Many people think of giving everything up to follow their dream. Very few, however, end up taking the plunge. This is the story of Ray Walker who had a secure career in finance until he took a wine-tasting vacation which ignited a passion for wine that he couldn't stifle. Now the interesting part of the story is that unlike most wine lovers who develop their passion over many years, Ray Walker could not be bothered about wine and actually could not really see the point or stand snobbish behaviour related to wine. But once the wine bug hit during a tasting of Burgundy wines, he could not get away from it and pursued his dream taking huge risks and sacrificing family life. Not speaking French, he took the plunge by watching TV or reading old books trying to learn the techniques of wine making and the language and daydreaming about what it would be like to create his own wine. He quits his job and gets his hands dirty with some winemakers in California before heading to France … [Read more...]
What I enjoyed reading this week (9)
As the summer holiday for me comes to a close and I start to prepare mentally for the winter schedule (with the weather and temperature already going down in Belgium), I find that the days start to get shorter but you get to find more time somehow for reading particularly on the longer evenings. I am currently midway through a book about Burgundy wine written by an American who followed his dream leaving a job in finance to start making wine in France. The book reads very well and I will review it once I finish it probably sometime next week. For those interested the name of the book is The Road to Burgundy, The Unlikely story of an American making wine and a new life in France. In the meantime as is usual here are some articles which i enjoyed reading this week. Hope you enjoy and have a great start to September. There is no such thing as a free lunch and this is the perfect rant. It is unfortunately in Italian but well worth going through it because it explains how important … [Read more...]
Book review: Palmento – A Sicilian Wine Odyssey (At table)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvw_KkmVFWU#t=24 As the holiday season in Europe slowly starts to come to an end, one starts to think of the cooler months but also about what books to read to remind oneself of the summer. Palmento, A Sicilian Wine Odyssey has been earmarked as one of my summer reads after I read Corkscrewed by Robert V. Camuto about wines in France (I will review the book later). But I can imagine myself reading this book on a cold winter evening, with the rain knocking on the windows maybe with a glass of wine to accompany the reading. In fact, I am sure that this coming winter, I will come back to read this book given I have rarely read a book so beautifully written about the subject of wine, the region and its people. Now, I may be biased because as you may have seen, my interest in wine more than 15 years ago came from the discovery of Sicilian wine and its many facets. As the author itself wrote, Goethe wrote in the eighteenth century "To have seen … [Read more...]
What I enjoyed reading this week (8)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1UDS2kgqY8 A week without internet last week relaxing on the island of Gozo was an excellent way of winding down but meant that the 'What I enjoyed reading this week" series of articles got interrupted. You can therefore find a few interesting finds from last week as well as some from this week here. Michel Roux Jr is no longer the presenter for the next series of Masterchef on BBC. This is a pity because he was an integral part of the show. Nevertheless, renowned British chef Marcus Wareing, who has been featured many times during past Masterchef editions and who is known for seeking perfection takes over. Here he is interviewed by the Financial Times. An interesting read about wine pairing rules which no longer seem to work and where therefore versatile wines are key. Foodiva is the sister of a very good friend of ours with a great food blog on the Dubai scene. Being Cypriot, her culinary guide to Cyprus is not only mouthwatering but it … [Read more...]
Lord Chambray – Malta’s first artisanal beer
Craft or artisanal beer has taken the beer scene by storm worldwide. Craft breweries are opening and beer lovers are slowly starting to move from the commercial beers to microbreweries. Even in countries where beer does not have such a tradition, the rise of artisan beers has been astonishing. The concept of an artisanal beer is different and once you get accustomed to the taste it is not easy to return to a commercially brewed beer. Living in Belgium means that I get to taste many great craft beers all with different flavours and styles. But it is also exciting to discover that this new trend has reached the country where I was born and lived for most of my life. Malta is therefore following in this trend thanks to an Italian family, with a love for Gozo, who have invested money to launch the country's first artisanal beers. When I read about Lord Chambray a few weeks ago I knew that this was a very important development for Malta and Gozo particularly since Malta already … [Read more...]
Book review: Shadows in the vineyard – the true story of the plot to poison the world’s greatest wine
What kind of man the cellarer of the Monastery should be 1) As cellarer of the monastery should be chosen from the community, one who is sound in judgement, mature in character, sober, not a great eater, not self-important, not turbulent, not harshly spoken, not an off-putter, not wasteful. 2) but a God-fearing man, who will be a father to the whole community 3) He is to have charge of all affairs 10) He must regard the chattels of the monastery and its whole property as if they were sacred vessels of the altar (Chapter 31 of the Benedictine Rules, as posted in English inside the Burgundy's Abbey Notre Dame de Citeaux) So starts the book, Shadows in the Vineyard, the true story of the plot to poison the world's greatest wine. The author Maximillian Potter admits at the end of the book that when he came to write this story for a magazine and later turned it into a book, he knew very little about wine. This is all the more amazing because the book reads very well, has … [Read more...]
There is no such thing as a free lunch
If you only have 15 minutes to spare this weekend, you must watch the video reportage from The Guardian on poultry factories. Under the heading Revealed: the dirty secret of the UK's poultry industry, it shows disgusting scenes from chicken factories and suggests that two thirds of chickens sold in the UK are contaminated with campylobacter. The report suggests that although the bug is killed by thorough cooking, around 280,000 people in the UK are currently made ill each year by it and 100 people die. It suggests that the contamination rates are known to have increased in the past decade. My perspective of food changed completely after I read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It is since that summer of 2001 that I have never set foot again in a fast food chain. That book had a deep impact on how I viewed food. This new reportage in the Guardian just goes to prove that many years down the line, nothing has improved There are a few lessons to learn from this reportage. 1. … [Read more...]
Sestri Levante – a gem of a town in Liguria
Liguria has undoubtedly become one of our favourite regions if not the top destination. There is so much going for the region, it is by the sea, it has a stunning landscape, picturesque towns and seaside villages, fantastic cuisine and also hills and mountains in the backdrop which at times reach the sea making for a spectacular setting. Sestri Levante, formerly a fishing village just 50 kilometres away from Genova, is the holiday destination of the Milanesi. This town is both beautiful and full of life. It is a great place to laze about, walk up and down the carrugio or main street, sip an espresso in one of the many bars or relax with stunning sea views on the two sides of the town. The restaurants and bars are busy starting from the late afternoon serving aperitivi and nibbles, and the main street of Sestri is full of boutiques which remain open until late. Sestri Levante is a perfect base for discovering the wonders of Liguria. The most well known sites are the Cinque Terre … [Read more...]
Osteria Francescana – the pursuit of perfection
Italian chef Massimo Bottura is a genius who has brought Italian cuisine to a completely different level. If France is renowned for its obsession with classics and Spain is the culinary hub of innovation, Italy is steeped in tradition. It is a country which takes its critics seriously. I remember a football coach once saying that the country had 60 million football coaches. A chef, I am not sure if it was Bottura, once said that there are as many food critics. These food critics will obsess about whether any fish dish should be served with cheese (this is a taboo for many in Italy) and I can understand why. Italians shudder to think of mixing cheese with fish for example though there are some very minor exceptions. You can normally spot an authentic Italian pizzeria anywhere in the world by looking for their Pizza Marinara. If it has mozzarella, the chances are it is not run by Italians. Bottura, with his Osteria Francescana, however, plays in a different league. Having gone in … [Read more...]
Rene Redzepi (Noma) – breaking new ground
36-year-old Rene Redzepi is on top of the culinary world again after regaining top spot for his restaurant Noma in the World's 50 best restaurants. Yesterday he was in Gent to present his new book A Work in Progress which is part journal, part recipe book and a flick book. He gave an inspirational talk while reading parts of his journal which recounts the day-to-day life at Noma. I went thanks to our dear friends from Gent, Anna and Marteen of Villa Bardon. The stress to get there was probably worse than manning a station on a busy evening in a restaurant. The traffic to get out of Brussels was horrendous. Redzepi is one of few chefs who have managed to take food to a level of creativity that can inspire people. These chefs, like Adria, Bottura, Blumenthal and the Roca brothers have broken away from traditions while at the same time going back to the roots. They break taboos or preconceived ideas and perceptions. As he himself says, it would have been unimaginable 10 or 20 … [Read more...]