White Merlot, White Cabernet Sauvignon

Salut/Hi Mike Tommasi,

le/on Sat, 31 Jul 2004 09:29:57 +0200, tu disais/you said:-

Not really, although the period 14th July to 15th August is 100% full. VERY busy, though.

Nope, I haven't. I'm afraid I always try to answer without too many external references. Call it foolhardy or arrogant. I'd not argue.

Yes, I tried it a couple of times in the last year or two and always found it wonderful. Though it's the exception rather than the rule in Champagne afaik, and I can't say that I've found other top pink champagnes bad either.

Ian, I am sorry you took this to be a snide comment on your post, I did not mean this question to be read separately from the answer that follows. I just meant that it is pleasantly surprising that looking up such a generic subject would turn up our friend's web site.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Salut/Hi Mike Tommasi,

le/on Sun, 01 Aug 2004 13:27:29 +0200, tu disais/you said:-

I didn't take it as being in the least snide, Mike. I took it to be one of your usual positive comments :-))) I was simply answering a helpful comment in a slightly self deprecating way. I almost NEVER look anything up on line, mainly because when I'm answering here, I tend to be offline.

Couldn't agree more.

Furthermore, Mark, there are international differences in defining BBQ.

Whereas, as I understand the term to mean, in the US, barbecue is a rocess - the long, slow cooking while basting with a seasoned sauce, here in New Zealand (and Australia too) to barbeque is to "throw" steak or lamb chops or chicken fillets or (to the dinky-di Australian) prawns onto a hotplate or other outdoor grill.

The steak or prawns may have been pre-marinated - but there is no such thing as basting during cooking - and it is certainly not a drawn out process.

Thus, downunder, one may have a barbeque or go to a barbeque (that is, invite a few friends around for some grilled food, usually accompanied by salad with copious quantities of beer and/or wine - but always in an outdoors setting).

And the apparatus used to cook upon (either charcoal or gas heated) is called a barbeque.

To cook a whole pig (hog) or sheep over charcoals, we would call the process "spit roasting"

Now, this is a long process, basting as the meat is slowly turned and cooked over constantly replenished embers.

My mistake.

About pink wines, I have found a nice Provence pink from a new young negociant, La Badiane. Also, I think Dupere Barrera are going to be introducing a new pink wine that deviates from the (often boring) Provencal standard

Cheers

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

I dunno, Mark. Doesn't barbecue pretty much date back to cave dwellers who roasted the catch du jour over an open fire?

As for regional styles, you have to come to Glendale, CA for the best in the USA! I have yet to find better 'cue _anywhere_ than Pecos Bill's, which is a family run operation that dates back to the 1940s.

Tom S

Max, at the risk of taking this thread entirely off-topic, I will add that you seem to me to refer to a very broad cultural trend: the homogenization of culture, linked to nationalism vs. the preservation of local sub-cultures, linked to the various forces working against nationalsm: religious factionalism, linguistic identity and historical antecedents. Through most of the 20th Century, the nation-state was on the rise and with it, nationalism and the loss of cultural diversity. This was certainly true in E. Europe, but also in sub-Saharan Africa and SE Asia. However, the last 10 years have seen a reversal of this trend, with the splintering of the USSR, the Balkanization of the Balkans and the seccessionist movements within other, multicultural nations.

Given the short history of Germany as a nation, I wonder how long it has been since Hessians or Saxons started thinking of themselves as German, first and foremost. The loss of "local" cuisine could possibly be linked to the growing national identity of Germans, just as the proliferation of Philly Cheesesteaks and Boston Clam Chowder (albeit hideous renditions thereof) in every shopping mall could be considered the result of increasing cultural homogenization of the US.

Just my $0.02, Mark Lipton

...

I believe the key word is "shopping mall". Like mice in a threadmill running without really getting anywhere, modern man gears himself to consuming as much as possible without realizing the emptiness of consumerism. Enjoying life's pleasures is a slow business - you need time to set your mind, time to prepare good food (and drink :-), time to contemplate and understand the mysteries of life... If you run about trying to get as many thrills as possible it is understandable that feeding is reduced to wolfing down whatever standard concoctions of salt, fat and proteins is quickly available. My mental image is of laboratory mice with electrodes into their brains rapidly and unstoppably pushing a button stimulating pleasure centers...

Anders

The freshness of the ingredients is also a big part of the picture. While in Northeast Italy, I couldn't tell you how many times I was amazed with things as simple as a sandwich. At a tiny shop in Montfalcone, we ordered a simple sandwich (I forget the name they used for this type of sandwich). I believe that it consisted of radicchio, mushrooms, artichokes, and truffle oil. Everything was so fresh.

Fast food places here in Chicago, I believe, make finding such freshness nearly impossible in most of the neighborhoods. The yuppie areas, with their organic shops, may attempt something like this, but they are so pretentious in their attempt to market "gourmet" as a premium concept compared to the simplicity we experience in Italy.

pretentious

That's a bit supercilious IMO.

I made a point of shopping in Italy and preparing a dish (Osso Buco) I have done many times here in the USA, expecting a noticeable difference because of the supposedly *superior* groceries available in Europe. However, I could find _no_ discernable difference between what I'd made in Italy and what I'd previously made at home here in California. Furthermore, I'll bet I could fix that same dish just as well anywhere in either this Country or Europe or Australia etc. - assuming I could find all the ingredients.

BTW, I take no credit for the deliciosity (is that a word?) of said dish; it was straight out of Marcella Hazen's excellent cookbook. I merely followed her recipe and didn't screw it up!

Tom S