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Wine Region of the Month: Veneto

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Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2012

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Venezia, a city built into the sea, is like no other, haunted by the princes and poets of its noble past and by centuries of tourists. The cities of Padova, Vicenza, and Verona, originally frontier posts on the Roman trade route between Venezia and Genova, grew into Renaissance splendor and are marvels in their own right. In the 16th century, the region’s great architect Andrea Palladio worked throughout the area and his buildings are everywhere, in the cities and in the countryside. Nature exhibits its own marvels in the region, the spectacular Dolomite mountains in the north, the rolling Euganean hills in the south, vast Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, on the eastern border, and to the west, the Adriatic with its beaches and ports.

Today, Veneto is a thriving agricultural center, a lush land of vines, ranking third after Apulia and Sicily in wine volume but the first with classified DOC wines. There are three general areas of premium production: the western province of Verona in the hills between Lake Garda and the town of Soave, the central hills in the provinces of Vincenza, Padova, and Treviso, and the eastern plains of the Piave and Tagliamento river basins along the Adriatic coast northeast of Venezia.  Celebrations Wine Club specializes in this type of Italian wine club.

Verona is the leader in classified DOC wines and the site of Vinitaly, the largest wine trade fair in the world. A major part of the DOC wines in the region are Soave, Bardolino, and Valpolicella, a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. When young, Valpolicella is a full, fruity red, but when the grapes are partly dried, they are made into Amarone, one of Italy’s most noble wines. Bardolino is made from the same grapes as Valpolicella but is a lighter version. Similar to Soave, Bianco di Custoza is another DOC white as is LessiniDurello, a steely dry wine, usually sparkling.

The central hills produce whites similar to Soave as well as Tocai, the Pinots, Merlot, and Cabernet. Prosecco, a dry to lightly sweet white, is produced in the area as is the renowned Venegazzu, both usually sparkling.

The eastern plains have been dominated by Merlot and Cabernet Franc for decades, but the local red Raboso and white Verduzzo still have admirers. Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon, and Chardonnay are also gaining ground.

There’s been a pretty poor start to this year’s season. The recession bites hard, the weather sucks and everyone’s walking around in their empty restaurants speaking doom and gloom.
Right?
Well, yes in some cases and no in others actually. So what are the bars and restaurants doing it right, doing?
It’s a core truth that you can’t sell food and drink to people when there are no people around to sell it to. But it is also true that you can overlook the audience living on your own doorstep. The catering industry is, or it should be anyway, as much about delivering a regular and trusted service to local customers as it is about attracting tourists and holidaymakers.
Price is a key issue for many. Which is why, it seems to me, the two extreme ends of the spectrum are doing pretty well so far this year. Upmarket never changes because there are always people for whom the words “double dip recession” mean nothing. And low end should be doing better than ever, with more people squeezed out of the middle bracket where food and drink out of the house are a luxury.
With the middle market struggling, cheap and cheerful can be the way to go. The onus here is on the word “cheap”, which has two connotations. One: poor quality. The other: doesn’t cost very much for what it is. In other words a bargain.
Everyone’s out for a bargain at the best of times. Right now the low cost end of the catering market should be experiencing a boom it hasn’t seen in years.
Providing catering to locals, cheap in the good sense has a double ramification. If you’re selling good cheap food and providing a friendly atmosphere in which to eat it, you create regulars. Regulars promote your business on your behalf – taking friends and family in to eat with you and enthusing about you to colleagues.
Clearly one of the key things you need to get right in order to supply cheap and cheerful catering is the right commercial catering supplies. And that doesn’t just mean food. The bigger your overheads in terms of bowls, plates, cups and cutlery, the more you have to put on the price of each cover to maintain your margins.
Now is a great time to shed the excess weight of your business, trim it back down to the basics of great food, cleanly presented, in an environment that makes people feel welcome. Everything else is just bells and whistles. So let’s stop making noise and start making some profit again. Streamline your menu. Adjust your suppliers. And create, and retain, an audience who’ll stick with you through thick and thin.
 Lauren Aspall has worked in the catering industry for more than 10 years. He writes regularly on all matters hospitality – from commercial catering supplies to menu promotions.

Take a Big Wine Adventure with Fine Wine Merchants

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Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2012

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You don't have to have the budget and time to take a big wine adventure across France, Australia or America – you can do it all in the comfort of your living room when you purchase from fine wine merchants.

Finding a fine wine, whether it's for a gift, special occasion, or just for every day drinking can feel like a bit of a lottery. Unless you've dedicated time to undertaking a wine course, the chances are you've found a few grapes you love and you stick to the tried and tested brands. But you can buy wine online from specialist suppliers where you know every bottle will be a hit. Whether you want to buy wine online to collect and create your own cellar, or to send as a gift, or simply to stock up for your daily glass or before the party season kicks off, it couldn't be easier to take a wine adventure around the world in the comfort of your own home. By browsing dedicated wine suppliers you can buy wine online from Argentina to New Zealand. Whatever your budget, you'll be able to buy wine online at affordable prices direct to your door.

'I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food' - W C Fields

If you are eager to buy wine online, you can even find ready-made wine packages to impress your friends. You don't have to be a connoisseur to buy wine online. With options from specialist wine suppliers such as the 'ultimate dinner party' package, you can buy wine online that caters to every dinner party need with three bottles of Chilean Syrah and three bottles of white Mercurey Les Ormeaux from Burgundy.

'Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine' - Joan Collins

For investments for the next thirty years, or an investment in tomorrow, wine brings people together. And you don't need to feel intimidated wondering around wine shops like art galleries – you can take your time to choose the finest wines and buy wine online – delivered direct to your door. James May and Oz Clarke famously searched out the finest wines, travelling continents to track down the best wine in a journey that echoes the movie Sideways. Most of us can't afford to indulge in such trips of a lifetime, but it doesn't mean we can't buy the best wines from all over the world. It's possible to buy wine online and recreate your own wine adventure in your front room. Try the Corkers, blind wine tasting game – a wine tasting kit is delivered direct to your door, including six bottles of covered wine from different grapes and countries, a spitoon, scorecards and tasting notes.

Author: Vintage Roots is an online wine merchant providing expertly chosen organic wines from vineyards around the world. Some wines are for drinking now and others can be laid down for up to 30 years. To find out more, browse bottles from our online store.


If you are a seafood fan then there is one dish that you just have to try. It is easy to make, it is healthy and most importantly it tastes just great. This is the right royal king prawn stir fry.

Health
This dish should appeal to health-conscious folk as well as people who simply love good food, because it is full of fantastic ingredients that boost your system. There are loads of vegetables in this stir-fry and only fresh prawns, so there’s very little that isn’t good for you, a very much that is.

Taste
And now to the essential element: taste. Juicy king prawns sit throughout this dish and add a meaty, almost lobster-like flavour to the crisp stir-fried veg. The spices and flavourings added to this make this a meal that will make your taste buds tingle and have you begging for seconds.

Ingredients
Fresh, uncooked king prawns (as many as you like)
Root ginger
Lemon juice
3 bird’s eye chillies
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Black pepper
1 red onion, diced
2 carrots, finely chopped
Courgette
Garlic
Green beans
Noodles

Process
Dice and fry the onion in sesame oil, adding chillies and garlic into a wok. Once browned add the fresh prawns with the vegetables. Season with soy sauce and pepper and lemon juice and stir fry until prawns are a pinky orange colour. Finely grate root ginger into your cookware to balance the flavours and add an Eastern taste. Once your prawns are almost ready add noodles to a pan of boiling water and boil for a minute or so, until soft.

Then simply serve your meal in shallow bowls, with chopsticks if you want an authentic oriental feel to the dinner. You can also add extra soy sauce and pepper at this point if any further seasoning is required. It should be delicious and spicy though, and a right royal treat.

Making Your Own Beef Jerky

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Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2012

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Beef jerky makes a great snack that is nutritious, but it can be expensive if bought already prepared. However, the snack is cheaper if the beef jerky is made at home. Jerky makes a healthy food to use between meals to refuel the body. To get started, an individual will need a few items to make the beef jerky.

Items Needed to Make Jerky

Meat or beef cut into strips

Marinade

Resealable plastic bags

Sharp knife to cut up the meat

Baking pan

Dehydrator or oven The meat will be easier to cut in strips if it is placed in the freezer for a little while. This will make the meat firmer to cut or slice for the strips. Once the beef has been removed from the freezer, it will need to be cut lengthwise, and then cut it crosswise. The slices will need to be cut thin for the best results.

Marinades

The marinade can consist of many seasonings to give the jerky a special taste. The seasonings do not have to be expensive to taste good. Just experiment with different spices to achieve a desirable flavour. Some ingredients that can be used for marinades can include the following list. An individual can choose to use only one seasoning, or he or she can choose to mix several together to marinate the beef with to make the beef jerky.

Worcestershire sauce

Teriyaki sauce

Onion Powder

Garlic powder

Sugar

Chili powder

Mustard

Barbecue sauce

Lime juice The best method for marinating the beef is to place the strips of meat into a large bag that can be sealed closed, and then refrigerate the meat for several hours to a full day for the flavours to soak into the meat. To make the jerky, an individual can use a dehydrator, or he or she can use a cheaper alternative method. The alternative method involves using the oven that is already in most homes. The oven will be set at a low temperature to dry out the meat. The beef strips will be placed on the oven rack with a baking pan placed underneath to catch any drippings from the marinade. The meat will then be baked at a low setting of 200 degrees until it has a dry texture. The baking time varies according to the marinades and the meat. It could take less than an hour or a little over an hour to sufficiently dry out the meat.

The Final Product

Beef jerky is dry and seasoned beef that taste delicious. Homemade beef jerky has an excellent flavour and texture. With so many choices of seasonings, an individual will want to try them all. Make a batch or several to take camping or on a hike for a quick snack while on the go. It is easy to store and carry beef jerky on any trip. Beef jerky has been around for a long time, and it is still being used to make nutritious and healthy snacks for people everywhere.

Author Bio: Brock has been making his own beef jerky at home for the past 15 years. He sells small quantities at the local market but he can barely keep up with the demand.



The competition is always fierce among chefs and everyone tries hard to carve a niche for themselves. All the expert chefs around the world are known for some of their impeccable qualities that set them apart from thousands others in the culinary industry.
Long before becoming a chef, the cook?s main job is to work under the supervision of a head chef. A cook is expected to work with certain rules and regulations and undertake difficult jobs on his own rather than depending on the instructions sent by the chef. This skill is important to develop leadership and managerial skills in the cook.
Apart from many other pre-requisites to become a cook, there are top 5 qualities cooks must exhibit in order to start their career in cooking. These qualities are as follows:
1. Creativity
Creativity is a very important skill that a cook must possess. In order to bring taste, essence and wholesomeness to the food, a chef must be creative. Creativity helps to bring the best foods at the table that not only taste good but also look great. Creativity in a chef means that he should be creative enough to amalgamate recipes and create new ones with even better taste. Many cuisines in the world came into existence as a result of creativity and experimentation of some great chefs.
2. Attention to Minute Details
A winning cook pays attention to detail to whatever he is cooking. This skill also comes in handy when the cook is instructed to execute a task. Cooking is a skillful art and requires great attention and zest, so in short, a cook must work harder yet smarter.
3. Initiative Action
Taking an initiative to start work in kitchen is great. A cook is expected to deliver the utmost level of results while on the job because that is the nature of the job. A cook should be able to take decisions when the chef is not around. Moreover, it is also an incredible skill if a cook has the knack to take decisions on foreseen issues.
4. Passion to Learn and Execute
The will and passion to learn must never end up in a cook as it is the only way to grow in the job. When a cook learns with passion, he is likely to learn much more than what other chefs learn working without passion and commitment. Similarly, if the passion is sparking in a cook, he will never feel burdened to carry out a job no matter how minute it is.
5. Character Skills
Character skills refer to the kind of communication a cook maintains among peers, staff and customers with level-headedness. A cook is expected to deliver the best in terms of eloquence and etiquettes.
About the author: Andrew has been working in the hospitality industry for several years as a cook and then as a suzumo sushi equipment distributor. Andrew loves sharing his experiences online and hope others could benefit from them

Paris Cuisine

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Posted on Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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For lovers of good food and wine, there's no better place to visit than Paris, France. Hotel owners, residents and taxi drivers living in the French capital will all tell you how wonderful the cuisine is... but what exactly can you hope to expect from a food-orientated trip to this gorgeous city?

Well the first thing to remember is that the serious food starts around lunchtime. Don't be expecting anything full-on for breakfast or anything even remotely similar... the best way to enjoy a typical Parisian breakfast is to either have a bagel and a cup of very strong coffee, or a warm baguette with home-made jam. It's simple, but exquisite - particularly the latter! You might even go for a fruit tartin or a pain au chocolat, but nothing more than that. Often, Parisian children will drink hot chocolate from bowls for breakfast; something really only suited to sweet-toothed individuals!

Lunch is where things really start to get going. The French lifestyle is one of relaxation; taking the day as it comes and not stressing too much. This is why many French residents have a one-hour or two-hour lunch; something which would likely scare the pants off a full-time working Brit! You're here to indulge though, so take advantage of the local lifestyle. There isn't really such a thing as a 'typical' French lunch, but one might expect to have a plate of assorted charcuterie (cured meats) and cheeses, accompanied by crusty bread. This is usually served with a light, Mediterranean-style salad. It's a great combination of lighter and heavier ingredients, so works exceedingly well.

Now for the main event - dinner! This is a three-course affair with wine and a cheese board, so be sure to wear something comfy! You'll likely start with a hot or cold entrée; anything from salmon mousse or terrine, to onion soup or carpaccio. The main course is likely to be something creamy, cheesy and dense - but oh so tasty. You could opt for a creamy fondue with assorted crudités, or perhaps choose something lighter - like a fillet of fish or poached chicken. if you're really hungry you might decide to have a fillet mignon with dauphinoise potatoes, or a hearty pasta dish.

The key is to eat slowly, so as not to fill yourself up and drink lots of wine to help the food go down - the traditional French way!

Crab cakes & Maine Lobster Are Best When Combined

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Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

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Taste and health both are important considerations when it comes to your eating habits. Same boiled vegetables and salads can hardly satiate your tongue sensations, which ultimately makes it essential for them to get something to eat that could satisfy both their taste buds and their health requirements. When it comes to different eating options for the health conscious foodies, seafood is preferred. To be more precise, crab cakes & Maine lobster are the best seafood items that have been found showing the most effective results in serving the dual purpose of fulfilling the foodie’s taste and health requirements both.

Being rich in the content of omega 3 fatty acids, crab cakes & Maine lobster yield best results in order to make the body of the food lovers resistant to several health diseases. This is what makes the consumption of these items recommendable. However, it has been found that in recent times, both of these seafood items are used in same dish. Crab cakes stuffed Maine lobster is the recipe that tops the chart.But of course, here the recipes of the dishes that use these ingredients separately have been mentioned.

Preparation of crab cake Chesapeake

Ingredients – lump sum crab meat, large egg, and real mayonnaise, fresh bread crumbs without crust, Worcestershire sauce, minced parsley, Old bay seasoning, salt crackers, and peanut oil for frying the contents deep.

Process–Take crab, egg, mayo, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, crumbs, old bay, pepper, etc. together and mix them well and refrigerate for 4 hours. Shape the content into balls using 1/3- cup as average measure, Roll the balls in the cracker crumbs and again refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fry very deep and then transfer into the oven with 350 degree temperature for few minutes.

Whichever dish you prepare with the Maine lobster, you can use the above preparationto accompany the dish. Give it a try and assure of getting guaranteed results. There are wide ranges of recipes that can be prepared using lobster as the main ingredient and this is the reason that makes the crab cakes Chesapeake the best support to any Maine lobster dish. Thus, whether your purpose is serving your taste buds or fulfilling your health requirements, seafood like crab cakes & Maine lobster are what you should opt for.

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