Yes Wine Is Good for You

It’s a new year and that means many of us are looking to lose weight or at least to have a healthier lifestyle.  This year why not do both with the help of science and fine wine?

Thanks to Dr. Roger Corder we can now understand how these two seemingly diverse disciplines work together.  You just have to read his very insightful book, The Red Wine Diet.

During a recent interview he explained that red wines contain polyphrnols, which can help the heart to function better.  But it’s important to understand which red wines offer the best benefits. 

Dr. Roger’s research, conduced over a period of fifteen years, has clearly documented that the rich red wines of southern France and the Mediterranean Sea area offers the highest levels of polyhrnols.  Called alternately the “French Paradox” or the “Mediterranean Effect”, red wines have been shown to increase both health and longevity.

Sardinia, Crete and Greece all have very low levels of heart disease while still enjoying a fairly high fat national diet.  The same is true of southwest France. The secret of the wine’s benefits is linked to two factors.

First, the grapes pressed there contain a large amount of resveratrol.  This key red wine element can reduce "bad" cholesterol and also prevent blood clots.  The second factor that further increases the benefits of red wine is the length of fermentation time when there is extended contact of the grape liquid with the skins and seeds.

As a result, white wines (which are white because the colored grape skins are quickly removed from the pressing process), do not contain as many health benefits as do red wines.

One should, of course, enjoy wine.  Wine isn’t a medicine.  It’s part of life and that includes food and friends.  Generally one to two glasses daily is fine for women while men can enjoy two to three glasses a day.

Does all this sound French?  Well, it is as Mireille Guiliano’s delight book French Women Don't Get Fat:The Secret of Eating for Pleasure points out.  It’s a must-read for the New Year.  Just be sure to have a rich glass of fine red wine nearby as you turn the pages and read your way to health. Enjoy! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

SECRETS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE KITCHENS Tells the Whole Story

Every year hundreds of new cookbooks are published. Some are focused on kitchen techniques or the use of a single ingredient.  Others highlight international or ethnic cuisines. Some are written by celebrity chefs about their five star restaurants while other writers share their favorite foods from cakes to chowders.  

Only rarely does the reader have an opportunity to walk through time with a chef who so insightfully understands that the personalities of the diners defines, not only cuisine, but also the history of an era. 

Chef John R. Hanny has crafted just such a book.  An amazing individual in his own right, Chef Hanny invites the reader in Secrets from the White House Kitchens to stroll with him through the executive kitchens and into the personalities of America’s presidents from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Barack Obama. 

Each president (and first lady) is presented as a unique individual whose style is reflected in their menu choices both public and private. Chef Hanny invites us through his well told stories to attend the oh so American hot dog picnic that the food-casual Roosevelts served a startled but always gracious King and Queen of King during the war years. 

He records the grace (and sadness) of the Kennedy years when Jackie Kennedy brought elegance to the White House and amazed the world with her international style.  Bush, Johnson, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Carter, Clinton and Obama are all here as well.

Each presidential story is matched with a wealth of authentic recipes that mirror the tenor of the man – some simple and direct, others involved and elaborate – all a reflection of America then (and still today). 

This is a book to read and savor as well as to use.  It is, simply put, an experience shared that invites the reader to understand not just the cuisine of the White House but the intriguing ingredients of personality and power. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

Top Price for First Tuna But at What Cost?

A massive bluefin tuna has been caught off Japan’s northern coast and brought a record price of $396,000 or $42 per slice of sashimi.  For more than one reason the event is attracting attention around the world.

Rushed to Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji Fish Market for the first auction of the New Year, there were, none the less, concerns among the cheers.

Weighing over 340 kilogram (749 pounds), the purchasing of this giant of the sea is considered by many Japanese chefs a good luck totem for their restaurant.  Two owners of elite sushi restaurants in Hong Kong and Tokyo joined forces to place the winning bid.

Both Ricky Cheng (Hong Kong) and Yosuke Imada (Tokyo) were delighted to be able to win their rare prize known as a “Black Diamond” among deep sea fishermen.  Others were not so pleased.

As the popularity of raw fish has increased throughout the world, fresh tuna populations (along with salmon) have crashed to record lows. 

Socially responsible chefs are now shifting their sushi choices to other more abundant fish stocks allowing the tuna population to rebuild.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has created an outstanding mobile phone app that can even tell diners before they order which fish to select and which to avoid in order to help the environment.  You might consider downloading it as part of a New Year's resolution to make our world a better place.

The word “connoisseur” from Old French means literally “to know” and so to choose wisely. Today anyone who loves fine cuisine is also informed and aware that all culinary choices have impact. 

We are not just what we eat.  We are also the choices we make. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

How Wine Became Modern

Beginning in November 2010 and continuing until April 17, 2011, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is hosting an innovative exhibition that explores how the blending of modern design and classic wines has altered contemporary culture.

Entitled “How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine 1976 to Now”, this outstanding exhibition is the first to evaluate the new world of wine as part of an expanding worldwide cultural experience.

Henry Urbach is the special Museum Curator of Architecture and Design and he is truly the moving force behind the insightful creation of this must-see show. 

Urbach recently shared that, "The story begins in 1976, the year of the now-famous Judgement of Paris. There, in a blind taste test, nine French wine experts pronounced a number of northern California wines superior to esteemed French vintages."

"However apt the decision, later criticized and repeatedly restaged, the event released shock waves across the globe as it gave the nascent California wine industry, as well as winemakers in many other parts of the world, new confidence, credibility, and visibility.” 

“This, in turn, had multiple effects including the expansion of wine markets, growing popular awareness of wine, the birth of wine criticism, vineyard tourism, and a host of other manifestations."

"From this moment forward, the culture of wine began to accommodate and valorize new priorities such as innovation, diversification, globalization, marketing, and accessibility."

This very special exhibition combines original artifacts such as actual architectural models and historical photographs with works of art, many specially commissioned, as well as an array of multimedia presentations and even the actual scents of wine.  

Strolling through the galleries visitors can explore the historical ‘Judgment of Paris’, the concept of terroir, today's very modern world of wine, the impact of architecture on wineries, the role of wine label design and brand marketing, innovative glassware, and contemporary trends in vineyard tourism.

If you are anywhere near beautiful San Francisco and you love wine, this remarkable exhibition is well worth a visit.  Just be prepared to feel an urge to head north to Napa after you see the exhibit – you’ll be an oh so modern winer drinker (and now you’ll know why).

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

Restaurant Reviews - The Times They Are A-Changing

Just before Christmas the Los Angeles Time food critic S. Irene Virbila was very publicly outed by Noah Ellis of Red Medicine in Beverly Hills.   Since then leading newspapers and prominent culinary Internet sites have been raging with a variety of points of view about the event.

On one hand Virbila and her supporters (very often from the world of journalism) believe that her career has been ruined as, without anonymity, she cannot review accurately.  She seems to believe that if restaurants knew she was reviewing, they would do a better then usual job just to impress her and receive a more positive but unjustified review.  

On the other hand major chefs are voicing their long standing view that in all fairness anyone with the power to review (and sometimes ruin) a restaurant after a single evening’s dining should sign their name to their story and be publicly responsible for what they written. (Imagine if Robert Parker never signed his wine reviews: without a name it is impossible to be reassured concerning the qualifications of the reviewer).

In considering this controversy, it’s important to touch base with both our own American past as well as to think about our culinary cousins across the Atlantic pond.  Many US culinary critics past and present regularly sign their reviews.  Lucius Beebe was one such critic whose picture even appeared on the cover on Life Magazine – no secrets there. 

He wrote and proudly signed his many articles and books, writing about cuisine, style, travel and even trains - a favorite side topic that won him many awards. And though easily recognizable by his elegant attire, his reviews never suffer from his visibility and he helped many great restaurants to become famous and successful.

In Europe many food critics are considered culture stars and are both respected and admire for their expertise and leadership.  The Spanish food critic Rafael Garcia Santos is one such individual.  Even the stylized French critic Anton Ego in the must-see food movie Rataouille proudly signs his reviews.

Additionally those readers who have worked in professional kitchens know that ‘re-tooling’ the menu for a single diner on a single night is next to impossible.  Too many vendors and suppliers would be involved not to mentioned the required retraining of the entire kitchen and floor staff.

Such a point of view also seems to reflect a negative view of an industry that works to be both positive and professional every day.  Chefs by nature are creative and stand proudly by what they and their staffs share each day with dining guests.      

And as everyone knows, in this day of email and Facebook, a restaurant doing less than its best will soon be known as displeased diners light up the social network with alerts about negative experiences – all faster than any newspaper can be printed. Yet even these often young (and sometimes inexperienced) reviewers sign with their email address when posting their thoughts.

No one contests the power of a published review but perhaps in this era of growing transparency it should not surprise any of us that as Bob Doylan wrote “the times they are a-changing" and perhaps for the better.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010