Cultural Geography

Wine represents a sense of place, or what the French call terrior.  It is the climate, soil, and environment the grapes grow in.  Using terrior as a premise, we may look at a designated area in the realm of cultural geography.  This concept takes into account the culture of an area—people—architecture—economic environment—restaurants and foodstuffs its inhabitants consume—natural yeasts and smells in the air—and an infinite amount of virtue the area represents.  Most importantly, it looks beyond political boundaries to incorporate new ideas and culture.

Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco

Traveling to California’s Bay Area, this sommelier experienced many microclimates and cultural communities.  Why is the sourdough bread so good in San Francisco?  The natural yeasts from the salty bay air.  The fish tasted like the sea because I could see the sea from where I was eating!  The temperature would drop fifteen degrees because I drove down a 2000 foot mountain.  There are a lot of idealists in Berkeley and Techies in Silicon Valley. These are just a few components within the equation of cultural geography in the Bay Area.

Traditionally Chicago is known for steaks and potatoes.  There are too many steakhouses in Chicago, but there is a good reason for it.  The stockyards opened on Christmas Day in 1865 on Chicago's Southside.  With its central location, train tracks were built and Chicago became their hub for distribution.  Ranchers all over the Midwest and Great Plains herded their cattle to the train depots and sent them to Chicago to be butchered.  Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906 exposing the working conditions of America's meatpacking industry. He describes extensively the sanitary conditions of the Southside Stockyards and it led to many government regulations on sanitation.  So these are some reasons why Chicago loves steak representing its cultural geography.

Choking Confusion

Sunchokes are one of my favorite titillating tubers.  There is a lot of choking confusion on what they actually are.  Sunchokes are also called Jerusalem Artichokes. I think some religious heresy might have partial blame here.

Sunchokes are a tuber like a potato.  They grow in the ground and produce a flower that looks like a sunflower.  Indigenous to North America,  they are crunchy, white in flesh, and are excellent sauteed or in salad.  Explorers to the New World noticed that the Indians cultivated them and brought them back to Europe. 

There are several theories on how it became associated with artichokes and Jerusalem.    Sunchokes somehow migrated to the gardens of Cardinal Farnese in Rome around 1617, near the Vatican.  The Italian term for these tubers is girasole.  Its rough Italian translation is sunflower or "towards the sun."  Somehow the Cardinal translated them to Latin to English to Italian and back again.  They might have grown towards Jerusalem.  There seems to be something lost in translation...

Another theory is a gardner from Ter-Heusen, Holland distributed his "artichoke-apples" throughout Europe and the New World.  During the 17th century the Puritan-Pilgrims in their original-sin-theological tongue translated Ter-Heusen to Jerusalem...while in Salem???

This should unchoke some confusion into these crunchy delectable tubers. 

10 Commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine

Prior to the Nouvelle Movement, cuisine was homogenized, lacked regionality, and utilized heavy cream and butter sauces.  A lot of this was based upon the codification of Escoffier's cooking.  America's food has been behind the curve for decades, but is about to catch up if not surpass France.

As an alternative to the Michelin Guide, Henri Gault and Christian Millau began publishing the Gault-Millau Guide in the early 1970's and christened Nouvelle Cuisine in 1973.  The following are the 10 Commandments of the Nouvelle Cuisine.

1. Avoid unnecessary complications.
2. Shorten cooking times
3. Shop regularly at markets
4. Shorten the menu
5. Don't hang or marinate game
6. Avoid too rich sauces
7. Return to regional cuisine
8. Investigate latest techniques
9. Consider diet and health
10. Invent constantly

Orwell Once Washed Dishes

Down and Out in Paris and London is a great read to get an accurate account of what the labor conditions were like in a hotel/restaurant in the 1920's.  Eric Blair (Orwell's real name) worked as a porter in Parisian Hotels & Restaurants for a short time.  This book, literally, helped me get a grip on the stench and rats of the restaurant business.  Sanitation back then was gruesome!  If you don't want to wash , you've got to start at the bottom, constantly learn, work hard, and read this book. 

dishes anymore

Prohibition Bibuli

Constantly researching the foundations of American Food & Drink, I rediscovered this article written by H.L. Mencken published under his pseudonym.  In typical Mencken fashion, he probably experienced much of the bibuli that he writes about, so you know it's authentic!   Check out www.oldmagazinearticles.com for other fun Prohibition stuff...

Squashing Summer to Fall

As summer harvest is at its peak, I start to think and calibrate my senses for fall. I stop thinking summer squash and start thinking winter squash.

One of my favorite pairings I have been playing with over the last several years is heirloom Squash Soup. Every chef has their own take on this soup. The classic heirloom squash most chefs use is butternut squash, but now we see many heirloom varietals. Pairing squash soup can be tricky. How much cream or butter is added? How much spice? Is the squash roasted of boiled? How refined is the soup—is it chunky or pureed smooth? Is it garnished with crème fraiche, sour cream, or crab? All these variables are considered when choosing a wine.

With a rich creamy style of squash soup, I prefer a full bodied chardonnay that has undergone a good amount of malo, but still has good acidity. When the soup becomes spicy with cinnamon, nutmeg, and curries I lean towards an off-dry gewürztraminer or Vouvray which counteracts the spice. I also like a dry fortified Madeira with a bright acidity, served slightly chilled. (Rare Wine Co. “Charleston Sercial,” Available at Binny’s Beverage Depot if you are in the Chicago area) When the squashes are roasted or grilled, I start thinking about reds and pinot noirs are perfect. A pinot noir from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley has the fruit, earth, and weightiness to compliment any squash soup. (I like some of the single vineyard pinots from Martinelli Winery)

Sauvignon Blanc Styles

Sauvignon blanc’s origin is western France.  It is a acidic white varietal that displays herbaceous, grassy, and citrus aromas.  It pairs well with oysters, shellfish, seafood, green vegetables, tomatoes, cured meats, and goat cheese.  Sauvignon rarely takes well to oak and is generally meant to be consumed young.

The two major sauvignon blanc communes of the Loire Valley in northwest France are Sancerre and Pouilly Fume.  Sancerre is a grassy and steely style that became fashionable as a Central Park picnic wine in the 80’s.  Pouilly Fume is a style that is a hint  richer and is sometimes aged shortly in neutral oak for a fuller bodied sauvignon blanc. 

In Bordeaux, France, sauvignon blanc is often blended with a white varietal called semillon which gives it a round finish.  In the commune of Graves it has a good balance of texture, citrus, and minerality.  In some of the northerly communes it can actually age for a decade or more. Sauvignon Blanc is also a blending grape in the famous dessert wine Sauternes. 

In the new world these traditional styles are often mimicked.  California’s style is powerful and citrusy often displaying qualities of lemon and grapefruit.  Robert Mondavi coined the term fume blanc in reference to a California sauvignon blanc made in a style of Pouilly fume. 

Sauvignon Blanc was first planted in New Zealand in the late 70’s.  The style their pushed the envelope with acidity, and hence, the term racing acidity. New Zealand sauvignon blanc is often an incredible value.  They have distinctively green and steely notes, with a nose of passion fruit and kiwi.