December is characterised by many long lunches and dinners with family and friends. There is a certain tendency in these cold winter months to switch to red wines, particularly full-bodied reds which are perfect companions to the typical winter dishes served over Christmas. But then, there is nothing like a good white wine to pair with fish dishes particularly when you have spent the Christmas period in Malta and the fish and shellfish are mouthwatering fresh. White wines Trimbach Riesling Reserve 2011: I tend to have a personal preference for German Rieslings although there are some Alsace winemakers which I consider at a par with Germany's best, if not better. Trimbach is one such wine house and this Riesling Reserve was excellent. It is a dry white wine with concentrated fruits while being light. It was ripe, supple and rich yet very dry. It had excellent minerality and a saline finish. This is a Riesling that can get better with age. Pascal Jolivet: Pouilly-Fume 2012: … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #16
This is our first weekly roundup for 2015 with some interesting articles from the food and wine world. From a 90-year-old who continues to make fresh pasta in an Italian trattoria, to the trends for 2015 and a controversy about whether prosecco served on a tap in a pub should be called prosecco or not, we hope you find something interesting to read. When I use fat in cooking, it is mainly butter or extra virgin olive oil. So I found this article about cooking real food with minimally processed unrefined fats and oils, one which reinforces my own thoughts. But it is worth reading It is essential for children to learn how to cook. Research continues to show that cooking is a path to good health. At a time when more and more people are not cooking at home, here are some tips about how to get children to start learning how to cook. It says that a child could be able to cook a meal within five weeks following these steps. Travel always brings out stereotypes and there might be … [Read more...]
2014 – A year of Food and Wine Gazette in review
Food and Wine Gazette was launched in September 2014. In four months, readers from over 110 countries have visited the website with most of the visitors coming from Belgium, followed by the United States and the Netherlands. Our top reads to date were the following: 1. Grant Achatz (Alinea): A genius of molecular cuisine 2. Carcasse: A restaurant by one of Belgium's best butchers, Dierendonck 3. A review of Massimo Bottura's great book Never Trust a Skinny Italian chef 4. Mauro Colagreco (Mirazur) showcases three great dishes using collagen 5. Interview with Sang Hoon Degeimbre: Creativity comes from constant questioning and keeping an open mind 6. Fulvio Pierangelini - an Italian chef in exile 7. De Superette (Gent): The bakery with a difference It has been a busy first few months with visits to Chefs Revolution in Zwolle and Chef Sache in Cologne as well as participation in a number of events in Brussels such as the Vini Birre Ribelli which focused mainly … [Read more...]
A postcard from Malta: Food and Wine Gazette is back
It is incredible that we are already in 2015. Food and Wine Gazette started off in September of 2014 and we are back after taking a two and a half week break from writing about the things we like most - food and wine. During our break, partially forced by the fact that we were staying in a house without internet access, we have been able to reflect a lot about the coming months of Food and Wine Gazette which we hope will be as exciting as the first few months have been for us. At first we were slightly worried because this was our first break from writing. We had been systematically posting content nearly on a daily basis since our launch. But as time went by, we started to relax more and more and are now back with lots of energy and ideas. Instead of writing, we have been extremely busy doing another thing we are passionate about, that is cooking and trying new wines. Inspired by some of the chefs we met on our journey so far, the books we have read about food and wine over the … [Read more...]
Jack O’Shea Chophouse opening in coming days
I've written about Jack O'Shea Chophouse before to say it was set to open in central Brussels in September. Unfortunately because of delays related to works, the chophouse is still closed. But after a long wait, Jack O'Shea himself told us yesterday that the chophouse will finally be opening in the coming days. It is a soft-opening for the time-being but Jack O'Shea's chophouse is set to become one of Brussels top foodie destinations in the New Year and will add to the already interesting restaurant scene in the Place St Catherine area. There is no question that the quality of the meat at Jack O'Shea. Together with Dierendonck, he is one of Belgium's best butchers. The meat which you get from this butcher whether it is a Wagyu beef t-bone steak, an Angus beef ribeye, an aged t-bone steak or just sausages from his large range (which includes mustard and spinach, Italian, beef and guiness, chorizo), are all exceptional. With such quality of ingredients and a hot grill, all you … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #15
We are fast approaching Christmas and for those regulars who like this weekly round-up of links to interesting articles I come across on food and wine, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a great week ahead whether you are on holiday or busy working. The Italian culinary world was shocked with a news which saw Massimo Bottura reveal that he may be moving his exceptional Osteria Francescana to London. The news was revealed by Bloomberg in an interview with the Modenese chef and took even the journalist by surprise. Gambero Rosso, the Italian food and wine publication called this a 'shock'. Bottura said that it is something he has been discussing with his wine for the past six months. "The most important ingredient I have is my brain and my brain is going to be very easy to take with me to London, or New York, or Tokyo, or Hong Kong, wherever," he says. On that count he is right. There is no question that French cuisine is feeling the pressure at least in the media. The … [Read more...]
Foradori: A great winemaker from the Dolomites
When I met Elizabetta Foradori I had to admit that the wines I was trying were not familiar to me even though I had heard and read about the winemaker since Elizabetta Foradori is considered as one of the most influential female winemakers in the world. I met her at Vini Birre Ribelli in Brussels earlier this month. The winery has been established for more than 100 years in 1901 and was eventually bought by Vittorio Foradori in 1929. The first ever vintage of 'Foradori' was produced in 1960. Elisabetta took over the winery in 1984 after completed her studies at the S. Michele all'Adige's wine school and faced her first vintage. She worked to convert the winery to a biodynamic farming system in 2002 and in 2007 the winery joined VinNatur and started making natural wines. Foradori have been making use of biodynamic farming in their vineyards while diligently working with great care in the cellars for over 10 years. This has led to excellent results. Elizabetta is humble and easy … [Read more...]
Tim Raue: Bold character, bold flavours
It is not unusual for Asian chefs, especially Japanese to serve French style cuisine in Europe. But it is not really common to find a German who is well-known for his 'Asian' cuisine and also has two-Michelin stars for this. When Tim Raue took the stage at Chefs Revolution there was no question that his presentation reflected not only his bold character but also his bold cuisine. He kept the audience in awe as he recalled his story of how he moved from cooking a random mix of food to Asian food. In 2007 he won the Gault Millau chef of the year award but as he himself put it "I was cooking randomly from Spanish molecular cuisine to French inspired shit. But it was not me and I always believe that you need to find yourself in a plate." He says that after a lot of soul-searching to find what he liked he managed to create a unique style of cuisine which is bold with lots of flavours. "I have now found the right balance," he said. At 40 years he is one of the most prominent … [Read more...]
Bjorn Frantzen: An impressive feat preparing 19 dishes in 44 minutes
There is no question that one of the most impressive cooking performances I have ever seen was Bjorn Frantzen's show at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle organised by Jonnie and Therese Boer of De Librije earlier this year. Together with his team, they prepared 19 dishes which are normally take three and a half hours to prepare in just 44 minutes. He assured the audience that 'we have not trained for this before,' which made it all the more impressive. The Swedish chef who has two Michelin stars for his restaurant Frantzen in Sweden and is listed 23rd in the World's Best 50 restaurants said that he ends up traveling too many times to tell the restaurant story and what he really wanted to do was cook so he was trying a new experiment which is to showcase the dinner they prepared in the restaurant the previous Saturday. Frantzen serves one tasting menu of 19 dishes and it is changed every day according to what is fresh, local and seasonal. Anyone who follows this Swedish chef on Twitter … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura – a phenomenal storyteller
http://vimeo.com/114152806 Massimo Bottura is a phenomenal storyteller. In the above video he speaks about a very old couple who went to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary at Osteria Francescana and started crying when they tried one of his dishes. Bottura is the most inventive chef in Italy. Massimo Bottura: Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef, which was published earlier this year (and has been reviewed by Food and Wine Gazette) has been featured even in The Economist last week because it is a unique book on food, creativity and emotion. I am sharing this video because in three minutes you can learn about Bottura's philosophy. In this short, well made film, the Italian chef explains how he was touched by the story of an 85-year-old couple who cried when they tasted his compression of pasta and beans obviously recalling their childhood. Pasta e Fagioli, as it is called in Italian is a very common rustic dish. Bottura obviously takes it to another level by creating a … [Read more...]