No
one has yet come up with a satisfactory explanation as to why Scots
and Canadians call the beverage distilled from malted barley
“whisky,” while Irish people and Americans spell the same thing
“whiskey.” An easy way to remember the correct form according to
its derivation is that Scotland and Canada have no e in their
name— whereas the United States and Ireland do.
Milk
was my poison back then but, even so, I began a lifelong fascination
with Champagne one evening when my father let me stay up way past my
bedtime to watch Goldfinger, ABC’s Sunday Night movie that
week.
While
I’d never heard of James Bond or Champagne, it didn’t take long
for my elementary-school logic to work out that whatever was inside
those bottles 007 was pouring made a very positive impression on
girls wearing bikinis.
For
gourmands, the pairing of regional food with regional drink is pretty
much a requirement: Chianti with high-acid tomato sauce; Muscadet
with belons oysters;
aquavit with pickled herring; spit-roasted lamb with red Rioja; Port
and stilton (okay, Port is
from Portugal, but the Brits invented it); Scottish smoked salmon and
malt whiskey (if you must); Retsina and Greek salad; Guinness and
Irish stew.
But
Champagne and caviar? Caspian fish eggs with a bubbly wine from
northern France? Whaddup? Okay, the first real caviar retailer set up
shop in Paris, so there’s the connection, but really …
Do you wonder from time to time, Is my 1990 Stag’s Leap Cabernet insured for flood or fire, is my case of 2000 Niagara Brand X Chardonnay worth protecting from thieves?
Well, that thought has crossed my mind, as I’m sure it has many of you.
Whether you have 300 bottles, a $12,000 cellar or a special
2,000-bottle $100,000 cellar, the questions remain: should you insure
it and how should you insure it?
A friend was lucky enough to have his problem solved in a unique way
when he was broken into and most of his wine cellar was stolen — a
horrible situation, I know, but take your hands slowly off your eyes
and read on. As it turned out, his insurance adjuster was a member of
the Opimian Society, and he was naturally both sympathetic and
understanding. The claim was settled quickly and fairly.
Not so much starving as hungry. Well, not so much hungry as dying for something to eat. I can’t really say I’m lacking in something to eat … Let’s just say, I need more.
Not more on my plate — I’m sure you can agree we all have too much on our plates — but simply something exciting. A restaurant is more than a place to sit, eat, drink and be. Not a culinary adventure around every corner but a respite from our everyday. We break from the norm of cooking at home, living in our cocoons.
Anyone who has ever dined with me knows that I love to share recipes. I share, even if my dinner partner isn’t remotely interested in cooking. That’s because I have appointed myself as the recalcitrant Knight Templar of cooking — it is my duty to reveal the guarded secrets of the kitchen. I am happy to impart the combined culinary knowledge of generations, retrieved from the slightly dented recipe box in my brain. To me, the Holy Grail of a recipe always begins with a secret — some seductive and mysterious ingredient or culinary technique that elevates a dish from the merely mundane to the infinitely sublime.
For thirty-two years I’ve been a card-carrying member of the
no-sugar-tonight club. The thing that always surprises people when they
find out I’m diabetic is the significant part that food and wine play
in my life. Reactions range from the somewhat curious (“How do you
manage to do that?”) to the utterly admonishing (“Diabetics shouldn’t
drink!” — to which I typically reply: “To your health!” before draining
my glass). While the medical world has pretty much conceded that
diabetics need not abstain from fermented fruit juice (or other potent
potables), the question of what to drink and how much remains an issue.
I want to learn more about wine, but the thought of staring at a computer screen for hours gives me the willies. Can you recommend some good wine-related reading material I can enjoy from the comfort of my couch?
I’m with you; I sit in front of a computer for a living and a glowing monitor is the last thing I want to be cuddling up with during my off hours.
While I do love being able to hit a few keys and have the Internet tell me how to make the perfect martini or what bottle of vino some geeky blogger thinks will match best with my Kraft Dinner, when it comes to information gathering, nothing beats words on paper.
For
gourmands, the pairing of regional food with regional drink is pretty
much a requirement: Chianti with high-acid tomato sauce; Muscadet
with belons oysters;
aquavit with pickled herring; spit-roasted lamb with red Rioja; Port
and stilton (okay, Port is
from Portugal, but the Brits invented it); Scottish smoked salmon and
malt whiskey (if you must); Retsina and Greek salad; Guinness and
Irish stew.
