On food, wine and mashups.

I've been meaning to write up a few random food products and wines recently, so I figured I'd do so while listening to some terrific mashups by Bigga Bush. For the musically challenged, a mashup is basically taking a popular song, keeping one aspect (say, the lyrics, for example) and adding an entirely different musical track from another song. Sort of a supercharged remix, or a double sample. As an example, take the 'Crazy Right Now' smash hit from Beyonce, keep the vocal track, ditch the mediocre music behind it, and then add a classic mid-70's reggae instrumental track: a dramatic and newlyenergized, soulful tune is born.

2007 Domaine de Fenouillet Cotes du Ventoux Rose
Everything that I don't like about many roses is present in this wine: very candied red fruit, to the point of artificial flavors. This is generic southern French rose wine at its worst. Surprisingly it's imported by Neil Rosenthal, who is usually a solid name to see on the back of a wine bottle. Not so for this wine. Not reccommended.


2006 Acustic Cellars Acustic Montsant
50% Samso (carinena) and 50% garnacha. There is a vibrancy, freshness and acid balance in this wine that is lacking in all too many wines from Montsant - most of them in fact. This wine shows that Montsant has the potential to be to Priorat what good Cotes du Rhone is to Chateauneuf du Pape: a region producing value wines that are great to drink young or even with moderate age, and that often come across as more enjoyable than their bigger, more expensive siblings in the fancier appellation. $18

2006 Doña Paula Malbec Lujan de Cuyo

Malbec? You might be asking yourself, isn't that usually overripe, oaky, nasty wine that usually has the consulting stamp of Paul Hobbs? Well, not always. This is suprisingly delicious Malbec with a sense of real balance. Still dark fruited, still full-bodied and still a real mouthful of wine, but with a nice mineral inflected, dense, tactile sensation on the palate. $12.

Alois Golles Pumpkin Seed Oil and Apple Balsamic Vinegar

If you're reluctant to discover the joys of good pumpkin seed oil in the well stocked kitchen, you need to get over that stuff and take a trip to flavor country. Serious, gourmet condiment flavor country, courtesy of Styria in southern Åustria. This stuff is black and viscous. When poured over bread or mixed with extra virgin olive oil for salad dressing (the only way you should do a dressing with this oil, by the way - otherwise it's too strong) the oil imparts a beautiful intense peridot green hue. Rich, complex, dark and nutty tasting, with a finish that is long and tastes like the essence of pumpkin. And the apple balsamic vinegar is sweet, mellow and a natural companion to the oil. I use a splash of this vinegar, combined with shallots, salt, pepper, and a 2-1 ratio of extra virgin olive oil to pumpkin seed oil, for an addictive salad dressing. Add some chopped walnuts and your favorite salad cheese for your new favorite salad. $42 for a companion set of pumpkin seed oil and apple balsamic vinegar. Each is packed in a 250ml bottle.

OutKast - Ain't No Thang

Well, the record company didn't want me to post the last video, so it's back to 'ain't no thang.' A better song imo, anyway. Apologies for the lackluster photo montage.

Outkast-Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

Get a little fried chicken and grits in me and I get Georgia on my mind. I was looking for 'Aint no thang but a chicken wang' but there was no video for it. This will do, though. Happy Friday, ya'll .

Fried chicken and grits at Front Porch

My girlfriend and I were both famished, and thought that we would check out Beretta, a promising new spot in the the mission. As is the case with most new hot spots around town, there was not a seat in the house - not a deuce, not a few seats at the bar, not a spot to be had at the communal table. Rather than wait 30 minutes, we decided to head to Emmy's, a neighborhood comfort Italian food spot known for its massive portions of tasty spaghetti and meatballs. Unfortunately we were looking at another 30 minute wait here, so our last resort before a burrito was The Front Porch. Things definitely worked out for the better; we immediately were seated and ordered what would be an incredibly satisfying, southern inspired meal at Front Porch.

The Front Porch is a welcoming establishment. As I was about to set foot into the restaurant, I realized that there was a rocking chair amidst the several tables and chairs set up outside, in a patio area that more closely resembled, well, a front porch. Continuing the welcoming vibe, some good classic JB was playing, adding to the low-key, relaxed, funky environs. If you ask me, sometimes there is nothing like eating a good stick to your ribs meal while listening to the godfather of soul ask the JB's if they can hit it and quit it.

Well, somehow I just lost a paragraph describing this meal, and I don't have the time to reconstruct it now. Oh well. Let me just say that the white wine ('06 Morgadio Albariño) was good, and in case you were wondering, mmm... it does go well with the chicken.

Matzoh shortage coverage: The Media takes note, a food and wine blogger reaches his limits.

The NY Times ran a story on matzoh shortages nationally, with a focus on the particularly accute shortage in the bay area.

The San Francisco Chronicle also covered the story.

In the meantime, I had a big plate of pasta today. I just couldn't go any longer, and since there is no matzoh anywhere....

I will continue to refrain from eating bread through the end of the holiday.

Blind flight of red, Blind flight of white.

Last week was another exciting meeting of the motley crew of wine retailers, importers, home contractors and others which currently comprise my monthly tasting group. Benjamin selected the wines and did an absolutely killer job bringing some cool stuff. Especially considering the fact that he has kids and is in the middle of escrow, which I imagine keeps him more than a little busy. I thought that I would do things a bit differently with this recap. Wines for each flight will be listed with my personal tasting notes, in reverse order of our group's ranking (worst to first). Then I will reveal the wines with some further commentary.

WHITES

WINE A3
This wine was awful. Cooked, green nose. Not good green. A combo of green and weird tropical notes on the palate. It's gotta be NZ sauv blanc, I was thinking. A consensus last pick.

WINE A2
Very mineral on the nose, with a fairly decent wollop of new oak as well. This reminded me of WINE A1, with more fruit, of a sweeter quality, and a richer mid-palate.

WINE A1
Apple and melon rind on the nose. A whiff of salt peanuts. On the palate the wine is fresh, clean and shows a lot of fruit and balancing acid, with nuanced, balanced oak. Folks were thinking Graves on this, while I was thinking higher quality California SB. Mow that I think of it, Gary called northeastern Italian Sauvignon Blanc.

WINE A4
In addition to being the group pick, this wine was my clear favorite. Clearly it had a bit of bottle age, with a slightly leesy quality adding dimension to the the intense green apple skin aromas. The wine showed citrus zest galore on the incredibly lively palate. Very intense, electric. Acidity, very high. My style of wine. To me, this was clearly good quality Pouilly Fume, from a cooler vintage. I was guessing '04.

Well, you will notice that the probable theme here is Sauvignon Blanc. And the wines were:
A1 - San Michele Appiano Sanct Valentin Sauvignon Blanc Alto Adige 2003
A2 - Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fume 'Pur Sang' 2003
A3 - Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2004
A4 - Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fume 'Blanc Fume' 2004

2/4, so not a bad personal showing there. But what a call on the Italian SB for Gary - I'd have never guessed that! The '03s were tough to call: so ripe that they appear to be from the new world. That having been said, they are still very fresh and vibrant, though the '03 Pur Sang just is not my type of wine, nor do I think it ever will be.

RED WINES

B1 - After the SB theme, I stuck my nose into this glass and thought that maybe we'd be doing obscure Loire reds. Was this cot? Clearly this was merely a case of thematic suggestion, as the wine was a whole other story on the palate. It tasted of dark cherries - rich, young, spicy fruit. Probably southern French.
B2 - The nose on this seemed brighter and more red fruited than the wine below. Same on the palate, though its clipped finish showed some astringency. A bit hot. OK, now I suspect we're dealing with southern Rhone wines. Cotes du Rhone or chateauneuf du pape.
B4 - This one appeared to be at least 4 years older than the others. More faded, opaque, brick color. Indian spices and cooked cherries on the nose. It was muddled and not fresh on the nose, a little bit more fresh on the palate. At this point it was pretty clear that we were dealing with Chateauneuf du Pape. I nailed the vintage on this guy, but thought that the others were a lot younger - '05s to be exact.
B3 - Here's the super modern cuvee. Flashy, new oak. Jammy black cherries. Extracted. This could basically be from any number of places: Ribera del Duero, Portugal, Bordeaux. Something about the wine in the context of this flight, however that people really enjoyed. I voted it second favorite, in a grouping of wines I did not much like.

B1 - Vieux Telegraphe Chateaneuf du Pape 'La Crau' 2000
B2 - Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape 2000
B3 - Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape 'Cuvee de la Reine Des Bois'2000
B4 - Domaine Font de Michelle Chateauneuf du Pape 2000

Once the wines were revealed, we discussed how we all thought they were a bit alcoholic, not the kinds of wines we would typically crack open and enjoy. Nonetheless, they showed much better with Benjamin's hearty lamb stew, prepared lovingly with a bottle of chateauneuf du pape.

Can a Bay Area Brother Get some Matzoh???

Most area stores in the Bay Area, from the local neighborhood markets to the likes of Whole Foods, are completely sold out of matzoh. This apparently happened as of Saturday (the day prior to night one of the Passover holiday). What the fuck??!

I'm not the most observant Jew. I am not a regular synagogue goer. Read this blog and the occasional pork reference will surface. Nonetheless, there are certain traditions I uphold, and one of them involves keeping Passover, more or less. No bread, no pasta, no pie, no cake. I don't take it to what I believe are ridiculous extremes due to custom and rabbinical interpretations over the years (i.e., no beer because it has barley, nothing sweetened with fructose, no rice unless you are a sephardic Jew). I generally have matzoh everyday during Passover: with butter; peanut butter; olive oil and zatar; hummus; scrambled eggs; and definitely with tomato paste, melted cheese and a secret blend of seasonings as matzoh pizza.

Who is to blame for the shortage? There are a few theories. I'm not buying into these. Manischevitz ain't the only game in town. Buyers need to plan ahead, do their homework and adjust as necessary. So I will now have to add matzoh to the growing list of foods which the Bay Area is apparently incapable of providing: bagels; deli; pizza; fine dining (and casual) authentic italian. Let me know if I left out anything.

Suffice it to say, I am unlikely to buy Manischevitz products anytime soon, or any Passover products from Whole Foods in the future. From now on, it's Streitz, straight up.