The Bacchus Report- Early Fall

Wow, we've tasted some great reds this fall. I've done something a little different recently in terms of purchasing wines though. Direct purchasing from distributors has become very easy in the past few years. Two companies that I find very fun are Kermit Lynch and Garagistewine.com. Kermit Lynch is based in Berkeley CA. and specializes in french wines, but other regions are available as well. By signing up for their newsletter, buyers receive email alerts as well as the monthly newsletter. Outstanding descriptions of the offerings accompany the emails along with prices. Purchasing is as easy as calling in, placing an order and a few days later the wine arrives. Right now they are offering pre-arrival orders for many outstanding Burgundies that will ship in January.

Garagistewine.com is slightly different. After signing up to receive their daily (sometimes multiple) emails, purchasers receive descriptions / price notes directly from Garagistewine.com in France. As he travels from vintner to vintner, emails are sent to the subscription list. Purchasing is accomplished by sending an email to garagistewine.com's home base in Seattle. Shipments only go out twice a year: Once in the fall and once in the spring.

Both are great companies and bring outstanding offerings to the home wine lover. This is not to say I don't support the local wind shop, I do, however finding the great mid-priced drinkable Burgundies that I loved when living in Joigny, France is difficult to find in many shops.

BURGUNDY

2008, Bruno Colin - Bourgogne, FRANCE

2008, Regis Bouvier - Bourgogne en Montre Cul, FRANCE

COTES DU RHONE

2009, Maxime - Francois Laurent - Il Fait Soif, FRANCE

ZINFANDEL

2008, RIDGE - LYTTON SPRINGS, NAPA

2007, RIDGE - THREE VALLEYS, NAPA

Culinary School-Basic-Part II

The Basic curriculum was full of terms and techniques that had to be mastered. After a week or so my class began to get in the grove and we felt pretty good about our performance. Then it happened. It seems that when my partner and I were preparing sauce diable we were a little out of sync. Sauce Diable is a reduction sauce that is made up of veal stock, white wine, tomato puree, lemon juice, black peppercorns, cayenne pepper and finished with parsley. Two novice cooks battling through school, stressed and short on time (time constraints were placed on all activities at FCI to develop "restaurant speed" ability) probably shouldn't be allowed around cayenne pepper. Our sauce burned Chef Denis' mouth so bad he had to dismiss the class early. We think, after a quick chalk talk, that we both seasoned the sauce...at least twice. He really didn't say much to us other than a rather LOUD explanation about why a Chef has to be able to taste everything throughout a shift and we pretty much ruined that for the day.

Oh Well.

Culinary School - Basic - Part I

The first phase of the French Culinary Institute Cuisine track is, or was when I attended, called Basic.

When attending the FCI I lived on 32nd street between 2nd and 3rd avenues. It was a great neighborhood. Full of young professionals and med students who worked at the nearby NYU medical center. Good bars and locals restaurants made up 2nd and 3rd avenues between 28th and 36th, my neighborhood. So, every morning I walked the few blocks up to Park and 33rd to board the 6 (local) train. The ride to my stop in SOHO at Spring St. took about twenty minutes, then three blocks and into school. Sometimes I'd jump on the 4 or 5 train (express) at 33rd and if my timing was perfect I could cross the platform at the 14th street station and get through the closing doors on the 6 local just in time and cut my transit time in half. For non-New Yorkers or anyone who has never lived in the city, that move doesn't mean anything to you. But, it's a skill that pro strap hangers execute every day all over the city. As a matter of fact, last winter when I was in NYC my instincts took over and I used the local and express trains / platform cross maneuver with ease...I still have it.

Basic is a bit nerve racking at first. The goal is to start everyone from the beginning, literally how to turn on stoves and ovens, boil water, etc. Nothing was assumed. Each person in class is paired off with another class mate and the daily routine began. Every morning, we would set our stations and wait for Chef Denis. He would lecture then demonstrate and we would work. This went on all day. Every technique and piece of equipment was explained and demonstrated before we did anything.

A station was a cutting board, knives and small equipment like spoons and peelers etc. We learned real quick the proper way to work is left to right. Raw ingredients on the left-work on the board- finished prep placed in a bowl or other container on the right and scraps placed in a container that was placed directly at 12 o'clock. God help you if you put anything on the prep table. All products pre or post prep had to be kept in some sort of container. To this day I still work like this anytime I cook. From day one cleanliness and organization was stressed beyond belief. The hierarchy of professional kitchens, especially ones run by Europeans is very strict. A cook's reputation is made by working fast, clean and precise. FCI trained us in this philosophy from day one.

A few terms that a beginning cook at FCI quickly learned was "mis en place," "in the weeds" and "shoemaker." Mis en place is translated as "everything in place." Sounds fairly benign but it's not. The meaning con notates having all your prep done in a timely manner (prior to meal service). Cooks over the years have invoked poetic license that would make E. E. Cummings proud with the use of the term mis en place. "Do yo have your place ready" (are your prepped for service?), "F%*&! my mis is blown from last night!" (I used all my prep last night during service, I am so screwed right now), "I'm placed pretty good" (my station is fully prepped and ready for anything), "Your mis is S#&*!" (your station is a mess and your prep is sloppy). Yes there is quite a bit of gutter mouth in the kitchen, but usually in a interesting way. Straight up cursing really isn't a good image for a professional cook and cursing in front of the Chef is considered disrespectful. "In the Weeds" means a cook is totally behind schedule in getting ready for service, as in: "I over cooked all my haricot verts, now I'm in the weeds. Shoemaker: one of my favorites. I first heard this from a second phase Chef- Instructor that cooked at the venerable Russian Tea House during it's heyday in the 1980's. A shoemaker is simply a bad cook. If ever referred to as shoemaker, it would be recommended that a career change was in order, like being a waiter.

"The Life" had begun.

Pat Conroy, Education and Braised Pork

I am in the midst of reading The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. What a great read. Yes, it does pair well with a bourbon. The book tells the story of a young teacher named Pat Conroy, one in the same, who takes a teaching assignment on a small island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Without ruining the story, the young idealistic teacher runs straight into a challenging situation where the student body is comprised of kids living on an island that modernity left in its wake. Being a part of the education system, I have a strong urge to share a thought on the current national buzz regarding education. Documentary film makers, politicians, First Ladies, teachers, administrators and news channel talking heads have all chimed in lately which, in my opinion is great. It is a much over due discussion and I am glad it is taking place.

This is not a scientific, academically rigorous thesis, rather, a thought. Educators, students and parents is the principle cohort responsible for education. If an English teacher you know doesn't have a house full of books and their resting heart rate doesn't spike and knees tremble when the words of the Bard are interjected into conversation, in the classroom or not, and if the same English teacher doesn't become flush with thought when the likes of Becket, Steinbeck, Whitman or Wolf are read and discussed, he or she is not an English TEACHER but rather an instructor of English curriculum. Passion, subject matter expertise and a driving desire to connect kids with learning are the qualities of real TEACHERS. These are the teachers that matter and should be revered. Parents should set expectations high and be a team player in the process. Students should be challenged and rise to the occasion with the best of their ability to learn and develop the analytic skills needed in our "flat world." To use a athletic coaching philosophy: excuses are a sign of cowardice.

Which leads me to braised pork. Hey, the prose of Conroy is a perfect marriage with the nuances and layered flavors resulting from braising. When you read Conroy, the southern United States is felt. The warm, sweet, albeit humid air, the accents and inter-coastal waterway and marshlands all are on parade for the reader's senses. Rosemary braised pork loin, radicchio, Gnocchi and a Cote du Rhone. What an evening we had. I've never braised stove-top so this was a new experience and it was well worth the effort. The result was a tender, flavorful roast perfumed of rosemary and sauced with the braising liquid bound with a small bit of Dijon mustard. The gnocchi was baked in a sauce bechamel and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. The velvet bechamel-gnocchi combination topped with a crisp Parmesan crust was ........ yea. Wilted radicchio added a nice texture and slightly bitter and spicy flavor. Paired with the rustic quality of a superb 2007 Domain Gramenon, Il Fait Soif was perfect. The wine jumps out with sour cherries, herb and pepper which works well with the richness of the gnocchi and complexity of braised pork.

Cheers!

Recipe for The Braised Pork can be found in The Sliver Spoon, Phaidon Press Inc.

BAKERIES

Growing up in a mid-sized city in North Carolina, we had two bakeries, Rolling Pin and Townhouse. Both were independently owned and operated and specialized in classic Americana; Doughnuts, cookies, cakes, brownies, cinnamon rolls and bread. My memories are of the 70's and early 80's, so this was well before the commercially baked, chemically infused, giant sized muffin and scone craze of the 90's attacked our taste buds. Well, I have found a traditional American bakery in North San Diego that has returned sanity to the baking profession: Village Mill Bread Co., located at 12845 El Camino Real, Del Mar, CA.

Village Mill hits the right senses. Warm dry air, a full view of the baking kitchen, cooling racks right up next to the display case and that unmistakable aroma of flour, cinnamon and sugar. The beauty of the bakeries of my youth and Village Mill is they do what they do and do it well. No over extension. They are bakers, not pastry chefs, and want it that way. With a small retail area in front of the kitchen, Village Mill offers some of the best baked goods I have found in San Diego. The muffins are moderate in size and pack a powerful punch of flavor, moistness and texture. Cookies are prepared correctly, which means the sugar level is in balance with the other spices and ingredients and baked to a nice soft interior with a substantial exterior crunch. The bread offerings are traditional sandwich loaf style and sliced on the premises. I imagine the bread is more of my parents and grandparents generation, rich in flavor with substantial texture. Definitely not the mass produced grocery store bread brands that have that gummy, odd chemical taste profile. The cinnamon rolls....just try them.

Next time you are in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego stop by Village Mill and try a pumpkin or carrot cake muffin. Both offer gobs of natural flavor. Grab a chocolate chip cookie for later and enjoy the semi-sweet chips combined with a healthy dose of vanilla. At first you will probably be a bit stunned due to the lack of chemicals but give it a second and your body will remember what baked good are supposed to taste like. You won't be sorry.

CULINARY SCHOOL

After my friends returned from their trip to the east coast recently where they dined at The French Culinary Institute (FCI) in NYC, memories of my culinary school experience came rushing back to the fore. I attended and graduated from FCI, so over the next few postings I'll try to recount life as a student there.

FCI was founded in 1984 by Dorothy Cann Hamilton. The school offers six month professional programs in culinary, pastry and bread arts and also has many non-professional and continuing education courses as well. The professional program exists to prepare cooks to be technically sound entry level kitchen professionals. There are no business classes, intramural sports or any other non-culinary offerings. Many culinary programs in the United States have moved to offer Associate Degrees and entice potential students with a quasi-college experience including dorm life, sports, clubs, student unions and student government. FCI, thankfully, has not gone down that road and remains grounded in teaching culinary technique and kitchen life. The FCI curriculum is based on the 120 cooking and pastry techniques necessary to attain professional cook status in France. Since the United States does not, unfortunately, license cooks, Ms. Hamilton decided to model the school on the proven teaching process in France that prepares student to pass the Certificat d'aptitude Professionnel — CAP. Having been a Chef de Cuisine on three occasions during my career and interviewed and hired many cooks, the FCI program is by far the most realistic in its goals. The parade of applicants I have interviewed from other schools wearing embroidered Bragard (the finest Chef clothing firm in the world) jackets and discussing their culinary philosophy and thoughts on wine pairings with various ingredients that they could barely pronounce was silly if not so sad. The dirty secret American culinary schools don't want anyone to know is that the life of a entry level cook is arduous, your true worth is in your ability to perform repetitive tasks to exacting standards, low paying and no Chef really cares what any new graduate thinks about anything. That is why I chose FCI. No one at FCI misleads the students with grand ideas of what "the life" is all about. The professional kitchen is not for everyone. Like all professions there are pretenders and truly passionate people who dedicate their lives to their craft. "The life" was for me and I loved every minute of it, beginning with new student orientation- November 1994, FCI New York City.

My class all sat nervously in the dinning room of the student run restaurant, L'Ecole while various school administrators presented last minute registration information. Uniforms and equipment were issued along with a locker and ID card. Then the Chef-Instructors and Deans arrived. The nice thing about FCI students was that no matter what profession we had all left to join the food world, we were very in tune with the Who's Who of our new career. This was not so much different than a rabid sports fan knowing every NFL or NBA player and their biography. So, when Chefs Alain Saihac, Andre Soltner and Jacques Pepin walked in laughing and speaking rapid fire French, we all reacted as though Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and John Paxson had entered the room. The three luminaries all spoke to us in a grandfatherly manner about what was available to us and how the program would progress over the next six months [FCI is divided up into three two month phases, basic, prep and L'Ecole]. Then our First Phase Chef-Instructor, Chef Denis spoke. This was not grandfatherly. Chef Denis had cut his teeth in the NYC restaurant scene during the heady 1980's and early 90's. He was from the real world. Over the next two months we would learn of his time cooking at 21 Club and other NYC landmarks for Henry Kissinger, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and a host of movers and shakers- gourmands and not. **SIDE STORY ALERT**- One of Chef Denis' tasks, at 21 Club, was to make pommes souffles for Jackie O. It seems she lunched at 21 once a week and no matter who she was with, always began her lunch with an order of pommes souffles. Every guy in class instantly fell in love with her. How many women in the public eye, like Jackie Kennedy wearing Haute Couture, had the chutzpah to go to 21, dine amongst Wall Street players, jet-setters and NYC socialites and eat a bowl of souffled potato chips before lunch? That's sexy. Chef Denis' parting words to us that morning have stuck in my head ever since. He merely asked a question: "What is the correct answer to the Chef when asked to do something in the kitchen? After some feeble attempts by my classmates to respond, he provided the answer: "Yes Chef." I was in culinary school.