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Food + Recipes, Pop Culture, Travel, Wine + Food Pairing

Estrella Damm INEDIT is a New Beer Designed for Food…Oh Really?

May 20, 2009

I don’t write about beer very often, though technically it is bubbly. But I couldn’t resist when I got this announcement trumpeting the release of Estrella Damm INEDIT, a beer that was crafted under the direction of genius chef Ferran Adria from El Bulli in Spain.

INEDIT is supposed to be served in a wine glass, in order to allow its bouquet to show itself. I do like the curvy, champagne-like bottle and the way the star logo stands out on the black bottle.

I'm really enjoying this raspberry Hoegaarden while in the town of the same name; sadly this beer isn't available in the U.S. .... yet.

I’m really enjoying this raspberry Hoegaarden while in the town of the same name; sadly this beer isn’t available in the U.S. …. yet.

But get this: the people from the Spanish brewery are touting INEDIT as the first beer designed to go with food. Really? I think all of the brewmasters in Belgium are going to be rather nonplussed and amused by that one. After a short trip to Belgium last fall to experience Stella Artois, Leffe and Hoegaarden in all their different styles, it’s quite clear that to Belgians, beer is it’s own food group. The many styles and weights of beers are expertly paired–just like wine–with everything from appetizers to desserts. One of my favorite pairings was a tangy Kriek cherry lambic beer with an airy Belgian waffle topped in whipped cream!

The extra-ironic part is that INEDIT is made in the style of a Belgian witbier, a white ale made from wheat and spiced with coriander and orange peel. I’m sure it will go with frites, tapas and all kinds of foods just fine.

Once I finally tasted INEDIT, I was delighted with its fragrance and elegance. Sorry, Miller High Life, INEDIT is my new champagne of beers.

A Bitter Swill: The Aperol Flip for MxMo

May 17, 2009
The Aperol Flip mixes the orangy Italian amaro with brut champagne, lemon and egg white. (Photo by Paul Body)

The Aperol Flip mixes the orangy Italian amaro with brut champagne, lemon and egg white. (Photo by Paul Body)

For years, I couldn’t stand most bitter foods: broccoli, radicchio, black coffee – no thanks.

But I think the key to appreciating bitters is all about the balance. So that’s probably why my first adult cocktail was the gin & tonic; a perfect equilibrium between fragrant slightly bitter gin, bittersweet tonic and tangy lime.

And though straight Campari still can set my teeth on edge, I appreciated it for the first time when I tasted the Quo Vadis Apertivo, a mix of Campari, tangerine juice, lemon and champagne that Paul Mant mixed up late one night (actually early one morning) at the venerable Soho bar.

It was a different story  — love that first night — when I discovered Aperol, Campari’s fruity orange cousin. I was still in it’s thrall when I visited Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco; so Joel Baker and I created this Aperol and champagne cocktail I dubbed the Aperol Flip. I know classic flips include the egg yolk along with the white, but it’s just a name.

Mixology Monday is an online sharing of cocktails all created on a theme.

Mixology Monday is an online sharing of cocktails all created on a theme.

It’s one of the drinks in my new book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion being released by Clarkson Potter on Aug. 25 and my offering for Mixology Monday on amaros hosted by Chuck Taggart of the Gumbo Pages this week.

Aperol Flip

Makes 1 cocktail

1 ounce Aperol

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 ounce agave nectar

1/2 ounce pasteurized egg white

2 ounces brut champagne

wide swath orange zest, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the Aperol, lemon juice, agave nectar and egg white. Shake until well-chilled. Pour the champagne into a smallish martini glass. using a strainer, pour the Aperol mixture into the glass. Pinch the orange zest over the glass to release its oils, then carefully lay it atop the foam.

From The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion by Maria C. Hunt (Clarkson Potter, 2009)

Check the post out on Tastespotting.com

The Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Blood Orange Margarita

May 15, 2009
The Blood Orange Margarita at Whisk'n'ladle features a hibiscus infused tequila, but you can use the regular stuff at home.

The Blood Orange Margarita at Whisk'n'ladle in La Jolla features a hibiscus infused tequila, but you can use the regular stuff at home.

Ian Ward makes some of the tastiest and most creative cocktails in San Diego, but alas they’re not usually the kind of drinks mere mortals can make at home. Take the super tangy Blood Orange Margarita that Ian made for me on a recent visit to Whisk’n’ladle.

Turns out that he mixes it with a hibiscus blossom infused-tequila; and then the nice pink layer on top is a blood orange foam that includes gelatin and coconut.

The thing that I took away from the experience though is remembering the intensely tart flavor of blood oranges. On early visits to Northern Italy, I fell in love with the sweet tart taste of blood orange juice, since that’s usually what you get when you order a glass of fresh orange juice. You’ll find that although many blood oranges aren’t ripe enough to eat on their own, they really shine when mixed with a bit of sweetener, such as agave nectar. Here’s my version of a Blood Orange Margarita, to use the last of these fruits from the farmer’s market.

Blood Orange Margarita

1-1/2 ounces good tequila

3/4 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce agave nectar

1 ounce fresh blood orange juice

1 ounce fresh lime juice

Add the tequila, Cointreau, agave nectar, blood orange juice and lime juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 30 times or until your hands are really cold. Strain the contents into a wide flute style glass or a traditional margarita glass.

Cheers!

Sparkling Wine

Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée

May 8, 2009
Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée is a blanc de noirs style California sparkling wine, meaning its made from dark skinned grapes - pinot noir in this case.

Iron Horse Wedding Cuvée is a blanc de noirs style California sparkling wine, meaning the pale wine is made from dark skinned grapes - pinot noir in this case.

In case you hadn’t noticed, May wedding season is in full bloom.  Champagne and sparkling wine are classic beverages for this celebratory season, but few seem as appropriate as Iron Horse’s Wedding Cuvée.  The peachy pink wine is ideal whether you’re looking for a wedding toast or a sparkling wine to give as a wedding present along with a pair of champagne futes. Crafted from pinot noir grapes with a hint of chardonnay, the Wedding Cuvée has a soft richness to it with a hint of fruit at the end.

Joy Sterling, who runs her family’s winery, says she always loves the moment when she pours Wedding Cuvée at tastings.  “Everywhere I go I meet people who became engaged over it, had it at their wedding, in the delivery room and for anniversaries,” Sterling says.  I like sipping it on its own, but the wine also shines with salmon in a spring preparation with morel mushrooms and wild spring onions. It would also be delicious with lighter pork dishes or this soup made from the wild onions called ramps Epicurious.com.  Sterling says she enjoys it with bittersweet chocolate with a high cocoa content – she swears the combination is like eating chocolate-covered strawberries.

Iron Horse's open air tasting over looking the vineyards is the scene for the new After Hours Friday wine and food pairing. (Photo Iron Horse Vineyards)

Iron Horse's open air tasting over looking the vineyards is the scene for the new After Hours Friday wine and food pairing. (Photo Ion Horse Vineyards)

If you happen to find yourself with a free Friday afternoon in Sonoma County, then reserve a spot for Iron Horse’s After Hours, a new happy hour with wine and food pairings. It’s available for up to 30 people from 5:30 to 7 p.m. every Friday through October.  To make a reservation, contact tasting room manager Lisa Macek at (707)887-1507 or email her at  lisam@ironhorsevineyards.com.

Food + Recipes, Wine + Food Pairing

Taralli Pugliese: The Perfect Snack with Any Bubbly

May 6, 2009
Taralli Pugliese, shown here at Babbo Ristorante in NYC, are neat olive oil crackers that shine with wine. (Photo Babbo NYC)

Taralli Pugliese, shown here at Babbo Ristorante in NYC, are crunchy and savory olive oil crackers that shine with bubbly or any kind of wine. (Photo Babbo NYC)

In March I spent a magical week at The Awaiting Table cooking school in Lecce, Puglia, where we cooked and ate  all sorts of wonderful regional dishes from chicken with green olives, thyme and fruity olive oil to handmade orecchiette pasta to simple seafood soup with the sweetest shrimp I’ve ever tasted.

But the Pugliese dish that may be my favorite is one of the simplest: a cracker. Actually, taralli aren’t just any crackers, they’re olive oil based snacks that have been made in Puglia for hundreds of years. They were on the table one night when the class went out to a wine bar that served all the regional wines like primitivo di Manduria, Nero di Troia and negroamaro along with the oddest assortment of country music and Beatles songs. A new friend Carolyn served them to me one evening as we sipped a brut sparkling wine from the Salento.

Whether they’re plain, seasoned with red pepper or fennel, all have a nice crunch, a crumbly texture and a satisfying flavor from all that good Italian olive oil. I was serendipitously surprised when a quick Google search turned up a recipe for taralli from Gina dePalma, the pastry chef at the Mario Batali restaurant Babbo in New York City. Here’s her recipe for Taralli al Peperoncino flavored with red chile flakes and oregano. They’re crafted from low gluten 00 flour, shaped by hand, boiled and then baked like a bagel. The spicy ones are popular, but dePalma also suggests flavoring them with crushed fennel seed and lemon zest.

Taralli -- olive oil crackers shaped like little bagels -- are a savory traditional snack served with wine in Puglia, Italy.

Taralli from A.G. Ferrari on Amazon.com.

If making them from scratch sounds like too much work, then pick some up at your local Italian gourmet shop or  order them from  A.G. Ferrari on Amazon.com. But there’s no way they’ll be as fresh as homemade.