The Radical Reinvention of Great Portuguese Wine

For centuries, the Douro Valley was known for one thing: port. Then Dirk Niepoort decided to make table wine, changing the Douro forever. F&W's Ray Isle catches up with the wine revolutionary. Dirk Niepoort's family has been in the Portuguese wine business for over a century.

The first wine that Dirk Niepoort ever made, back in 1990, was an old-vine blend of local Portuguese varieties, from a vineyard called Quinta do Carril in Portugal's Douro Valley. He called it Robustus. The name was apt: The wine was, as he recalls, "a monster." It was massive and powerfully tannic, almost overbearing in its intensity—but still, he felt, quite good. At the time, almost no one else in the Douro was making table wines. Port ruled the region, as it had since the 1700s. The Niepoort family business, which Dirk's father, Rolf, directed, was port.

Dirk made four barrels of Robustus, then headed off to Australia to work the harvest in the Barossa and extend his knowledge of winemaking. When he returned to Portugal several months later, he stopped by the family cellars in Oporto to taste how his wine was progressing. But the wine wasn't there. "My father," Niepoort recalls, "had given away three of the four barrels I made to the workers."

When Niepoort told me this, we were sitting at the table in his backyard, midway through one of the frequent dinner parties he likes to give. He's a talented cook, and he seems to enjoy nothing more than bringing together a crowd of friends, employees, other winemakers, passing journalists and anyone else, then plying them with terrific food and wine (the cellar under his house is jammed to the ceiling with bottles). It's a generosity of spirit that's appealingly Rabelaisian and very hard to dislike.

I said, "Your father gave away the wine you'd made? Why?"

"He said it was shit," Niepoort replied.

There are a few things to know about Dirk Niepoort beyond his refusal to mince words (apparently a trait that runs in the family). He is 49. The Niepoort family, which is Dutch, has been in the port business since 1842, when they moved to Portugal from Holland. Dirk Niepoort is the fifth generation to work for the family company, and since 1997, he has been in charge.

Prior to his involvement, the Niepoorts ran what was purely a port trading company. They purchased finished wines from growers in the Douro, then blended, aged and bottled them in Oporto, selling the end result under the Niepoort name (not an unusual practice at the time). Neither Dirk Niepoort's father nor his grandfather, in fact, ever spent a single night up in the Douro wine region; they lived and worked in Oporto. And while the company's ports had a good reputation, it was a limited one. As Niepoort says, "We were a good house, but we were a secret. We were well-known in Belgium, but that's it."

Though it may seem so in retrospect, Niepoort wasn't trying to make a statement when, at the age of 26, he produced that first table wine. "My general manager paints me as a visionary, which is bullshit," he says. "I like wine! That's why I wanted to make it." Today wine, not port, makes up 60 percent of the family business, and the company that was "well-known in Belgium" is the third-largest wine producer in the Douro. On top of that, visionary or not, Dirk Niepoort is probably the one person most responsible for changing the world's opinion of exactly how great Portuguese wine can be.

Up until relatively recently, Portugal had a reputation for making rough, inexpensive reds, plus a lot of nondescript, tangy Vinho Verde and an ocean of Mateus, a sweet, fizzy rosé sold in a flask-like bottle. As Beatriz Machado, the wine director for Oporto's new Yeatman Hotel (and a trained winemaker herself), says, "We missed the train of quality in Portugal. But there's been a big shift over the past 10 or 12 years." A lot of that shift can be attributed to the influence, either directly or indirectly, of Dirk Niepoort.

Niepoort is curious, ambitious, talented and—perhaps most important—extremely stubborn. Despite his father's vehement dislike of Robustus, a feeling shared by most of the established local winemakers for whom Niepoort also poured the wine, he kept going. "When I made Robustus," he recalls, "I said, my first wine is going to be a monster. But in 20 years I'm going to be making fine and elegant wines. And now, 20 years later, I am."

These days Niepoort makes 11 Douro wines—red, white and rosé—plus frequent experimental ones. Then there are (currently) nine fascinating wines that he produces jointly with other winemakers, some in Portugal and some not. Referred to as the "Niepoort Projectos," these collaborations usually head into the unexpected. What about making a white wine from Jerez, aged under a veil of yeast like a fino sherry, but not fortified? Why not make a bi-regional Dão-Douro blend? On top of that, there's the family's port business, which he has also expanded, and a winery that he co-founded in Austria, Muhr-van der Niepoort. Late last year, Niepoort purchased an estate in Portugal's Bairrada region, Quinta de Baixo; he'll release the first wines he's made there this month. In fact, Niepoort's unwillingness to stop contemplating new projects pretty much ensures that by the time this article appears in print, there will be something new to add to that list.

While there are plenty of winemakers in the world who produce scores of different wines, what makes Niepoort distinct is his approach to wine as a whole, and his ability to communicate that sensibility. From the beginning, he has seen wine—whether in the Douro or in the world at large—in terms of what might be possible, rather than what has already succeeded. This doesn't mean his technical approach to winemaking is radically experimental, though; if anything, it's the opposite.

"I use old-fashioned thinking and traditions, and modern possibilities," he says. "It's very simple winemaking. I don't use industrial yeasts, I don't use any chemicals, except for sulfur—it's truly non-interventional winemaking."

In a sense, Niepoort tends to see what might be rather than what is. A group of old, high-altitude Douro vineyards that produce obscure white varieties like Rabigato and Côdega do Larinho—which, for decades, had been destined for anonymous bottles of white port—could instead be a source for an extraordinarily complex, minerally white wine: Niepoort's Redoma Branco. Or a dry red from ancient Douro vineyards—made by foot-treading in old stone lagares, the way vintage port is traditionally made—could include the stems, a technique borrowed from Burgundy. The result is Charme, a gorgeously aromatic wine that manages to transform the innate power of a Douro red into Burgundian finesse. As Beatriz Machado says, Charme "is a wine that really has the sensibility of a great Pinot Noir, but using Portuguese grapes. No one had thought to do that before. It was like dropping a bomb on people's ideas here."

But as influential as all these Douro wines have been, Niepoort's projects with other winemakers around the world are the ones that seem to point directly toward the future. The exchange of ideas in the wine world is far more fluid than it used to be (just as it is in practically every other business), but winemakers on the whole remain somewhat parochial: Those in Rioja usually drink Rioja; those in Bordeaux, Bordeaux; those in California, in large measure, drink wines from California. There have been "flying winemakers," a term coined for consultants who work in other countries than their own, but for the most part, their role has been to show up for a couple of days every few months, offer advice on blending or winemaking strategies and then disappear, leaving behind a substantial bill for their services and the promise of higher critical scores. Many would argue that they promote a kind of polished, international homogeneity more than anything else.

Niepoort's approach is more of a natural give and take, and it represents a new style of cross-border wine collaboration that is only just beginning to appear. For instance, he and acclaimed Spanish winemaker Raúl Pérez spent several years making two wines together, one in Ribeira Sacra and one in the Douro. They produced only a thousand or so bottles each vintage, but as Niepoort says, "The point is that Raúl learned a lot from us, and we learned a lot from him. So what if it's only a thousand bottles? I'd give them away—the exchange of ideas is worth it."

He adds, "It's not about money, this exchange. It's about culture, respect, sharing. With Raúl, his style of winemaking, I learned that maybe I'm too nervous about some things—that I should relinquish a little control. I remember he said to me, 'Dirk—personality. It's not whether the wine is better or worse. It's whether a wine has personality.'?"

That's not to say that joint ventures are something new. In Napa, Opus One—a collaboration between Robert Mondavi and the Baron de Rothschild—released its first vintage in 1984, and there have been plenty of others since. But the impetus with those projects has always been to create a signature wine, or a brand: camaraderie aimed toward profit. With Niepoort's collaborative ventures, it's more the journey itself that's the purpose. Already, there are some similar efforts floating around. One example is Détente, a half-Californian, half–French Rhône-style blend that's a joint effort between Santa Barbara County's Joey Tensley and Cécile Dusserre of the southern Rhône's Domaine de Montvac. Another is Chimère, a joint project between Manfred Krankl of Sine Qua Non and the Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers Pascal and Vincent Maurel. In a way, these ventures are more reminiscent of the shared experimentation common in the craft-beer world than anything found in wine.

Niepoort's influence isn't limited to these joint projects, though. Young winemakers from Portugal and abroad have drawn inspiration from working harvests with him. As Mac Forbes, who makes some of Australia's most impressive Pinot Noirs and worked with Niepoort in Portugal in 2004, says, "The thing I think Dirk offers for people is that he makes them stop and reevaluate everything, makes them rethink all their preconceptions."

At that dinner in Portugal, Niepoort said simply, "I make what I want. Then I try to explain it to people. That's what I do."

The food was long gone, but wine was still being poured. Toward the end of the evening, Niepoort emerged from his house carrying a mystery wine in a decanter. We all tasted it. It was obviously old, but still alive, full of dark, velvety fruit. To me, it recalled a chimerical blend of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape from a great producer (Henri Bonneau came to mind) and the exotic and sometimes slightly weird wines of Lebanon's Chateau Musar. The faint whiff of volatile acidity in the aroma—oddly evocative, rather than off-putting—put me in mind of something Jacques Lardière, the extraordinary former winemaker for Louis Jadot, once said: "A wine's magic doesn't derive from its technical perfection."

The wine turned out to be one of the remaining bottles from that single barrel of Robustus. It did, in fact, seem somewhat magical that the wine was there, and I said something to the effect of how crazy it was that his father could have thought something this good was a disaster.

Niepoort said thoughtfully, "One day a few years ago, I had a birthday party, and I opened and decanted a magnum of 1991 Redoma." The '91 Redoma was the first wine he released commercially, since there was not enough Robustus left to sell. He went on: "Some time went by, and I looked around, and I couldn't find the decanter. Where was the wine? It turned out my father had drunk most of it. So, I thought, Well. My wines can't be that bad."

The Niepoort family founds a port company in Oporto. They buy and blend wine rather than make it.

The Douro Valley becomes an official appellation for table wine.

Dirk Niepoort joins the family business, working with his father, Rolf. At Dirk's urging, the company begins buying vineyards in the Douro Valley—Quinta de Nápoles and Quinta do Carril.

Despite resistance from his father, Niepoort starts making table wine rather than port; the first release is the 1991 Redoma Tinto. Eventually, dry wines will account for more than half of their business.

Niepoort builds a slate-walled, state of-the-art winery at Quinta de Nápoles, designed by famed Austrian architect Andreas Burghardt.

After the departure of winemaker Luis Seabra, Niepoort is spending more time in his own cellars—"I need to hit the reset button there," he says.

This bright, juicy red blend of Douro varieties, such as Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, is Niepoort's most affordable wine.

Niepoort's flagship white could be an award-winner for "best collection of really obscure white grapes." It's an aromatic blend of Rabigato, Côdega do Larinho, Arinto, Gouveio, Boal and Viosinho—and those are just the significant ones.

This unusual Spanish wine—a zesty white that's also almondy and saline, like a fino sherry—is a joint effort between Niepoort and Jesús Barquín of the groundbreaking sherry producer Equipo Navazos.

Redoma is the wine that proved Niepoort right about dry wines from the Douro. The acclaimed first vintage, 1991, is still drinking gorgeously today; the latest, '09, which tastes like a handful of wild strawberries, should live just as long.

With all the buzz about the table wines, it's easy to forget that Niepoort also makes excellent ports—especially in a truly great vintage like 2011.

View the original article here

Great Cooks Rate Great Books

Some of this fall’s most important authors review the season’s most anticipated new cookbooks, from Bruce Aidells’s massive The Great Meat Cookbook to the luxe and exotic Fäviken by famed Swedish chef Magnus Nilsson. Read on to find out the results of our reviewers’ testing and learn what inspired or befuddled them the most. Photo © Luca Trovato Photography.

Anyone who’s interested in Southeast Asian cooking or who craves new flavors. I am lucky enough to have a couple of great Burmese restaurants in the Bay Area, where I live, and now I can reproduce some of my favorite dishes at home.

I thought that because the recipes are so simple, with fewer ingredients than I’m used to working with—they’re home dishes from real families—they would lack flavor. The fried rice with shallots, for instance, has basically four ingredients—rice, peas, turmeric and shallots—but it’s got just enough going on to have great flavor.

Photo courtesy of Artisan Books.

I couldn’t find fermented bean paste in the small town where I live, so I used the suggested alterative, brown miso. My store sells it only in one-pound bags. Now I’m thinking about how to use up all the rest of the miso, besides making the obvious soup: I’m going to marinate some pork, mix some miso with ground beef to add extra umami and try spreading it on toast for breakfast.

My own book has 100 color photos, but Naomi’s has 175, so, yes, I have photo envy. I wish I could have spent the vast amount of time Naomi did in Burma (she has traveled there for 30 years) to get to know home cooks and write about my adventures.

What was the greatest challenge for you in testing this cookbook? It was hard for me to follow a recipe exactly. I had to hold myself back from adding things.

Adam Roberts, author of Secrets of the Best Chefs, reviews Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel.

Yes! Keller is almost fanatical in his pursuit of excellence. The book is groundbreaking in that it’s about the most OCD form of cooking from our nation’s most OCD chef. Keller’s exactitude is really unrivaled; every ingredient is measured to one-tenth of a gram, and the phenomenal results speak for themselves.

Actually, both the recipes and tips make cooking at the most sophisticated level approachable for the home cook. That said, there are a few challenging recipes thrown in for the more daring.

The book has useful tips—for instance, Keller recommends using Plugrá European-Style Butter, which has 82 percent butterfat content. The difference in color and depth of flavor in my scones was notable! And to make sure the caramel in your caramel corn doesn’t seize up, heat up the bowl you’ll be tossing it in.

Rae and Noah’s confident, good-humored yet respectful presentation of Jewish comfort food, often tweaked to be livelier-tasting or just brought up to date, is very special. And so is the fact that everything is made from scratch, just like it is at their tiny Brooklyn restaurant.

The lush and complex-tasting liver pâté with pickled red onions. The onions were so easy, so beautiful. And they were a brilliant condiment for the chopped liver, instead of the usual fried onions. I have already made a second batch of the onions and taken it to friends; it got raves. I think I’ll be using the pickling bath for other things, like julienned carrots or daikon.

Photo © Cover design by Marc Rimmer, illustrations by Claudia Pearson.

I admit to substituting cider vinegar for the white vinegar—which always tastes raw to me—in the pickled onions. Sorry to be a bad tester!

Their suggestion about chilling chicken skin to make it easier to chop is a good one. But if you’re in a hurry, kitchen scissors work well on room-temperature chicken.

I had visitors from out of town on the day I did the testing, and at one point I had to go out, so I left my friend Deb in charge. She found it all easy to follow. She and everyone else who came through the house that day swear that they’ll be making the pickled onions and chopped liver.

I would describe it as being a necessary one. Ask most meat eaters what the flavor difference is between grass-fed and grain-fed, where on a cow they would find that rib eye they eat, which breed of pig the pork they usually cook comes from: Most likely, they won’t know. This book would help almost every home cook become better at cooking meat, and also at selecting, treating and storing it.

I made the Guinness-marinated bison steak sandwiches for Saturday staff dinner, but I substituted moose for the bison. When Bruce described bison in the book, it sounded like moose to me.

Photo © Luca Trovato Photography.

You can’t buy it, but everybody eats it. The whole of Sweden stops working during the first week of hunting season, because everyone is out in the forest. Moose meat reminds me of beef, but it is leaner and finer-textured. Also, even though moose are very tall, they weigh less than average beef cattle, meaning the cuts are generally smaller.

I liked this book a lot, but I can’t say I am really jealous, because my book is so different. The Great Meat Cookbook is like a manual for meat eaters, with instructions and tons of practical information, while my book is more of a story about a place and a certain style of cooking.

Anyone who cooks meat! If everyone read this book, the world would be a much more delicious place.

Magnus Nilsson’s incredible dedication to his environment. When we think local in New York, it’s within 200 miles, but his repertoire is based solely on food gathered hyper-local to Fäviken, his restaurant in the middle of nowhere in Sweden. The raw and honest translation of that lifestyle into a magnificently beautiful book is very important. It is a philosophy of food and food systems as much as it is a cookbook.

We particularly liked Magnus’s way of making vegetable broth. Basically, it’s a quick vegetable infusion—the opposite of a classic long-simmered stock. It’s so pure-tasting.

Photo courtesy of Phaidon Press.

In this class of cookbooks, it’s hard to replicate recipes, because the ingredients are largely impossible to find outside Sweden. The linseed (flaxseed) crisps were one of the few dishes we could readily prepare. It’s a simple and low-cost way to make a cracker you’d find in a specialty grocery. And they were amazing. As Nilsson promises, the seeds seem to float on a thin, translucent chip. We’re excited to use this recipe as the foundation for other seed crisps.

We wish we could have written more of our recipes in Nilsson’s intuitive style. Including specific times and temperatures can make any recipe seem accessible to the home cook, but it discourages cooking by taste, feel and sight.

View the original article here

Great Country Escapes: The Berkshires

Famous for its cultural scene (Jacob’s Pillow, Tanglewood), the Berkshire area is becoming known for its food and spirits artisans, too.

With his new distillery, Jeffrey Baker is creating a field-to-glass operation, using grain grown and distilled on-site. Baker hired David Pickerell, the previous Master Distiller from Maker’s Mark, to oversee operations. Hillrock Estate’s first batch of bourbon will be ready this summer. Tours by appointment; 408 Pooles Hill Rd., Ancram, NY; hillrockdistillery.com.

Mark Firth was a Brooklyn restaurant pioneer with Diner and Marlow & Sons; now he’s looking to bring the same, rustic, delicious food to Bell & Anchor (opening this summer). He hired former Marlow & Sons cook Stephen Browning, and their menu will use ingredients from Firth’s farm, including produce, eggs, honey, maple syrup, pigs, ducks and guinea hens. Firth describes the ethos: “Keep the menu simple and cook whatever we feel like.” R178 Main St., Great Barrington, MA; 413-528-5050.

British couple Clare and Richard Proctor opened this high-style, low-price motel, a stark contrast to the area’s many B&Bs. In the cozy lounge, Clare serves freshly baked Vermont cheddar scones. Doubles from $200; 506 Stockbridge Rd., Great Barrington, MA; thebriarcliffmotel.com.

At this cheery café, the staff is friendly and a sign at the register reads, “Frankly my dear, I’ll have a buttermilk biscuit.” Chef David Wurth, who worked at Brooklyn’s Diner, makes the biscuits, plus Spanish tortillas and mushroom frittatas. The dinner menu is short and seasonal, with a tasty and affordable wine list. 2642 Route 23, Hillsdale, NY; crossroadsfoodshop.com.

Photo courtesy of Hillsdale General Store.

At this new housewares store next door to CrossRoads, interior designer Matthew White sells vintage goods—enamel pitchers, copper teapots, glass cheese savers—plus penny candy. Upstairs are four rooms stocked with products from local artisans and stores, including Boxwood Linen’s napkins, quilts and aprons. 2642 Route 23, Hillsdale, NY; hillsdalegeneralstore.com.

Rubi’s may be the first deli to get a sidewalk grilling license. Set behind the famed Rubiner’s Cheesemongers & Grocers, cooks roast clams, sausages and, occasionally, entire animals. The first event featured two lambs for Easter; owner Matthew Rubiner says, “We’re still trying to clean up the grease.” He plans to roast a couple of pigs this summer. Visit the website for details. 264 Main St., Great Barrington, MA; rubiners.com.

View the original article here

Great Country Escapes: Hudson Valley

This area just north of Manhattan has serious new restaurants, some owned by big-deal NYC chefs. The Hudson Valley, just north of Manhattan, has beautiful scenery as well as serious new restaurants. Photo © Joseph Sohm/Visions of America/Corbis.

Chef Michael Psilakis became a star by showing Manhattanites that simple Greek food (like grilled branzino with potatoes and olives in lemon sauce) can be transcendent. With the 150-plus seat MP Taverna, he’s bringing incredible Greek food to the valley. One Bridge St., Irvington, NY; michaelpsilakis.com.

Photo courtesy of Cold Spring Farmer’s Market.

This fabulous Saturday farmers’ market is in the parking lot of the 19th-century Boscobel House and Gardens, which overlooks the Hudson River. On market day, entrance to Boscobel’s landscaped gardens is free. 1601 Route 9D, Garrison, NY; csfarmmarket.org.

The most anticipated hotel opening in the valley is the Rockwell Group-designed The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls. The hotel doesn’t open until fall, but the cocktail lounge is already serving drinks like the Smoke, made with mezcal, lime juice and chipotle syrup. 2 E. Main St., Beacon, NY; roundhousebeacon.com.

Earlier this year, four beer-obsessed friends opened this store and restaurant, selling more than 100 brews, including six on tap. Chef Matt Hutchins also uses beer in dishes like beer-cured salmon fillet and a stout-and-ice-cream float. 458 Main St., Beacon, NY; thehopbeacon.com.

Photo courtesy of Café Le Perche.

Owner Allan Chapin decided to open a bakery after tasting the yeasty, dark baguette du Perche in Bretoncelles, about 100 miles southwest of Paris. To re-create it here, he flew in the baker who made the loaf, plus a 17-ton French oven. 230 Warren St., Hudson, NY; cafeleperche.com.

The marvelous Scandinavian-inspired restaurant has a new chef: Timothy Meyers, who previously worked here as sous chef before taking a job at Eleven Madison Park. The menu changes weekly, but the prices don’t: $10 for small plates and $25 for entrées. 225 Warren St., Hudson, NY; dabahudson.com.

Co-owners Benjamin Freemole and John McCarthy met at NYC’s WD-50. Here, they use molecular techniques to make comfort food like a faux risotto with peas in place of arborio rice. 746 Warren St., Hudson, NY; thecrimsonsparrow.com.

View the original article here

What Makes Great Italian Gourmet Cooking?

The term Italian gourmet cooking isn't one that is heard often. While there are gourmet meals that you can find in Italian cooking, the meals that are the most traditional are those that are made from simple, readily available products.

In Italy, they used what they had and have. They found much of what they needed on their land or through simple markets. Today however there is a whole new world of Italian cuisine that you can take advantage of.

This upscale, Italian gourmet cooking menu is one that is still full of the traditional flavors, but often are provided with a higher quality and in many cases contain ingredients that were hard to find. You can enjoy any of them now, though. When it comes to Italian gourmet cooking you should start with the meals that you know and love. You will find that with today's products, it is all about using the highest quality foods available. For example, one of the traditional methods that is now considered gourmet is hand made products such as breads and pastas. In the world that is rush-rush, it is nice to know that you can still have hand made meals available to you. From making the dough by hand to cutting each noodle individually, this is truly perfection in cooking. And, it is what makes a meal go from regular to gourmet!

These little touches are what makes a meal really special.When you enroll in an Italian cooking school, you are likely to learn meals that come from various regions of Italy. In Italian gourmet cooking, this is often from locations such as Venice, Florence and Tuscany. Each of these locations has their own unique touches and often has their own completely different tastes. In the southern parts of the country, fish is widely used in virtually all meals. Yet, in northern Italy this was not always readily available and therefore not as commonly used. Each of those coastal areas has used their own techniques for preparing the food as well a herbs to flavor it. The combination of these aspects is what gives you gourmet Italian cooking because of how specialized the food can be.

Understanding that the gourmet cooking schools can provide you with the education that you need in terms of Italian cooking is important. You may want to learn where it started in Italy. Or, train under a professional chef that did just that or has immigrated to the United States after gaining their training in Italy. The benefit of working with the actual culture is that you can learn the intricate steps that are taught nowhere else. For Italian gourmet cooking, this is what defines quality.

Do you love to cook? So do we! at [http://www.morecookinginfo.com/gourmet] we have a passion for food and cooking! Visit our website to find, great cooking tips as well as recipes from Italian to French, from grilling to good ol' home cooking! We can't wait to see you there!

Great Tasting Italian Gourmet Cuisine

Italian Gourmet cuisine has to do with the territories inside of Italy and how these different territories prepare unique Italian dishes. For example more sea faring towns will often use a wide variety of gourmet seafood when preparing dishes, or areas that specialize in olives will employ olives into their cooking above other ingredients.

Cuisine is a word used to describe the particular menu of a country or even of a specific area. Breaking the country up into regions will allow a cook to better understand the areas and what they are known for and looking at the country of Italy as a whole is a good way to understand what this unique country has to offer in terms of unique Italian Gourmet Cuisine.

The whole of Italy is known for its pasta and at least in the United States stereotypically not much of anything else. However this is far from being the truth, as much of the food in Italy is as diverse as the people within it.

For example, many people do not consider seafood as being one of the chief ingredients in Italian Gourmet cuisine. Seafaring towns will use mussels, scallops, and many other different types of fish in cooking creating a unique cuisine for that area.

Also some areas are not for specializing in rustic pot dishes, such as pot luck type dishes, and making these the staple of that particular area. Some areas have grown out of poverty and some of the cuisine is based on putting together whatever was possible to have food on the table.

Cuisines grown out of these traditions, and Italy along with many other notable countries such as Norway, Sweden, and even France and England have adopted these traditions.

Another important thing to understand about Italian cooking is that this rich culture employs the use of many different types of vegetables, and some vegetables were not even present in the cooking until the finding of the 'New World'.

Italy uses vegetables such as eggplants, onions, herbs, and many other spices. Tomatoes were not even introduced to Italy until explorers brought them back, along with spices and some fresh herbs.

It's important to remember what is true traditional Italian is something that has grown from years of tradition and exploration and has built a cuisine that carries the people forth to present day.

Many celebrations are based around Italian Gourmet Cuisine, and it's the job of the master chef, the connoisseur of gourmet to look for these rich diverse recipes when searching for the finest in Italian Gourmet cuisine.

In short, a lot of things come together to build the cuisine for a country. As mentioned before exploration played a huge part, as well as local traditions, and local ingredients that were available at the time.

Without the people in these areas putting together what they had and working had to keep food on the table, Italy would not have some its richest and most diverse cuisine.

It is the ingredients, hard work, and transplantation of different foods that have brought together what is known today as Italian Gourmet cuisine.

Find mouth watering Italian Gourmet cuisine at: Italian Gourmet Cuisine [http://www.premiumgourmetcoffee.net/all-about-italian-gourmet-cuisine/]

Beaches, Mountains, and Great Food - The Wonders of St Thomas

Have you been looking for a beautiful tropical place to visit away from the cold of the winter months? Then you should consider going to the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean Sea. It is an absolutely gorgeous island and I have many reasons why I visit it as much as I possibly can.

Let's talk about some of the reasons that you might consider going to St. Thomas.

The beaches of St. Thomas will just take your breath away with their beauty and gorgeously blue water. Many smaller, less crowded ones are there also, where you will be able to completely relax and unwind.

There are quite a few upscale restaurants on the island and all of them have chefs who are extremely talented. The food is plentiful and there is a nice assortment of restaurants offering gourmet foods and well-prepared meals, so you will have a lot of options when it comes to dining.

The island has a very unique topography which accounts for the nice mixture of mountains and beaches. Of course, if you were visiting the Rockies, you would see the snow-capped mountains; nevertheless, when you visit St. Thomas, you are going to get to see some high points here where the view of the water is spectacular.

It is very convenient that the native language on St. Thomas is English. How much easier it is to go to a place where everyone speaks the same language, not a different one. The fact that all the people on the island speak perfect English should make you happy.

The fact that no passport is required in order to go to the island is something that people like. St. Thomas is a part of the US Virgin Islands, which makes it an American destination. Therefore, you will not need any type of international identification or passport when you travel there.

Here is something that you need to always remember if you rent a car when you visit St. Thomas - the cars drive on the left side of the road. This can be quite confusing and, combined with the very steep hills that are on these roads, can make your driving experience somewhat difficult.

Felicia Cranston has a new site about solar panels for homes, which can be accessed at http://solarpanelsforhomes.org.

Catered Food Service Will Make Your Event Unforgettable - Save Time and Get Great Food With Caterers

Love having parties but hate the days and hours of planning and cooking? Dreading the food preparation for your upcoming event? Want to have time to actually enjoy your party instead of worrying about the food? Then you need to hire a catering service! The caterers in the greater Reading region can help make your event special, and save you the labor of cooking. Why not try a local caterer in Harrisburg or Allentown for your next party!

Party Catering

Whether you're celebrating a milestone like a birthday or just want to get together with friends and family to socialize, there is nothing like a good party. But getting ready can be a real pain: planning, cleaning, decorating, and cooking can just be too much. That's why you should hire a local catering service in Reading. Let them take care of the food preparation, serving, and clean-up to ensure that you have as good a time as your guests! Some caterers even offer pre-set party plans to make your next event incredibly easy to plan.

Catering for Themed Events

If you're tired of hosting boring old BBQs and luncheons, why not try something new and exciting. When you hire a central Pennsylvania caterer, they can help you create a themed party that will have your friends talking for months. Try a clambake or luau. Or what about a pig roast-talk about impressive! Attempting these fancy parties single-handedly is a recipe for disaster (who owns a pan big enough for a whole pig?!), but with professional cooks on your side, the party is sure to go off without a hitch!

Event Catering for Large Celebrations

Trying to cook for large celebrations like weddings, graduation parties, or retirement dinners is just crazy. With hundreds of mouths to feed, you'll be so busy concentrating on the food that you won't be able to enjoy the party at all. When you choose professional event caterers in Allentown, you'll be able to enjoy gourmet food and sit back and enjoy the party. Staffed with numerous cooks and equipped with a commercial kitchen, a team of caterers can easily create a delicious meal for your party, no mater how humungous.

After all, what do you want to remember about your daughter's wedding: how stressed you were making 150 steak dinners or how beautiful she looked! And most catering services offer cleanup in addition to food preparation and serving, making the wedding reception or other party a real breeze for the host and hostess. Leave the preparation and cleanup to the professionals and free yourself to enjoy the party!

Matt Gallo is a home improvement specialist and the Internet marketing manager for Prospect Genius, a leader in search engine optimization for local businesses.

Lose Weight and Feel Great! Eating the Delicious Food Your Body Was Designed For

So have you linked it all together yet? How you feel, act, and look all correlate so deeply with what you eat!

I can remember spending the majority of my first years in high school wondering why I felt so low, depressed and unenergetic, all the while devastating my young body which daily Wendy's Double Cheese Burgers. But my appetite was insatiable and my mind was ignorant to the devitalizing effects of my eating habits.

Almost miraculously, through YouTube's video suggestion program, I stumbled upon Philip McCluskey's account. The tidbits of wisdom dispersed throughout his inspiring videos enlightened me to the fact that my poor food choices were holding me down - physically, mentally, and even spiritually. He helped me reach the conclusion that the quality of the food you eat greatly affects the quality of the life you live. Food is in fact supposed to energize and satisfy you! Not leave you drained and unsatisfied.

If you want your "food to be your medicine" for living a better life as recommended Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine himself, you have got to start incorporating raw living foods into your diet! When you eat cooked foods - those are foods which have been heated to a point where natural enzymes available in the food die, and your body must accordingly waste energy building its own enzymes to digest the food - you yourself become depleted! You are depleted not only of the energy used by your body to digest the food but also of the nutrients needed to be happy and healthy.

Within three days of finally saying 'adiós' to my secret destroyer the cheeseburger and eating a predominately raw diet of bright delicious fruits, vitamin-rich greens, and protein-packed nuts and seeds, my energy levels were through the roof! I had lacked the drive, focus, and passion to manage efficiently my huge college-preparatory workload. But raw foods awakened me to my own capabilities. The restless nights spent finishing homework and worrying about making it through the next day ceased completely. Newfound alertness and drive meant getting things done fast with good result. I was freed not only of stress and time-confinement but also of excess body fat. With no [zero!] increase in the little amount of exercise I was doing, my unsightly stomach shed away. The best part is I was too busy enjoying my new vivacity and abundance of free time to notice my body getting more and more healthy. It wasn't until I saw the lines separating my once fat-buried abs that I realized the wonderful physical effects of raw living foods.

I know now that raw foods are the way to go! And it's because they contain the enzymes sufficient to help digest themselves - so they don't rob the body of the energy you need to live happily and healthily! Living foods - appetizing fruits, juicy veggies, and filling nuts and seeds - are packed with the vital nutrients needed to achieve a thriving mind and body! I can't stress the transformation I've undergone due to incorporating raw food into my diet. But I can refer you to the more well-known story of the man who introduced me to the wonder of raw foods.

Philip McCluskey lost 215 pounds on the raw food diet. Like me, he admits to having little passion for life before raw foods. But they have revitalized him. Since his switch to raw foods, he's become a successful author and motivational speaker. When you eat what your body was designed to eat, the mind, body and spirit can thrive almost effortlessly.

There's only one regret I have about switching to a mostly raw diet and that's that I didn't do it sooner! Well actually, two regrets. I would have liked to know of the wonders of delicious raw gourmet food on the onset of journey. A common complaint among those I'm convincing to feel the joy of raw food is the vast taste and texture difference of the foods. Philip solves the inconvenience by introducing easy to prepare raw meals that out-taste your favorite delicacies. Raw Food, Fast Food outlines simple recipes for savory soups, mouth-watering burgers, tacos, smoothies and more. The difference between a conventional cookbook and his own is that all the simple delicious recipes included in his are designed to reinvigorate you naturally with energy and nutrients - while still satisfying your taste.

Raw Resources:

Philip McCluskey, Raw Food Chef
Raw Recipe E-Books

Yuri Elkaim, Certified Nutritionist
Raw Food E-Book for Weight Loss

Angela R Parker

Food Gifts Are a Great Way to Say "Thank You"

"Food glorious food..." is the refrain from the orphan boy Oliver in the musical of the same name. Despite our timidity to admit it, most of us love being given food as a thank you by customers, employers and friends. Be it a gift basket, fresh fruit, gourmet food or delectable candy, most all of us love opening up a gift basket to discover all the fun and delicious products beautifully packaged inside.

Food gifts have been around as long as humans have populated our earth with the first offerings most likely being dead animals presented after the hunt to loved ones and friends. We've become more civilized and the thought of dragging a deer into your client's office just doesn't have the significance it once did. Thus an $18 billion industry has grown and thrived over the last hundred years packaging and distributing food in all varieties to companies all over the world.

The majority of food baskets and gifts are given during the holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Years however they are a perfect fit in many situations. Think of them as a thank you to customers and employees, an invitation to an event, sales leave-behinds or a prospecting tool, birthday gifts, goodwill gestures ("oops, sorry we messed up that order!!") and trade-show giveaways. As Tom Riordan, President of industry supplier Maple Ridge Farms said in an article in PPB Magazine, "It's a product that works in all demographics. Fine chocolates are equally appropriate for a receptionist or a CEO."

For those of us in the promotional products industry, chances are your customers will rarely think to ask you about food gifts because they don't think of us for that. So the onus is on you to bring the topic up and be ready to offer to bring back samples since many people have been burned ordering food gifts online and learning too late the food leaves a bad taste in their recipient's mouths...literally! Every company's food gift products look great online or in a catalog, but sampling is the true test to insure your customers are satisfied with the taste.

Not all food gift companies operate the same way so it's important to find a handful of suppliers you feel comfortable working with. What should you look for when choosing a company to partner with on food gifts? Here are a few questions you can ask to see how they do business:

• One of the most important questions to ask is in regards to the freshness of their product. Appallingly enough, many of the large mail-order food gift companies pre-package their gifts months in advance of the holiday season and pull them off-the-shelf when ordered. Ask if gifts are packed-to-order and inquire about the freshness of the products they sell. Again, this is where sampling can sell the product itself.

• Ask is they have some sort of sampling program where you can buy a variety of their products at a reduced rate so your customers can try before they buy.

• Ask about their customization capabilities. Can they brand the packaging with logos? Can they add promotional products you supply to their gifts? Will they use something you supply to package the gifts in such as a cooler or hard hat? The more you can customize the packaging and the gifts the better your chance of food gifts becoming a year-round sale.

• Inquire about what guarantees they offer and if it's anything less than a "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" you might want to pass on using that company. Need I say more?

• Do they ship on-time? Food gifts, more so than many other promotional products, need to arrive by a certain date to insure freshness so timely shipping is of the utmost importance.

• In terms of eco-friendly, consider their packaging options. A good rule of thumb is less than 3% of the packaging should be destined for the landfill. If available, reusable packaging is preferred such as an actual gift basket, a wood box or, as mentioned above, custom packaging like a hard hat, tote bag or cooler.

The love of food for comfort and appreciation is universal. If you sell promotional products, ask your customers if they use food gifts during the holidays or other times of the year and offer your services. If your company purchases these delights you may be surprised at what you've been missing by not using your promotional products professional to guide your choices.

As author Fran Lebowitz says, "Food is an important part of a balanced diet" and the right food gifts to your customers and employees is also a sure way to touch their hearts.

With 24 years in promotional marketing, Steve Woodburn works with clients to develop creative and measurable solutions that solve their marketing needs using promotional products, uniform programs, online company stores, point-of-sale initiatives and rewards and recognition. He builds long-term relationships and becomes a trusted advisor and consultant his clients can turn to for all their brand extension needs. You can reach him at: stephen.woodburn@staplespromoproducts.com

<em>Mob wives</em>' great Ang shows the best Staten Iceland restaurants

Big Ang, alias Angela Raiola, the larger-than-life breakout star of VH1's hit reality series mob wives, knows how to make a meal, which a Wise guy heartmelt. But sometimes a girl must be a night off from cooking for known criminals. Here, the Staten Iceland resident shares takes her top restaurant.

Courtesy of Angelina's Ristorante

Angelina's Ristorante: "This is my favorite place number one." I like everything here, and everything that makes Angelina is the best. Their Bolognese Sauce is amazing, their Branzini fish, their veal chop is to die. It's nice. It is on the water. "And Angelina is also my best friend." angelinasristorante.com

Bella Mama Rose: "they make the best pizza in Staten Iceland." In Brooklyn, my son of AJ's is a pizzeria, Ignazio, the best. "He is the Manager, and it is right under the Brooklyn Bridge." bellamamarose.com

Real Madrid: "I come here if I want Spanish." "I like the mussels in green sauce, shrimp with garlic, Spanish swordfish and the Hummer." realmadridrestaurant.com

Fushimi: "I eat everything here - the sushi, sushi rolls, sashimi, everything." Fushimi-us.com

The drunken monkey: Big Ang says that their has welcomed own bar fans from as far away as Saudi Arabia. Their recommendations: the espresso martini and the Lychee Martini. Drunken Monkey on Facebook

Courtesy of Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for VH1

View the original article here

Fall Harvest - Must Have Foods for Great Autumn Entrees

Around the end of August every year, stores begin to flood with flavors and scents that conjure visions of falling leaves, hay rides, and warm cozy evening spent with family and friends. Fall fruits and veggies are an excellent way to bring both health and great taste to your table. Whether you purchase products that are derived from these fall foods or you cook up a healthy fresh serving of them, they are sure to bring to bring the wealth of the season to your taste buds.

Apples: Apples are a great fruit to enjoy in a variety of ways. A fresh apple can be a great snack as can a slice of apple pie. Apples can even be used to give extra flavor to your favorite pork dish. Not only do they taste, great but they are also extremely beneficial to your health boasting high levels of vitamin C as well as antioxidants. Stay healthy and satisfied this fall by stocking up on a variety of different apples. When you purchase apples for cooking you may want to do a little research to find out which type of apple is best for cooking and which is best for just snacking on. For example, Red delicious apples are great for a snack but not so good for pies or baking. On the other hand the tenderness of a Golden delicious apple is great for baking and pies, but doesn't rank as the absolute best one to snack on.


Cranberry: Cranberries also are a great fruit to add to your table during the cooler months. These tart red berries will add zing to your meals. If your unable to find fresh cranberries or don't want to prepare them yourself, many gourmet food retailers will have an abundance of unique and delicious ways to incorporate cranberries into your meals. Besides the fact that cranberries and cranberry infused products taste great, they also have positive effects on your immune system and urinary tract health.


Mushroom: Many mushroom growing locations become prime during the cooler and often damper fall months; because of this now is a great time to add more fresh fungi to your diet. Start including mushrooms into your meals by topping steak of chicken with mushrooms sautéed in little olive oil and minced garlic. For those of you who are looking for vegetarian meals, a nice think portabella mushroom grilled or sautéed with your favorite seasonings can serve as the perfect substitute for a burger.


Squash: The mere mention of squash often conjures up visions of jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pies. While pumpkins carry their weight in palate pleasing properties, there are several types of squash that can add both color and great taste to your cold weather entrees. Try an acorn squash sliced in half and topped with brown sugar or honey and roasted in the oven for a sweet edition to your meal. The sweet pulp of a pumpkin can also be a great addition to cream soups or flavorful risottos. One of the greatest things about winter squash is their ability to do everything from garnish your table, to make dinners, and deserts. Make sure you take advantage of this multi faceted veggie in any form.

Bring the great tastes of the season to family and friends with igourmet gift baskets. Visit igourmet for great holiday gift baskets and gourmet gift baskets

Cooking Lessons Let You Surprise Your Partner With Great Food

While a romantic dinner at a fine restaurant is an experience to which many couples look forward, nothing beats being able to enjoy gourmet food which you have enjoyed preparing in the comfort of your own home. Cooking lessons are offered everywhere, whether by formal cooking schools in large cities or from a local expert chef in a small town.

Formal and informal lessons are available in all aspects and styles of cooking, from basic cooking to exotic ethnic cooking, and from creating fine pastries and other desserts to cooking full five (or more) course gourmet meals. Basic instruction that covers all elements of cooking as well as step by step instruction in following creative and original recipes are even available online on various cooking sites. Many of these sites are free to use and enjoy. In addition, television cooking lessons have always combined entertainment with enjoyable and easy to follow explanations of recipes and methods of cooking original dishes.

The best way to learn how to cook gourmet meals depends on your level of experience and familiarity with cooking. If you have hardly ever been in the kitchen before except to use the microwave, it is best to either start out with very basic cooking lessons given by a cooking school or a private instructor, or to try to understand online lessons that teach you how to use cooking appliances and then start with basic recipes.

If you are able to cook simple meals and want to improve your knowledge so that you can create more elaborate, original and tasty main courses and side dishes, you may want to take more advanced cooking classes. Alternately, watch and record television gourmet shows so that you can get an idea of how professional chefs create and present their signature dishes.

You may already be an experienced home cook and now you want to focus on a specific cuisine such as Asian or health oriented meals. In that case, you may be best off starting with a few expert lessons and then practicing by using recipe books or online recipes.

Mastery of the truly finer arts of cooking, such as learning how to prepare delicate pastries or cakes, usually does start with expert hands-on instruction. Time and practice are necessary to achieve true expertise in such gourmet cooking skills.

If surprising your partner with a gourmet meal is your goal, and you want to be able to do this quickly, say in time for Valentine's Day, a combination of all the approaches listed above is best. Find a specific cooking class or tutor who specializes in the kind of food your significant other loves to order when you go out for a romantic dinner.

Every time you learn a technique or new recipe, practice what you learned at home. Then, without revealing why you are learning how to cook, ask your partner to try your creations and comment on them.

At the same time, look for more information and instruction online, and pay attention to recommendations of utensils and appliances that can make your progress easier. And as you progress and become more confident, look for more and more recipes from your instructor as well as online and from books. Note which ones work out the best and which ones your significant other appreciates the most.

When the big day approaches, you will be ready to show your love and affection for your partner with a full course meal that will be appreciated and remembered long after the day has passed. Besides, you will be able to keep on creating tasty gourmet surprises as you continue to master more and more recipes and techniques.

Cooking lessons, be they formal or informal, one-on-one or in a classroom kitchen setting, online or in person, general or specific - or a combination of all kinds of lessons over a period of time to achieve true versatility or mastery - are a great way to learn a new hobby that can also help you make your significant other very happy and keep your romance going for years to come.

If you are looking to learn a few fancy recipes to impress your significant other, check out BeTheCook.com. At BeTheCook.com you will find tens of thousands of recipes to make even the least skilled cook look like a chef.

Orange Beach, AL - Gourmet Food And Great Bay Views

One of the great things about visiting Orange Beach AL is its wide variety of eating places. All tourist destinations have them, but here you've got a unique mix of different regional styles and tastes. The best recommendation for anyone heading to the gulf coast area is to try the fresh seafood. You're going to find dishes here that you won't find anywhere else. You've also got your mix of Cajun, Creole, Caribbean, Italian, Mexican and American - sometimes all in the same restaurant! You won't have any trouble finding some great places to eat, but here are a few recommendations on places that are popular with tourists and Orange Beach AL locals alike.

Big Fish Restaurant & Bar

For seafood lovers, Big Fish Restaurant & Bar is a little bit of paradise. More than just your regular fried fish fare, they've got all kinds of fresh seafood dishes straight from the ocean. They've got dishes like halibut and crab cakes, and their unique appetizers like the Hurricane Appetizer. This is a plate with shrimp, crab claws, scallops and lobster, all on a bed of rice and spicy tomato soup. The only trouble with Big Fish is finding it. It's not located along the beach, but in a strip mall on Canal Road in Orange Beach AL. It doesn't look like much from outside, but as soon as you walk in the door you know that you've stumbled upon something good.

Cosmo's Restaurant And Bar

One of the most popular places in all of Orange Beach AL is Cosmo's. They serve quality food that's all made from scratch daily. You can eat outside and enjoy the view on the deck, where they have live music as well. Menu highlights include duck and sausage gumbo, a wide variety of original pastas, burgers served on your choice of bread, and even sushi. They've also got one of the area's best beer and wine lists. It's also known for its unique atmosphere and great location overlooking the bay.

Moe's Original Bar B Que

If you really want to eat where the locals do, check out Moe's. This is where all the regular folks in Orange Beach go to get their fix of ribs and pork sandwiches. Moe's serves down-home barbeque made with their own savory sauce. They offer everything you expect from a barbeque place along with the added local flavor of the gulf coast. But if you decide on Moe's make sure you bring a huge appetite - they like to serve everything big.

Cafe Palm Beach

This restaurant is located inside the Perdido Resort, but it's not an expensive place at all. They serve all kinds of food, including local Cajun and Creole favorites like the po'boy. They also have pasta, sandwiches, burgers and an outstanding breakfast buffet. This is also a great place to get some of the seafood that the island's so famous for.

Orange Beach AL is a great vacation destination with a variety of entertainment options. For more information, please visit http://www.brett-robinson.com/.

Chocolate - Once Believed to Be the Food of the Gods is a Great Gift For Any Occasion

The cacao tree (botanical name Theobroma cacao, means "food of the gods") was an important part of the Myan and Aztec royal and religious cultures for centuries. Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing the cocoa bean, the main ingredient in chocolate, to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella upon his return in 1492. Initially, chocolate was primarily enjoyed as a drink and was so expensive to produce, it was available only to the wealthy. By the 1800's, with the invention of the cocoa press, mass production, and processing techniques, the old coarse grained cocoa was replaced with a smoother textured cocoa creating the solid chocolate similar to the chocolate we enjoy today.

Chocolate was brought to the colonies in North America in the 1700s and has grown to become a major part of American culture. Chocolate enhances the flavor of almost everything. It covers nuts, pretzels, fruit, jellied candies, cookies, donuts, we dip it, we sip it, we serve it hot, we serve it cold, we add it to coffee, tea, cereal and protein bars. The variety of chocolate items available makes it a number one choice for gift giving. A elegantly packaged box of chocolates is an appropriate gift for almost any occasion with the largest percentage of boxed chocolates being sold for Valentine's Day and during the months of November and December.

The variety of chocolate items also makes it a wonderful choice for gift baskets. Several different boxes of chocolates can be combined with a box of cocoa, fudge, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate covered pretzels to create a gift basket that will please almost anyone. You'll find chocolate in some form or other in many themed gift baskets. It may be a chocolate scented candle, chocolate covered espresso beans or chocolate covered jalapeno chips. There's a chocolate for every taste.

One great feature of chocolate is that in its semi-liquid state, it can be poured and cast into any shape. Seasonal representations, like roses for Valentine's Day, bunnies for Easter, and Santas for Christmas are common. Chocolates imprinted with company names are being used to promote businesses. The imprinted chocolate may be a simple as a candy bar or may be somewhat creative. A software development firm may choose a chocolate CD imprinted with the company name as a promotional item, while a building contractor may choose a set of chocolate tools.

An elegant box of imported chocolates makes an impressive warm call gift or a thoughtful thank you for a referral. When you think gift, think chocolate.

Marie is the owner and chief designer at Laurel Mountain Basket Company, the New England gift basket service voted "Best In The Valley" by the Valley Advocate Readers Poll 5 years in a row and chosen amoung the Rave Reviews! Top 100 for 2007. Visit her at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com

Olives & the Oil - Great Gourmet Recipes

Triple Cheese & Olive Muffins

1 cup self raising flour
½ tsp bicarb soda
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
1¼ cups milk
3 tbsp olive oil
4 shallots finely chopped
2 tbsp finely grated Mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp finely grated Cheddar cheese
12 Kalamata olives - pitted & sliced.

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Lightly oil 10 holes (1/3 cup) muffin pan. Combine flour, soda, cayenne pepper & salt in bowl.

In separate bowl whisk eggs, oil, milk, shallots & olives.

Make a well in the flour and pour in the egg mixture. Stir until just combined.

Divide ½ the batter among the prepared holes

Top with combined cheeses, then remaining batter.

Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins have risen well and are firm to touch.

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Olives and Herbs

400g Pasta (spaghetti or fettuccini)
80 ml herb olive oil
2 cups oven roasted semi dried tomatoes
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 cups olives
½ cup white wine
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup finely chopped oregano
½ cup fetta cheese
salt & pepper to taste.

Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente.

Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan to medium heat.

Add shallots, garlic, chilli and olives.

Cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently.

Add wine and increase heat. Cook until wine evaporates.

Drain pasta, return to pan and add tomatoes, olive mixture, herbs and cheese.

Toss gently over heat and season to taste.

Dipping sauce

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
5 tbsp fish sauce
1 green & 1 red capsicum diced very finely
2 tbsp sliced ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil (pref Lemon Myrtle variety if available)
2 tbsp corn flour.

Mix all ingredients and store in refrigerator. Ideal for a dipping sauce for prawns, vegetables and chicken pieces.

Matters of Taste culinary knowledge is vast, drawing from professional training, practical experience and constant research, creating food that works for you at home, ensuring our recipes will be long term friends in your kitchen. Checkout our online Cooking School and Cooking Classes [http://www.mattersoftaste.com.au/classes/default.aspx]

What So Great About Gourmet Coffee

There is something so relaxing and lazy about sitting at a table having an aromatic cup of coffee. It is hard to stop at one cup that is for certain. However, coffee isn't what it used to be. Since gourmet coffee has hit the shelves it is not longer just something to you do just to perk you up in the morning, it something you drink to enjoy the taste and irresistible flavor of these incredibly made coffees.

People who do not drink coffee often wonder what is so great about gourmet coffee. They ask whether it is made a certain way or it is the taste that lures you in. In fact, it is both reasons. Gourmet coffee is made from very high quality 'Arabica' coffee beans that are hand picked and thoroughly checked over to makes sure they are superior. Unlike commercial coffees that are machine graded, people that are experienced in gourmet coffee beans will be able to see if there is any dirt, leaves, or anything else in the beans that will spoil the taste.

The gourmet coffee beans are then treated with special oils after the roasting process which is what gives it the special flavor that is so tempting to drink. It is a blend of natural oils that are used for the coffee bean treatment. These oils are able to sustain a healthy shelf life without ever spoiling or losing it's characteristic flavors once mixed with the blend of your favorite type of gourmet coffee. The oils and the flavors neutralize each other so you get a very smooth taste without any overpowering blend.

Gourmet coffee is then roasted in a way that customizes the coffee for your taste. Using a light roast, you will contain the natural aroma without the overcooked taste that you find in many of the traditional coffees. Arabic coffee beans are ground perfect fineness to give you the best taste that you can have in a full bodied cup of coffee. There are gourmet coffees that use a more coarser grind to give a completely different taste. It is up to your personal preference as to which level of fineness gives you the best cup of coffee.

Finer grinds are similar to those found in espresso which has a great rich taste, but most gourmet coffee lovers will lean towards the coarse ground coffee powder. That gives the grinds time to mix with the hot water and really pull out the flavor completely, especially when made with drip type filters. What makes Arabica gourmet coffee so great is that the Arabica coffee beans are never stored in a warehouse so after harvesting, roasting, and grinding they go very quickly to the store in which you buy them.

What makes gourmet coffee so great is the way the taste makes you feel. There is no burnt flavor or heavy after taste. It is just pure delight when you drink in the fragrant, warm, and rich taste of gourmet coffee.

Learn how to make your home gatherings and parties special creating chocolate fondue fountains. Get great tips to prepare gourmet coffee and how to guides about popcorn machines. Visit us today!.

What Are Great Food Gift Ideas That Anyone Will Enjoy?

When you think of Thanksgiving, a big juicy turkey usually comes to mind, Valentines Day makes you think about chocolates and Christmas conjures up images of cookies. Putting together some type of food gift is a great idea for a present, whether it's for a birthday or for a Christmas present. If you know the person well, then put together a food gift basket of all their favorite goodies, or if you do not know them that well you can always include a few items that most everyone enjoys.

Giving this type of present can be fairly inexpensive, yet it will still show you cared enough to take the time to put it together. For example, if you need gifts for your coworkers, then use a recipe for simple spiced party nuts and create different ways to wrap them. You can use a mesh materiel tied up with a pretty bow or go to the dollar store and buy several different types of tins or bottles. Be sure to give everyone a different wrap and they will be a big hit.

There is no set rule pertaining to the types of food that may be used as gifts. It can be anything from simple home-made recipes to gourmet food baskets. Consider using a few unique recipes to put together a food gift that shows everyone that you put a great deal of thought and time into their gift. Perhaps you can make some homemade jams or preserves and can them in different styles of jars. You have probably seen those gifts in the stores that have cookie or cocoa mixes in a jar, so consider using your favorite recipes to produce something similar.

For the holidays, consider putting together some Christmas gift baskets for friends and relatives. Be creative in your choices; it shows them how much you appreciate them when you take the time to put something like this together. Fruit baskets are a great idea for grandparents and for the wine connoisseur on your list, consider giving them a wine gift basket.

Everyone knows that the smell of gingerbread baking is a sure sign that the Christmas holidays are here, so why not expand on that for some of your gift giving needs. For example, you can gather all the ingredients together that are needed for gingerbread cookies, place them in a basket with your favorite gingerbread recipe. Or you can go the extra mile and bake a gingerbread house, which is a great idea for a food gift that will be enjoyed by everyone.

369 Niches Rolled Up Into 1 Product

Turn any hobby into a business. Discover

24 totally unique business models.

[http://businessmodels.netbizint.com.au/index.php]

The perennial plate of great American road trip

With cross-hatch little more than a video camera and a laptop, the couple behind Web documentary series the perennial plate America on an incredibly, indie food adventure.

Some important parts of the food revolution will be transferred not on television. But these days you can it to develop online, and a good starting point is the perennial plate.

CALIFORNIA After gathering crabs off the coast, a Mixtec community garden for tacos visit Ventura County, Mirra fine. Photo © Daniel Klein.

Every week for the past two years has published a new Webisode of this documentary series about "adventurous and sustainable food." 29-year-old filmmaker Daniel Klein Work on a shoestring with a camera and a laptop, perfected a style of indie filmmakers that can draw their own conclusions viewers Klein. While some rates select non-controversial issues, such as the positive effects of community gardens, you show other steps in the farm to table travel, that are disconcerting to see: we meet fight Strawberry farm workers in California, see wild boar caught and shot in Texas and witnesses the slaughter of rabbits, chickens, squirrel, bison, and dozens more creatures. Other videos challenge brave our definition of "sustainable". We take for example the roadkill collector, edible insect broker and the beer chugging Mississippians, the land with the hands as bait Wels. Adventurous? There is no doubt. Sustainable? This is us regarding the question that small will.

The perennial plate first season explored Klein's home state of Minnesota, kicking off with a video shows him kill a Thanksgiving Turkey Turkey with the help of (visible conflict) family members. As many of his videos, introduces the episode with a Disclaimer: "If we eat meat, animals die." "If you don't see it Happen…it can be time to rethink dinner."

MINNESOTA Small, a Thanksgiving slaughters Turkey Turkey in front of the camera, a sight which is fine, to be a vegetarian. Photo © Mirra fine.

If you this advice, surprisingly, the same person is noticed, the perennial plate most recordings movies: Mirra fine, Klein's girlfriend and production partner. After the first Turkey episode shooting, she became a vegetarian.

You make an unlikely Duo. Klein grew up on three continents. his mother runs a bed and breakfast in England, where she teaches cooking classes. He inherited their culinary skills and worked in some of the world's top restaurant cuisine: the fat duck and St. John in England. Mugaritz in Spain; Bouchon and craft in America. Fine the parents a kosher home in Minnesota kept; Her dentist father lamented sweets and published photos of rotting teeth in her kitchen. As a student activist of from New York University Klein campaigned successfully to Coca-Cola from the campus banned; Coke is fine the guilty pleasure.

When their first season for the perennial plate closed, they realised the couple that interests may independence from advertising in some of the food industry to explore more rise to controversial topics - farm labor practices, genetically modified crops - with a level of culinary cinema verite, television can not (or would not cars) meet.

This led to launch an even more ambitious second season last March with Klein and fine under the perennial plate across the country. Supported by a campaign kick start, was it a 8 route around America in a borrowed Toyota Prius, looking for new topics in the corners and folding of the country. As they are with their laptops and a stack of portable hard drives, drove, edited episodes. Comment-friendly sites like the Huffington Post and Grist.org began reposting your videos, and show the audience grew. A more graphic episode about the hunt for frogs in the Arkansas backwaters, for example, showed one is the amphibians to the death against the bank cards hit the boat. It drove many online readers to share their thoughts on invasive species, cruelty to animals and the best way, FRY frog legs.

MISSISSIPPI A local fisherman goes for Wels, noodling reveals how to they can start small with bare hands as bait. Photo © Daniel Klein.

"People will often enter that what we are is not perfectly sustainable," so small. "But 'sustainable' can mean different things to different people." "Sometimes it means to remain simply feeding themselves in life or preserve a culture." In fact, many of the perennial plate topics from suggestions written viewers come from. "Without active audience, we should be a much harder time topics can be found" small says. "It is easy to find an urban farmer or ethical Fischer, but we want to show a supported and less obvious side of American food." "Many of our themes don't even know that what they are doing is sustainable."

However, not every Webisode with moral ambivalence, firearms, or Amphibicide is verfrachtet. It is also amazing food: small peppers videos with recipes and teams up with famous chefs - including Sean Brock, to throw massive dinner parties on the way Paul Kahan and Gabrielle Hamilton-.

Florida Daniel Klein Mirra fine grey mullet with a Sarasota area fishermen catch, and teaches it eat it raw. Photo © Nick Fauchald

Klein's combination of curiosity and culinary chops helps him to make a difference in the lives of those films he. In an episode on fishing in Florida, for example, he convinces a Fischer - who's network and food gray mullet giant pot for years - his Fang (including its ROE) try raw, for the first time. It is delicious. "So is your map via strange food?" asks the fisherman's wife. "No," replies to Klein. "But eat everything part of which is sustainability"

Nick Fauchald, former editor of F & W, is Advisor to New York as a cookbook author and content.

The perennial plate Daniel Klein and Mirra fine. Photo © Nick Fauchald.

View the original article here

Great Outside, Great Inside - Hiking and Gourmet Food - Enjoy!

Taking a walking/hiking holiday or short break is of course a healthy, refreshing way of really appreciating the beauty and sights of a new environment. As we mentioned in our previous post, there are many advantages of doing this with a local guide. But one, very significant advantage that will actually be more relevant AFTER the walking is knowing the best places to EAT - and in Mallorca you are spoilt for choice.

Mallorca through the centuries has always had many cultural influences - many times brought by conquering armies and more recently through a more civilised source with tourism. These cultural influences have also brought their culinary influences and Mallorca is now home to hundreds of different styles and tastes from Fast Food to the highest levels of gourmet cuisine.

Five restaurants have been awarded the prestigious Michelin Star in Mallorca for 2011 - two of them being new awards. But great food is not limited to the excellence of the Michelin chefs. Mallorca has a strong history of excellent food and also a very versatile use of the unlikeliest food items particularly from it's farming roots of previous centuries.

The pig was and still is a popular ingredient to many local dishes including the now famous sobrasada; the very popular roasted suckling pig and also variations of the Frito Mallorquin which is a descendant of the poorest families' staple diet in olden days.

Pa amb oli is another Mallorquin favourite with varied platters. These are usually cold dish choices with either a meat or cheese selection (but can also be fish) served with a thinly sliced rustic Mallorcan bread; olive oil; ramallet (spreading) tomatoes, garlic and sea salt. Simply crush the thin skinned 'ramallet' tomatoes with a garlic clove, sea salt and a generous glug of olive oil and serve on a slab of rustic bread. A variety of toppings can then be added from slices of locally cured hams, chorizos and sobrasadas or cheese. This meal choice is particularly popular through the summer and can last for hours along with great conversation and some superb Mallorquin wines.

The Mediterranean diet also includes many fresh salads and there are lots of local markets serving a wonderful array of home grown fruits and vegetables. Together with the local olive oil and the now famous Flor de Sal flavoured sea salts from Ses Salines - another great meal combination.

Fresh seafood is also very popular in Mallorca. The fishing ports of Andratx, Soller and Palma itself still holds fresh fish markets daily, direct from the returning fishing boats. The age old custom of the fishermen sitting repairing their nets with the gulls floating overhead still continues today. Everybody has their special fish restaurant to recommend but my favourite (and many others for over 30 years) is Casa Manolo's in Ses Salines.

Preparing for your visit to Mallorca there are many authoritative web sites now dedicated purely to your gastronomic enjoyment whilst here on the island. Our recommendation for the widest and most current range of information, news and even video interviews with the chefs and owners of the hundreds of venues you can visit is the award winning Sky Blue Mallorca

Do not be daunted by this incredible choice and the gastronomic delights that await you in Mallorca - your guides are well equipped to help you make the best choices during your stay. But we have to warn you - you'll definitely need to return for more!!

Mallorca Hiking

Roger Swain
Passionate about all things Mallorca
roger@mallorcaselect.com