badthings

The "best" chard. in the world is Gallo: press release Guess they'll just have to plant apples in Montrachet. Someone once told me that Montelena actually tastes like wine and not California chard., but I've never found the opportunity to try it.

Wow, thank you, pros. I did taste it before the souffle was out of the oven, and also with cheeses, including a forme sauternes, so I don't see how the interaction could have generated the taste, but maybe I'm misremembering something. There's a little bit left: I'll taste it again tonight. I'm sure you're right about the combo -- I've read that many times, most memorably in the dessert chapter of Olney's Simple French Food, which is more about Sauternes than dessert. I wanted to see for myself what was so horrible about it, because it doesn't make sense to me intuitively.

We had a '98 Monbazillac with chocolate souffle the other night. Don't remember the producer, but I got it from a good merchant. It tasted quite strongly of saffron, with some (old) wood thrown in. These flavors obscured the other qualities of the wine. I rarely drink Sauternes or Monbazillac, but I can't imagine that they normally taste like a nice paella. I've never heard of such a thing. Is it just a weird wine, or some kind of winemaking/bottling flaw?

I make fresh shell beans a lot in season, and I was surprised by how fast these ones cooked. Overall, I would say that using dried beans allows for longer, slower cooking, and thus richer flavor, more of which is absorbed into the bean, but these were plenty rich, just more delicate. I will definitely make the fava recipe next spring. Once I bought pork rind from the Ranch 99 market in El Cerrito, and they wouldn't even charge me. But I now live walking distance from Café Rouge, and their excellent meat market, so I had them order me the belly (and shoulder) from Niman Ranch (they make the confit and the sausage too; if you haven't been, I recommend it next time you're in Berkeley). In general, I'd rather support Niman than not. And I'd rather support people who make boudin noir and guanciale, and can get me something like caul fat on short notice. Plus, now I have a freezer full of pork. It's been a couple months since I cooked a big complicated meal like this, and I'd almost forgotten how fun -- and satisfying -- it is. Now I'm really looking forward to your new book for more of the same.

Cassoulet de Toulouse report: The beans were called "cocos biancos," allegedly a kind of cannelini, but I was not able to persue the question with Annabelle, the woman who grows them, because she was getting lunch when I bought them from her stall at the farmer's market. They were more rotund than normal cannelini, the pods a bit shorter. I bought around 3.5 lbs., which worked out almost exactly to 2 lbs. shelled (the quantity called for in the recipe). A few days later I read in the Larousse article on cassoulet that the beans prefered in Toulouse are called cocos there, so I had a good feeling about them. Also in the Larousse I read that true cassoulet must always be cooked in a special earthenware cassole, never enamel. On the next page the picture showed a lovely cassoulet nestled in a Le Creuset casserole, which was comforting, because that was what I was going to use. (In fact, the first time I made cassoulet I used a gigantic stainless sauté pan because it was the biggest pan I had, and it came out fine, though not so aesthetically pleasing) The meat cost nearly $100 dollars -- partially because my butcher ordered me a whole pork belly (unsmoked, skin on). He would have taken it back, but there was something so wonderful about it that I just bought the whole thing. I think Elizabeth David noted that cassoulet is not particularly cheap to make despite its rustic origins. By a strange bay area phenomenon it is easier to get confit than a whole duck to make it yourself, so that's what I did. I got the end of a prosciutto di San Daniele for $7/lb. which was a major score. I got their delicious garlic sausage, and also some duck sausage, just for fun. In the interest of brevity I will skip the narrative of the three-day cooking process, except to say that I attempted to follow the recipe pretty closely, making allowances for the fresh beans. I was distracted by the catastophic finale of the A's season, though, and the beans got very soft cooking in the ragout -- too soft for my taste, but rescued in time to prevent them from disintegrating. They weren't in there much more than an hour. On the final day when you reheat it with pureed pork fat, I strained out the beans for the simmering session, but left it in the oven longer at the end to compensate. For these reasons the beans were more delicate in flavor than dried beans. Part of the problem was that, in my greediness for as many fatty meats as possible, I used the Toulouse recipe instead of the fresh fava one. I also departed from the recipe by defatting pretty aggressively. Less for "health" concerns than the thought that 3 of my guests would be flying the next day, either across the country or across the atlantic. The thought of sitting on a plane for 5, or 10, hours with a stomach full of fat made me a little queasy, so I took pity on the guests. Instead of skimming a little fat before putting it in the fridge overnight, I took it all off when I pulled it out the next day -- about 2 cups worth. I also defatted the meats thoroughly during the final assembly (except for the pork belly of course). Don't worry, there was still plenty of fat, and flavor. It was wonderful. I mean, cassoulet is almost the perfect food. We were all smiling involuntarily the whole meal. As I noted, the beans were a little too soft for me, but I really didn't care when I was eating it. The thing that shocked me is that we ate the whole thing! 7 people. It seems unfathomable, but I don't even feel that bad today. I made a salad with a lot of bitter greens to act as a palate cleanser. We finished it off with chocolate souffle and a cheese course and it wasn't even that overwhelming (we needed a little help from Mr. Calvados before the cheese). I decided on Madiran, then worried that it might frighten some of the guests, so went with Corbieres instead. But at the store, the magnum of Domaine Les Pallieres Gigondas was calling to me, so I caved and bought that too, deciding to use the Corbieres as backup (which it turned out we didn't need). So the sequence was: Vouvray pétillant Gigondas Monbazillac (Calvados) It was pretty much perfect. I would suggest making a lighter cassoulet, such as Wolfert-Daugin's fava recipe, with fresh beans. The traditional recipe is really designed around the weight of the dried beans. But if you are greedy like me, just watch your fresh beans closely.

yes, you can still get "mountain peaches" from colder parts (and washington state). Whoever buys produce for market hall knows what he or she is doing. (and pays for it too). AND, to my delight, Frog Hollow had one last batch of Autumn Flames on Sat. (they had nothing but pears on Tuesday, which made me sad).

Yeah, I have my doubts. It would be nice to have any reason to go to Jack London though. Along with a new ballpark for the A's at the Laney parking lot. (owner-financed, of course. Maybe they could make Al Davis pay for it.) edit:typo

Decanter reports that Soave producers are ignoring the new DOGC.

I bought the Barrenechea instead of the Hirigoyen because an amazon reviewer, I think, who claimed to be Basque complained about the latter's authenticity. I particular, I think he calls for butter in bacalao pil-pil, which is obviously not authentic. The Barrenechea looked good, but I have not cooked from it (it was a gift). El Bulli is of course not basque.

Yes. Yes it does. We have basically given up cooking anything at A's tailgates, because everyone would rather stop here to get a crazy sandwich. The place you are talking about is actually Torta Loca #2 -- there is a real sit-down restaurant a couple blocks north on the other side of E14th. They have more items, including huitlacoche when available and, I think, pozole on the weekends. Tinga is beef not pork, at least at torta loca.

Nice lineup, Jim. What temperature do you serve the Chinon at? I have had a different Joguet (probably a lesser one -- it did not show the kind of length you are talking about) a few times, but it always seems too hot or too cold. I'm guessing cru beaujolais temp. would be ideal, but that's tough to do if you don't have a cellar.

Shit, I thought my last kitchen was bad. I used to make pasta on the "dining room" table (just rolled it out, no machine). It was nice to work on a decent-sized surface, but it definitely accelerated the decrepitude of my upper back to work so low. The other drawback was that I got flour everywhere. Since I was a bachelor at the time, I just ignored it, and the mice eventually cleaned it up for me. Definitely try to find space for a kitchen cart somewhere. I have a shitty one from Target or somewhere that I cover with a piece of butcher block and it works great. 2 square feet of work surface is unimaginably luxurious.

To judge from Robert's pictures, e.g., the third, the ideal cassole is narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, (to maximize surface area for meat and crust, of course). I am not sure that these aren't earthenware (at least some of them) and not stoneware. If you can't find the real thing, I would reccomend calling the Spanish Table to see what they have. The traditional Spanish earthenware ollas and cazuelas are very well suited to cooking beans, but they are not wider at the top. They may, however, have something shaped more similarly to these cassoles. Spanish Table (206) 682.2827 Their website appears to be down. (Or, take a giant tagine and turn it upside down!)

Yes! I was hoping to elicit a reply from you. I am going to use your Cassoulet de Toulouse recipe. (I just ordered the meat from my butcher, and about halfway through he said, "you're using Paula Wolfert's recipe, aren't you?" "yeah." "dude, it's time-consuming." "yeah." "but it kicks ass!"). So everyone loves your recipe -- which certainly doesn't look as time-consuming as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is the one I've used before. Plus, no mutton! D-Day is Tuesday, I'll let you know. Will serve with Gigondas or Madiran, depending on my mood (and budget).

Anyone make cassoulet with fresh beans? It seems crazy to use last year's dried beans when fresh are in season, but I'm afraid they may disintegrate under extensive cooking. I'm considering adapting Paula Wolfert's oft-cited recipe from André Daugin for fava-bean cassoulet (favas of course are not in season now) using fresh cannelini. Any suggestions?

I do most of my cooking for someone on Weight Watchers, which is the exact opposite of how how I like to eat -- heedlessly. Of course, WW is all about calories -- they don't really care what kind of fat you eat, as long as it's in negligible (useless) quantities. So it presents a different set of problems than low-cholesterol. I've discovered a couple things that may be useful to you: 1. portion control. duh, I know, but if you can figure out a way to only serve yourself a couple slices of pork loin unstead of a giant chop, you'll be much happier. 2. For weight watchers, lean meats are the key. Flank steak instead of ribeye, etc. This may not be so useful to you. Also, I have learned that many "preserved meats" (i.e., jamon serrano from iberian pigs) have significantly lower cholesterol than "normal" american pork, which has been bred to be "lean" whatever the consequences. Goose fat and lard have much lower cholesterol than butter. It pays to do some research into the nutritional composition of various animal products before you give up on them entirely. 3. veggies and EVOO. Get a couple good Italian cookbooks and make lots of veggies. Particularly if you're concerned with cholesterol specifically and not calories in general. Personally, I would be happy to eat chard, chickpeas, rapini, etc. (almost) every night if I can soak 'em in lots of olive oil, but this doesn't work for WW unfortunately. Finally, I'd bet that substituting red wine for beer is going to make a big difference, especially if you drink alot. Good luck, I hope this was helpful.

Most of you have already seen this, and the rest will hardly be surprised, but this is apropos of a number of recent threads as well as that inane "next big thing" article in WS: article

If I may be allowed to importune further (and this ties in to to the other questions about italian varietals and cheap california wines): The world is definitely a better place for your malvasia. And it will probably be one if you can hit a home run -- or even get on base -- with aglianico. But the issue gets a lot more complicated at the intersection of authenticity (terroir), drinking pleasure, and price. The Saintsbury Pinot Noir you mentioned, for example, works in terms of the last two, if not the first. But what is the point, to pull out my usual straw man, of making albariño in Carneros if it costs twice as much as in Rias Baixas? The point has to be that you can do something incredible with albariño here that they can't do in Galicia, right? So, closer to home, how do imagine the Cigare at this intersection? Are you expressing something uniquely Californian using the Chateauneuf template? Or are you making a "chateauneuf" here that provides more pleasure than comparably-priced "real" Chateaux-neufs? Regardless, we are all better off for the "tremendous amount of trial, error and imagination" you have put into experimenting in California. Thank you -- especially for freisa!

You got someone to grow Aligoté in Cali? Or are you importing some, like the Madiran? This is very exciting -- I love aligoté.

Well, the peaches are gone for the year. I haven't had time to become sad yet. What's really sad, though, is that Brentwood itself may soon be gone: Chron article

Came across this in Waverly Root's Food of Italy (1971) yesterday:

Several of my local merchants have large and prominent ABC sections. A couple months ago, I was talking to one of them about a Quincy featured therein when a woman ran in looking for Kendall-Jackson chard. That is still the bulk of their business even in a very well educated market. (I'm not saying you have to be stupid to like wine that tastes like butterscotch pudding, just that many people drink such puddings because they don't have the time to learn more about wine). I was shocked when I first moved to California to discover that we simply had a better selection of overpriced California wine than on the east coast. It is easier here to find good wines, but they are still overpriced, for the most part [i swim in the shallow end of the pricing pool -- normally under $15]. Probably 90% of what I buy comes from somewhere in Europe. I didn't think the article had much new to say. Really, it is one of the 2 main wine journalism templates. The other is just the opposite: Bourdeax (or all of France, or even Europe) is losing market share because it's not reacting to to "market pressure" to make butterscotch pudding instead of well-balanced wines that taste good and go with food.

Mr. Grahm, as a longtime admirer of your wine and your demetia, I'd like to thank you for submitting to our importunities here. Considering your history with pinot noir, and your current varietal promiscuity, I would like to hear your thoughts on California terroir. It seems that you enjoy discovering and promoting some unique terroirs (Oakley, Gilroy), and yet also taking advantage of California's relative freedom to make interesting blends. I guess, considering these items of your creed, I wonder how you determine that one unprecedented california expression of a grape (say, viognier), is a worthwhile pursuit, while another (say, pinot noir) is not. Of course, it is your fine palate, considered judgement, and native genius -- but what is it , exactly, that you're shooting for? I have many more, less coherent questions that flow from this one, but thinking about your malvasia is too distracting.

Sacramento Bee article AVF

Last fall I had lunch in a place on the square (called Domaine maybe?) that had a nice selection of wines by the glass (maybe 20?), which is both rare, and a pleasant luxury in the middle of the Rhône. I'm guessing they're trying to capitalize on "gourmet" tourists. Had a decent pistou to eat too. Now I really wish we'd sprung for Christian Etienne. Thanks for sharing.