paul o' vendange

Man, too many to name. But my cornerstones: Jacques Pepin, La Technique (now incorporated with his La Methode in one volume, Complete Technique). It was my bible, beginning when I was 12, when I worked it cover to cover; and I still rely on it. Escoffier. (Duh). Louis Saulnier, Le Repertoire de la Cuisine. Richard Olney, Simple French Food. CIA, New Professional Chef. Madeleine Kamman, The Making of a Chef. LaRousse Gastronomique. Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, Culinary Artistry. James Peterson's books, esp. Sauces, and Fish and Shellfish. Books by Joel Robuchon. I have learned from his fervent desire to grab all that is intrinsically valuable from a material, without extrapolating it to hell. "Food should taste like what it is Thomas Keller, the French Laundry Cookbook. Hands down, my absolute most important lessons over the last year - I have always shied from too much abstraction on the plate; almost an aggression of composition (or deconstruction, post-modernism, blah blah blah), but what I love about Chef Keller is, like Chef Robuchon, his intense focus on composition and flavor - the thing is every bit what it is, intensely concentrated, beautifully inviting, all without bells and whistles (I loathe "engineered" food - my bent; I can't handle more "ice cream of sea urchin beak with salamander toe 'spritzies.'" ). Anyway, enough of the soapbox. I rely on The French Laundry Cookbook a great deal. Lately, Michel Roux's work.

My cousin, Rick Boyer, was Jekel's winemaker and General Manager. I am proudly biased. But I have long wondered why Brown-Forman, as you point out, Craig, a liquor concern, has anything to do with the wine business. Decisions made at a corporate level, far removed from the vineyard, and, beyond, belying even economic or accounting-sheet common sense, all speak to what is wrong with the seemingly ineluctable and mad rush to consolidation. I won't go further, though I have much to say. It's a damn shame. Buy local. Support quality; support artisanal producers who care and have the goods to back it up. Paul

Been playing with "two ways" meal ideas. Before dinner, generous goblets of Lillet with orange twists. Afterward, fully glowing, winter root vegetable and apple soup Duck two ways: seared breast; braised leg stuffed with wild mushrooms and sausage. With port-dried fig duck sauce (thank you Thomas Keller) and ginger-pear chutney. Saffron-parmesan risotto. Duck with a Littorai 2000 (Savoy Vineyard, Andersen Valley) Pinot Noir. Walnut and preserved-satsuma plum tart (plums from my Aunt/Uncle, California), muscat creme anglaise. Oban neat. Cheers, Paul

Ah, to have riggwelter at the source. Love the humor, and just about everything, in the beer. My brewhouse is set to emulate Yorkshire water. Fine, fine area. We only got as far as Stoke on Trent when we were in England, and enjoyed many of Titanic's excellent beers. Hope to get back. I am very sorry to hear of your loss - I hope you and your family heal soon, and are gifted with another pup before too long. Cheers, Paul

OK Chad, will do! Cheers, Paul

Theakston (great name - the Apostate Paul is one of my favorite brewers - love Black Sheep products) - sorry, been out of the egullet loop for awhile - EGCI? Whatever helps, I'd be glad to do. If you guys want a basic recipe and technique breakdown for say, a basic english bitter, you bet. Just need to know what would best do for all of you. Things will change depending on equipment, water, yeast, etc. - of course, a million variables. But I can share what I have learned over the years. Just let me know what you all want. Paul

One thing I used to use in occasions where I oversalted, or over acidified (as in this instance), was to add mirin, japanese sweetened rice wine. It doesn't contribute a great deal of definitive flavor, but a roundness, and sweetness to counterbalance "maladies." Worth a try.

Well, perhaps I can just give a sample brew from my own system - including parameters like my system efficiency, etc.?

Sure - is this a "real time thing," as in posting as the brew progresses, or ahead of time, planning out and resolving questions?

Sorry, I've been lazy - gathering that the group batch is sort of a local gathering on the web? Sounds great, if so. Paul

I won't chime in too much here, except to say I am a former professional (Goose Island), and religious home brewer - my own dedicated 1/2 bbl stainless brewery, lovingly nicknamed "Ugly Betty" for my lousy welding, has been a solid workhorse over the last several years, kicking out 10 gallon batches I am very happy with. I have a home micro lab, and brew a great deal. I just finished bottling an Imperial IPA (at 7.75% abv and 90 ibu's), I am cold crashing an ESB tonight after two days dry-hop, and am about to launch my robust porter, "Cloakstone." All in anticipation of my grandfather in law's 85th b.d. - a lover of beer, god bless the man. I have also trained to some extent through Heriot-Watt University's brewing program. All of the above to say, if I can be of any help with anything, please ask away. Cheers, Paul

Woodford Reserve tops my list. Paul

I was an uchideshi (live in, direct disciple) to an aikido master. After hours of sustained training, when I thought I was going to sweat a lung, nothing, but nothing would marry sashimi as well as my favorite rice beer, DAI Kirin Ichiban, KUDASAI! Unlike most of the mega-brewers, there is a nice malt backdrop even though much of the mash bill is indeed rice. And slakes the meanest of thirsts. Paul

Cheers, mate. Happy hunting. Paul ps: just saw your beer ad. Like it!

Wilson, good points all. How about the following: the line of beers is called ___ (Company name): Due North Ales Couple of ad campaigns: a blank white full sheet, with a bold, black, block: Lost? Then a glistening beer (probably an ESB), with a scraggly black line-arrow pointing to the white head atop, then, Head Due North. Or, my 82 year old Estonian grandmother in law. Handheld TV camera catches her working her garden by the wall of her home, and asks this nice lady, would you try this beer? She downs it in one sweep, and, in the sweetest Eesti voice, asks.. "More please?" (this actually taken from life)... I agree on the humor thing. It's a fun beverage, and inherently, cannot take itself too seriously.

Agree wholeheartedly, Brooks, well put. Tons of stainless gets pretty expensive when receipts are not coming in. And, as the former national distribution manager of a regional craft Brewery here in Chicago, I, too, have seen what happens when craft brewers try to venture too far afield - without the economies of scale, and ironclad distribution system, of their behemoth mega-cousins. Best example to me, is Yuengling's turn around - the opposite of Frederick's fall, both hinging on the same reason. Yuengling came back home - and prospered. Shame, really. I brew wonderful beer, if I say so myself, and dream of opening up my own little Shepherd Neame or Hook Norton here in the states - complete with sheep lowing in the field, eating my spent grain. But it is not the climate it was a decade ago. Cheers, Paul

Here are my predictions. The beer industry is consolidating, obviously. The large brewers, Budweiser, Miller (SAB), Coors some time ago ventured for a minor blip into the specialty beer production arena, found it not their game, and went back to doing what they do. Consolidation will increase here. A long anticipated demographic shift has already taken place. However, it is exactly the 18-25 year old market which will seek out more flavorful products - college age consumers choosing local, craft beer. See Bells and Oberon Ale. Craft beer, as a sector, will continue to grow slowly, in a bricks-and-mortar pattern of solid, but not too exciting, growth. The craft beer industry is now entering a mature pattern, and consolidations will be on the rise here. See the recent purchase of Portland Brewing by Pyramid. Those now-veterans of the craft beer movement, like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Alaska Brewing, Sam's, (and Bells, etc., on the smaller scale), provided they do not try to go too expansive (i.e., Sams took a hit when it made too big an overture last year) will strengthen and perservere. Newcomers will find it extremely hard to find any shelf space, unless they are in an untapped market. Which is becoming hard to find. But overall, beer is here to stay. Who makes it will change, but as a consumer product, it will stay and not weaken over any length of time. Things like Zima of yesteryear, or low-carb beer of today, or "alco-pops" like Mike's Hard Lemonade or Hooch, are mere fads, and will pass. Any brewer who sinks considerable capitalization into equipping to make these products (if they require significant retooling to do so - i.e.., Hooch's special "Centrex" blending unit at 1 $million plus) will be hurting, as they will pass.

That's true, Craig, but a more detailed picture is that the beer industry's 1% decline was a 4th quarter narrowing off of a 3-3.7%% decline in 2003 Q1. In other words, I am not sure it is as much an increased market share taken by spirits as a sour economy now turning around. Time will tell, of course. On a good note, although many of the larger craft breweries posted losses, craft brewing as a whole posted a 5% gain. Those breweries who stayed home and served their core market fared fine. Cheers, Paul

Shrimp saute with fennel, garlic, tomato, parsley, and a shrimp stock reduction (ok, and a toss of ouzo), over risotto cakes. Kendall Jackson chard. eau de vie "framboises sauvages." Enough dessert there.

At the moment, I love a beer put out by Three Floyd's, Dreadnaught IPA, a massive beer, with an explosion of citrusy, dry hop character - the most, and best, I've experienced in any beer. A truly outstanding effort (I am not biased, though it's brewed by a former colleague from our Goose Island days...way to go, Jimmy!). Of course, I brew a ton, and I am unabashedly self-congratulatory in saying I really enjoy my own line...cold conditioning an Imperial IPA, dry hopping a strong ESB, and about to brew a robust porter... Onwards, fans of ale! Paul

Jacques Pepin lays out how to de-bone a quail, or any small bird, in La Technique or its modern edition, "Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques" (La Technique and La Methode in 1 volume). Quite easy, follows his technique for larger birds. Cheers, Paul

Forgot to add that as a teenager, for an outing with my French class, went to L'Auberge Parisienne. I can't vouch for the food (going back nearly 30 years ago - god), but the setting was nice; in someone's home, or so it seemed, with a nice view of a verdant back yard and environs.

You're killing me. Born and bred Venturan, haven't been home in 10 years. I remember going to a sulfur-fed hot springs in Ojai, with massage facilities and a natural food restaurant next door. The food was not bad (not hay bricks on tofu squares, actually a decent caesar, at the time). But I would not go for the food, necessarily, rather for the private tubs (sulfur reeks everywhere. Wonderful) and massage. A nice retreat, sorry can't remember the name. Chicago today is: muggy, stifling and miserable. Yippee!

I work for a law firm. Business is for... Aw, the hell with it. I'm going to go read Anna Karenina.

By the end of business Sunday I am ready for the end of business Friday.