashed potatoes (and sometimes cereal) Heavy cream for mashed potatoes. Definitely. Vegetables are good for you.

Without a doubt. I love it on my oatmeal - trying to cut my cholesterol you know.

Drink the whole milk and die happy. Sooner maybe but happy.

Patrick I would generally agree with your last statement. For those of you who don't know we are happy to welcome to eGullet, Patrick Fegan, one of the foremost wine educators on the planet. You can visit his site at: The Chicago Wine School Patrick we hope you are a regular visitor.

Craig, In my opinion, this is what defines 'risotto,' not whether it's cooked on top of the stove or in the microwave. I made a batch last night using the recipe I posted, and the rice exhibited both 'firm texture' and 'creamy consistency.' It was risotto. I don't have the time or inclination for any semantic hair-splitting, so we can just agree to disagree. Jim Jim - I have no problem with cooking it in the microwave. It is just my position that it will be different in some way. It would be best to compare side by side - which I admit I have not done because of my own prejudice on the subject. Besides I like the stirring. I consider it therapy that will keep me away from the shrink. What's the hurry? I certainly did not mean to offend your recipe but I like hands on cooking, just like I like funky, 'terroir' wines. I would try your recipe but do not own a microwave. Anyway as I just wrote a bunch on risotto and I am probably obsessed. If any eGulleteer would like a gratis copy of my newsletter on risotto just e-mail me at craig@vinocibo.com . What can I say it's an obsession. So I respectfully disagree - but will happily eat dinner at your house anytime you want to serve me the 'microwave risotto'. I'll bring the wine.

Figure eights? Dude, what up with that? Don't you know the left handed/right handed rice theory? You may very well be confusing your risotto. This is the biodynamic theory of stirring. It has to do with the moon. Italians believe in horoscopes too.

Not every Italian is a great cook - despite what they think. Just like Americans, most take shortcuts. Just because they make risotto in a pressure cooker does not mean it tastes bad, but it does mean it does not taste as good. Try it and compare. I dare you.

Everett, I believe U of C Davis has created an ''acid tasting kit' - are you familiar with this? Thanks - now I know why the spit bucket looks like that.

Patrick, I think you are a bit idealistic in your assessment of wine laws in general. You say the laws are flexible and have allowed for evolution. One thing is clear the laws have not been flexible and only change when forced to by the market. Your view of wine as some simple agricultural product ignores the fact that most wine is an industrial product - not made by some small farmer somewhere. It is the large industrial firms that make wine law. Yes IGT was created in response to the shortcomings of the previous system but it did not successfully deal with the problems that existed. I did not cry out about the poor Vin de Pays d'Oc wines because I was writing about Italian wine law. I certainly do not wish to make it harder for you to teach your students by adding categories to the Italian wine law. There would be no purpose in that, but you should not teach students that these laws are some sort of an indication of quality. If you do so you are the one doing the confusing. If you think that Italy does not use DOCG and IGT as marketing tools you are kidding yourself. Thanks for the correction on the my typo - indeed it was 1992. Now I am starting to confuse centuries. A definite sign of aging.

Craig, Tannins are also bitter as well as astringent. Thus we can "taste" tannin, though bitterness perception is quite variable among tasters. I have been participating in a academic wine discussion group with other scientists where we have been doing a number of experiments with acid perception. One of the surprising discoveries for me was that acid solutions at concentrations found in some wines can be astringent, similar to tannin perception. My perception of the 88 burgundies I have in my cellar, (Chevillon, Maum, Boillot, Rossignol) has been that most are very astringent and unevolved still. I had assumed that the astringency was due to high tannin levels, but now, in light of Claude's and others comments here, I will revisit the wines and see if its high acidity. My personal palate preferences are for higher acidity in wines, though if the wine becomes "astringent" due to the acidity, I would continue aging it hoping it would "mellow" in the cellar. BTW, thanks for the link to this board. How long has it been around? Everett - welcome to eGullet and a most interesting comment. I too am acid oriented in my taste, but by over-oaked I am not referring so much to the wood tannins themselves as the other flavors and aromas that can cover the fruit itself. I find your comments fascinating and a potential thread in itself. Often acid and tannin seems to be confused by many tasters. I think it is particularly confusing when tasting young wines from the barrel. From my perspective I always think of tannins as more of 'feeling' (roof of the mouth) and acids more of a 'taste' centered on the tongue. Also I would describe tannin as astringent and drying while acid as biting and it produces salivation. How does your research address these questions?

A sound strategy for those who know what they want. However, the marketing behind IGT has confused many less informed consumers. Often people think IGT is the realm of super-Tuscans and the like and are led to believe that all IGT wines are in some sort of a super category.

Primitivo has one DOC in Puglia, Primitivo di Manduria. Primitivo grown in Puglia outside that one zone is IGT. Primitivo is included in the following IGT's: Murgia, Puglia, Salento and Valle d'Itria where it can be either blended into an IGT rosso or if it is 100% primitivo, they can use the varietal on the label.

We appreciate the compliment - even if undeserved. Have you seen some of the other threads! I will give it try and report back. Thanks for the idea.

IGT could have been a good way to protect and promote many indigenous varietals, but then they included all the newer varietals too. They would have had to exclude non-traditional varieties from the IGT to make an impact and that was not going to happen. Don't forget Tuscany had a lot of influence in the IGT law and they wanted to include all the French varietals.

IGT should have been a good thing for growers making good wines outside of the DOC. It ended up being so broad as to mean nothing. The major beneficiaries of the IGT law have been large cooperatives who can now pump out tasteless wines with a nicer sounding name on it. IGT has been a swell marketing tool for cheap pinot grigio. Just what the image of Italian wine needed.

Claude - Are you saying that Burgundy is going beyond a previous trend to increase the new oak in wines to levels that overwhelmed the fruit character of pinot noir. Is it safe from another Guy Accad type of attack?