|
 It was an easy task coming up with my Editor’s Picks this month. I spent two days last month at the Boston Wine Expo and while I loved tasting the wines, getting a taste of some of the new food products and wine accessories out there was a real treat.
A Broken Bottle Can Break Your Heart…
Anyone who’s lugged home a great Spanish tempranillo from the Costa Brava or a halb-trocken Riesling from a tiny German wine village can attest to the heartbreak of finding it seeping out into your suitcase. (While your PJs may never have smelled so good, it’s downright degrading to have to suck on them.) Bottlewise™ to the rescue. This cool padded carrier for transporting wine, (or your favorite rum from the islands, or Greek olive oil, or whatever pourables you want to transport) has a shoulder strap and two insulated, padded, sealable leakproof pouches. It’s TSA approved so you can safely pack wine or other liquids in your luggage. I love the Bottlewise bag for air travel, but it makes a pretty stylish way to transport wine closer to home, whether to a picnic, potluck or tasting. The bags come in black and, appropriately, burgundy and cork. Available from www.bottlewise.com or by calling 1-800-673-9770.
Ketchup is the new mustard. Another Wine Expo find was the Wicked Naturals product line. Chef Jens Retlev, also the Culinary Director for Au Bon Pain, and partner Bart Ferris have launched a great new line that includes not only sauces and salsas, but two great ketchups. After the myriad mustards on the market, chefs seem to be turning their attention to the humble condiment. One is slightly spicy (at their suggestion I added this to my signature Bloody Mary recipe and it worked) and the other is lightly sweetened with agave nectar—both are great. Their Island Fruit and Corn Salsa would be perfect with just about anything on the barbeque. The Caramel Mustard is perfect with grilled brats or chicken, but I love it just as a dipping sauce for salty pretzels. And their Raspberry Chocolate Jam. . . .Well , you could bake it in a Linzer Torte, layer it in a cake, drizzle it over ice cream or just eat it with a spoon. Check out their entire product line at stores.homestead.com/BartFerris/StoreFront or just Google Wicked Naturals.
Eat their words. Alimentum is a stylish literary journal devoted to food writing. Ably edited by Paulette Licitra, Peter Seglin and Cortney Davis; they publish fiction, poetry and non-fiction with food themes, or at least food as metaphor. As Licitra says in her Publisher’s Preface, “Our writers give you their unique takes on food and drink from every corner of experience—some joyful, some heartbreaking—and others that will take you by surprise. If you are a lover of good writing and the boundless possibilities of food as metaphor, you will love Alimentum. Go to www.alimentumjournal.com for more info.
I relished this stanza from “The Word on Diets”, by Martin Galvin:
“He is dying for the best dinner but never finds it
On the plate that he has to be served, being the kind
Of serious, no- nonsense, time counts, pragmatical,
eminently sensible man. What such men get is creamed
and salted beef, reft of its cream for cholesterol’s sake,
Reft of salt for the arteries’ sake, reft of beef
for the serious sake of soybean futures.
Be easy, man, and savor the escargot,
You want to tell him. Eat poetry.”
 Quote this article on your site
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved |
.jpg "Website of the Week")
