SpECIFIC TASTINg NOTES FOR NACIONAL

Transcription

Rosengarten
The
VOL. III, ISSUE 4 • RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
NEXT RELEASE DATE: DEC. 15, 2015 • NEWSSTAND PRICE $15.95
Report
THE FOODS & WINES THAT MAKE ME SWOON
Raising The Bar:
The Huge Chocolate
Revolution
...that’s About To ReShape EVERYTHING!
PART ONE • page 2
The Importance of “Being Varietal”
PART TWO • page 5
The 15 Beans You Must Know
PART THREE • page 17
ALSO IN
THIS ISSUE:
The Very Best Big-League Chocolate Bars by Variety
TITLES I’M TOUTING:
PANETTONE:
YES, VIRGINIA...
An Amazing 2015
Crop of Food Books!
Pg. 25
The Best Italian Cakes
for the Holidays!
Pg. 34
There is a
Cabernet Sauvignon
Pg. 36
DavidRosengarten.com
THIS ISSUE’S TASTING SCOOP
The Huge
Chocolate
Revolution
...that’s about to
Reshape Everything!
Sauvignon, or a Syrah with dinner?” Even if you’re thinking about traditional
European wines, chances are the varietal aspect is part of your consideration.
(Chardonnay? California or White Burgundy?) BUT…
There was a time when wines with varietal labels were few and far between.
In “the old days,” consumers bought “Burgundy,” or “Bordeaux,” or
“Hermitage”…and had no idea which grape varieties were in those wines!
Even the average Frenchman in, say, 1960, didn’t know that red Burgundy
was made from Pinot Noir, red Bordeaux was principally made from
Cabernet Sauvignon, Hermitage was made from Syrah.
Q
Once the world began thinking this way about wine…and buying wine in this
way…producers themselves started to emphasize the “varietal-ness” of
various wines. Competitive tastings rarely take place anymore that are not
varietal competitions (who outside of Burgundy makes the best Pinot Noir? Is
it Oregon? California? New Zealand?) All kinds of related issues evolved…like
“How much of one variety in a wine allows you to designate that wine as
being from that variety?” Then, the blending issues. They finally decided in
California that a “Meritage” wine can use that name if it’s composed of a
blend taken from the following list: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc,
Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, or Carmenère…with no more than 90% of any
one grape variety included. And on, and on, and on…until…
The change is simply this:
The very structure of our wine world today owes so much to varietal
thinking.
uality chocolate producers today, worldwide, are starting to think about
chocolate in a radically new way. Result? Soon, if you’re a lover of
serious chocolate, the way you buy your chocolate is going to be different!
But don’t worry: this is not one of those scary environmental forecasts that
always seem to foretell doom-and-gloom for sensualists. No sirree, Juan;
in my opinion, this change will do nothing but create a quality upgrade for
those of us passionate about chocolate consumption.
Though every cacao bean belongs to one cacao variety or another…no
one in chocolate seemed to care very much before! Now however...starting
in about the year 2000…there is tremendous growth in varietal identification
and awareness!! With tremendous implications for chocolate!
Let’s do the wine comparison. Think about how you buy wine today…so
often by varietal…certainly in the New World, where your first consideration
is usually along the lines of “Do we feel like a Pinot Noir, or a Cabernet
DavidRosengarten.com | September 15, 2015 | 2
“Chocolate, however,” according to renowned chocolate expert Mark
Christian—crusading chocolate guru, Director of the Heirloom Cacao
Preservation Fund, and publisher of the C-Spot Census (a compendious
chocolate website) —“is about 100 years behind wine when it comes to
varietal identification.”
I asked Christian if the chocolate world needs to make the varietal transition,
as the wine world did.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Now that we have DNA analysis available to us,
everyone in chocolate—except the really big players, who are understandably
resistant to change—recognizes that the more we know about what we’re
growing, the more we work with true varietals, the more the consuming
public learns to look for chocolate varietals, the easier it will be to improve
the global quality of chocolate. You wouldn’t say to a nuclear scientist ‘do
you really need to know about atoms?’ would you?”
It’s not that varietal identification of cacao beans is wholly new. Far from it.
It’s just that the traditional identification of cacao beans is now completely
outdated…and that the chocolate world is surging with enthusiasm for the
new identifications.
Once upon a time (it really does seem like an archaic world!)…every
chocolate text was telling you that there are three main chocolate varietals
in the world: Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. Some sources granted that
there may be subspecies within this trio, but no one paid much attention.
In 1990, chocolate truly was a Three-Bean World!
Soon after that, however, about twenty years ago, once the capability for
DNA testing emerged, chocolate scientists discovered that they had been
wrong all along. There are, in fact, hundreds of cacao varieties—and though
the Big Three may have some genetic relationships to some of them, it is
simply not possible to group all of these varieties in a strictly tripartite way.
Before we get to some of the emerging varietal players in the new world of
chocolate, let’s take a glance at the Big Three, the trio of varieties that
dominated chocolate research, and chocolate growing, for so many years:
Chocolate expert Mark Christian
(his ongoing chocolate research appears on C-spot.com)
THE BIG THREE
FORASTERO
Just as coffee has its Robusta beans, the workhorse beans of the coffee
world, originally from Central Africa—so chocolate has its Forastero
beans (which originated in the Amazon region of Brazil). Until the “DNA
revolution” came along, Forastero got no respect at all. Like Robusta
coffee, it was considered to be vulgar, common, a bulk bean for mass
production. Tasters often referred to chocolate made from Forastero as
“bitter”—not unlike the way coffee-tasters characterize Robusta coffee!
And though the thinking may have changed about some beans formerly
lumped together in the Forastero category, ordinary, unhybridized
Forastero does remain just that: ordinary.
CRIOLLO
Once again, there were formerly a whole lotta beans unhelpfully grouped
under this one designation; the revolution is sorting that out. However, it
is true that Criollo has genetic links to lots of other beans…and that the
word “Criollo” designating your bean is never a bad thing! If old-fashioned
Forastero is “Robusta” in the coffee analogy, old-fashioned Criollo is
“Arabica.” But it’s rare today. Criollo, which probably originated in
Venezuela, was planted widely two hundred years ago—but the Criollo
tree is very susceptible to disease, so the amount of Criollo in the world
market has dwindled over time to barely 2%. Most of it today is grown in
Central America. Living up to the Arabica analogy, Criollo really is special;
tasters have long discussed its reddish color, and its “extra” flavors
(caramel, nuts, vanilla). The ironic thing for the modern world is that
some very special beans, related to Criollo and now identified as
individuals, are even more “special” than traditional Criollo—and the
plantation of these outstanding Criollo offshoots is on the rise, due to
international recognition.
TRINITARIO
Trinitario is a mongrel—albeit a delicious mongrel! It is a cross of
Forastero and Criollo. But how, where and when this happened is of
great interest. In the late 1600s, some of the best Criollo in the world
was being produced in Trinidad—from cacao trees that had come from
Venezuela, of course (home of Criollo). But something went horribly
wrong in 1727…though no one is sure what it was. Fungi? Disease?
Weather catastrophe? For some reason there was massive crop failure
in 1727, and the Trinidad cacao industry was done…but not dead. They
got to work on fixing it, and 30 years later replanted the island with
Forastero trees from the Amazon. There were still some Criollo trees,
and—chocolate beans being notoriously promiscuous in the field—the
new trees that emerged were a blend of Criollo and Forastero, newly
named Trinitario in the 18th century. Like Criollo and Criollo relatives, it
is considered a high-quality chocolate—which the world seemed to
accept, by planting it in many places (Venezuela, Ecuador, Cameroon,
Sri Lanka, Samoa, Java, and Papua New Guinea).
Now, if you’re a chocolate lover, and have been purchasing high-quality
chocolate for a long time…there’s a decent chance that you may not even
know these BIG THREE varietal names. The industry never gave varietal
designations a spotlight, not even the reductive BIG THREE (Forastero,
Criollo, Trinitario) that were mentioned in so many textbooks for so many
years.
When I was buying chocolate in my 20s and 30s, the big categorization had
to do with the amount of sugar in the chocolate. Did you want dark
chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate? No sugar at all as
in “baking chocolate?” Did you want a lot of milk added along with a lot of
sugar, as in “milk chocolate?”
Later, maybe twenty years ago, the labeling of the best chocolate went
through a shift: suddenly, it was all about numbers! I’ll never forget asking
my youngest daughter (when she was seven) if she wanted me to bring
home some chocolate. She did, and I said, “Any particular kind?” She
answered, “Yeah, about 72%.” Wow! Whatta change! Even kids were
learning “percentage labeling”! The percentage number, we all now know,
refers to the amount of cacao solids in the chocolate (the rest of the content
is taken up with sugar, milk, lecithin, or flavorings). For many chocolatelovers, chocolate bars around 70% have an ideal ratio; above 80%, the
chocolate becomes much “drier,” more astringent; above 90%, the
chocolate has little sweetness and lots of bitterness. But whatever your
ideal number—this is the system that you undoubtedly know if you’ve been
buying quality chocolate for the last twenty years.
Don’t forget about it. It’s not going away. The numbers game will linger on
chocolate bar labels for a very long time, maybe forever.
Now, however—the next stage!—you’re starting to see varietal cacao names
on labels, as well. Visionaries in the industry (like Mark Christian) are trying
to train a new generation of chocoholics to “think varietal”—and, as with
wine, varietal labeling is the best way to do it.
Unfortunately, the transition will not be as smooth in the chocolate world as
it was in the wine world. Why? Three main reasons:
1. Big Biz. Mark Christian told me, “The chocolate industry is in flux right
now…and the ‘big boys’ are against modernization in all kinds of
ways.” Christian believes that the transition into varietal emphasis
scares the “big boys”—holds the danger of the unknown for them,
including the possibility of new costs based on new business models
and new marketing plans.
2. Promiscuity. As discussed above, cacao beans give chocolate to the
ones they love even more than humans do! They give themselves!
Which is all my snarky way of saying that you can’t count on chocolate
varieties to remain botanically stable. I’m told that sometimes, even in
the same pod, you’ll find different varieties of cacao growing! Producers
do know what’s predominantly, say, Trinitario…but because of this
field promiscuity the identification of cacao varieties can be a little
fuzzy.
3. Regional Prominence. The “terroir” of chocolate is at least as important
as the “terroir” of wine! The classic “terroir” mix of soil, humidity, heat,
length of growing season, local tradition, etc. plays a major role in the
final product produced from cacao trees. Which once again can make
varietal labeling fuzzy. You may think “Pinot Noir” is pretty definitive…
until you realize that wines made from that grape variety in ChambolleMusigny are very different from wines made from that grape variety in
Australia!
I talked for a long time with Mark Christian about these problems (particularly
the latter two). What I wanted from Christian was a list of the most important
varietals that are emerging in the world of chocolate, the names we’re
seeing on labels, and the names we are likely to see more and more in the
coming years.
He came up with a brilliant response.
“How about,” he asked me, “if I give you a list of my #1 identifiable cacao
varieties—the ones that are the most genetically distinct?”
I was all ears.
“Then,” he proceeded, “I’ll give you a list of my #2 cacao varieties. The
second list will not have the same genetic purity as the first list. In most
cases, the distinction of the emerging varieties on list #2 will have a good
deal to do with the places in which they’re grown. But, to me, they’re still
valid as cacao varieties about which you must know.”
Yes. YES. YES.
As he worked the idea in his mind, he came up with this code:
“List #1 contains the primary colors of cacao.”
“List #2 contains the other core varietals of the chocolate world.”
Yes again!
So here’s list #1, then followed by list #2. These lists suggested by
Mark are written and annotated by me, based on the extensive
chocolate tastings we’ve done at the Rosengarten Report office over
the last few months.
Keep in mind that you’re now leaping into the territory of contemporary
chocolate varietal labeling—which means chaos! Stick with me…and,
like me, you’ll end up knowing a lot more than you knew before! But
don’t be frustrated by the sometimes primitive attempts by producers
today to indicate what variety of chocolate is in their bars! Before the
world “goes varietal”—as I’m sure it will—producers are uncertain about
what the consumer wants to see on the label. Sometimes, for example,
the producer calls it one variety on the label (for marketing purposes)—
despite the fact that another varietal entirely is in the bar! We have
worked carefully to determine the true varietal composition of every bar
in this article, and have grouped the bars accordingly.
Here we go, starting with the contemporary designations of varietals that,
historically, were under the BIG THREE umbrella. We start with Criollo,
which is relatively straightforward. Then we go on to those varieties that
were called “Forastero” before—but explore the varieties today that can
claim Forastero as a grand-daddy! Then we give the same treatment to
the last of the BIG THREE, Trinitario.
AND THEN…we’re ready for the scores of contemporary varieties that
have either mixed heritage…or murky, uncertain heritage!
It’s a wild ride: this information melts in your mind, not in your hands!
But we are all on the noble road to chocolate varietal clarity!
Here are the nine “primary colors” of cacao, the varieties you desperately
need to know:
Criollonacional (arriba)
For each varietal, you will find:
amazon fortunato #4
*the name of the varietal
amelonado *the genetic background
trinitariohispaniola
*the hot spots in the world today for that varietal
porcelana
*my general reactions to a group of chocolates we tasted at the
Rosengarten Report office that we knew to be a specific varietal
*my tasting notes for specific chocolate products from the variety under
investigation—my guide to the best chocolates to buy!
beniano
NOTE: If the bar we tasted says the cacao percentage on the label,
we’ve included that number as part of the chocolate’s name:
variety #1: CRIOLLO
others. We’ll deal with those as separate contemporary varietals
beginning on p.14.
Criollo is a strong candidate for “the ONE to know;” it is one of the
“original three” (see p.3)…and certainly the ONE of those three always
thought of as highest quality. It is the one of the three that, in the
contemporary scene, has most retained the dignity of the name. If the
name “Criollo” has been used for true Criollo chocolate, the chocolate
gets respect.
my tasting profile: Rather distinct!…but not exactly what
the textbooks say for Criollo. The textbooks speak of fruit, jam, flowers,
buttery nuts, and caramel. I got a little of that, including banana-like fruit.
But the big profile that emerged for me was a miso-like, hoisin-like,
fermented-black-bean-like quality. Very umami…with background tones of
roasted coffee, licorice, leather, and the deep, deep woods. Exciting!
Another factor I like…almost every bar had really lively acidity.
background: Criollo is the cacao that was used most often by
Central and South American societies pre-Columbus because the beans
possess more delicate and less tannic flavors—but are somehow more
complex at the same time. “Criollo” is Spanish for “native.” Why
“native”? The farmers were so enamored with this bean grown in the
Amazon River Valley—that they considered it “the” local cacao bean,
“the” bean from this area of northern South America. But adulation,
mutation, and dissemination really took a toll on Criollo. It morphed
genetically on its own turf—and was placed on ships for journeys to
many places. Today, it isn’t a bad thing to see “Criollo” on a label, but it
also isn’t a sure thing; the name is so gold-plated, that even chocolate
producers who are generations and generations away from “pure”
Criollo…sometimes call their modern hybrids “Criollo.” Paradoxically,
some make chocolate from Criollo…and don’t put “Criollo” on the label! Yet.
where: The largest quality group of pure Criollo bars that we found
was from the island of Madagascar (where Criollo journeyed centuries
ago) and from the island of Java, in Indonesia. There’s also plenty of
Criollo in the Venezuelan rain forest—but labeling is tricky there; Criollo,
over the years, though it may dominate, mixed with many different cacao
varieties in this area. There’s nothing pure about these Venezuelan
Criollo-based varieties…which may be called “Ocumare,” or “Chuao,” or
MADAGASCAR
We know quite a bit about the
arrival of Criollo beans in
Madagascar: they were brought
by the Portuguese in the early
1900s. The beans, originally
from Venezuela, hit Africa by
way of Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
There were no beans in
Madagascar to offer
competition—so these arrivals
remained relatively pure. The
position of the chocolategrowing area helps foster
purity: the isolated (and
orthographically fluid!)
Sambirano Valley in the
northwest part of Madagascar.
Credit: “Rijeka Sumbiruno” by Vitek - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Specific Tasting Notes For
Criollo Bars:
HHHHH
Domori, Sambirano,
Madagascar, 70%
Very dark, and a little glossy. Not
particularly fruity. The nose leads off with
a heartwarming chocolate-candy smell,
made complex in short order by hints of
mint. The complexity carries onto the
palate with lovely woodsy notes, including
cracked nuts. Nice touch of bitterness,
but gentle. You won’t find “Criollo” on the label—yet—but we know it is.
You will find 70% on the back label.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: Chocosphere.com
HHHHH
Pralus, Madagascar, 75%
Pralus is a great chocolate company that has
its own farm in Madagascar. A very dark, fairly
shiny bar. Umami-like, in that Criollo way—
but the elements seem a little more cooked
and refined. There is also a definite hint of
pistachio. A very elegant chocolate: so smooth
and suave, with amazing sugar-acid balance
(it’s not very sweet). A really fine come-hither
kind of quality.
Best Strategy for Acquisition:
Chocosphere.com
HHHHH
Pralus, Indonésie, 75%
Here’s a “Java” Criollo. Very dark and shiny (like
all the good Criollos in this tasting)! Intriguing
nose combining licorice…and potato chips! Like
the Pralus bar from Madagascar, very elegant—
with even a little more dimension in the areas of
tannin, astringency, bitterness. The one failing:
this Indonesian bar doesn’t have quite as much
“snap,” texturally.
Chocosphere.com
HHHH
Ritual Chocolate, 2012 Harvest
Madagascar, 75%
Medium-dark brown. Big fermented black bean/tarry aroma, which
continues on palate…where it picks up some sour cherry fruit. And I do
mean sour! Really great, striking acidity. Lingering finish.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: RitualChocolate.com
HHHH
Raaka, Madagascar, 75%
A little duller-looking: dark-brown, but with a touch of grey. Shiny on one
side only. Right-on Criollo nose, with miso and Chinese fermented black
bean—plus a fermented dairy smell, not unrelated to shit! But this is the
good shit. Very miso-y on palate, not so chocolate-y. Lots of refreshing acidity.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: RaakaChocolate.com
HHHH
Domori, Cacao Criollo Javablond, 70%
Java, obviously. Another bar that’s a little muddy-grey-brown. Not glossy.
More of the fermented dairy smell, with hints of shoe leather, horse sweat
(that’s positive, for me!), and white pepper. The complexity of the thing gets
kicked up by the great acidity in the long, slightly astringent finish.
HHHH
Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate,
Madagascar, Sambirano, 72%
Great to taste a bar identified as “Sambirano,” the only area in Madagascar
for Criollo production. Medium-dark brown with some shine…and a crazy
intricate pattern stamped into the top side of the bar. Warm, beany aroma.
Fantastic snap. Lovely integration of banana-fruit with umami notes. Really
zippy acidity. The only downside is a somewhat muddy texture with a little
astringency to follow.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: DickTaylorChocolate.com
HHH
Michel Cluizel, 1er Cru de
Plantation Mangaro, 65%
It says neither “Madagascar” nor “Criollo” on the label…but that’s what it
is. Dull, grey-brown. Miso nose with a touch of roasted coffee; hints of
banana join the party on the palate. The downgrade to three stars was
caused by the texture, which seems a little plastic-like compared to the best
chocolates in this tasting.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: Cluizel.us
HHH
Woodblock Chocolate, Madagascar, 70%
Woodblock says that this chocolate is “Sourced, roasted, cracked, winnowed,
conched & aged in Portland, Oregon.” Medium-brown matte. Extremely hard
chocolate, with little fragrance. What a crunchy little bar! I love that aspect
of it, but the flavor’s a letdown. The chocolate’s pretty good…but what you
get mostly is a touch of banana fruit with good acidity.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: WoodblockChocolate.com
HHH
Mast Brothers, Madagascar, 72%
Quite dark, fairly shiny. Quiet nose. Fairly quiet palate, until a kick of red
fruit at the end. A little muddy and astringent, leaving a film on your mouth.
Good chocolate, but not a stand-out.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: MastBrothers.com
Specific Tasting Notes
For Amazon Bars:
HHHHH
Chocolat Bonnat, Cacao Cusco, Pérou, 75%
ALSO TASTED:
* A decent Valrhona Millésime Ampamakia. A little watery, not super-dense.
* Amedei’s Cru Madagascar. Candy-store simplicity, raised by hints of
hoisin, and fermented black bean.
THE FORASTERO MESS
Forastero, as you recall, is one of the classic Big Three—the
“bitter” one that always brought about as much respect as
Robusta in coffee, which is to say “not much.” And it
sometimes carries organoleptic qualities akin to those of
Robusta: “sweaty onions,” as they say, “paper bag,” “earthy,”
It was never viewed as a “sexy, glam varietal.” Forastero
originally came from the northern Brazilian Amazon region—
but it was not a bean destined to languish in local mediocrity.
Forastero is also “hardy”—which gave coffee producers ideas
about shipping it to other places, planting it and cultivating it
in those places, causing the genetics to morph, which has
resulted in better chocolate. Indeed, some modern cultivars
with Forastero genetic background have become chocolate
stars. I present two of them below…Amazon and Amelonado.
variety #2: AMAZON
(Morphed from “Forastero”)
The name makes sense: Forastero originated in the Amazon…and in its
travels around the world to new plantations near and far, it has become
known as “Amazon.”
background: The Amazon bean is a huge success story. Because
of its adaptability and disease resistance, Amazon has traveled to many
places; startlingly, today, Amazon (along with its cousin Amelonado)
makes up over 90% of the world production of cacao. Amazon has
developed genetic transformations in its new settings of course…but
purer beans of this species still grow in the Amazon River Basin.
where: The South American countries that grow Amazon today may
have their own names for it: Peru (where it may be called Purús, Nanay,
Contamana, Huallaga or Iquitos); Bolivia (where it may be called
Boliviano), Ecuador (where it may be called Curaray); and Brazil (where
it may be called Marañón). The Amazon bean also has considerable
plantings in Africa—particularly Cameroon, Tanzania, and Congo.
Cusco is a great chocolate production region in southeastern Peru, near the
start of the Amazon. Fairly dark and shiny bar. Huge roasted miso nose.
Nice snap, that dissolves into a very creamy texture immediately—fantastic!
Wonderful flavors; the umami of the nose is joined by swarms of fruit flavors
(both red fruits and white fruits), and a sublime strain of old-fashioned dairy
and cocoa. A sexy pleasure in your mouth.
HHHHH
Domori, Apurimac,
Peru, 70%
Apurimac is the place in Peru where
this Amazon grows, right near Cusco.
Shiny and dark. Strong feral nose—
hints of fermented beans and soy
sauce. Lovely snap, leading to cream
right away. A wonderful dairy-nutty
flavor comes up, lining up with the
umami notes…plus a little Irish
whiskey. Good acid. Complex. Long
finish.
HHHH
Pralus, Tanzanie, 75%
This organic-certified chocolate is a fairly dark black, a little muddy-looking.
Here are the Robusta analogues I spoke of: rubber? roasted coffee? black
pepper? Fruit emerges on the palate, but in a very low-key way. One of the
more astringent chocolates we tasted. But loaded with interest.
my tasting profile: The bars I tasted conformed with the
textbook descriptions of Amazon: feral! earthy! Often, a very cocoa-like
quality joins the fun. Mark Christian says that Amazon-based chocolates
have “robust overall strength”—and I concur.
AMAZON BARS Cont.
HHH
Tcho, “Fruity,” 68%
Tcho, based in San Francisco, works with a different label idea: they include
a description as part of the name! The descriptions are pretty close to
reality! This one is medium-dark, fairly matte. Pretty quiet on the nose, but
a touch of fruited dairy rises. Very pleasing combo of many chocolate
elements, including the predominant fruit; I like it, but it’s not epic. I think
Tcho is out to please many chocolate palates.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: Tcho.com
HHH
Tcho, “Nutty,” 65%
Dark, but fairly matte. Quiet nose. Great snap, leading to a “light”
emulsification in the mouth. Yes, a little “nutty” does come up, along with
a kind of “clean” feel. I like the level of sweet you’re left with in the finish.
But not brimming with flavor, almost mainstream.
variety #3: AMELONADO
(Morphed from “Forastero”)
This is another modern name for Forastero—which, as you recall, is
one of the original BIG THREE. However, more correctly, it is a modern
name for Forastero that has traveled and morphed—differing from the
“Amazon” travel/morph because the Amelonado beans travelled to other
places, and morphed in very specific ways.
background:
The beans named Amelonado today originally
came from the northern Brazilian Amazon region. The ones that were
brought to Ghana, West Africa, are the ones that eventually came to be
called “Amelonado”—named for the round, melon-like shape of the
beans.
SPECIFIC TASTING NOTES
FOR AMELONADO BARS:
HHHHH
Pralus, Forastero,
São Tomé, 75%
Here’s a good example of the wackiness in
contemporary labeling: though everyone who
knows something about chocolate knows
that Amelonado sounds more exotic than
Forastero, Pralus has decided to go with the
latter name because more people of all kinds
have heard of it. Oh, for the great sorting out
to come! In any case, this was one of the
very best bars in our tasting. It comes from
the island country of São Tomé, off the coast
of Ghana, which is the most important
country in Africa for Amelonado today. Fairly
dark and shiny, with great snap. Wonderfully
fruity, emphasizing raspberry and banana—
penetrating and long!
HHH
Tcho, “Chocolatey,” 70%
Medium-brown. Striking nose of dried mushrooms, maybe porcini in
particular. Good snap. A very comforting cocoa-dairy-chocolate flavor
rises above the umami aspects on the palate. This is not challenging
chocolate (not much acid or astringency), but it is heartwarming.
ALSO TASTED:
* AMMA’s 75% chocolate bar from Brazil, was very dull-tasting, even a
little dirty. AMMA is the Brazilian company trying to keep this cacao
variety alive.
where: Ghana, to be sure, and the islands around it. In fact, there’s
a great deal of Amelonado production through West Africa in general; it
is the leading cacao variety of West Africa. It is still grown in Brazil on a
limited basis.
variety #4: TRINITARIO
my tasting profile: The quality that intrigued me most was
Oh boy. Is this one a mess! And it’s not clearing up any time soon! But
I’m going to do my best to at least clearly state what the confusion is…
akin to the Robusta coffee quality that also intrigues me: wet onions?
rubber? paper bag? It tastes a lot better than it sounds! But it’s usually
combined on the palate with a very heartwarming “chocolatey” quality.
My sources suggest the bean is excellent…but could use more investment
and care in the places it’s grown.
background: As you know, Trinitario is one of the Big Three, a
variety that, along with Criollo and Forastero, has been discussed for
centuries. And all of these discussions will tell you that Trinitario was
created by crossing Criollo and Forastero…in Trinidad. But as Mark
Christian is quick to point out: “In actuality, it’s much more
complicated.” The problem begins with the loose use of the name
“Trinitario.” For a long time, people have been comfortable with that
name representing a hybrid cross—and in the 20th century, people
started to use it loosely to describe any hybrid cross! So often, when you
see the name “Trinitario,” it may NOT be describing a Criollo-Forastero
hybrid cross created in Trinidad. Mark goes on to say that “even in
Trinidad different estates have vastly different subcomponents in the
mix.” As they say in Trinidad: Oy! Mark suggests that two label names
to look for—names that increase your odds of getting true Trinitario—
are “Trinitario Complex” and “Old Trinitario.”
my tasting profile: In my sampling, the flavors that
surged were roasted umami things, along with spice. Some
commentators speak of woody-cedar flavors as well, which I could
see—and the kind of fruit (like sour cherries) that’s high in acid.
SPECIFIC TASTING NOTES FOR
TRINITARIO BARS:
HHHH
Woodblock Chocolate, Trinidad, 70%
Gran Couva is a little Trinidadian village famous for its chocolate. This
one is a medium-dark brown, with just a little shine to it. There’s
attractive white pepper on the nose, leading to a surge of miso-like
flavors on the palate. Spicy flavors (a touch of cinnamon?) join the party,
as does a kick of citrus-like acid in the finish. Great snap and crunch.
HHH
Pralus, Trinidad, 75%
Medium-brown, just a little shiny (like the other Trinitario). Much
quieter, though: just a little tease of roasted flavor. Nevertheless, I like
its backbone of tannin and bitterness. Adult chocolate!
ALSO TASTED:
For Porcelana Bars:
HHHHH
Chocolat Bonnat, Porcelana, 75%
*
The Valrhona Millesime Gran Couva was not quite challenging
enough: a little banana fruit, touch of umami, rather bland.
variety #5: PORCELANA
If you’re going to know ONE modern variety, know Porcelana: it is the
new rock star of the varietal chocolate world. Famous (among
chocolate geeks) AND expensive.
background: Porcelana was once grouped in the Criollo
heritage cluster, until DNA-testing showed that—though Porcelana
has its Criollo heritage on display—it has morphed enough to deserve
its own category. The beans, for one thing, have a distinctive look;
they range from pale-green to white as they come out of the pod—
hence the name “Porcelana.” Mark Christian believes that for
genomic purity—Porcelana is as good as it gets.
Quite dark in color, not at all shiny. Big umami nose, featuring miso with
a touch of licorice. Absolutely lovely mouthfeel: creamy, but with a
compelling snap. Fruity flavors more apparent on the palate, with deep
reserves of cherry and banana. The best feature is how all the elements
coalesce into a great, harmonious, sexy, velvety whole.
where:
A small number of farms near Lake Maracaibo in
Venezuela (just to the south of the lake), and the northern coast of
Colombia.
my tasting profile: I tasted five Porcelanas; two of them
were worth all the fuss. But all five confirmed the textbook Porcelana
descriptions: low acidity, and very little bitterness (they say that
centuries of Porcelana inbreeding led to the loss of the bitter flavonoid
anthocyanin). I kept noting a similar range of interesting flavors in
these chocolates: earthiness, something near dirt (in a great way!),
and touches of spice. If you’re into big, fruity chocolate…Porcelana
may NOT be your thing.
HHHHH
Idilio Origins, Porcelana
Criollo Puro, 74%
Tannish, not quite as dark, and also not at all
shiny. Intriguing waves of flavor: prune,
raisin, fig representing the fruit front…earth,
dirt, wet paper bag (in a good way!) and a
touch of Tootsie Roll holding down the bass
notes. Not quite as creamy as the Bonnat
above. Intriguingly, this Porcelana breaks the
low-acid Porcelana mold: in the finish, the
impression is of bright acidity.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: 2beans.com
HHHH
Domori, Cacao Criollo
Porcelana, 70%
Quite dark, but a little shinier than the others. Earthy nose, once again. On
the palate, the earth is backed up by notes of lead pencil and dairy.
Sophisticated and subtle…but the flavors unfortunately fade in the finish.
Great snap.
ALSO TASTED:
* A decent Valrhona Millésime El Pedregal Porcelana.
* A disappointing Amedei Porcelana (no stand-out flavors
other than a note of plastic).
variety #6:
NACIONAL (Arriba)
This bean occupies a unique position in chocolate bean history…
and has created one huge tangle in modern chocolate labelling!
background: First things first. As you know, in the old, old days,
chocolate “scientists” thought there were three major varieties of
chocolate: Forastero, Criollo, Trinitario. But starting in the 1930s and
1940s, younger scientists discovered that there may well be a fourth
major type of chocolate. Its ancestral home is along the Rio Morona,
which is in a part of Ecuador very close to Peru…and just to the west of
the Amazon rain forest. The term ‘Nacional’ comes from Ecuador having
identified it as their “National” brand, a distinction necessary when
foreign strains were introduced to combat diseases. Unfortunately, other
countries sometimes called their best chocolate Nacional, which mucks
things up. And the picture in Ecuador is further mucked by the word
“Arriba,” which is often attached to their “Nacional.” The Spaniards had
a ship-building port in Guayaquil, Ecuador—and they referred to the
Nacional chocolate growing in regions above the port; above in Spanish
is arriba, so there you go: Nacional Arriba, or Arriba Nacional. Somehow
this took off as a synonym for Nacional. And it is sometimes applied to
beans that don’t have a genetic link to true Nacional. As Mark Christian
points out: “Nowadays Arriba Nacional is simply an exotic trade name
and neither designates a genotype nor even a well-defined geographic
area.” And things are further confused by the emergence of another
varietal—Fortunato #4—which is likely related to the old strains of
Nacional (we’ll look at Fortunato #4 in the next section Don’t miss it! It’s
important!).
where: What
else could complicate things? Well…how about the
fact that a new Ecuadorian hybrid variety—CCN-51—is rapidly making
gains on Nacional acreage in Ecuador? Worse…Nacional is not growing
exclusively in Ecuador any longer! It is now big business in Peru, too!
(Again…please see the next section on Fortunato #4.) To sum up:
Because cacao isn’t confusing enough, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and
Bolivia all have cacao varieties they call Nacional. To really sum up (and
there’s comfort here): when people say Nacional, they usually mean the
beans coming out of Ecuador and Peru.
my tasting profile: The true Nacionals we tasted were not
powerhouses of fruit; instead, we saw a lot of lead pencil flavors, wood
shavings, combined with spice and the occasional “winey” dimension.
FOR NACIONAL BARS:
HHHHH
Ritual Chocolate,
2013 Harvest Balao, 75%
From the Camino Verde farm in Ecuador,
which is situated in Balao (a good
Ecuadorean geographic name to
remember). Beautiful Ecuadorian
Nacional. Quite dark, with a blend of
glossy spots and matte spots. Absolutely
amazing nose: lead pencil, black pepper,
green pepper. There’s a wine-y
character…and you can’t help but notice
that the descriptors are often descriptors
used for wine! There are even some hot
chocolate-cocoa hints on the palate. Very
complex. Crunchy chew (lots of “snap,”
smooth finish: only moderate acid and
astringency). A winner!
RitualChocolate.com
HHHHH
Amano, Guayas, 70%
“Guayas” is a river basin in Ecuador, where the
Nacional cacao beans that are used for this
chocolate flourish. Fairly dark brown with matte
finish. Crazy umami nose, also including dairy,
cheese, merde, and old raisins. A huge snap at
first shortly melts into something extremely
creamy. While it melts, even more transpires: a
banana-fruitiness arises, some miso, some
mineral. Distinct note of fruit acid in the finish.
AmanoChocolate.com
NACIONAL BARS Cont.
HHHH
Pralus, TRINITARIO, Equateur, 75%
Well, here’s a labeling surprise. Our team knows for sure that this is Nacional
from Ecuador—but on the label they call it “Trinitario”! That’s like calling
Pinot Noir “Zinfandel.” Some confused concept of marketing? I don’t
know…come the revolution…in any case, this bar is quite dark and
medium-shiny. Lively nose blending miso and spice. The texture is
interesting: it has little snap, but it’s not “mushy” on the follow-through. On
the palate, toast and nuts develop, particularly pistachio. A little astringent.
One star down because, despite its loveliness, it’s not among the most
distinctive chocolates out there.
HHHH
Domori, Arriba, Ecuador, 70%
Not at all shiny. A little spicy on nose. Great snap, and great crunchy followthrough on palate. “Wine-like,” said one taster. Some called it “quiet,”
others called it elegant. Some astringency. This is not a 4th of July fireworks
show in New York City…but it’s a nice one in a smaller town.
HHH
Woodblock Chocolate, Ecuador, 70%
As with the Ritual Balao at the top of this category, also from the Camino
Verde Farm in Ecuador. Medium-brown, kind of matte. Quite strong pencil
shavings and woodiness. Though this bar is a thick block, both the taste
and mouthfeel are lighter than most other chocolates. Easy to enjoy,
not challenging.
HHH
Amedei, Cru Ecuador, 70%
There are subtle umami aspects in both nose and mouth—but the most
appealing part is a fairly impressive cocoa flavor that builds as you melt the
chocolate in your mouth. Nice in-between ground on the light-to-rich
continuum. Lacks complexity, but appealing…not least for the just right
tannin/acid ratio in the finish.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: AmedeiStore.com
ALSO TASTED:
* A muddy, watery Ecuadorian Nacional from Vintage Plantations (90%!!!).
*
An almost neutral Ecuador, Camino Verde from Dick Taylor Craft
Chocolate—with a slight industrial note!
variety #7: FORTUNATO #4
Fortunato #4—which also goes by “aliases” such as “Albino Nacional”
and “Pure Nacional”—has become one of the hottest, sexiest varieties in
the modern world. Such worthies as Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert
are actually collaborating on the import of chocolate from this one
bean—there was even a Bourdain TV segment about Fortunato #4!
background:
Once upon a time, this bean was the same bean
grown in neighboring Ecuador as “Nacional.” However, in Peru, in 19151920, there was a disease outbreak that was thought to wipe out the
Peruvian version of the bean. For decades, farmers ignored those fields
where it once grew. In recent years, local observers noted that “the bean
is back!”—growing wild, at a higher altitude than they had contemplated
before, the beans turning a gorgeous white color!—and it has a different
character from the Ecuadorian Nacional. This “re-discovery” is the
source of all the Fortunato #4 fuss.
where: Only in the central part of Peru, from Cusco up to Piura.
Ground zero is the Marañón River Canyon.
my tasting profile: What I found in Fortunato #4 bars,
above all…was complexity! Every one we tasted had lots and lots going
on, flavor-wise. Many of them started off with the classic non-fruity
aromas—then meandering into unique territories, like green pepper and
pencil shavings. But then the miracle would come: as chocolate from
this varietal melts on your palate, it usually transforms. We saw one bar
morph into heavy fruit territory (with gorgeous raspberry jam), while
others turned into dairy/butter extravaganzas. Generally, I was told, a
higher ratio of white beans means less tannin…and my tasting confirmed
that. I can see why Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert are excited by this
varietal! We tasted four: one 5-star and three 4-stars. Wow! Remember
this name!
For Fortunato #4 Bars:
HHHHH
Original Beans,
Piura Porcelana, 75%
This chocolate’s a STAR—but it’s also a stellar
example of the label confusion that reigns in
2015! The company told us “we called it
‘Porcelana’ for its color”…but it’s not related to
the Venezuelan/Colombian variety called
“Porcelana” that’s making a global stir!
“Genetically,” the producers said, “it’s Albino
Nacional,” a phrase some use for “Fortunato
#4.” And it comes from the Piura River Valley in
the northern part of Peru. Got it?
But…man is it good! It’s a medium-dark
matte, with a mindblowingly complex nose:
spicy, earthy, toasty. The palate adds notes of
dairy, and cherry fruit. It’s not a “tender” kind
of chocolate; there is an adult amount of acidity and astringency. But the
overall experience is “pronounced flavor,” with balance and elegance. One
of my faves of the tasting.
HHHH
Woodblock Chocolate, Peru, 70%
Cajamarca is a place in Peru…and this is delicious chocolate from
Cajamarca! A long, narrow, sexy bar…medium-dark, medium-shiny. The
nose is deep, with many olfactory shades; two aromas that dominate are
fermented black beans and dairy. But the fruit kicks in on the palate, with
a great deal of raspberry jam, and raisins, joined by more dairy still. A little
off on the texture: creamy-soft, without a lot of snap. Just a little astringent.
HHHH
Amedei, Blanco de Criollo, 70%
Here we go again, with marketing triumphing over varietal labeling. This bar
has nothing to do with Criollo—the word appears only to entice you into
buying the bar! But it is from a “blanco” bean…and that would be Fortunato
#4, of course, grown in Peru. Medium-dark, not glossy. Great nose, with a
wide range of aromas, led by metal and black pepper. Good snap—after
which metallic notes, again, appear on the palate. Intriguingly, though, they
yield to a real buttery goodness as the chocolate melts in your mouth. A
gentle chocolate, not very acidic or astringent.
HHHH
Ritual Chocolate,
2013 Harvest Marañón, 75%
The Marañón River Canyon is the dead center of Fortunato #4 production
in Peru. So this one should be as good as it is. Fairly dark brown, slightly
glossy. Big umami nose…but, intriguingly, partnered with a cocoa aroma…
the latter of which dominates on the palate. Lovely snap, then a terrific,
counterintuitive combo of creamy and resilient! Good fruit acid in finish,
with a real quality feel. The only surprising thing about this bar is the
bitterness and tannin: they are not too much for me, but I wouldn’t expect
this much from Fortunato #4. Perhaps other beans are blended in?
Best Strategy for Acquisition: RitualChocolate.com
VARIETY #8: BENIANO
A Bolivian varietal. This is one of the few high-quality cacaos still growing
in the wild; only a couple of producers have been able to rein it in and
domesticate it! Small, elongated pods, turning yellow upon ripening.
Distinct in the field. Very resistant to Witches Broom disease—a fungus
that is always a danger in a field of cacao.
background:
The bean arose around the Rio Beni in Bolivia.
What’s cool about it is that it seems to be indigenous; scientists think it
arose a very long time ago before beans were being shipped from place
to place. And because it grows principally in the wild, there hasn’t been
too much chocolate-grower manipulation…meaning that with Beniano
we’ve got something fairly pure! Unfortunately, the Bolivians, out of
respect, started to call it the Nacional bean…Cacao Nacional Boliviano
to be precise. Uh-oh. You’ve read the material about the Nacional from
Ecuador (see p.10); it shouldn’t be that just one country can say “this is
our National” bean—but having multiple Nacionals sure makes things
confusing!
where: Beniano still grows in the wild, and on a few small plantations,
around the Rio Beni in the Bolivian rainforest.
my tasting profile: All the textbooks agree: the striking
quality of Beniano-based chocolate is “dark brown fruit,” with raisins,
prunes and dates often cited. For me, things were a little confusing: the
first bar below absolutely conformed to the norm…but the second bar
did not. Good acidity, also cited as a hallmark of Beniano, reared its
lively head in both bars.
VARIETY #9: HISPANIOLA
A comer! The Dominican Republic’s old, high-quality bean wasn’t being
processed very well for centuries—didn’t get no respect!—but modern
growers have come to their senses, heaping love (in the form of vastly
better processing) upon it. The variety Hispaniola is finally poised to
make it big in the world of high-end cacao.
BACKGROUND: Columbus’ original landing spot in 1492 was on
the island of Hispaniola, of course—which today is made up of two
countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Cacao was brought to the
island later, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. So a
lot of South American genetic material, including Venezuelan Criollo and
Ecuadorian Nacional, was always part of the genetic picture here. Now,
Sanchez, another Dominican bean, is known to be an inferior bean—the
impression of which may have held back the local industry from getting
serious about any Dominican beans. But modern growers have finally
seen the potential of the best bean, Hispaniola, which was quietly
developing its own genomic profile—leading to major farming and
processing improvements in the last two decades.
where: Probably the only place to find Hispaniola is in the Dominican
Specific Tasting Notes For
Beniano Bars:
HHHH
Original Beans, Beni Wild Harvest, 66%
The producer, Original Beans, is certainly playing the “wild card” here in its
labelling! I’m not sure if it tastes “wild”…but this Beniano absolutely
conforms with the textbook description of chocolate from the Beniano
bean; the bar’s most salient characteristic is its dried-fruit character, with
abundant fig and date flavors. But a roundup of other flavors gives it its
complexity: some fresh fruit (like banana), and a certain stalkiness. Bright
with good acidity, and a pronounced smoothness in the texture. I had to
lower its score slightly…because the great flavors fall off in the finish.
HHHH
Oialla Organic Chocolate, 78%
Dusty brown-grey matte (a little lighter than the bar above). Earthy umami
at the start—but it wends into a high-class “chocolate” flavor, with buttery
notes, and sophisticated bitterness. The best part is the texture: amazing
snap, followed by a kind of juiciness on the palate, rich yet light.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: Oialla.com
Republic. We say “probably,” because on the western end of Hispaniola,
in Haiti, there are beans growing—they just haven’t been genetically
tested as yet! They could be Hispaniola, I guess!
my tasting profile: It
was hard to get a grip on this one
(probably because we had only three samples, and I wasn’t familiar with
Hispaniola before). But it wasn’t a great showing. The best bar had a
lovely old-fashionedness to it, but didn’t seem very specifically varietal.
The two less attractive bars, however, did seem to share a bean: odd
vegetable protein notes in one, something nastily iodine-like in the other.
Could these flavors represent the old, badly-attended, “Hispaniola”
character that failed for centuries to inspire local growers?
FOR HISPANIOLA BARS:
HHHH
Fruition, Hispaniola, 68%
Medium-dark, a little glossy. Quiet nose, just a little on the dairy-chocolate
side. And that’s exactly where the palate leads: a good old-fashioned-tasting
chocolate bar, with excellent bright acidity. The “hominess” is reinforced by
the addition of vanilla. Also a touch of the “legume” quality, but none of the
odd flavors marring the other Hispaniolas.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: TasteFruition.com
ALSO TASTED:
* The Mast Brothers’ Dominican Republic contains one of the least pleasant
of all tastes in our tasting—something like iodine, chemicals, shoe
tanning, etc.
* Dandelion’s San Francisco de Macoris, D.R. is pretty waxy, with a flicker
of interest coming from the uncooked dried-pea kind of taste (lentils?
split-peas?).
And now...
The six other “core varietals” of the modern chocolate world:
OCUMARE
SUR DEL LAGO
CHUAO COLOMBIA NACIONAL
CUYAGUA
CARENERO
You have to understand that we are identifying chocolate varieties at a
certain point in time. Namely NOW. In 2015, as we use our powerful DNA
detectors and look back over several hundred years of chocolate history,
we can say “These nine beans are the most genetically pure.” But there
are many more beans out there. Obviously worldwide movement of beans,
and the cacao bean’s natural promiscuity, have created other beans with
new genomes, that don’t seem pure to us…because they’re not the OLD
beans, because they’ve emerged recently. That’s what the following list
features. You could say that the following beans aren’t “settled” yet; many
of them have a strong geographical component as part of their definitions;
we know them because they represent the way that a bean genome
settled into another place; modern scientists may recognize the effect of
the PLACE on the bean, rather than the genome that’s a-borning. My
guess is that a hundred years from now (or maybe more), at least some of
the beans on the following list will be so “settled”…that we may well think
of them as Primary Colors of Cacao. NOTE: Many of the following varieties
are based in Venezuela…from what some call the Criollo Chain of the North
Central Venezuelan Coast; obviously, the genetic basis of most of these beans
is Criollo.
VARIETY #10: OCUMARE
Curiously…so tentative is the Ocumare world, that multiple types of
Ocumare are currently recognized: the two most important are Ocumare
61 and Ocumare 67.
BACKGROUND: Oh boy. For starters, the scientists are calling the
red-podded Ocumare in general a descendant of Criollo, the old, old
bean from the Amazon River Valley (one of the Big Three). Mark Christian
calls it a “near Criollo.” But the usual stuff happened on its way to here.
Somehow this strain of Criollo got to the “Venezuelan Criollo Chain,” the
northern coastal valleys, giving rise to a number of modern candidates
for varietal status. In “the Chain’s” valleys, a grower named Manuel
Palma, working in the 1940s, started making clonal selections among
the beans. What he selected out and grew has become known as Ocumare
61 and Ocumare 67 (in each case, the numbers refer to the last two
digits of the year in which important plantings were made.) They are the
most prevalent forms of Ocumare (others do exist). The former, Ocumare
61, is a fairly light-colored bean; the chocolate it yields is said to be lowkey, with creamy-biscuity tones. Its relative, Ocumare 67, gets more love
from commentators; the beans are darker in color, and the chocolate is
said to have more earthy-spicy-nutty tones.
WHERE: Both originated (through Palma’s efforts) in the valley around
Venezuela’s Ocumare de la Costa, the furthest west of the valleys in the
“Criollo Chain,” about 60 miles from Caracas (near Valencia). You will
also find these beans in Brazil.
MY TASTING PROFILE: Ocumare,
The “Criollos Chain” of the North
Central Venezuelan Coast
to me, means “umami.” It
means “earth.” The most prominent characteristic in all the bars we
loved was either miso, or soy, or fermented black bean.
OCUMARE BARS:
HHHHH
Idilio Origins,
Selección Cata Ocumare,
72%
NOTE: Find the “Criollos Chain” west of Caracas
Wonderful chocolate…but I’m frustrated!
We couldn’t find out which type of Ocumare
this is. Oh well…whatever it is, you should
buy a bar! Quite dark, with a touch of black.
Very powerful umami nose, which bends
into dark soy, fermented black bean and
iron on the palate. I love the way the firm
chew moves into a lush creaminess on the
palate; it melts in your mouth, slowly, before
your very eyes. The finish is savory and
long.
2beans.com
HHHH
Domori, Cacao Criollo Puertomar, 75%
Well, here we go again. This label does not say “Ocumare 61”—but we
have determined that it is…and we know that Domori planted these trees in
Venezuela in 1998. The chocolate is medium-shiny, medium-dark. Despite
the weak love out there for Ocumare 61…this stuff is darn good! A big
“chocolatey” nose combines fruit and earth. On the palate, multiple levels
of flavor (black bean, jam, good acid and astringency) come together in a
lovely, balanced way. Maybe a little on the subtle side for some.
HHHH
Domori, Cacao Criollo Puertofino, 70%
Uh-oh. Same chocolate manufacturer, same geographical heritage. But
little is indicated on the label; they’ve even left out the bean, once again!
But we checked and discovered that this is Ocumare 67. Fairly dark, shiny
on edges. Lovely toasty-brown nose with a touch of fermented black bean.
And that’s the flavor quality that goes through to the palate, mixed in a
lovely balance. Not particularly fruity.
ALSO TASTED:
* The Amano Ocumare was a little crumbly, plus a little bitter-astringent.
VARIETY #11: CHUAO
Get out your pens and your pads! There are those in the chocolate world
who believe that Chuao (choo-OW) is THE most important of the
contemporary cacao varietals! Of the “new” varietals, certainly Chuao
and Porcelana are the most expensive. Mark Christian even says “the
area of Chuao is considered the Romanée-Conti of chocolate!”
BACKGROUND: And therein lies the puzzlement from our point of
view. The Chuao industry in Chuao…is arguably based on being in Chuao!
The bean they use? From the point of view of a pure geneticist…it ain’t
thrilling. It’s a mongrel, with roots in Criollo. Again, Christian says, “Tales
of pure Criollo turn out to be pure myth; hybrids and Amazon-Amelonado
from Bahia (Brazil) are in the mix, plus dozens of others.” There’s nothing
wrong with a bean having such geographically-imposed character—but
in a discussion of pure varietals, it stands apart. Perhaps one day (in
hundreds of years?) we’ll stop looking at all the components we know
about and simply call this bean “Chuao” without the “mongrel”
disclaimers.
WHERE: This is the most important consideration here, of course.
“Where” is a patch of 740 acres in a small village called Chuao in a
northern coastal valley of Venezuela (about 40 miles west from Caracas,
and accessible only by boat or foot). It is not an ideal place for growing
chocolate easily: it is too dry. That means work…in the form of irrigation.
Local producers (it’s all a cooperative, owned by the state) divert the river
which flows down from the mountains to irrigate their fields.The theory is
that sediment from the river bathes the trees in rich minerals, which give
Chuao its purportedly distinctive character.
MY TASTING PROFILE:
Chuao gets heaps of praise in all the
textbooks…so I guess I have to say I was a little disappointed by the half
dozen bars we tasted; they were all over the place, without something
RESOUNDINGLY Chuao standing out. The most prominent recurring
flavor I got was in the earthy zone which I do like—seconded by notes of
dried fruit.
CHUAO WARS
I keep asking myself: “Why is everyone a-buzz about
Chuao, when it wasn’t one of the top categories in my
tasting?” I dunno…why do Americans periodically get
bent out of shape by something like “Pouilly-Fuissé?”
It’s probably all about the dangling of the brand before
your eyes. For those who follow these things, Chuao
has been the focus of a protracted fight between local
growers (the “Elders”), and some mega-international
chocolate companies. There ain’t much Chuao grown
(about 20 tonnes of beans per year), so, guessing that
the category was gonna explode, Valrhona made an
agreement in the 1990s with the growers to buy ALL of
the Chuao beans. Then in 2002, Valrhona’s Italian
competitor, Amedei, made a sweet offer to the Elders
tripling Valrhona’s price and adding benefits. The
Elders took it. Later, things got more democratic—with
other companies able to buy some of the Chuao pie. In
2015, you’ll find Chuao bars from numerous chocolate
producers, including Amedei…but Valrhona, the first
big mover, pulled out entirely! That’s why you’ll see no
Valrhona Chuao in our tasting notes.
CHUAO BARS:
HHHHH
C h ocolat
Bonnat ,
Chuao, 75%
Bonnat takes the
hard geographic line
on this label: the
chocolate is from a
village named Chuao
not from a variety named Chuao. But that thinking is changing, even if it’s
not at Bonnat. Fairly dark bar. The nose is all earth, even hashish (someone
once described to me how hashish smells!). But the palate brings a great
combo of these “tertiaries” (now including buttered almonds) AND fruit—in
fact, the flavor is more fruit than anything else. Very smooth, very wellbalanced in all the essentials. This is the only bar I tasted worth all the
Chuao fuss.
HHH
Amedei, Chuao, 70%
Lots going on, but the overall impression is pretty low-key. Fairly dark, fairly
shiny bar. The nose combines earth and dairy in a charming way; the palate
is dominated by raisins. In fact, if you close your eyes and think back…you
might even be reminded of Raisinettes by this bar! Adding to the interest is
a hint of honey at the finish. But these are all quite subtle things.
HHH
Domori, Cacao Criollo Chuao, 70%
Another Chuao denier: Domori (an Italian company) chooses to label this
bar with the name of the Big Three bean that is just an ancient forefather.
Pretty dark bar, with a matte finish. Terrific nose of earth, hay, spice and
toast. Unfortunately, it’s more interesting on the nose than on the very mild
palate…until the buttery glow in the finish. Like so many Domori bars, it’s
very well-balanced.
HHH
Amano, Chuao, 70%
Fairly shiny. Quiet nose, but very appealing dried-cherry-vanilla flavors
appear on palate. Unfortunately, it’s a little waxy in texture. Nice, but not
“Grand Cru.”
Best Strategy for Acquisition: AmanoChocolate.com
ALSO TASTED:
* The Idilio Origins’ Chuao with its earthy nose and fruity black-tea palate,
is compromised by a watery quality in the chew. CHEW-OW!
VARIETY #12: CUYAGUA
Another modern varietal-in-the-making, grown in Venezuela, not far
from Chuao.
BACKGROUND: Cacao harvesting in the Cuyagua valley started in
the early 1700s and, as in Chuao, fell into the hands of the state over
300 years later. A very small cooperative of farmers now controls the
harvest of these fine beans, which, again like Chuao, have some AmazonAmelonado, Bahia and hybrid genetics mixed in with the Criollo.
WHERE:
The Cuyagua Valley is next to the Chuao Valley, this one
about 55 miles from Caracas. Most commentators compare Cuyagua
chocolate to Ocumare chocolate, but call it “stronger,” more definite in
its flavors.
MY TASTING PROFILE: I’m sorry that I only got to taste ONE
bar that was definitely from Cuyagua; it had a million things going on in
it! Intriguingly, when you research the texts—there are also many
descriptors for Cuyagua, from the dairy world, to the nut-wood-spice
world, from red fruits to yellow fruits. PLUS low bitterness/astringency.
Our bar, as you’ll see just below, touched on many of these organoleptic
qualities. This tasting inspired me to get down to further research with a
score of varieties—but not one has me more excited about future
discoveries than this one!
CUYAGUA BARS:
HHHH
Amano, Cuyagua, 70%
The only ratings downer for this wonderful bar is the quick dissipation act it
performs in the finish. Otherwise…wow! This is major chocolate! Medium
brown, not very dark at all, with a mostly matte finish. Amazing aromas
(among the richest in our tasting!) that repeat on the palate: wild herbs, hay,
peach and apricot. Lovely balance of sweetness and astringency, with a
really bright, kicky acidity driving it along.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: AmanoChocolate.com
VARIETY #13: SUR DEL LAGO
The name means “south of the lake,” of course…and the lake in question
is Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela’s other famous cacao-growing area
(you can see its position on the Venezuelan map on p. 14). The bean was
once called “Maracaibo,” but that designation is currently yielding to
“Sur del Lago.”
BACKGROUND: Once upon a time, the genetic material here was
very pure; cacao beans were growing at the time of Columbus’ arrival.
However, as the centuries rolled by, these “pure” native beans got mixed
with lots of others—among them Criollo, Trinitario and Pajarito (an
Amazon-type bean from the Forastaro family). These local beans were
once known as “Maracaibo.” Today, the name “Sur del Lago” is increasingly
being used for these hybridized beans grown south of Lake Maracaibo.
WHERE: Principally, right here, south of the lake.
MY TASTING PROFILE: Textbooks stress the earthy-nutty
dimensions of Sur del Lago. I saw this in both bars I tasted. But secondary
flavors of fruits are also cited (red fruits in particular, like plum, raspberry,
strawberry)—and that spectrum was definitely present in one of my two bars.
SUR DEL LAGO BARS:
HHHHH
Coppeneur,
Limited Edition
Venezuela, 73%
This wonderful bar does not
say “Sur del Lago” on the front
label…but at least it says it on
the back! Kinda dark and
glossy. A divide between nose
and palate: aromas are very miso-like, tastes are very fruity. Sweet, but with
sophisticated astringency and acid that cuts the sugar. Nice snap. Overall,
a sense of high-level suaveness.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: CoppeneurChocolate.com
ALSO TASTED:
* The Guittard Sur del Lago has pleasing earth tones, but the chocolate
seems muddy in texture. The impression is “commercial.”
VARIETY #15: CARENERO
Another Venezuelan native bean—but Mark Christian says it was “the
lightning fuse for the fruit bombs of all Venezuelan cacaos.”
BACKGROUND: Carenero has some Criollo genetics of course…but
it has crossbred with enough other trees to become its own varietal. This
is the bean Venezuelan chocolatier El Rey—who made a such a huge
splash in the U.S. with their large-format blocks of chocolate—decided
to use when creating their single-origin chocolates for export in the mid80s.
WHERE: Carenero
is grown around Caracas, in the northern central
region of Barlovento, Venezuela. It was named after the port from where
it first shipped.
MY TASTING PROFILE: Only one tasted; see note below.
VARIETY #14: COLOMBIA
NACIONAL
Things are a bit messy in Colombia, where beans may be identified as
“Trinitario”—but our sources insist that at least some chocolate is made
from a local hybrid called “Colombia Nacional.”
BACKGROUND: Information is really scant about Colombia
Nacional…because it grows in the stronghold of FARC, the notorious
Colombian guerillas fighting for Marxist causes. Not a lot of chocolate
scientists feel like risking their lives to make genome maps! So we don’t
have a lot of info for you…we just wanted to let you know that Colombia
Nacional exists...and we can report on one very good bar made from it.
All power to the bean!
WHERE: Southern Colombia, near the Amazon rainforest.
MY TASTING PROFILE: Only one tasted; see note.
COLOMBIA NACIONAL BARS:
HHH
Pralus, Colombie, 75%
Very distinctive chocolate from Colombia Nacional. Medium-dark matte.
Nose of slightly roasted soy—which morphs, on the palate, into a display of
HUGE coffee flavor! The more you bite, the more you recognize the taste of
coffee candy drops! Also to its credit: it’s very creamy. But the finish is
marred by a surprising drop-off into watery and light.
CARENERO BARS:
HHH
Idilio Origins, Carenero Urrutia
Superior, 70%
Interesting bar that coheres into a very familiar taste: “Oh, that’s chocolate.”
Dig a little deeper, however, and you will find all types of fleeting essences
that make up the whole of this bar: earth, shit, mint, fruity banana. These
layers coalesce with good acidity to make a good everyday bite of chocolate.
Best Strategy for Acquisition: 2beans.com
THE FIVE-STAR BARS: THE 14 BEST
CHOCOLATE BARS IN OUR TASTING
Amano, Guayas, 70%.................................... (see p.10)
Chocolat Bonnat, Cacao Cusco, Pérou, 75% ...... (see p.7)
Chocolat Bonnat, Chuao, 75% ....................... (see p.15)
Chocolat Bonnat, Porcelana, 75% .................... (see p.9)
Coppeneur, Limited Edition Venezuela, 73% ... (see p.16)
Domori, Apurimac, Peru, 70% ......................... (see p.7)
Domori, Sambirano, Madagascar, 70% ............. (see p.6)
Idilio Origins, Porcelana Criollo Puro, 74% ...... (see p.10)
Idilio Origins, Selección Cata Ocumare, 72% .. (see p.14)
Original Beans, Piura Porcelana, 75%............. (see p.11)
Pralus, Indonésie, 75% ................................... (see p.6)
Pralus, Madagascar, 75% ................................ (see p.6)
Pralus, Forastero, São Tomé, 75% .................... (see p.8)
Ritual Chocolate, 2013 Harvest Balao, 75%... (see p.10)
THE BEST CHOCOLATE PRODUCERS WHOSE
CHOCOLATE BARS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE U.S.
The chocolate world is a three-tier world:
TIER ONE: The cacao plantations
(all in the tropics)
TIER TWO: The companies who turn cacao
beans into blocks of chocolate (mostly not in
the tropics)
TIER THREE: The bonboniers, or those who
convert blocks of chocolate into candies
(these shops can be anywhere)
The following producers are all in TIER TWO. They receive cacao beans from the plantations, and turn them into chocolate. Traditionally, TIER
TWO producers (like Valrhona, Lindt, Callebaut, etc.) produced big blocks of chocolate. In the mid-1980s, however, these companies also
started producing smaller bars of chocolate, usually from prestigious single-origin sources. Those are the bars that were in our tasting. Here are
the producers in alphabetical order:
Amano
Michel Cluizel
Art Pollard and Clark Goble created Amano in 2006, in Orem, Utah,
with the vision of quality over quantity. They pay nearly double the Fair
Trade standard to their producers, and have become one of the top
bean-to-bar companies in the world. AmanoChocolate.Com
In 1947, pastry chefs Marc and Marcelle Cluizel decided to expand
their Normandy, France patisserie to include chocolates. A year later,
their son Michel began his apprenticeship, ultimately taking over the
company, which is now being transitioned to his son, Marc. Michel Cluizel
chocolates are made without the common emulsifier soy lecithin to allow
eaters to better experience cacao’s subtle differences. Cluizel.us
Amedei
The brother and sister team of Cecilia (the chocolatier) and Alessio (the
bean selector) Tessieri founded Amedei in 1990, in Pisa, Italy. They
continue to search the world for the best cacao, priding themselves on
having personal connections with their growers. AmedeiStore.Com
Chocolat Bonnat
In 1884, Félix Bonnat opened a chocolate shop in the French Alps
town of Voiron, which is currently in the hands of the fourth generation
of Bonnats, Cécile and Stéphane. Chocolat Bonnat preceded Valrhona’s
single-origin bars by one year with the release of their Puerto Cabello
and Cote d’Ivoire. Their bars are made with an increased amount of
cocoa butter. My fave producer in the tasting. Bonnat-Chocolatier.com
Oialla
Danish chef & French-trained chocolatier Rasmus Bo Bojesen created
Oialla in 2010 with Marcela Baldivieso and David Vacaflores. The
company sources and ferments its wild cacao in Baures, Bolivia before
processing into bars in Copenhagen. Oialla.com
Original Beans
Conservationist Philipp Kauffmann left his UN post to create Original
Beans in 2008. They source some of the world’s rarest beans via direct
trade from small farmers who are committed to reforestation and
sustainable production. OriginalBeans.com
Coppeneur
Pralus
Oliver Coppeneur started this small batch bean-to-bar company in
1993 along the banks of the Rhine in Bad Honnef, Germany. They
became the first German company to present at the Salon du Chocolat
in Paris. CoppeneurChocolate.com
Roanne, France-based chocolat producer founded by Auguste Pralus
in 1955, and currently run by his son François. They receive their
cacao beans in Roanne, doing everything from roasting to molding
there. Chocolats-Pralus.com
Domori
Raaka
Founded in 1997 by Gianluca Franzoni, aka “Mack Domori.” He had
spent the early 90s in Venezuela, experimenting with cacao varieties
and post-harvest processing with the goal of preserving the world’s best
cacao. The company is currently based in None, Italy, after Illy bought
an 80% stake of the company in 2006. Domori.com
Brooklyn, NY-based company founded by Ryan Cheney and Nate
Hodge in 2010. They practice “low-temperature” chocolate-making
which includes not roasting their beans! They also emphasize using
organic and fair trade sources. RaakaChocolate.com
Fruition Chocolate
The Catskills is probably the last place you’d expect an artisanal
chocolate-maker, but that’s where (Shokan, NY to be exact) you’ll
find Bryan Graham and his wife, Dahlia Rissman Graham. Bryan
studied at the Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed under chef
Peter Greweling before opening Fruition Chocolate in 2011.
TasteFruition.com
Ritual Chocolate
Ritual Chocolate was only started in 2011 by Robbie Stout and Anna
Davies (another husband and wife team) who used to live in Denver,
Colorado. They add nothing but sugar to their beans which are now
processed in Park City, Utah. RitualChocolate.com
Valrhona
Idilio is the first Swiss company to begin truly seeking out high-quality
cacao for their chocolates. Founded in Basel by Pascal Wirth and
Niklaus Blumer, the company focuses on Venezuelan beans. Idilio.Ch
One of the leading producers of high-end chocolate in the world. They
are located in the Rhône Valley wine town of Tain-l’Hermitage, France.
The company was created in 1922 by pastry chef Albéric Guironnet.
Though they were not technically the first, they are widely credited with
the start of single-origin chocolate bars with the launch of their Grand
Cru line in 1985. Valrhona-Chocolate.com
Mast Brothers
Woodblock Chocolate
Founded in 2007 by brothers Rick and Michael Mast in Brooklyn, New
York, Mast Brothers uses minimal ingredients to allow the nuances of
the cacao to drive flavor. With a large following—and locations in
London and New York—this company plays a large role in spreading
the word to Americans about well-made chocolate. MastBrothers.com
Charley Wheelock and his wife, Jessica, began making their first
chocolate bars in 2010 in their Portland, Oregon kitchen. Through the
past five years, they’ve formed partnerships with small farmers;
convinced a friend, Gino Gasperina, to start a cacao importing business
to help with trade; and ultimately became Portland’s first bean-to-bar
chocolate-makers. WoodblockChocolate.com
Idilio Origins
W
ell, that’s all folks. Or, at least, that’s all I’m covering. We picked
out what we think are the most important beans, the ones you
should know before your next visit to a shop with good chocolate (like The
Meadow…see below!) Egad…you could spend a lifetime getting just this
little sliver of the chocolate world straight. And the
most frustrating part is…by next year, some of the
information herein may be obsolete! Why?
First of all, there are the natural uncertainties.
Chocolate plantings are sufficiently small so that a
whole area could be wiped out by disease at any
time. Additionally, the implications of climate
change are not yet fully understood; a great
growing area today may become unsuitable in a
small amount of time.
On top of the natural threats…we have political
threats; strife and political change are also
threateners of the chocolate status quo. What, for
example, is going to happen in the FARCcontrolled parts of Colombia where Colombia
Nacional grows? Who knows?
Lastly, there’s the business side of chocolate…
which exerts tremendous influence on chocolate
itself. The large companies (like Mars) are trying to
figure out what the consumer wants…chocolatewise and label-wise…which will influence plantings
and production decisions. Even the modern things we now know about
chocolate varietals…we can thank mostly business for that! Mars spent lots
of money on the DNA research that brought us so much info…but they
probably didn’t do it because they love learning! They possibly did it
because they wanted to understand varietals
better…and were looking for new varietals…so
they might engage in newer, larger plantings in
West Africa (which they think holds the promise of
natural stability) so they can make more profit!
But never forget that we hold the ultimate power…
they want to sell to you and me! A lot of modern
chocolate marketing is taking place because the
big companies finally realized that the concept of
“artisanal producer” is a hot concept in the
contemporary marketplace. Keep supporting that!
I’m not sure what’s coming next exactly, but I’ve got
one word for you: Cuba! The import of Cuban
chocolate has already begun, but the push is in its
extreme infancy. No DNA testing has been done
there yet, to my knowledge…and the little Cuban
chocolate that’s in the U.S. is pretty much
unidentified, other than “it’s Cuban!” This is an
exciting area to watch. n
GETTING YOUR FIX: WHERE?
All of the chocolates featured in this article are available on the
Internet. Your best bet is to check the company websites for
“Shop” sections. If you’d rather pick up bars at a shop, you
have good options today in big cities. Our favorite shop for
chocolate purchases—and chocolate talk!—is The Meadow, a
trio of chocolate/salt/bitters/flowers shops, based in Portland,
Oregon. Happily, for us East Coast types, one of the three shops
is in New York City. And, also in New York, another great
website and store with a big selection is 2Beans.
The Meadow
TheMeadow.com
3731 N. Mississippi Street, Portland, OR 97227
503.288.4633
805 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210
503.305.3388
523 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
212.645.4633
2Beans
2Beans.com
100 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
212.937.8914
TASTING EXTRA
THE PRODUCTS
I’M LOVIN’
RIGHT NOW...
E
ach issue of The Rosengarten Report will bring you available products
that I’ve tasted recently, along with full information on how you can
acquire them. But there’s a difference in my approach. In most periodicals,
in the “new product” reports, the same-sized box, or page, is always
dedicated to new products. That means there’s a quota to fill. In The
Rosengarten Report, in some issues you may find no products
recommended, some issues you may find eight. Why? Because I have no
quota. I have no space I must fill. I WILL RECOMMEND TO YOU ONLY THOSE
PRODUCTS THAT ARE DRIVING ME WILD, ONLY THOSE PRODUCTS THAT I
BELIEVE YOU CAN’T (OR AT LEAST SHOULDN’T) LIVE WITHOUT.
Please don’t live without these:
1
PAESANA ROASTED PEPPERS WITH
GARLIC & EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
($11.97 for three 12-oz jars)
If you come to my house for an Italian-American dinner…you will probably
get anchovies and pimientos on garlic bread as your first bite…for I am an
obsessed lover of this meal-opening tradition! One of the reasons I came
to love this dish over the decades was ease of ingredient acquisition. Once
upon a time (like the 1960s), not a lot of thought went into shopping for it
(or most things, actually!). Ya took what anchovies you could find at the
supermarket in small flat tins (not rolled anchovies, but flat fillets), and
you grabbed “pimientos” in a glass jar from a nearby shelf in the same
store. You had no idea why “pimiento” had two “i”s in it…but who cared!
You had a few jars of it in your hands, right in the shopping bag next to the
little fishy guys put up in tins…and you were on the doorstep of heaven.
Of course, nothing in Italian food in America today is the same as it used
to be (Chef Boyardee Ravioli in the can may be an exception!) Lots of
“upscaling”…but “upscaling” brings its own concerns. What’s concerning
me today are “new” anchovies and “new” pimientos. There’s nothing but
good news on the anchovy side of the anchovy/pimiento equation: we are
finally seeing exceptional anchovies in wide distribution! Look for the
anchovies standing up in oil in glass jars; I hate to say it, but usually these
pricier ones are better. And they make the “anchovy and pimientos” even
more delicious!
In the pimiento department, however…the news is generally not so good.
First of all, what is a “pimiento?” This is a confusing question. To the best
of my knowledge, it is a type of bell pepper picked “red,” (a squatter and
sweeter type, all the references say). When put by manufacturers into the
commercial food chain heading for your supermarket, these peppers are
de-skinned (I don’t think by roasting and skinning), then placed in a
water-vinegar solution. The pimientos from the jar with which I grew up
were, in fact, kind of watery, but with a nice sweetness…which, juxtaposing
perfectly with salty anchovies, is why they became a dumbed-down
passion of mine.
It further seems to me that in the 1980s (or so) came the Revolution!
Roasting your own peppers at home became really popular. I would have
to guess that the more watery Dromedary pimientos that once defined
Dave’s Pimiento Universe were pushed back in the supermarket by a lot
of new companies who focused on the “home” simulated, “roasted” or
“fired” part. And today, the supermarket is loaded with different glass jars
of “roasted” red peppers this, or “wood-fired” red peppers that. The irony
is that none of these premiering pimientos of the 21st Century say
“pimientos” on the label! I have combed national stores several times
since, and though I’ve found a few jars of pimiento slices and dices made
by the pimiento leader Dromedary, I could not find any whole pimientos
(which is what we used to use for anchovies and pimientos!)
Problem: I had always counted on fat, Dromedary pimientos for a
modicum of sweetness to top my garlic bread and underlie my anchovies.
But most of the new “roasted” peppers in jars have little sweetness…and
sometimes little flavor! And, trust me, the cuts that I’ve seen...aren’t fat!
And that is why I am so happy to discover the new convenience star of my
anchovy-and-pepper nights, Paesana Roasted Red Peppers with Garlic &
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. These guys are delicious…and excellent for
anchovies and pimientos! They are post-modern pimientos, to be sure…
but for me, they are going to bring back a whole new way of life! In the
interregnum, I’ve been roasting my own red peppers for this dish…and
have not been entirely satisfied with the fleshy “whomp” that a freshlyroasted red pepper brings to the anchovy party.
But now…I can go with this newly-discovered Paesana’s product…exactly
as I would have done in the old days!
The company is based in Farmingdale, Long Island. They were founded
in 1902 by Luigi J. Scaramelli, Sr., who had connections to the
wholesale grocery business in Boston and New York. Today, Scaramelli’s
great-grandson runs the company and, according to him, the family
“continues the tradition of crafting old world pasta sauces and condiments
that are kettled-cooked the old-fashioned way…delivering consumers
zesty, robust, and absolutely delectable products.” Now that I’ve found
them…I’ll be tasting lots more samples from this company, for
your convenience.
For the moment, however, my focus is on Paesana’s anchovy-helper,
which I picked up in a Long Island supermarket. It’s a really lively, flavorful
jarful, not at all washed-out-tasting, as many jarred red peppers are. In
fact, as soon as I open the jar a big aroma of red peppers erupts! I know
not why, but the peppers are from Peru…which I guess is a good thing!
The coolest thing about the product is how it exactly brings the best of the
old—the light chew of the peppers, the touch of sweetness, the broadness
of the peppers to fit your bread slice—but it also adds new things! There’s
a little garlic flavor, as advertised. The peppers do show a little char, which
is more of a visual thrill. There’s a little vinegar in the preparation, which
gives a zing that’s just right for my favorite Italian-American starter. Best of
all is the “juice” in which the peppers swim: kind of an oil-and-water
emulsion, with lovely flavor and cling.
Best strategy for acquisition:
1. Paesana has a fairly limited distribution concentrated in the
Northeast, so your best bet is to head to their website,
Paesana.com, and pick up a three-pack.
2
NUTS+NUTS, INDONESIAN CASHEWS, CHILI LIME LEAVES
($13.50 for two 4-oz bags)
doesn’t mean I haven’t got nuts all figured out in terms of higher/lower
preferences…with pistachio nuts, macadamia nuts, and top-notch
Marcona almonds from Spain all making me feel like Romancing the Nut.
The rest of the Nut Kingdom is fine, but no more than a platonic crunch
to me (eating a Brazil nut is like kissing your sister?) However…standing
off to the side by itself…there’s the cashew…one nut that has always
defied my preferential classification, that has always caused me RAD
(Response Ambivalence Disease…a terrible disease, truly, for a food
critic!). Sure, the cashew is relatively rich and sweet—which is I why I
suspect it has such popularity. I even like its richness and sweetness. But
after the first bite?…I’m always looking for more! More saltiness, more
toastiness, more…what? I don’t know. But my reaction is parallel to my
fat-and-rich wine reaction; in that case, I want more…ACID!…to give the
product more lift, more buoyancy.
I’m telling you this because this month I found cashew’s missing “what?”
I was presented with a line of cashews imported from Indonesia, that, on
the labels, had the International Language of Curation about them. So far,
so good. Everything about the product looked game-changing to me. I
found the back story, and liked it. Two sisters, Cyrilla and Dede Suwarsa,
grew up in Indonesia together, and when Dede decided to help a local
farmer friend who was growing cashew fruit for other purposes, she
agreed to take his surplus cashew nuts. At first, 200 pounds of them.
They loved his cashews…but, soon, were officially informed by Mom that
the cashews were taking over Mom’s Jakarta kitchen! Next step in this
evolving story: get rid of ‘em by selling ‘em! But where? Since Cyrilla was
based in NYC’s DUMBO neighborhood already, it seemed a good idea to
center the business there, as an import company. And so…they started
Nuts+Nuts: they increased the sourcing (which now includes small family
farms in Central Java), and helped set up a roasting facility in Jakarta
(where the family seasons and roasts their cashews destined for export).
Nuts+Nuts now has a growing group of cashew offerings—sometimes
designated by “process” (like “Organic Cashews”), sometimes designated
by “flavors.”
I must tell you straight off, I was not generally in love with the samples I
tasted. Packed in hermetic foil, they should be crazy-crunchy, bursting
with freshness, with buttery reserves of cashew flavor. But they’re not. Oh,
they’re good…but not fully swoon-worthy. In many cashew tastings (Rum
Cashews, White Chocolate Toffee Cashews, etc.) my quest for the
quintessential cashew-changer was not on the same track as theirs.
Until the Nuts+Nuts, Indonesian Cashews, Chili Lime Leaves came along!
Despite my small, annoying allergy to flavored ANYTHING…this beguiling
Chili Lime cashew pack got to me with the very first whiff: haunting nostril
quivers of southeast Asia. The nuts are lightly golden-roasted on the
outside. Once you bite (and find the requisite crunch!), the kaffir-lime-leaf
seduction really rushes in: a direct connection wired through your
sense-memory to a southeast Asian dish. Explosive! Then, as you’re
fantasizing about palm trees, a pistol-packing heat starts to develop on
your palate. The BTUs never get too high, but the little that’s there reinforces
your Thai/Indonesian food daydream in a most deliciously exotic way.
I know it’s a little random, and elaborate…but I came away feeling….THIS
is the Cashew Helper I’ve always sought!
Well, I’ve dated lots of nuts. What? I just mean I’ve determined the shelf
life of many a crunchy snack! Truly, I never met a nut I didn’t like. But that
2. N
uts+Nuts are available at a number of stores throughout the
United States, Japan, and Indonesia. To find a location nearest you
or to buy from their online shop, visit NutsPlusNuts.com.
3
SUN NOODLE BRAND RAMEN
(Japanese Style Noodle with Soup Base)
For those who still haven’t understood why there’s such a fuss about
ramen—“Why’s everyone going crazy? These damned things are three for
a dollar at the supermarket!!!”—it’s time for you to step up. The mainstay
of every college student is, yeah, kind of ramen, you could call it ramen,
that supermarket stuff—but it’s not really ramen. In Japan, ramen is an
art, with a long history,
and with a slew of
regional differences.
And chefs making
fresh ramen in ramen
shops every day! That
dried brick in the
“oodles of noodles”
packet in the
supermarket? It’s an
industrial product! It
has no ramen cred!
Now, if you really want
to get your ramen game
up, there’s one main thing you gotta do: go to Japan! Happily, these days
the ramen-seeker can also do pretty well in the U.S., at any one of hundreds
of excellent ramen shops now found in urban areas across the country
(particularly in hipster neighborhoods!).
However, one more option just floated into my purview.
It turns out that a lot of these good ramen shops in the Northeast U.S. (like
the famous Ivan Ramen) actually buy their ramen noodles (some ambitious
ones make it themselves) from Sun Noodle, a much-praised company in
Teterboro, NJ. Sun is custom-making ramen to chefs’ specifications all the
time…but, with a larger market in mind, recently designed two different
ramen kits (including broth packets) for cooks to make at home! That
means you! The result is not on a par with the best ramen I’ve had in great
ramen shops, here and in Japan—the biggest difference is in the broth,
which sometimes cooks for 14 hours in Japan and reaches great
complexity—but the fresh noodles by Sun (under refrigeration) are such an
amazing upgrade from the supermarket abomination, I urge you to let this
Sun shine into your life immediately!
The first one I tasted is the 1910 Shoyu, a version of the classic Tokyo-style
ramen with a soy sauce-based broth (flavored in this case with a little
seafood). The broth is a mushroomy-dark, light-textured juice that strays
slightly towards industrial…but, thankfully, never quite gets there, never
quite does an onion powder impersonation. And together with the
wonderfully thin-but-chewy noodles (which they call “Firm and Wavy”), the
bowl is definitely very close to ramen-shop standards.
In a way, however, I prefer #2: the 1955 Ramen Miso (which is purely
vegetarian). The broth is lighter-colored, tannish, with a thin trail of red
chile oil. A bit of body, sort of creamy. The treat is the noodle, which is
thicker than the first; fresh-tasting, with a little tofu-ish tint behind it. And
there’s a bit of “stickiness” in it, texturally, that I find quite attractive. The
way that the textured broth clings to it might actually make me consider
staying home for ramen when I have other options!
You, of course, have the destiny of your ramen in your own hands. By
adding thin slices of pork, or mushrooms, or scallions, or whatever…you
can definitely pull off a big triumph for your hipster friends with a ramen
dinner from a Sun Noodle base!
3. S
un Noodle fresh ramen kits (with soup mix) are available
exclusively at Whole Foods stores in New York and New Jersey.
Sun plans to increase its Whole Foods distribution to other regions
soon. They also plan to develop Internet availability for ramen kits.
But for now, check their store locator for acquisition:
SunNoodle.com/Store-Locator.
4
CHEF’S CUT REAL STEAK JERKY, CHIPOTLE
CRACKED PEPPER, MADE WITH PREMIUM BEEF
($27.96 for four 2.5-oz bags)
I knew something was up in Jerkyville about 20 years ago…when a
product I’d always associated with hunters and weird backwoods people
started coming out of the day bags of lithe models during yoga class
break. Then I walked into GNC, and found 20-somethings who were
maintaining beautiful bodies also maintaining their jerky habit. Well, in
any era, the ways of eating derive from the ways of counting—and in the
1990s Dr. Atkins had us all clamoring for the highest intake of protein we
could find. And these
jerky things…which
were also low in
calories…and also took
slow chewing, which
slowed down ingestion…
perfectly fit the good
doctor’s bill. If you cared
about that kind of thing.
For me, it’s always about
taste…and I was always
ambivalent about jerkies.
On the downside, some
were a might TOO chewy
and dry. Some had
artificial flavors that did
more than sit on a label
list: their industrialness
sometimes exploded in
flavor on the palate.
But…I must confess…I
always thought it was kinda cool to peel down a jerky pack, and git to
chawin’. Made me feel like the Marlboro Man (my only chance, since I
didn’t smoke! Or look even remotely like him).
And now, ladies and gentlemen, in the 2015 big top, we have a food-world
conceptual fusion going on 30 meters above the circus. Look up! Leaping
from bar to bar, the health people, and the hunters, and…introducing…
The Food Snobs!…all having fun with jerky!
Chef’s Cut Real Jerky is a pretty new company, having begun retail sales in
2014. The guys who started it—Chef Blair Swiler (originally from Minneapolis)
and his business partner Dennis Ridel (who has the company based among
the golf courses of Florida)—are endeavoring to “take jerky to another
level,” using “real food ingredients.” The jerky, they say, is “made from
hand-cut, premium cuts of steak: domestic beef, Select grade or better”
(though you and I know that Select ain’t a high grade…but, okay, why
would you need a high grade for beef jerky?)
The proof’s in the pudding. I like the pudding…though I’m not a big fan
of the chicken and turkey jerkies they’ve created; these seem to me a
million miles from jerky. Their Real Steak Jerkies are not right next door,
either; they have some unique, even idiosyncratic qualities for jerky.
Here’s the thing: they are not tough like jerky. Not by a mile. There’s a
kind of sink-your-teeth-in tenderness that does almost make you feel
you’re eating some room-temperature steak that was cooked the night
before. Except for the coatings…which are wild, pastrami-like, peppered
and powdered all over the outside. My favorite is the Chipotle Cracked
Pepper, the one I’m recommending here. Oddly, it’s a little less sweet
than the Original Recipe, and its beefiness comes through better—
despite all the rah-rah of the coating. Very nice smokiness and seasoning,
with a zillion real ingredients in the list.
I could see munching on these as snacks…or as an element in some
creative Out West dinner, like “Chipotle Cracked Pepper Steak Jerky on a
Homemade Blue Corn Tortilla Chip with Cilantro Ranch Dressing.” Or
somethin’ like that.
4. C
hef’s Cut can be found at supermarkets around the country, and
via their online shop on ChefsCutRealJerky.com.
5
WALKERS GLUTEN-FREE SHORTBREAD
($4.99 for a 4.9-oz box)
As you know from my “Rosengarten Rant” in issue #1…I’m not generally
ecstatic about the fact that 30% of Americans now claim their health
improves when they stop eating gluten (see the Dec. 15, 2014 issue for
more on that.) Come on! I’ve had it with mass self-delusion! However…I
do recognize that there are real people out there with real celiac disease
(2%)…and a few others who really do have trouble processing gluten. I
want them to eat well too!
The family must have been really busy over the last few years, as they
launched this rather earth-shattering Walkers Gluten-Free Shortbread—
their first foray into the world of gluten intolerance. Boy, did they want to
do it right. The new Gluten-Free Shortbread products contain the same
butter and sugar content as their regular shortbreads; the only change is
the substitution of rice flour, maize flour, and potato starch for the classic
wheat flour. Additionally, the line has been certified by the UK Celiac
Association, and has met the American FDA standard for gluten-free
(only 20 parts per million can be gluten).
Well, here’s the big surprise: in a recent tasting of Walkers shortbreads,
both gluten-in and gluten-out…I marginally preferred the gluten-free
ones! Why? The size of the cookies I tasted was different: larger for the
gluten versions (2 ¾-inches diameter, ¾-inch thick), smaller for the
gluten-free versions (2 ¼-inches diameter, ³/16-inch thick). The result?
The gluten product is a little heavier, denser—which you might prefer.
Me, however…I dig the frilly, feathery quality that the gluten-free ones
have! They also seem to be a little oilier, less dry. Good news for glutenfree people…good news for me!
Here are the specific notes on the three gluten-free shortbreads:
Shortbread Really excellent shortbread! Golden-tan rounds, quite
light in color. Amazing texture in mouth…crumbly, not dry. Wonderfully
buttery flavor…though maybe a smidge less than in the regular gluten
version. Don’t care. There’s plenty o’ butter in thar. I want that texture!
Ginger & Lemon Shortbread Several shades darker, kind of
golden-beige. Similar texture—plus, just perfect amount of ginger and
lemon, like some old-fashioned cookie from my childhood. The lemon
flavor is a little sharp (like lemon rind), and the ginger flavor is also
penetrating (like good fresh ginger would be). But all rounded out
beautifully by the butter.
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Looks a helluva lot like a chocolate
chip cookie! In fact, if you were looking for a gluten-free chocolate chip
cookie, not necessarily shortbread…you could do a hell of a lot worse
than this! (Except of course for the astonishing Tate’s gluten-free
Chocolate Chip Cookies…a story for another day!) This one has the
same great light-and-buttery background as the other shortbreads, but
studded with lots of little chips, of course. The chocolate itself is of a
rather mass-market nature, and slightly suppresses the buttery goodness.
This is my least favorite of the three gluten-free shortbreads…but I do
hold very high chocolate chip cookie standards!
5. W
alkers Gluten-Free Shortbread is available around the country
and via US.WalkersShortbread.com.
So here’s the good news: If they happen to like shortbread…they’re in!
Hoots man! The dean of Scottish shortbread producers (at least from the
American-market point of view)…has done a bonny, bang-up job…pure
dead brilliant!
Walkers Shortbread was founded in 1898—in the villages of Aberlour and
Elgin in the Scottish Highlands, where all Walkers products are still being
made. It is still such a family-owned and family-managed company that
all new recipes have to be tasted and approved by members of the family
before going into the market!
6
BOURBON WHISKY, CLAYTON DISTILLERY,
THOUSAND ISLANDS, NY
($39 for a 750ml bottle)
When I say “Thousand Islands”—an archipelago of almost 2000 islands,
in fact, forming the U.S.-Canada border between far north New York State
and Ontario—what do you say, if you’re gastronomically-minded?
“Dressing,” of course! “Thousand Islands Dressing!” But in fact, the
hottest thing in the Thousand
Islands right now is more commonly
associated with…undressing.
I’m talkin’ bout bourbon!
Hold on, eh? Did you think that
bourbon had to come from
Kentucky—where, in fact, 95%
of bourbon does originate?
Indeed, it’s a surprise to many
that bluegrass ain’t required by
law for bourbon-making; bourbon
may legally be made, and named
bourbon, all across the 50 states.
(Even other countries can and do
make “bourbon,” but it’s not
recognized as such in America.)
So it comes as a shock to some
that bourbon is being made in
the far northern reaches of New
York State…just a few miles from Canada!
I wouldn’t burden you with this spiritological quirk…unless I liked this
here Thousand Islands Bourbon. But I do!!! I really do!!! I was taken by
complete surprise!!!
And the price is relatively gentle, too!
This particular distillery began with a gleam in Mike Aubertine’s eye—who
grew up on a 400-acre farm, in the town of Cape Vincent, right in the
Thousand Islands. Aubertine caught the distilling fever from a friend,
who’d attended a distilling class at Cornell University. This was in 2011. In
short order, Aubertine worked his wife into a frenzy as well…and by June
2012 the couple had purchased distillery property in Clayton, NY, and
started construction…applied for federal and state permits in the fall…
and received them by January and February 2013. Ya like speed? They
opened for business on April 6, 2013.
Oh, and remember that farm? It’s only 15 miles from Clayton—and today
supplies all the corn that becomes Clayton Bourbon.
Now, there are a lot of official regulations swirling around bourbon: how it
must be made, what you can say on the label, etc. This product from
Clayton follows the same regulations as the boys in Kentucky…but the
subject is so complicated that I’m not going to rehearse the ins and outs
here. Suffice it to say that the bottle I tasted (their second batch) was made
from 81% corn, plus a mix of rye and malted barley. (For bourbon, the
federal law says “a grain mixture that
is at least 51% corn”). Delicious blend
here. Also, the law says that bourbon
has to be stored in new, charred oak
barrels—which Clayton does. Keep in
mind that Clayton makes other
distillates as well—gins, vodkas, fruit
liqueurs—but their bourbon is their
most popular seller.
Why? Let me give you my tasting note
(and keep in mind that I like to drink
this happy hooch with just a few ice
cubes in the tumbler):
Sexy orange-brown hue in the glass;
darker than most Scotch, but only
medium-dark. Very lively, active,
intriguing nose. The “warm woods”
are probably the first set of aromas
you perceive, followed by the “warm
sugars”: caramel, butterscotch, treacle. Then a mystifying, nostril-tweaking
distillation aroma (not unlike grappa) flashes its brights, followed by
something earthy, perhaps suggesting an attic full of toys. On the palate,
the entry starts with something different, apricot-like fruit—but soon morphs
into a tasting version of all the olfactory elements. Taken straight, it is warm
and rich, but not alarming; I like the way the flavors separate when ice is
added, and I like the spirit’s almost refreshing nature at a cool temperature.
But please…for your sake and its…don’t let it stand with the ice in the glass
for too long! Bottoms up! n
Strategy for acquisition:
6. A
list of liquor stores in New York carrying Clayton Distillery’s
spirits can be found on ClaytonDistillery.com.
TASTING EXTRA
It’s beginning
to taste
a lot like...
Christmas!
A Pre-Holiday Guide to Some
Important Things You’ll Want,
Come December!
1
For Gift-Giving: The 25 Incredible Food Books of 2015
Y
ou might want to consider buying these 25 food books for yourself! I
would! I hesitate to call these the “best” 25 books of the year...I think
of them instead as the 25 books that I most desperately want in my
own food book collection!!! I looked over approximately 100 books from
2015…and narrowed them down to these.
Many virtues go into a hotly desired food book, for me. Recipes, of course.
But it doesn’t have to focus on recipes…or in some cases, even have
recipes. I like information, too…background, technique, history, etc. And I
love it when a book breathes intelligence, a savvy way of looking at food…
and the world!
In this 2015 assortment, I have also included a few books that were published
late in 2014…because I didn’t get to them until 2015 (nor did most people)…
and I think these books’ll still be buzzy presents at Christmas 2015.
The Top 5
The NoMad Cookbook by Daniel Humm & Will Guidara
(Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2015, $100)
1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton
(Workman Publishing, New York, 2014, $24.95)
You know how in some years Hollywood gets its big lightning-rod movie,
the one that takes so many important Oscars, like Birdman did this year?
Ladies and gentleman…I present to you…this year’s Birdman of food
books! It’s not even out yet, but I was able to look over an advance
copy…and I’m going on record as predicting this’ll be the book of the
year. Let’s start at the beginning: its co-author, Swiss-born Daniel Humm,
is one of the most gifted chefs on the planet. We all came to realize this
at Eleven Madison Park (now of the three Michelin stars)…and he
confirmed our belief when he and his new partner Will Guidara (who
bought Eleven Madison from Danny Meyer in 2011) opened NoMad,
their “more casual” restaurant a few blocks away; casual shmazual,
since its opening, NoMad has been one of my very favorite places to eat
in America. We are all truly lucky that Humm and Guidara somehow
found the time to put together a cookbook of this opulence. The most
important thing is that it looks to be an accurate record of the amazing
things served at NoMad—including the most spectacular roast chicken
in America. But everything about this book explodes with the feel of
“high quality”—from its gilded cover, to the most jaw-dropping recipe
photographs in years, to the vast section devoted to NoMad’s cocktails
(which alone won a James Beard Award, not to mention all the other
awards for this team). There has simply been no book in years that
makes me want to eat as much as this one does. It is very plainly divided
into five sections: Snacks (with photos that make crudités look like
they’re in the Louvre…as well as four variations on the devastating
Focaccia they serve to each table at NoMad); Appetizers (with the most
beautiful raw fish variations outside of Kyoto); Mains (with an astonishing
amount of elegant vegetarian ones, like Summer Squash with Sheep’s
Milk Feta and Pistachios); Desserts (which are simple-seeming but
profound and ravishing); and Basics. Will you want to cook from it? I
think yes; the recipes are carefully constructed…and though they’re not
everyday food, I think you’ll want to rise to the occasion any day. If you
don’t…there’s no doubt that this is THE gift cookbook of the year, a jewel
ready to sparkle on the finest coffee tables.
I’m in awe of this book. I cannot begin to visualize the time and research
that went into putting together 1000 insightful essays on 1000 of the world’s
greatest foods (yes…the book is a fat 990 pages long!) Sheraton, a legendary
New York-based food writer who, at her career’s zenith, was the muchfeared restaurant critic of The New York Times, has a taste for much more
than New York. She is a globe-trotter extraordinaire, which has enabled her
to put so much authority into this astonishing collection of tidbits from the
deeply homespun American, to the loftiest of French lofties, from intricate
Mediterranean, to dazzlingly esoteric Asian. I love that her taste has kept up
with everything new, but clearly reaches back to what many today will
consider nostalgia (she says of Pigs in a Blanket: “finger food doesn’t get
more addictive than this.”) I love her opinions…and I love the fact that most
essays are based on her opinions…which then get embellished with
blizzards of facts. My only problem with the book is that sometimes her
opinionated emphases don’t exactly congrue with mine: I’d like a clearer
statement of how a name like “Kobe” is just a geographical designation for
wagyu beef…and a designation much more respected in the U.S. than in
Japan; I’d have loved to see coverage of India’s best biryani, made in
Hyderabad; she touches not the essential weirdness of the way Turkish/
Greek coffee features “moldy” tastes (a phenomenon that Ed Behr and I
once spent a day in Greece trying to figure out). But these are my problems,
not hers. I learned at least three things on every page of this book, in every
part of the world—though I must say that Sheraton’s section on German,
Austrian, Swiss taught me more new things than any other. Extraordinary.
Keep in mind that not every entry is based on a dish; some are based on
products (like Callebaut chocolate from Belgium); some are based on iconic
restaurants (like the Grand Central Oyster Bar in NYC). Also keep in
mind that your bookshelf is impoverished if it lacks this world-beating
reference book. (NOTE: I ran into Mimi recently...who told me it took her ten
years to write this book!)
Food Books
Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees:
Essential Techniques of Authentic
Chinese Cooking by Kian Lam Kho
(Clarkson Potter, New York, 2015, $35)
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking
by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (W.W.Norton &
Company, New York, London, 2015,
$49.95)
There have been many good Chinese cookbooks
published in America over the years (from Virginia
Lee’s work with Craig Claiborne, to Barbara Tropp’s
compendious China Moon Cookbook, to Fuchsia
Dunlop’s recent studies on Sichuan food). Usually,
however, I’m left wanting something more: the
almost unspoken technical magic that makes real
Chinese food taste Chinese…the very air that
Chinese cooks breathe. I think it has finally blown in.
Kian Lam Kho’s new book (he was born in Singapore,
and lives in Brooklyn) has the structure that allows
the story-behind-the-story to emerge. The book
focuses on basic cooking methods—pan-frying, oilsteeping, yin-yang frying—allowing you to improvise
from there. But the breakdowns within the chapters
are fascinating. Chapter 6, “Harnessing the Breath
of a Wok,” breaks into Simple Stir-Fry; Dry Stir-Fry;
Moist Stir-Fry; Dry-Fry; and Scramble Stir-Fry.
Chapter 11, “The Intricacy of Boiling,” breaks into
Boiling; Steeping; Blanching; and Hot Pot. Along
the way, there are great recipes…such as, in the
Boiling chapter, Boiled Pork Belly and Spicy Garlic
Dressing. An excellent chapter on soups brings us
Milky Fish Soup with Dill…explaining that dill is
popular in northern China. Generally speaking, the
regional consciousness is high, culminating in a
killer section on the real Chinese regions (not the
usual Cantonese-Sichuan-Shanghai-Peking division).
This book may be your best bet yet to make Chinese
food at home that doesn’t taste like a Bar Mitzvah.
A new cookbook for the ages has landed in
our midst. San Franciscan J. Kenji Lopez-Alt,
managing culinary director of Serious Eats, has
put together a no-holds barred compendium of
food science, outrageous opinion, and delicious
food that has me jumping up and down. Lopez-Alt
used to write for Cook’s Illustrated, which is
where he learned to TRUST NOTHING in the
world of cooking directions. I love that impulse:
test, test, test. His Serious Eats column, The
Food Lab, has been taking this approach for
years—except I think he’s improved on the Cook’s
model; his investigations are much more
passionate, idiosyncratic, fascinating to read. He
takes a conversational tone in his writing that
keeps you wanting more conversation. And…as
far as I’m concerned…he usually comes up with
exactly the right answer or methodology. This
huge book (almost 1000 pages!) has gathered
together his Food Labs columns, and then some.
Just a few random heresies: neither trussing nor
basting improves your roast chicken; bagels are
much better when just out of the oven, much
worse when they’re toasted (toasting is the great
equalizer!); the best fried eggs are made over
moderate heat. Every page is crammed with
jewels like these, all gathered through Lopez-Alt’s
trial and error. Plus…hundreds of really appealing
recipes for real food. A must for every kitchen…
particularly for those readers getting their cooking
technique together.
Tacos: Recipes and Provocations by Alex
Stupak and Jordana Rothman (Clarkson
Potter, New York, 2015, $32.50)
Tacos finally get their due! Alex Stupak rose to
fame as a pastry chef in the kitchens of Clio, Alinea
and wd-50, but it was his venture into Mexican
cuisine (via Empellón Taqueria in 2011, Empellón
Cocina in 2012 and Empellón Al Pastor in 2014)
that made him everyone’s darling. And earned
him a James Beard nomination for opening the
Best New Restaurant in America! Fast forward:
Tacos are hot, hot, hot in America today; a recent
Internet article even explored the question of
whether or not tacos are set to replace hamburgers
as our national quick obsession! Tacos: Recipes
and Provocations jumps right into the discussion
at a dazzlingly high level (no Midwestern bus stop
tacos here in crispy shells!) Stupak establishes his
authentic Mexican chops with great sections on
tortillas (including how to make them from dried
whole-kernel field corn, and why you shouldn’t be
ashamed to use masa harina), and salsas
(including a terrific discourse on chiles, noting the
“rusty” taste of salsas made with dried chiles).
And then he gets to the recipes! Taco fillings
include the traditional (beef, chorizo, pork, tongue,
goat)…as well as his “provocations,” the exciting
creative spins (pastrami tacos, pineapple lardo
tacos!) I like cookbooks stuffed with extra info, and
this one is…an amazing guide to a wide range of
Mexican ingredients, from epazote to guaje seeds.
Breakfast and dessert tacos, too! Mostly everything
in the book is highly doable for the average
at-home chef, but exciting enough for the
connoisseur. My favorite guide to tacos in print.
The Other Splendid 20
Tonight at 7:30: One Family’s Life at the
Table by Kristen Frederickson and Avery
Curran (Self-Published, 2014, $24)
Sometimes you love a book just because it’s
heartwarming. That’s the MO here, to be sure; I
was sent the book, by the author, because she
likes my work and wanted me to see hers. I
opened it up to the most engaging tale of motherdaughter interaction (concerning Mom’s recipes
and the daughter’s camera)—which leads to a
wider discourse on the importance of family and
food. It brought tears to my eyes. This chick can
write! But can she cook? I checked out a few of
the recipes, and the answer is one overwhelming
“OH YEAH!!!” I LOVE the non-fussy, no-nonsense
tone of her food—equally appropriate for family
dinners and dinner parties! The “Pojarski” Sauce
(which she uses for chicken meatballs) is alone
worth the price of the book; serve that dish with
the incredible “Becky’s Cheesy Potatoes” and
you’re the dinner party Emperor! But follow
Frederickson’s wisdom on appreciating your
family and friends and good fortune, which
practically gushes from her daughter Avery’s
loving photos, and you’ve really got it made.
(NOTE: You can find this book on Amazon.com)
helluva lot about his city’s food; he was The
Village Voice restaurant critic for decades and
currently does a wide range of blogging about
New York restaurants (such as his work for
Eater). Over the years, he’s earned my trust and
respect. And now this book…which I love!
Sietsema takes 12 arguably iconic New York
dishes and tells the story of each—aesthetics,
history, restaurant recommendations (not all of
them obvious!)—ending each chapter with a
recipe. The dishes are: pizza, egg foo yung, clam
chowder (guess which one!), thiebou djenn (a
West African dish popular in Harlem), pastrami,
masala dosa, fried chicken, pambazo (a popular
Mexican sandwich), barbecued brisket, cuy
(yes, the Ecuadorean guinea pig!), phở, and
scrambled brains. As you can see, Sietsema’s
taste is exotic, never mass-market. But the
book’s not really about these twelve dishes; it’s a
wonderful, wide-ranging walk through food
history in general. My only complaint is that
Sietsema’s narratives are not always straight-line;
his discourse on the history of Chinese food in
America, for example, feels a little herky-jerky.
No matter; you want this book as an absorbing
read…and as a great guide to specific, littleknown restaurants in New York City.
Benu by Corey Lee (Phaidon Press,
New York, London, 2015, $59.95)
Eating Delancey: A Celebration of
Jewish Food by Aaron Rezny and
Jordan Schaps (powerHouse Books,
Brooklyn, NY, 2014, $35)
New York in a Dozen Dishes by Robert
Sietsema (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
Boston, New York, 2015, $22)
New York City resident Robert Sietsema knows a
different people, and there’s no quality standard
in the finished products; additionally, some
recipes are very unclear as recipes (we “saved”
both the potato latkes and the delicious beet/
fresh horseradish condiment by making some
intuitive leaps on quantities). But each recipe
comes with a lush story from the contributor
(such Jewish luminaries as Jackie Mason, Isaac
Mizrahi, etc.) that adds up to a world. And the
information herein about still-standing Lower
East Side establishments…oy! Yonah Schimmel’s
Knish Factory, Ratner’s (with an amazing photo
of Janis Joplin sipping coffee there), Russ &
Daughters, Katz’s Deli. The book is a pastiche of
many different things; if you asked it “How are
you?” it would say “How am I? How am I
supposed to be?” At least as entertaining as a
comedy act in the Catskills enjoyed while slurping
a bowl of matzoh ball soup.
I’m pretty crazy about this book—in part because
it starts with a cheesy pun (a reference to the film
Crossing Delancey), in part because it glorifies a
New York neighborhood I love (the Lower East
Side, the 1900’s haunt of Jewish immigrants), in
part because the authors manage to capture the
ironic, wise-cracking tone of New York Jews. Do
not think of it as a cookbook, though it contains
many recipes for classic Jewish foods. Why not?
Because all the recipes are gathered from
Benu, in San Francisco, headed up by chef Corey
Lee (who was born in Korea), has become one of
the most acclaimed restaurants in the U.S.—even
drawing a third Michelin star in 2014, one of only
four three-stars in California. I would love to go
there (I haven’t yet)…but I wasn’t sure that I
wanted to own its cookbook. The world of “Asian
fusion” is a big jumble to me today; sure, I want to
taste the food of talented practitioners in situ…or
make my own Asian fusion! Who needs 200 pages
of someone else’s quirks on my bookshelf? But
there’s something different about this book. Lee is
thoughtful…and that makes all the difference. He
would hate me calling his food “Asian fusion;” he
would hate me calling it anything reductive, as he
explains in the book. This attitude stands behind
every one of the book’s unusually long headnotes
(above the recipes)…which work very hard at
explaining why Lee put together these ingredients
in this way. Just by reading these, you learn a lot
about the creative process of a modern chef! Most
of the recipes, though very cheffy, are quite do-able for the skilled home
cook. My only criticism: I think the team could have used a tighter recipe
editor. No matter. I love this book…and even plan to cook from it!
Atelier Crenn:
Metamorphosis of Taste
by Dominique Crenn
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
Boston, New York, 2015,
$50)
It’s the attack of the San Francisco
Michelin-starred restaurants! (Wow,
has the meaning of “California Food”
ever changed!) California or not, I’ve
noticed an interesting trend among
chefs these days…under-reported…
towards what I call “landscape food”…
in which the platings themselves
suggest natural settings. I saw it first,
five years ago, at a one-star restaurant
at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, the domaine of a German male
chef. Now there’s news of a two-star chef doing it in San Francisco—and
she’s not male. In fact, she is the first female chef in America to earn two
Michelin stars. Dominique Crenn grew up in northwest France, where she
fell in love with the rugged landscape, and—through the influence of her
father—with art. Because she’s French, it goes without saying that she also
grew up with a passion for food! Crenn, at her eponymous SF restaurant—
and now in this debut book, coming in November!—pulls it all together with
her almost poetic culinary creations. This is very detailed food that not
everyone will want to cook at home—but reading these fascinating recipes
will expand your mind, not your waistline. Check this out: a recipe called
“Birth,” which was inspired by a bird’s nest and is comprised of a “nest”
made from corn silk, foie gras, and corn “eggs” flavored with duck fat, with
a garnish of dark chocolate branches. In the epic “A Walk in the Forest,”
Crenn advises on plating: the dish “should be plated as a trail, with the
burnt pine meringue and pumpernickel soil forming a path from which the
mushrooms and herbs spring.” Precious? Not when one is as gifted as
Crenn is. Atelier Crenn is one of the year’s most provocative books—and
anyone wanting to keep up with what’s germinating in the world’s most
forward-thinking fine restaurants should make time to wander through its
formidable ideas.
Franklin Barbecue: A MeatSmoking Manifesto by Aaron
Franklin and Jordan Mackay
(Ten Speed Press, Berkeley,
2015, $29.99)
I had the opportunity in 2015 to go
to the Lourdes of BBQ, Franklin
Barbecue, in Austin, Texas. So I’ve
been there. I know. And the truth
is…Aaron Franklin could have put
out a puny pamphlet on BBQ and I
would still want to ingest every word,
just as I ingested his other-worldly
brisket, ribs, and sausage. But he
didn’t. He put the same fanatic care
into this book that he has put into his world-famous BBQ place, and I can’t
imagine a cookbook library without it. Mind you…you probably won’t get
around to executing his BBQ recipes. Why not? They’re embedded in a sea
of talk about wood, and air, and smoke, and smokers; as you flip through it,
and its diagrammatics, it looks like a book put out by Popular Mechanics.
But that’s OK. I don’t need to actually do any of this stuff. I just need to
worship it, as a right proper Christian does when reading the New Testament
(did I mention that Jewish boys from the North like me are the ones most
likely to get this BBQ religion?) “The notion of putting everything I know
about barbecue into a book is a daunting one,” writes Aaron Franklin.
“…because of the nature of barbecue itself. It’s because the printed word—
definitive, exacting, permanent—is in many ways antithetical to the process
of cooking barbecue, which is, for lack of a better word, loosey-goosey.” Still
in all…Aaron’s done a helluva job, as usual.
A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes For Every Day and
Every Mood by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley, London,
2015, $29.99)
The world has been spawning new
cookbook stars for years now…but
we in the States don’t know about
all of them, because some of them
are far away. And some of them are
in another language! Not Diana
Henry, the Northern Ireland-born
Sunday columnist of The Daily
Telegraph in London, who has
been
churning
out
terrific
cookbooks for years. A Bird in the
Hand is her eighth cookbook…all
of the preceding seven having been
bestsellers in England. And this gal
picks up awards and accolades like
nobody’s
business.
London’s
reigning cookbook king, Yotam Ottolenghi, said “Everything Diana Henry
cooks I want to eat.” Nigella Lawson said of A Bird in the Hand: “I wish I
had written this book!” And one of our own best food writers, Melissa Clark
of The New York Times said “(Henry’s work indicates) that British cooks
may have surpassed us with their inventive flavor combinations and
adoption of international ingredients.” That’s exactly what’s going on in this
paean to poultry…whose recipes range from Spanish Supper: Chicken,
Morcilla and Sherry; to Cumin and Turmeric
Roast Chicken with Smashed Avocado and Corn
Cakes; to Chicken with Shaoxing Wine, Crisp
Radishes, and Pickled Ginger. Henry’s grasp of
these ethnic references is sure and firm,
gorgeously manipulated. Furthermore, she has
echoed the everybody-loves-it hominess of
chicken by creating chapters such as Dishes for
Every Night of the Week; Sunday Lunches and
Posh Dinners; and the veddy English-sounding
Chooks, Shoots and Leaves—Chicken Salads.
Why did Henry write a whole book about
chicken? “Readers and friends often ask me for
help with chicken. How can they make it
different? What can they do that isn’t the same
old, same old?” Now they can devour this book,
for starters. And Henry herself? Is she a chicken
lover? “Chicken is the thing I sneak into the
fridge to steal,” she confesses, with her
characteristic Irish charm.
books, I respond to the amount of “methodology”
included in these pages. A small note of warning:
this book works best for those who enjoy taking
liberties with cooking (measurements are often
not exact, like ”a bunch of parsley” or “a drizzle
of olive oil”)…and for those who love trying new
ingredients (you will find yourself shopping for
things like brown rice miso paste, date syrup,
quinoa flakes, etc.). One of the year’s best
vegetarian cookbooks…and particularly valuable
if your Aunt Susie has food allergies!
A Girl and Her Greens: Hearty Meals
from the Garden by April Bloomfield
with JJ Goode (Ecco, New York,
2015, $34.99)
A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200
Satisfying, Everyday Vegetarian Recipes
(that will make you feel amazing) by
Anna Jones (Ten Speed Press,
Berkeley, 2014, $35)
Anna Jones, a thoughtful, London-based food
writer who trained under Jamie Oliver, packs
her book with over 200 vegetarian recipes. They
are often gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and
presented with dairy-free options. You might
infer that this is a book for those who care about
the effects of food on the body…and it is. For
me, however, the book also passes the really big
test: these wonderful recipes are NOT flavorfree!!! Jones is really into “touches” that raise
the flavor bar in her vegetable dishes…such as
Farro with Roasted Leeks and Smoky-Sweet
Romesco, Sweet Potato Tortilla with Almond
Salsa, and Mint Stracciatella Frozen Yogurt.
There’s clever organization, too; in two pages,
she walks us through her advice on creating
1,000 different soups. And, since I love info in
More veg! Emmy nominee, Michelin-starholder…and simply one of the best chefs ever,
with a canny British spin…April Bloomfield
(most famously of The Spotted Pig in NYC) has
published her second cookbook, A Girl and Her
Greens. Happily…it’s just as great as her first, A
Girl and Her Pig! Don’t be scared off by all the
headlining greenery; sure, there are healthy
salads and juices, but Ms. Bloomfield does not
shy away from butter, cream, cheese or bacon.
As those who frequent her restaurants know,
she is into flavor and heft…which is part of what
brought her the James Beard Award for Best
New York Chef in 2014! I love particularly her
smart integration of global themes into her
cooking: Dosa with Curried Cauliflower and
Yogurt; Vegetable Crisps with Red Za’atar; and a
bang-up take on the Catalan treat Patatas
Bravas. I also like her taste for the onceforbidden realm of salty things with sweetness,
as in her fascinating Sweet Potatoes with Bone
Marrow, Chile and Maple Syrup. Keep in mind
that the easiest way to use this book is for
vegetable “sides” as the recipes intended as
main courses are much more time-consuming.
Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of
Olive Oil by Nancy Harmon Jenkins
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston,
New York, 2015, $29.99)
The Four Seasons of Pasta by Nancy
Harmon Jenkins and Sara Jenkins
(Avery Books, New York, 2015, $35)
The Jenkins family has been very generous to
us this year! The mom, Nancy Harmon Jenkins,
has been one of our great food writers for
decades (going back to her New York Times
days in the 1980s); her daughter Sara runs
several terrific restaurants in New York City. Italy
is the inspiration for them both; Nancy spends
half the year at her olive oil-producing property
in Tuscany…and Sara, of course, when she’s
not blowing us away stateside with porchetta
sandwiches, is a frequent visitor. Spring 2015
brought Nancy’s book, Virgin Territory, which is
perhaps the best, most readable, most
informative cover-to-cover coverage of olive oil
ever printed. If you want to know more than the
usual about everyone’s favorite culinary
lubricant—and if you want it told lucidly—you
must add this book to your collection. About a
third of the book is the story of olive oil—
growing, farming, production—narrated by one
who does it every season. Then Nancy switches
into cookbook mode, giving us over 100 great
olive-oil-centric recipes, broken into the usual
categories: soups, pasta, seafood, sauces, etc.
Many are Italian-esque, and basic—like the
Roast Chicken with Olive Oil (based on ideas of
the legendary Elizabeth David); but some
wander into other areas…such as Elizabeth
Minchilli’s “Vaguely Middle Eastern” Eggplant
Salad, and Nancy’s North African Seafood
Tagine. For an even wider range of recipes, I’d
recommend grabbing a copy of the motherdaughter collaboration on pasta coming out in
October—a subject that’s certainly an obsession
for the whole family. The “Four Seasons”
structure doesn’t do much for me—I’ll cook
“summer” pasta” in winter, if I want it!—but I
love the recipes in this book, and their informative
headnotes. When Nancy and Sara disagree, it’s
especially entertaining…and enlightening! The
terrific recipe for Pasta alla Carbonara tells us
how Sara and Nancy each, in her and her
idiosyncratic ways, departs from Roman tradition
in making this dish. A great read, and great food.
None of these should intimidate even the most
middle of the middle-of-the-road Americans. The
ingredients are readily available, the recipes are
simple and easy to follow, and there’s a finished
dish photo for almost every recipe (which is
always so helpful when the food is unfamiliar).
Benares by Atul Kochhar (Absolute
Press, London and New York, 2015,
$50)
The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the
Beautiful Island by Cathy Erway
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston,
New York, 2015, $30)
OK, let’s get real here: the food of Taiwan is vastly
under-appreciated by Americans…many of
whom don’t know what distinguishes it from
Cantonese food, or Sichuan food, or Shanghai
food, or…horrors!…Chinese food! Taiwan is its
own country, has its own fascinating immigration
history…and, most important, is considered by
serious gastronomic travelers as one of the best
eating destinations on earth! Author and food
writer Cathy Erway taps into her mother’s heritage
with this much-needed book, and does a
fantastic job of presenting her birthright cuisine.
I love the introductory material, from history, to
people, to ingredients. I looked right away to see
if there’s a section on Taiwan’s most distinctive
ingredient—stinky tofu!—and of course there is.
The breakdown of recipes is pretty straightforward,
but includes many exciting dishes—such as
Dried Radish Omelet, Taiwanese Beef Noodle
Soup (a classic), and Taiwanese Grilled Corn.
Had I not been to the magical one-star restaurant
Benares in London, I might have found this
beautiful book a little too beautiful upon looking
it over—a little too high-end in its recipes
for someone like me who really appreciates
traditional Indian cooking. However, it’s easy to
get past that prejudice once you’ve tasted
Kochhar’s food—a cheffy cuisine that nevertheless
rarely betrays the very Indian base of its flavors.
This book is an excellent road map to the
restaurant. I adored the sparkling pickles,
chutneys and chaats at Benares, of which there
are many in this book. I loved the more traditional
food—and this book contains great recipes for
kormas, tandooris, plus a spectacular Goan-style
stuffed mackerel (recheado). Perhaps most
striking during my Benares lunch was the way
Kochhar “chameleons” his way into the London
scene—by creating a type of Anglo-Indian fusion!
There’s a great deal of game in this book,
obviously created with British game in mind (do
they have grouse in India? maybe—they once
had a lot of Brits!) There’s a wild mushroom
kedgeree, a dish we associate with finnan haddie
and Britain…but, as Kocchar explains, was
converted by the English from the Indian dish
kichri! And then of course there’s the meat
pies…such as a brilliant Chicken Tikka Masala
Pie with Wild Berry Compote! Photographs are
beautiful—lots of colorful plates built from dabs
of this and that—and it’s an exciting volume even
if you’re only leafing through it. But anyone with
access to good Indian spices will not find the
plate overly challenging. However, it might be a
good idea to reduce each plate to one or two
components—since Kochhar does have a
tendency to overcomplicate his dishes.
Peru: The Cookbook by Gastón Acurio,
(Phaidon Press, New York, London,
2015, $49.95)
There is a reason I’m high on this rather flawed
book. We’ve been hearing the mantra for years
now: Peru, Peru, Peru is going to be the next
global restaurant sensation! So has it happened?
I think not. And that’s why I’m so happy to see
this book in our stores, written by Peru’s most
famous chef; finally we get to check out Peruvian
cuisine, without looking for all those Peruvian
restaurants that aren’t opening! That said…this is
not a very well-done cookbook. There are many
ingredients (particularly Peruvian chiles) that
you won’t be able to find. Some ingredient
designations are baffling (the “Lamb Intestine
Chaque Soup” calls for “squash”…what kind of
squash?). The lack of headnotes is embarrassing
(why give us a recipe for “Trujillo-Style Ceviche”…
if you don’t tell us what “Trujillo-Style” means?).
The somewhat grainy photos are occasionally
helpful…but the feeling of “quality” ain’t there.
So…why do I recommend you get this book?
Simply because I love the look of the recipes as I
scan them. Acurio may be a big modern
restaurant maven…but the recipes feel very
homey, mama-ish to me. I am tempted to cook
my way deeply into traditional Peruvian food with
this book…despite the bumps…and I think you
will be too.
Zahav: A World of Israeli
Cooking by Michael
Solomonov and Steven
Cook, (Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, Boston, New York,
2015, $29.99)
Another cuisine getting lots of
global attention is Israeli cuisine, a
melting pot of Middle Eastern,
Mediterranean, and North African
influences (with some European
Ashkenazi thrown into the mix!). No
single American chef has gotten
more attention in this genre than
Michael Solomonov, born in Israel, winner of the James Beard Award in
2011 for his work at restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia. And now…the
cookbook! And…it was worth waiting for! With recipes that jump off the
page as the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi do from his smash series of books,
Zahav posts page after page of creations that make you say “I must try
this!” and “I bet there’s incredible flavor in that!” Here’s a sampling of titles:
Sweetbreads Wrapped in Chicken Skin with Black Garlic Tehina; Baked
Mozzarella “Kibbe” with Freekah and Green Peas; Fried Cauliflower with
Herbed Labneh (one of the big hits in Philly). Most of it is cheffy-creative,
but there are great basics too (like Israeli Pickles, Traditional Tabbouleh,
and Chopped Liver with Gribenes). Absorbing additional information on
Solomonov’s journey, the food of Israel, and “issues”—such as the sidebar
entitled “What Kosher Means to Me” (which includes the lines: “I’ll be
honest. I’m eating a bacon cheeseburger as I write this.”)
Nopi by Yotam Ottolenghi
and Ramael Scully (Ten
Speed Press, Berkeley,
2015, $40)
And the master of the Modern
Middle Eastern genre, whose first
five cookbooks created a nearpublishing-empire, is bringing forth
#6 this fall: Nopi, which is the
name of Ottolenghi’s fine-dining
restaurant in London. And that’s
exactly the direction of this book:
cheffier, higher-level food than
you’ll find in the initial quintet
(such as Jerusalem.) More complex
and more “restaurant”-like. But
Ottolenghi never loses his special style; when you cook “with” him you’re
always encouraged to make your own adaptations, to make every recipe
“your” recipe. Here’s what I’m itching to make mine from the new book:
Steamed Haddock with Sesame Bagna Cauda and Lacinato Kale; Tuna
Skewers with Coconut Mochi Cakes and Carrot and Yuzu Salad; Roasted
Pork Belly with Crushed Butternut Squash and Apple and Walnut Salsa;
Farro Pudding with Caramelized Orange, Tahini, and Pistachios. Trust this
man; everyone loves cooking his recipes.
Mexico From the Inside Out
by Enrique Olvera (Phaidon,
London, New York, 2015,
$59.95)
Here’s what I worry about when I
think of young, hot-shot chefs: that
they grew up watching foofy food
being made on TV. I worry that THAT
is their model, that they haven’t had
“normal” childhoods. When I heard
about Enrique Olvera, the glam
young chef of Pujol in Mexico City—
now the 16th best restaurant in the
world, according to the San
Pellegrino list of 50—that was my
fear, exactly. Happily, when I
received an advance copy of his
book, Mexico from the Inside Out
(it will be published this fall), I realized that when it comes to Enrique I’ve
got nothin’ to worry about. Now, don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t mean
this book is your recipe guide to classic Mexican food; in fact, it’s about a
million miles from that. The first half of the book, called “Pujol,” is loaded
with outrageously creative wack, and you probably won’t be tempted to
make any of it: Baby Corn with Chicatana Ants, Coffee, and Chile Costeño
Mayonnaise; Lobster Taco, Vallodolid Longaniza, Beans, and Hoja Santa
Tortilla; Parsnip Ice Cream with Amaranth, Queso Añejo, and Sweet
Tomato Salad. You probably won’t be able to make most of it, because the
ingredients themselves are so wack. But Olvera shows us, over and over
again, that these high-flying eccentricities don’t appear out of a void. This
first part of the book organizes the recipes into four categories: From
Tradition, From the Street, From the Ground, and From the Inside. Yes,
each recipe has a gorgeous three-star restaurant photograph of the plated
dish…but more important is the flood of photos surrounding these dishes
that are earthy, messy, street-y TO THE MAX, practically shockingly so.
Olvera never forgets where he came from…and he has me convinced that
he came from somewhere. Then it gets even better for the home chef; in
Part B—Vice Versa, Enrique’s Other Side—we get a concerto of real
Mexican food, with down-home recipes to die for: Veracruz Fish Ceviche;
Tamales; Mussel Tostada; and a food truck Pombazo (Mexican sandwich)
that will stop you in your tracks. Not to mention killer guides to Mexican
ingredients and Mexican dishes. Thirty years ago, chefs were churning
out these high-end vanity books without including their roots; I get the
feeling that Olvera would be embarrassed to write a book like that without
revealing his. It is a thrilling book, and a powerful message to us all.
Bien Cuit: The Art of Bread by
Zachary Golper (with Peter
Kaminsky) (Regan Arts, New
York City, 2015, $60)
Let me make it clear from the outset:
this is not a cookbook for everyone.
Making a good loaf of bread is always
harder than that simple loaf sitting on
the bakery counter would seem to
suggest. Bien Cuit, while being a
gorgeous book, manages to prove
that…yes, it IS that difficult. Regardless,
if you’re one who is inspired by bread-
making…and all things gluten…you’ll love this book, whether you just
inhale the carbs through reading, or if you actually work through the
book. (Another good reason to buy the book, if you’re a New Yorker, is to
discover the secrets behind the amazing loaves baked at Bien Cuit in
Brooklyn.) Wisely, the authors lead off with a technique section…and a
fine one, at that. It is broken into such basics as stretching, rolling,
tucking, shaping a round loaf…and even shaping bialys! But there’s so
much more in the recipes themselves. Zachary Golper’s round, mahoganydark 60 Hour Sourdough Loaf is the best American version of “miche”
that I know. Quirkiness lives side-by-side with tradition; the authors’ take
on Pane Pugliese involves real potatoes, there’s a scrumptious Autumn
Maple Rye, and an unusual Bourbon Bread. All make your mouth water
and wish for nothing more in life than a warm slice with soft salted butter.
The rest of us will just have to continue being regulars at their Brooklyn
bakery…until someone gifts us very precise ovens, proofing baskets and
a baking peel.
Cookie Love: 60 Recipes
and Techniques for Turning
the Ordinary into the
Extraordinary by Mindy
Segal with Kate Leahy (Ten
Speed Press, Berkeley,
2015, $24.99)
Chicago’s Bucktown is home to
Hot Chocolate, the James-BeardAward-winning domaine of Mindy
Segal…who has now shared her
cookie recipes with all of us in this
year’s Cookie Love. After trying a
few recipes, I could see immediately what all the fuss is about: delicious
results, step-by-step guides, great ingredients and a notable lack of
pretense. Even her structure strikes me as wise, and educational: Drop
Cookies, Shortbread, Sandwich Cookies, Egg White Cookies, Spritz &
Thumbprints, Twice-Baked Cookies, Rugelach & Kolachke, and Bars.
Cookies range from the very traditional (my associate editor, an avid
baker, called Segal’s chocolate chip cookies “the new standard”), to the
amusingly creative (Blueberry Jam Kolachkes with Orange Blossom
Almonds). Fabulous background material for cookie-baking freaks at the
end of the book (Basics, My Cookie Pantry, Tools of the Trade, Tricks of
the Trade). There are other cookie books this year that are too damned
complicated, and not thoroughly reliable; I say the smart cookie money
goes to Mindy.
Gluten-Free Girl American
Classics Reinvented by
Shauna James Ahern with
Daniel Ahern (Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, Boston,
New York, 2015, $29.99)
The gluten-free craze has some
folks in America quaking in their
boots, afraid to take a bite out of
good ol’ apple pie. At first I thought
this fad may be short-lived, but now
I see that its reach goes much further than expected. So...since glutenfree cooking is a big part of today’s landscape...I pored over the current
crop of gluten-free cookbooks, even testing the key recipes of each
(because what do I know from gluten-free recipes?) My conclusion: For
those of you who must eat wheat-free…or think you must!…the latest
cookbook from the James Beard award-winning Gluten-Free Girl (Ahern
herself), called American Classics Reinvented, is the one to buy. First off,
many of Ahern’s recipes include her own product, Gluten-Free AllPurpose Flour Blend—which you can buy on GlutenFreeGirl.com! It
recalls some kind of 1950s arrangement: you bought the toy, now buy the
accessories! Or…she gives you the recipe for the master blend in the
book! The ingredients (like Sweet Rice Flour) aren’t so easy to find…but
we persisted, made the basic recipe, and found it a very good flour
substitute. We tried it in both savory and sweet applications. Our savory
test included coating and frying eggplant slices with the flour (while we
coated other eggplant slices with another gluten-free flour, and a third
batch with regular glutinous flour). Gluten-Free Girl’s flour performed very
much like the glutinous flour...it browned at a similar rate, and had a
consistent texture across the slice. It was definitely the crispiest of the
three, in a kind of un-flour-like way…but it was at least as tasty as the
glutinous flour. Our sweet test was also successful; the cookbook’s Dutch
Baby recipe (a kind of pancake with a crust) was an eggy and fluffy
triumph, with a golden perimeter of flaky crust. I look forward to testing a
wide range of other things from the book: Soft Pretzels, Pizza Dough, and
Pecan Pie…after I make a plain old pizza with 000 flour this weekend!
But I’m pretty sold on the book’s value to those who want that value!
Lastly, we were not able to get our hot little hands on advance copies of
every food book coming out in Fall 2015. And so…here’s a list of the titles
we expect to rock. Please note that the description of the books is taken
from the publishers’ advance publicity:
Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes will be the debut
cookbook from Peter Meehan and the Editors of Lucky Peach, and
will focus on bold, “craveworthy” Asian dishes with gorgeous photos.
My Pantry by Alice Waters will be making and using your everyday
stored provisions (pickles, preserves, etc.) in simple recipes. The
book will be filled with drawings from Alice’s daughter, Fanny.
Brodo by Marco Canora aka the man who brought us last year’s
bone broth trend. This book will bring the recipes for his delicious
broths to the masses…including a “mini-cleanse regimen.”
Laura in the Kitchen by Laura Vitale, the host of YouTube’s #1
cooking show, will include over 100 simple Italian-American
recipes. This is geared towards more beginner chefs as it talks
about “getting more comfortable in the kitchen.”
Lucky Rice by Danielle Chang, the founder of the Lucky Rice
Festival, will include 100 original recipes based on contemporary
Asian cuisine.
Slow Fires: Mastering New Ways to Braise, Roast, and Grill by
Justin Smillie, the chef behind New York City’s Upland, will delve
into “the philosophy of heat.”
Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix will use visuals to help home cooks
mix and match flavors.
My Kitchen Year will be Ruth Reichl’s part-memoir, part-cookbook
about how she dealt with life after Gourmet’s closing.
2
For Christmas Morning:
THE BEST PANETTONE AND
PANDORO IN THE LAND!
Panettone
I
Pandoro
did not grow up with panettone (the great domed sweet bread) on
Christmas morning…but the family I married into in 1983 would not
celebrate the day without it! Of course, I fell in love with it right away…as
have many other Americans in the last 30 years.
Panettone has one famous northern Italian rival: pandoro, which is a
symbol of Verona. Some people prefer pandoro; it is star-shaped (a pretty
spectac look), taller, yellower (made with more egg yolks), lighter in texture,
more buttery, and usually devoid of any extra flavors.
The tradition itself is from long ago and far away. Milan is the epicenter…in
fact, panettone for centuries has been a symbol of the city. It’s a big hunka
cake: 4½ to 6½-inches high, usually 7-9-inches in diameter. It is meant to
serve a big family on Christmas morning. My in-laws used to cut it in slices,
which they proceeded to sauté in butter, like French toast. Deliciosa!
For this article, we started tasting a wide range of panettones and pandoros
that were baked in Italy for Christmas 2014. Most of the tasting was
conducted at Christmastime 2014…but we were amazed that the ones we
got a few months later still had a springy freshness and moisture. The
cakes baked for Christmas 2015 are just starting to come into the market
now; I trust that they will be similar to the 2014 models.
Today, it’s a sensation all over the world…with Italian bakers shipping their
panettones in the fall to many global destinations. It is the nature of the
yellow, fluffy interior to stay moist over many months, making such autumnal
commerce possible.
Panettone, today, comes in many “flavors.” Most typically, it contains raisins,
lemon zest, and candied orange. As you’ll see below, savvy producers are
seducing the international market (and their modern domestic market) with
many other options. Some people like panettone best when it’s plain, with no
fruit added; if you want that, you can also find a plain panettone.
In the following tasting notes I’m mixing together plain panettones, flavored
panettones, and pandoros. I’m including only the top six out of the
approximately 50 I tasted. No reason to consider any others! The order is
my order of preference (crosswise across the page). Note that I’ve rated the
first two products five stars PLUS:
HHHHH+
Acetaia Leonardi Panettone al
Balsamico/Panettone with Balsamic
Glaze ($55)
This was the most thrilling Christmas bread on the
tasting table! I’m not necessarily into the extras…
but the brown goop inside this baby was so
delicious! And kept the whole creation so
seductively moist! There’s a lovely basic cake
flavor underneath—and the acid of the balsamic
vinegar keeps it all light and refreshing. If you’re
shopping for a 2015 panettone—go with this one!
(Not surprisingly, it is imported by Manicaretti in
San Francisco—one of the importers we selected
as “top three” in America in the December 15,
2014 Rosengarten Report!)
HHHHH+
HHHHH
Bardi il Panettone d’Autore
($29.99)
DiCamillo Panettone Piemontese ($36)
At the same level of excellence is this
panettone, brought in by Corti Brothers,
another great California house. Very tall, 9inches, with a very even light-brown exterior,
and a pretty yellow fluff on the inside. Studded
with raisins on the outside, backed up with big
pieces of fruit inside. Wonderfully soft and
melty, sort of like a fresh doughnut in texture.
Great eggy background, and an intoxicating
liquor taste. Another stellar choice.
They are making panettone outside of Milan
these days…this one from Piemonte, in Italy’s
northwest! On the short side (4½-inches high),
and with the high-quality paper of a first-rate
muffin. Crackly golden top, stuffed with almonds
and sugar flakes. Sweet, rich and dense, shot
through with a flavor that combines orange peel
and liqueur.
DiCamilloBakery.com
Best strategy for acquisition: CortiBrothers.com
Best strategy for acquisition: MarketHallFoods.com
HHHHH
Loison Pandoro Zabaione Cream
($39.99)
The dull, even-brown outer look belies the
excitement that lies within this big, big boy—
8½-inches high, 7¾-inches across at the
bottom. Crenellated on the sides, as pandoro
always are. Very springy and moist even without
the internal swirls of zabaglione (spelled
“zabaione” in local Veronese dialect). But add
the sweet, Marsala-y custard to your bite…and
this tall cake lifts off like a rocket!
Best strategy for acquisition: CortiBrothers.com
HHHHH
HHHHH
Rulli Panettone Paradiso ($36)
Surprisingly large for a panettone (9½-inches high,
9½-inches across the bottom! A huge, imposing
dome)—but this treat is stuffed with all kinds of extras.
I like the look of the top, which is intricate and
complicated, like a map of another planet. Cut a slice
and there’s a lovely, grainy smell, like whole wheat
bread! Light and fairly moist sponge, with great crunch
on the outside. Subtle Valrhona chocolate, walnuts
and golden raisins all come to the party—which, with
its fairly low sweetness, is actually a party for adults!
Rustichella d’Abruzzo, Panettone
Classico ($34.95)
And, lastly, here’s my top choice for a plain
panettone—also imported by Manicaretti in
San Francisco! Rather small (6-inches by
4-inches), with a sticky feel. This one, with its
brown-yellow crumb, is perhaps the moistest
and fattiest of all the panettones and pandoros
we tasted. Nice air holes!
MarketHallFoods.com
Best strategy for acquisition: RulliStore.com
You should be all set…but in case you can’t find ‘em, here are five more excellent cakes:
Albertengo Panettone
Tradizionale ($34.95)
Flamigni Fig & Chocolate
Panettone ($43.99)
GauchoGourmet.com
ChefShop.com
Loison Panettone
all’Amarena/Cherry
Panettone ($35.79)
Traditional Pandoro
Pasticceria Biasetto Veneto ($75)
Rulli La Veneziana, with
Candied Orange Peel and
Almond Paste ($39.50)
CortiBrothers.com
Gustiamo.com
RulliStore.com
DAVID’S WINE RATING SYSTEM
We have discovered that wines rated highly in
most wine rating systems are not consistently
compatible with food. We have also observed
that poorly rated wines, despite their deficiencies, can come alive when served with food. An
enormous, tannic red for example, might merit
95 out of 100, but it will be difficult to find a food
that goes well with this wine. A light, acidic white
might merit only 75 out of 100, but the wine will
go well with, and even be improved by, many different dishes. We believe that a combined wine
& food rating is the only sensible solution to this
rating dilemma.
Wines are rated on a 100-point scale:
95-100 extraordinary
90-94 exceptional
85-89 excellent
80-84 very good
75-79 good
70-74 fair
60-69 flawed or boring
50-59 seriously flawed
The best wines (those rated 90 or above) do not
necessarily go best with food. So, each wine also
receives a food rating, based on an A-B-C-D-F
scale, to show how flexible the wine is with food:
Yes, Virginia…
There IS a
Cabernet
Sauvignon!
S
ome of us Americans like drinking American red wine at Thanksgiving time, and into the
holidays. Me, well, I’ll never turn down a Beaujolais Nouveau with a turkey…but I do have my
own little tradition of surprising my guests on Thanksgiving with USA wine that’s not a cliché.
Boy, have I got a great red surprise for this year!
Most American wine geeks, of course, look to California when it comes to stars and stripes and
grapes. But there has been buzz for years about other wine-growing states. Oregon gets lots of
attention, rightly so. Washington State as well—again, rightly so. New York is now climbing the
respectability pole (far too late, in my opinion!). And there is a good deal of attention paid to the state
with which you must not mess: Texas.
Beyond that, among American wine geeks—even geeks!—there is only the rare bottle opened here
and there from the other 45 states (though ALL of the states grow grapes and make wine!).
This fall, I have a candidate for the next State of the State state:
Virginia.
A: An exceptionally flexible wine, that will
go well with most dishes.
B: A flexible wine, that will go well with many
dishes.
C: An even bet for food; exercise some caution.
D: A difficult wine for food.
F: An exceptionally difficult wine for food.
We then combine the wine rating and the
food rating.
For example:
A rich red wine that receives 95D: A wine of
exceptional interest, but a difficult wine for food.
You can count on it to go poorly with many of
the dishes that you would expect to marry well
with rich reds (e.g. roasts, steaks, game in dark
sauces, spicy stews, etc.).
A light white wine that receives a 75A: An average wine, but an exceptionally flexible wine that
you can count on to go well with most dishes
that you would expect to marry well with light
white wines (e.g. raw shellfish, simple fish
preparations, salads, etc.).
Every wine has its ideal food mate somewhere.
A wine rated D or even F will go beautifully with
something—just don’t expect it to go beautifully
with many things.
The food rating is a measure of widespread
adaptability for foods that you might reasonably
expect to go with this kind of wine.
Note: Food ratings may change with time. A
tough, young Bordeaux may be a D today and a
B in five years. A simple white may lose its bright
fruit with time and go from a B to D. We’ll keep
you posted.
Now, I’ve been tasting wine from Virginia for at least 25 years.
To anyone who has been paying attention, Virginia wine is not
a newcomer. I think old TJ himself grew some vines in the
18th century!
But I must confess…though I’ve visited Virginia wine country
several times, I’d never been truly impressed.
Whites seemed on the big side and reds
seemed clunky—without the stuffing or
complexity to support even an iota of clunk.
But dear President Jefferson…I have now
seen the light over the Potomac!
My epiphany came in a box I received in
June from the Virginia Wineries Association.
It contained the twelve highest scoring
Virginia wines from an annual Virginia
event called The VWA Governor’s Cup
Competition. An impressive array of
judges sifted through almost 400 Virginia
wines, finally reaching the crème de la
crème dozen.
And here they were, at my office. Ten of
them were reds, so I got the message that
maybe Virginia is starting to focus.
At my subsequent tasting…wow! I found that I
loved the style of these modern Virginia reds!
They are generally not as rich as California reds…
which, to me, is a very good thing. Balance, lack of
heat, lack of astringency…me like! A bewitching
aroma of cherries and raspberries hovers over all. Lots of
good acid (possibly added acidity) seemed to seal the
deliciousness deal in almost every case. Make no mistake,
however: these are not as complex as similarly priced
Bordeaux, the closest analogue. Fine with me: in my world,
just easiness and yumminess and compatibility with food can
trump complexity!
The wines mostly use Bordeaux grape varieties, but there are
a few varietal surprises.
Without any further ado, my top six Virginia reds…this eyeopening group constituting one of the great finds of 2015!
92A
2012 Catoctin Creek Winery,
Meritage ($26)
This winery, not too far from Washington
D.C., was only founded in 2009—a great
representative of the new generation of Virginia
winemakers! The grapes for this wine—25%
Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Petit Verdot
(which seems to have a lot of acreage
in Virginia), 30% Merlot and 20%
Cabernet Franc—were grown in
Loudoun County. Medium-dark,
filled-in purple garnet. Gorgeous
nose: subtle, with lots of classic
Bordeaux AND Napa elements
seemingly blended together. The fruit is ripe, but there’s
citrus to command your attention, and, for me, the perfect
touch of varietal greenness. Wow! Delicious wine for food!
Great acid with a meaty/cherry-like cushion around it. Tight
and elegant, right down to the gentle finish. This is a truly
great value. Name yer platter, gents! Catoctin Creek Winery,
120 W. Main Street, Purcellville, VA, 540.751.8404
91C
2010 Jefferson Vineyards,
Meritage ($59.95)
This is big-deal, oak-aged Virginia stuff—as you
can tell by the serious, deep-punted bottle, and
the TH JEFFERSON signature across the front!
Merlot (45%), Cabernet Franc (29%), Cabernet
Sauvignon (13%) and Petit Verdot (13%), grown
near Charlottesville, are the components of this
Meritage blend. Dark-ish garnet, just turning a
little orange at the rim with five years of age.
Nevertheless, beautiful nose with a mix of
young red fruit, jam, chocolate, and a touch
of tertiary earth. Sweet attack, with rather rich
and bouncy fruit, exactly on that midcontinuum ’tween Bordeaux and California, a
little less spryly acidic than the Catoctin. The
finish brings even more hints of game and
earth, along with a noticeable scrape of
tannin. Should be fine with grilled meats.
Jefferson Vineyards, 1353 Thomas Jefferson Parkway,
Charlottesville, VA 434.977.3042
90B
2013 Cross Keys Vineyard, Touriga
($45.99)
Well, here’s a surprise: a Virginia red wine made from the
rock-star grape of the Douro Valley in Portugal! And it’s
delicious! Now, in the Douro, for centuries, Touriga Nacional
has been the chief grape behind Port, the fortified dessert
wine…and in the last twenty years has been used a lot there
for making big, dry reds. This Virginia Touriga is neither a
sweet, fortified wine…nor a big red. But it is closer to the
latter. It starts off dark enough: quite purple, with a touch of
brown. There is a good degree of ripeness on
the nose, with pretty notes of black cherry…as
well as the cocoa-chocolate hints that could
indicate time in oak. And…the attack on the
palate is sweet. But then…everything goes
non-Douro!! Mid-palate, it narrows into
something sleek, dry and elegant. Delicious
calibration: more balanced than most dry
Douro reds! Good acid, just enough sweet
fruit, a touch of astringency. Cross Keys
Vineyard, 6011 E. Timber Ridge, Mt. Crawford,
VA 540.234.0505
90B
Monticello, Charlottesville, VA
86C
2009 Muse Vineyards, Clio, Shenandoah
Valley Red Wine ($65)
Big numbers on this one (in addition to the dollar total): high
alcohol (almost 15%), high residual sugar…and it spent three
years in French oak barrels, half of them new. The varietal
composition, percentage-wise, is not exactly typical Bordeaux:
25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot,
25% Petit Verdot. But all of the grapes are from the standard
Bordeaux playbook. Did it all work? One of the darker, muddier
wines in the tasting (it is the oldest, which could help explain its
murky look). Hints of blackberry-raspberry jam on the nose, as
well as notes of tertiary leather. Medium body, good ripe flavors,
moderate astringency and structure. A serviceable grilled meat
wine. For me, not the blockbuster I assume they were trying to
create. The judges did not entirely agree with me: this wine was
the winner of the 2015 Governor’s Cup. Muse Vineyards, 16
Serendipity Lane, Woodstock, VA 540.459.7033
85B
2010 Narmada Winery, Yash-Vir,
Red Table Wine ($28)
Narmada is set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The
Indian winemaker, a doctor, moved from Mumbai nearly 40 years
ago and has lived in Virginia ever since. He’s making a Merlot
here, essentially; almost half of the grapes used are Merlot. I like
his style! Very bright garnet in the glass. Appealingly low-key redfruit nose, comforting in its straightforwardness. Touch of cocoa
and spice as well. Light-ish, compact, clean and refreshing wine
for food. Good acid, and a short, gentle finish. For those who prize
subtlety. Narmada Winery, 43 Narmada Lane, Amissville, VA
540.937.8215
85D
2013 Michael Shaps Wineworks,
Tannat ($20)
Just the opposite kind of wine…but at a similar
quality plateau. Merlot is known for softness; ain’t
no Merlot in here! It is 100% Tannat, the grape of
stiff Madiran in southwest France…and, today, the
star of the emerging wine industry in Uruguay. In
the glass, it’s a very young, dark purple. Ripe,
jammy nose, toasty, with a touch of white truffle.
Fat, chunky wine, a little hot and astringent. Seems
like they went for a really big and “important”
wine…then balanced it with a bunch of added
acidity. Tricky for food…but if you like your wine to
have big bones, this may appeal. A few big bones
from a grilled rib-eye wouldn’t hurt! Also made near
Charlottesville, like the Jefferson Vineyards
Meritage…outsized reds from this microclimate?
Michael Shaps Wineworks, 1781 Harris Creek
Way, Charlottesville, VA 434.296.3438 n
Coming in
December
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SpECIFIC TASTINg NOTES FOR NACIONAL

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