Food Snobbery

Well lets finish 2017 off with a pilfered set of questions from an interview I was reading in a food blog.

What’s the most expensive piece of equipment in your kitchen? Has it made your life better?
Probably the 6-quart All-Clad Copper Core sauté pan and yes, as hyperbolic as it sounds it has made my life better. That pan is used, on average, four days a week, every week in our kitchen. From skillet lasagna to pan-fried whatever to bananas foster, that pan has seen it all.

Do you buy the fancy salt?
Oh dear, I do indeed. Morton kosher salt is the workhorse in our kitchen, but I do own various fancy-pants salts like Maldon, Himalayan pink, and Hawaiian black. All the fancy salts are used as finishing salt.

Are San Marzano tomatoes really worth it?
Personally, I have never been impressed by authentic, albeit canned, San Marzano tomatoes. I have had much better results with Muir Glen canned tomatoes.

Are Le Crueset Dutch ovens really that much better than cheaper brands like Lodge?
I have had the great fortune to own a large Le Crueset dutch oven for almost twenty years so I have zero experience with other brands. I will say, bar none, the Le Crueset dutch oven is the single most important and loved piece of cookware in our kitchen. Soups, stews, chilis, sauces, and roasts have graced our Le Crueset with fantastic results time and again.

What’s your go-to luxurious edible treat?
This may be a stretch, but I am going with certain single malt Scotch whiskies as well as Straight Bourbon and Rye whiskies. There are a handful of distilled spirits that have a transcendental effect on me. Yes, I understand these are intoxicants and yes, that has something to do with it, but sipping vodka or rum or tequila based cocktails has never challenged the enjoyment found in sipping a favorite whisk(e)y neat after dinner. Favorites include Ardbeg 10 year, Laphroaig Quarter Cask, Balvenie 15 year, Deanston 14 year, Four Roses Single Barrel, E.H. Taylor, Elmer T. Lee, and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

What kind of snob are you?
A selective snob. Some things matter while others are trivial. I care little about who makes the blue jeans I wear, but care very much who makes the dress pants I wear. In general, the more formal the intent, the more I care about an item's pedigree and quality.

What are you absolutely not snobbish about even a little bit?
Peppercorns, socks, olive oil, sneakers, polo shirts.

What’s the one “premium” food or beverage you just don’t get?
Here are several - caviar, fois gras, Tito's Vodka, Angel's Envy bourbon.

What was your finest dining experience ever? Was it all you thought it would be?
Fine dining - The Queen Victoria Room at Victoria & Albert's. The meal was ludicrously expensive, but the experience, attention to detail, and delivered flavors were sublime. To date, our dinners here have delivered the finest bites of lamb, lobster, fish, and beef that I have ever experienced.

General dining - essentially the whole of New Orleans. From K-Paul's to Acme Oyster House to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop to Cafe du Monde, New Orleans is just our speed.

How do you buy wine?
Wine to me is a never-ending exercise in learning. Bourbon, Rum, Scotch, and Tequila all pale in comparison to the breadth and variety found in the wine world. Two long-time local wine merchants have helped educate and guide me through world of wine. I met the first wine merchant over 15 years ago when I went into his shop and asked for a good Burgundy in the $100 price range. The merchant chuckled and shot back, 'with all due respect, anybody can buy a good bottle of wine for $100, the goal should always be to buy an excellent bottle of wine for $20'.

Favorite varietals include Gewurztraminer, Pinotage, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, and Chenin Blanc.
Favorite regions include Alsace France, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and Washington/Oregon State.

Which foods do you buy organic, and why?
Eggs, milk, cream, chicken, and beef. For dairy products, we have done A/B side-by-side tastings of organic vs. non-organic products and without fail, the organic items tasted better than their non-organic counterparts. Organic chicken has to date tasted better as well, though there has been recent slippage in that when compared to non-organic chicken. Organic beef is typically 100% grass-fed which I personally prefer to the flavor of traditional grain-fed beef.

Do you have a favorite fancy bottled water?
Nope, but I am guilty of mandating that at our wedding ceremony we had plenty of Fiji Water available throughout the church for our guests. Nowadays, I drink good ole tap water at home exclusively.

Is there a premium pantry staple you simply must have stocked at all times?
Oh yes, several. Pure maple syrup, real vanilla extract, minimally refined sugar, a variety of whole bean coffees to name but a few.

What’s your favorite expensive cheese?
Well Parmigiano-Reggiano is too easy, but its presence is mandatory in our refrigerator at all times. As for a more random splurge - Ossau Iraty, a sheep's milk cheese from the French Pyrenees.

That's Eyetalian for Bacon

They say the classics are classic for a reason. For me, this is especially true with many Italian-American dishes that are practically cliches now due to their sustained popularity. Chicken Piccata, Penne alla Vodka, Linguini and Clam Sauce, Chicken Marsala, etc. are all staples in American restaurant cuisine. While many of these dishes have distant roots 'back in the Old Country', it was the vibrant restaurant scenes of New York and Boston that modified and cemented their status in this country.

Once such favorite in our house is Spaghetti alla Carbonara. Like most cliched classic Italian-American dishes, the recipe is not all that complex. While the ingredient list for Spaghetti alla Carbonara might be short, a successful result for this dish relies almost entirely on procuring the highest quality ingredients possible, particularly the cheeses, but more on that later. Let's get to it. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 ounces diced pancetta

2 medium to large cloves of garlic sliced thin

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1/2 cup white wine (anything but the sweet whites will work)

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

1/4 cup grated Romano Cheese

2 whole eggs at room temperature

1 pound pasta (spaghetti, linguini, pretty much any pasta shape except the very small shapes used in soups)

Two to four warmed bowls to serve the completed dish in

Carbonara really comes down to three flavors - pancetta, wine, and cheese. As such, I feel it is vital that you use the highest quality examples of these ingredients that you can get:

• Pancetta, Italian bacon. A salt-cured, gently spiced, non-smoked chunk of pork belly. You can typically score this at your grocery's deli department. Ask them to slice you a 1/2" chunk and note the weight. You need a quarter-pound for this dish. Can you use American bacon (smoked)? Well yes you can, but it will be very different, the smoke from the bacon will carry through and may (though not always) clash with the wine and cheese.
• Wine - We are looking for a non-sweet white wine here. A dry Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Grigio will all work. You want to use a wine that you happily enjoy drinking normally and why not, this dish only uses a half-cup, so might as well serve the rest with dinner!
• Cheese - Far and away, here are the two most important ingredients in this dish. For the Parmesan, there is only one acceptable option - authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Yes, you will pay $20ish per pound, but Parmigiano-Reggiano is not known as the King of Cheeses for nothing. You need to buy a legit chunk, and a grater if you do not have one, and completely avoid any pre-grated cheese or any cheese just labeled as 'Parmesan'. The Romano has a bit more leeway, but you will typically see the imported stuff right next to the Parmigiano-Reggiano, so might as well toss a chunk of that in the cart too.

Process

Spaghetti Carbonara is a dish that cooks quickly once you get started, so it is important to have each component at the ready. Matic and I went for extra-credit and made our own pasta this time around which meant the first thing for us was to roll the pasta dough out before starting anything.

First up, regardless of which pasta you are using, get a pot of salted water boiling away. 

Next, crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat/whisk until the yolks and whites are well blended. Once blended, grate each cheese into the eggs and stir around to combine:

Turn your attention to the stove and in a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and toss in the diced pancetta. Cook the pancetta until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes:

If you are using dry pasta, add it to the water now. Fresh pasta peeps can hold off on this until later. Once the pancetta is browned, lower the heat to medium-low, toss the garlic in and stir well. Keep a close eye on the garlic, we don't want it to brown but we do want it fragrant. After about a minute, toss in the wine and raise the heat to medium-high. We want to bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce down by about half. The key is to smell the steam rising up out of the pan - if you still get an alcohol burn or smell in the nose, it has not reduced enough:

Once the alcohol smell is gone, lower the heat to low and prepare for final assembly. Fresh pasta can now be added to the boiling water. Dry pasta should be done soon. Once the pasta is done, use tongs to grab the pasta out of the water and throw in the egg-cheese bowl. We want to work quickly here, get all the pasta transferred over. No worries if some of the pasta water clings/splashes over into the bowl, a little bit of pasta water will help make the sauce.

Once the pasta is transferred, using your tongs, toss/mix the pasta in the egg-cheese mixture vigorously. The heat in the noodles will cook the egg and melt the cheese which is one reason we don't dump the pasta into a strainer, then dump the pasta into the bowl, we want to retain as much residual heat as possible. Once well coated, dump the olive oil-pancetta-garlic-wine mixture as well as the parsley in the bowl with the noodles and mix well again. 

Using your tongs, transfer portions of pasta to the serving bowls and give each a fresh grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Lastly, and most importantly, serve and enjoy immediately. Carbonara is not a sauce that can sit for a long time. Like a soufflé, it should be enjoyed as soon as possible.

Bon Appétit

Budget Twelves!

Bunnahabhain 12 year
Region: Islay
Strength: 46.3% ABV
Color: Natural Color
Filtration: Non-chill Filtered
Maturation Casks: Bourbon & Sherry Casks
Price: $55

Tomatin 12 Year
Region: Highlands
Strength: 43% ABV
Color: Unknown Color (No official statement, though it looks to be either natural color or very lightly colored)
Filtration: Unknown Filtration
Maturation Casks: Bourbon & Sherry Casks
Price: $30

It always amazes me how a whisky one is very familiar with can take on a radically different character when tried side by side with another whisky. Bunnahabhain 12 year is a whisky that has provided many enjoyable moments through the years. Despite this, it took a side by side taste test to reveal a definite iodine note that I had never before noticed.

Nose
Bunnahabhain - a slight iodine smell, entirely unnoticed until now. Sherry and alcohol more pronounced than Tomatin. It is important to note that Bunnahabhain is one of the few un-peated malts to come from the legendary peat-heavy island of Islay.
Tomatin - very sweet, honey, cereal, and vanilla.
Winner - Tomatin, just a more inviting nose even if sweetness is not your thing.

Taste
Bunnahabhain - smooth, rich, pleasing. 3.3% percent more alcohol than Tomatin, but it's the Tomatin that has alcohol burn in the mouth. Slight sweetness at first transitions to a savory dryness.
Tomatin - Bright, sharp, too sharp in fact. It prickles and burns more than a twelve year old should. There is sweetness, but not as pronounced in the mouth as it is on the nose. Vanilla and some sweet fruit are there.
Winner - Bunnahabhain, I suspect the bottling strength of 46.3% is just about perfect. There is subtle sweetness, most likely from the bourbon casks, yet it's sherry that does the heavy lifting and it contributes a great savory taste.

Finish
Bunnahabhain - medium length, warm, tingling mouth feel. Very pleasing.
Tomatin - very short, almost non-existant, near-zero mouth feel.
Winner - Bunnahabhain. Not even a contest, it is remarkable how quickly Tomatin disappears once swallowed.

Overall, Bunnahabhain takes this head-to-head, though Tomatin is no slouch. Considering Tomatin costs $25 less, being remarkably priced at $30 in in this world of haute single malts, it is worth a look, though with an asterisk. Tomatin is what Matic and I like to call a 'Tuesday whisky' - something affordable, readily available, easy to enjoy, but not toe-curling. If you happen to be of the mindset that life is too short for an okay whisky, best to look elsewhere.

Bunnahabhain on the other hand shows that extra $25 is invested in better maturation, smoother taste, and an overall more enjoyable experience.

A Choice In Trust

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
- Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1997

For my worried mind, it was 6 p.m. on an idle Wednesday when Matic told me she had breast cancer. Almost immediately all the worries I had up to that point evaporated into triviality. I had just returned home from work curious as to how the biopsy had gone earlier in the day. Matic urged me not to miss work for the biopsy - 'all they are going to do is take a sample and send me on my way'.

She greeted me at her bathroom door, eyes wide open, lower lip quivering. "He says I have breast can...", she succumbed to emotion before she could mutter the word. All I remember is grasping her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes and saying over and over again 'okay ... okay'. For the next few minutes we hugged and we cried. Then we spoke and speculated about what next.

Officially, it would take a day and a half for the biopsy results to come back, but the doctor performing the biopsy told Matic bluntly and directly that she almost certainly had breast cancer; that if the biopsy came back negative, he was going to re-send it as he would not believe the results. There was no need to re-send however as forty-ish hours later the call came that the biopsy samples definitively confirmed breast cancer.

It is amazing the deluge of appointments, consultations, and procedures that commence once that phone call is received. There is a terrific sense that the institution of breast cancer has a well-defined process and community. You also quickly realize that your normal life will be radically redefined for the immediate future; that you will have to conform to the process, rather than attempt to define the process. The process cares not what you had planned for the holidays nor what big meeting is on the agenda at work next week. The cancer train has left the station and you are merely a passenger.

"It's treatable."

Matic and I heard those two words from family, friends, but most importantly, from the medical staff of the various oncology offices we visited. They are soothing and reassuring words and we are grateful to hear them from her doctors; I suspect not every cancer patient gets to hear them. They are however fraught with the misleading allusion that cancer can be treated as easily as taking an aspirin for a headache or applying a cream to a burn.

There is no free lunch in treating cancer, the treatments are invasive and intense. The medications injected into Matic generally do not discriminate between cancer cells and healthy cells; it is a Shock and Awe attack against the entire battlefield. Healthy parts of Matic's body will be temporarily sacrificed in the war against the tumor. Unlike the more mundane "It's treatable" scenarios like a broken bone, the doctors in the cancer scenario thus far have only spoken in absolutes when discussing side effects. Rarely will they speak in absolutes when discussing final prognosis - "You will lose your hair, it should grow back". There is a strong sense of uncertainty. Matic and I tame the fear of uncertainty by reminding ourselves "It's treatable".

Ultimately, you accept the reality of having a choice between two options - treatment or no treatment. The former is a choice in trust and the latter is a choice in fate. And so we take a journey that blindsided us; a journey that neither of us ever considered. It is however a journey that millions of women have taken before Matic. There is an odd comfort found in that fact. In many ways, the very notion of "It's treatable" is made possible by the millions of women that went before Matic. And in turn, Matic's journey will help make "It's treatable" possible for women that will take their journey after her.