Master Chef Adria To Dip His Fingers Into Pizza

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

Famed master chef, and owner/executive chef of El Bulli, Ferrán Adrià, has decided to venture into the pizza-making business! According to the Los Angeles Times, Adrià, along with his brother and collaborator, Alberto Adrià, are in the process of developing a new pizzeria to be located in Barcelona. Known for his avant-garde style of cooking, more commonly referred to as ‘molecular gastronomy’, Adrià hopes to create an ‘honest interpretation’ of the popular food.

“We’ll learn to make it well, this national dish of yours,” Alberto told La Stampa, the daily newspaper in Turin, during his recent visit to the city in the northwestern region of Piedmont.

For traditional Italian pizza makers, or pizzaioli, the feelings are mixed on the famed chef attempting his own version of the revered dish.

Giulio Ferrari, owner of Pizzeria La Cozza, said he was thrown by the news of Adrià wanting to get into pizza. “I hope he’s not going to deconstruct it too much and turn it into a foam,” he said.

Some are also concerned about the use of additives in the new pizza creation, noting Adrià’s support of a European Union project to promote synthetic food chemicals.

You can read the complete article from the Los Angeles Times here.

Australia’s Vogue Recognizes Sustainable Food Producers

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

While the United States continues to build it’s green and sustainable following, Australia’s Vogue Entertaining + Travel recently handed out their annual Produce Awards, recognizing sustainable farms and food producers within the country down under, in categories including ‘from the paddock’, ‘from the dairy’, ‘from the earth’ and ‘from the sea’.

“The Awards are dedicated to discovering and celebrating the finest food growers and suppliers in the country. Whether you’re a three-hat chef, or someone who enjoys cooking at home, these are the producers and products you need to know about. This year, the produce was of such a high standard that rather than presenting just one runner-up to each winner, we decided to add a new ‘gold medal’ category,” says Trudi Jenkins, editor-in-chief of Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

“The Awards are not just a celebration of Australia’s fantastic produce; they acknowledge the people who are committed to quality and consistency in what they grow and make, and those who promote small producers through restaurants, providores and markets,” she says.

National judges included a number of well-known Australian chefs, including Alla Wolf-Tasker, Matt Moran, Cheong Liew, and Philip Johnson.

The winners list (minus the long list of regional recognitions):

From The Dairy: Holy Goat La Luna, Victoria, AUS

From The Earth: Daylesford Organics Heirloom Vegetables, Victoria, AUS

From The Sea: Pristine Oyster Farm, South Australia, AUS; Spanner Crabs Noosa, Queensland, AUS

From The Paddock: White Rocks Veal, Western Australia, AUS

Best New Product: Redgate Farm Jurassic Quail, New South Wales, AUS

Consistently Excellent Product: Blackmore Wagyu, Victoria, AUS

Outstanding Use of Regional Produce By A Chef: Dan Hunter, Royal Mail Hotel, Victoria, AUS

Outstanding Farmers Market: Willunga, South Australia, AUS

The Maggie Beer Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food: Stephanie Alexander, “The Cook’s Companion”

This year’s award ceremony also included a new award, Food Heritage and Sustainability, with Spring Bay Mussels of Tasmania, AUS taking home the prize.

Good on ya, mates, for your support of sustainable food production!

Weekly Newsbits: GMOs in Your Kitchen, Swine Flu Renamed, Restaurants Resume Hiring!

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

A few of our favorite newsbits from today:

Rose over at A Little Bit of Green (which I found via Twitter from Real Food Media) has a great list of seven products you have in your kitchen that may be genetically-modified. I’m pretty surprised to see natural cleaning products on the list.

What do you do when there’s an unkosher flu going around? You rename it! Israel’s Health Minister, Yakov Litzman, has renamed the swine flu. I’m not sure if it helps or if it just offends a whole new group of people.

Could it be? Is it true? Nation’s Restaurant News is reporting that hiring is on the rise within the food and beverage industry. Though it’s still a bit low, at least 20% of restaurant managers who participated in a recent industry survey said they plan on adding to their staff over the next year.

US Pork Producers Quick to Assure Food Safety

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

The National Pork Producers Council released a statement yesterday stating that U.S. pork supply is safe to eat. Amid rampant concerns for pork safety after the recent swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the NPPC was quick to comment that the virus cannot be caught or spread by eating pork products.

“Pork is safe to eat, and direct contact with swine is not the source of, and U.S. pigs have not been infected with, the hybrid influenza that has been identified in a number of people in the United States and more than 1,300 in Mexico.

“NPPC wants to assure domestic and global consumers about the safety of pork and urges pork producers to tighten their existing biosecurity protocols to protect their pigs from this virus, including restricting public access to barns,” the [NPPC] statement went on to say.

Nonetheless, the U.S. Center for Disease Control is still recommending that anyone feeling flu-like symptoms remain at home in order to reduce the opportunity to get others sick.

You can read the NPCC’s full statement regarding the U.S. pork supply here.

Sail Through Italy With Chef Lydia Bastianich

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

For the foodie traveler in you! Benefiting the James Beard Foundation, you can join celebrity chef Lydia Bastianich for a seven-day cruise through Italian waters this October, with stops in Croatia, Montenegro, and Sicily. The Venice to Rome adventure aboard the Silversea even includes a day in Venice where you’re invited to join Lydia for lunch! Wow!

Details are available here, through the James Beard website!

A New Generation for Sherry

Posted by R.K. Gella

It was in December when Chef Seamus Mullen and Sommelier Roger Kugler (of Suba Restaurant and Boqueria) edged out the adroit competition (wd-50 and Michy’s were among the top seeds) at the Copa Jerez food pairing semi-finals.  Last week the duo was in Jerez, Spain, representing the US in this international competition that featured talents from Belgium, Germany, Spain and England.

But unlike the ubiquitous food and wine pairing competitions, the secret ingredient at this gala was Vino de Jerez, otherwise known as sherry, the under prescribed and far more often misunderstood fortified wine that hails from the albariza soils of the southern Mediterranean town.

Sherry, diagnosed as a grandma’s elixir or represented by a cob web encased bottle at the back of the cabinet, recently, has achieved new found appreciation among educated imbibers and wine critics.

With styles ranging from dry and pale to nutty and rich to full and creamy, versatility is sherry’s trademark characteristic.

This characteristic is why press and critics flocked to Jerez for the Final Internacional 3ª Copa de Jerez.  Among the table of judges was Juli Soler, the sommelier of the renowned El Bulli in Catalonia.

Each team had to present three courses with pairings, with judgment on food, presentation, selection and explanation.

As expected – as witnessed with the semi-finals in December – competition ran fierce and unfortunately for Mullen and Kugler, the team from Holland was chosen “Best Overall”.

However, Kugler did pick up the award for “Best Sommelier”, a masterful achievement considering the Spanish competition.

Chef Mullen’s and Sommelier Kugler’s final menu.

Sardina Ahumada y Ajo Blanco ~ dish
González-Byass “Tío Pepe” Fino ~ wine

Salmonete y Pata Negra ~ dish
Hidalgo Amontillado “Viejo” VORS ~ wine

Torta de Queso de Oveja en Flan ~ dish
Gutiérez Colosía Moscatel Soleado ~ wine

The Short Buzz: A Sparkling New Year

Posted by R.K. Gella

Say Champagne, think celebration.  The two have become quite synonymous since Dom Perignon accidentally stumbled upon the recipe in the Abbey cellars during the 17th century (and to think the French monk initially sought to rid his wine of effervescence in which he considered a flaw.)

Four centuries later the world still prizes the tickle of bubbly.  And as the anticipation for grandest party of the year peaks, the revelers stock up on the tipple of choice for the occasion… sparkling wine.

Wait.  Sparkling wine?  Don’t you mean…

The reason for my refrain of using the term Champagne comes two fold:

1.    To present an accurate statement.
2.    To avoid any lawsuit the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne) may charge me for misrepresentation.

I jest on my second reason, but only slightly.  The CIVC has gone through tremendous length and litigation to preserve the integrity of their wine.  But preservation might have come at a cost.  For those unfamiliar with Champagne, choosing between Champagne (wines strictly from the designated region that comply with AOC classifications) and other sparkling wines (wines from a variety of regions that utilize different types of methods) may come down simply to the price tag.

In June the New York Times reported that there was a bright outlook for Champagne, with emerging economies growing a taste for the wine, however, financial turbulence has halted those expectations as demands for luxury products have dropped dramatically.

The Financial Times reports that Champagne sales have declined by 5% in the US over the course of nine months, leaving producers with the hope that sales increase during holidays.

Unfortunately, their hopes might be thwarted by Champagne alternatives.

In the US, Cava (a Spanish sparkling wine of Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel·lo an Chardonnay created in the same method as Champagne) has taken over sparkling wine sales in attribute to its quality and price point.  Cava, produced throughout eastern Spain (though primarily in the Penedes region), is often a fraction of the price of Champagne making it a more desirable buy.

And for those who are looking to drink immediately, sparkling wine is seldom left to age, benefiting frugal purchases, which comes as a contrary to the usual outline of purchasing still wines.

Other sparklers that can be equally as enjoyable and economical include sparkling Prosecco or Asti wines (Italian), German Sekt, and California sparkling wines (many investments come from French houses).

If you must stay in France, remember there are several regions outside Champagne that make quality sparklers without the hefty price tags.  Vouvray, located in the Loire Valley, crafts quite drinkable wines from Chenin blanc, while Blanquette de Limoux from Languedoc in southwestern France, applies noble craftsmanship using Mauzac, Chenin blanc and Chardonnay.

This is in no way to dissuade you from a vintage Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame or Perrier-Joet Fleur de Champagne – especially if someone else is pouring it – these remain remarkable wines, yet what is truly more remarkable, and completely possible to find, is a wine in which quality rationally aligns to price.

New Editor In Chief at Michelin

Posted by R.K. Gella

Who said it was an old boys club?  For the first time in the 108-year history of the Le Guide Michelin (or the Michelin Guide) a woman will take control over the publication as editor-in-chief.  More shocking to the house of Michelin is not that Julianne Caspar, a former restaurateur and Michelin inspector, is a woman but that she’s a German. Caspar, who seldom has been photographed (ideal for a candidate of the position), will be taking the reigns of the French edition marking only the second time a non-Frenchman has had authority to do so.

But not all French nationals are up in arms.  Three-starred Parisian chef, Guy Savoy, offered some congratulatory remarks and noted a trend.

[Caspar’s appointment] shows a new open-mindedness of spirit… the number of one, two and three star restaurants in Germany [shows] that they have really come on with their cuisine in the past few years”.

Marchesi’s Michelin Star Fades into a Black Hole

The moral of the story: don’t stage outlandish threats unless you’re prepared to take account for them.

In the case of Michelin starred chef Gualtiero Marchesi, hailed as the father of “la nuova cucina Italiana”, it would have been assumed the seasoned 78-year-old had kept retribution in mind when he attacked the Michelin guide authors for stripping him of a star last June with threats of  “giving back” his remaining single star.

As it turns out  Mr. Marchesi wasn’t.  Not only did the Michelin take him at his word by removing his final star, they took his word, his star, his name and his restaurant right out of the guide, leaving Marchesi infuriated and perplexed.

A spokesperson for Michelin said: “When, as in this case, a restaurant does not wish to be judged or appear in the guides we take it out and it simply goes into the telephone book.”

Ristorante di Erbusco, the restaurant at the center of controversy, opened in Milan in 1993 and had the distinction of gaining Marchesi his third Michelin star.

“Faced with a case of lese-majesty, the Red Guide has responded with a beheading. I regard it as an out-and-out attack on Italian cuisine and its symbols,” said Marchesi in response of the latest outcome.

Unfortunately for the Italian chef it appears that the Michelin guide will retain the last word in this argument.

The Short Buzz: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé!

Posted by R.K. Gella

Wading in fantastic burgundy tinted spas under colossal bottles of Beaujolais, the celebration was in style of which only Japanese wine buffs could pull off, as they inaugurated the coming of Beaujolais Nouveau.

A young and vibrant wine, it’s France’s early gift to the world and the first wine released from this year’s harvest.

While the rest of the world plays catch up with Japan – who had the advantage of beginning the new day – it wouldn’t be curious to find wine drinkers purple toothed by lunchtime.

In their defense, the wine meant is to be drunk immediately, as most of this vintage will begin to decline after Christmas.

Produced from Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc, known otherwise as Gamay, in the region of Beaujolais, the wine is zesty and youthful, with spiked fruitiness benefiting from carbonic maceration.

Released every third Thursday of November, the wine has gained a following around the world, particularly in France where festivities will occupy the streets.  In the US the wine is purchased at bargain prices ($9-$12) and has become somewhat of a Thanksgiving tradition.

Although the wine has its detractors and flaws, over the next couple of months an estimated 65 million bottles will be consumed.  A good percentage of that will occur today.  (I’ve begun my share.)

However, with a steady loss in profits since 2004, and the culmination of a bad harvest – the worst since 1975 – and a hard hit economy, many winemakers are validated in their apprehensions.

“Despite low yields due to bad weather this year, we didn’t change the Beaujolais Nouveau’s price much because we know it’s hard for our customers in times of crisis,” said Nicolas Pasqua, manager of Ma Bourgogne, a Paris restaurant specializing in Beaujolais and Bourgogne wine, near the Champs-Elysees.

But for today at least, most of the worry will be left for tomorrow as the world raises their glasses and celebrates because “Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!”