Gluttons Club

This blog is by my friend Molly who is living, working and raising her son William out in CO. The subject is her daily travails as a working mom. Her perspective is interesting as she has a graduate degree in art history but works in insurance; is very worldly but due to circumstances finds herself dwelling on the minutiae of her life; is young at heart though not as young as William.

Check it out.

Ok Karl, here you go, the quick and dirty on malbec:

Malbec is a grape varietal most commonly associated with Argentina in the modern world of wine. The grape does very well in the climate there and produces deep, rich wines that offer complexity, bold flavor and a somewhat unique element to the Argentine wine industry.

Malbec, however was originally a grape best known for fickleness in the Bourdeaux region of France. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and petit verdot, it was one of the grape types used in the typical red wine blends of the region. It was a difficult grape for the climate however and normally didn't get enough sun and heat to fully ripen, limiting its use in blends. When the phyloxera blight struck the wineyards of Europe, Malbec, along with everything else, suffered. During the recovery however, it wasn't really replanted since most growers were aware of it's limits. There is still some malbec in bourdeaux but it is rare and the success of the regions wines without it means it isn't missed.

Argentina imported the variety before the blight and was mostly unaffected by it. The Malbec grown here has done very well, benefitting from a more favorable climate and found a home where it is appreciated. As the industry there grows, drinkers are becoming more aware of the wines made from Malbec and are taking notice of the full flavors and exceptional values. I usually think geographically when it comes to food pairings so how about grilled flank steak with a hearty mole marinade?

So I have two female roommates and often they leave women's magazines laying around the place. Unfortunately, most of them are celebrity gossip rags that actually raise my blood pressure and make me ashamed to be human but there's always the occasional cosmo, glamour or other crap that at least has good pictures and entertainingly weird articles. Recently though, I picked up Shape magazine and was appalled by the contents. A quick browse gave the appearance that it exists just to make women feel bad about themselves.

A multi-volume lexicon could begin to address the issue of women and their self awareness and I'm no expert but this mag is blatantly bad. The content seemed geared towards creating a lifestyle bereft of pleasures from consumption in favor of rigidly controlling ones intake, habits and pleasures in the name of a small tummy and cute outfits. As a dude, I'm supposed to be all in favor of hot, fit chicks but as a foodie, I'm completely unnerved by the lack of sense in many of the advice given. If one were to base their life on this mag, rice cakes, fruits, veg and spring water would be all that you ate in-between workouts you perform while wearing cute outfits. Your sex life would be without passion and might actually be regimented for maximum calorie burn and you'd have to find a job where stress is either non-existent or yoga is readily available to combat it.

If one were to follow every tip in the magazine, your life would be regulated in a manner that would frighten Orwell. One of the letters to the editor illustrates this as the writer complains that in a single issue, there is conflicting advice over how often to work out. One article recommends taking a day off in between, another reccomends taking just one day off a week. As the response clarified, the poor reader didn't know that she was supposed to follow just one workout regimen at a time, writing: "I am disappointed that such a reputable magazine would provide the contradictory information about abdominal exercises..." This reader was naive enough to take each article as gospel, dedicated enough to try to follow each word of advice and serious enough about getting results that she wrote the letter. Having read enough of this issue, I can only understand her confusion and anguish.

Consider the following feature article, "7 diet Rules You Must Break." A few of the rules are:

-"If it's mealtime, you should eat--even if you're not hungry." The comments that follow include the following tip to help break this rule, "maintain a hunger journal along with your food diary." I once thought about a food diary but it was to help me remember especially good meals I've had, not revolve my life around caloric intake. According to this, recording what you ate isn't good enough, you also need to record when you were hungry. Do you use the same notebook or get a separate one? Should it be lined or blank? What colors would be best to match my cute outfits? Oh, and speaking of contradiction, later in this article a sidebar appears with rules you should "really" live by. Number one is to eat breakfast daily. But what if I'm not hungry?

-I shouldn't waste food when others in the world are starving. If that is your justification for over-eating, you don't need a magazine, you need a doctor.

-Never refuse food offered to you by well-meaning hosts. This is my favorite. The dangers, it says, is that "giving in at work, family gatherings or home led to taking in just 500 extra calories a week, your weight could increase by .5 pound per month." (month is italicized, grammar is questionable) I'm sorry but is half a pound a month really that serious? The payoff between enjoying oneself with friends and family, respecting the effort others put in to provide tasty treats for you and, forbid the thought, actually taking pleasure from eating is worth half a frickin' pound. Spend an extra half hour at the gym or doing crunches in your cute outfit if need be but don't limit your enjoyment because you're worried about a few ounces that may occur if you're not eternally vigilant. The advice to break this rule is even more absurd: "Find ways to bond with people in your life that don't revolve around food. For example, celebrate a birthday with a sunrise hike or by participating in a 5k run to benefit your favorite charity." I'm beyond comment at this point.

So, to sum up, I don't understand women. If this is what women read and take advice from, I'd be surprised if women understood women or even their own motivations. In fact, I think the editors of this magazine are purposefully trying to confuse women in order to increase the sale of cute exercise outfits. After all, the best reason to follow a draconian, self-imposed diet and exercise regimen is to fit into the cute outfits that are featured in each workout feature. They are just the cutest!

This (other) wine and food blog is authored by a Boston Wine industry guy we do a lot of business with at VdV. Chris is a great guy and a terrific distributor rep. He knows our system and does his research beforehand to cater to our needs and requisites. His blog is mostly wine based though his wife will be doing some food articles. Given his experience in the industry, y'all could learn alot from what he has to say.

Inspired by Karl and his innocent query, "Any good new recommendations?"

Best buy: La mazet by moulin de gassac. should be about 8-10 bucks. A typical red blend from the pays d'oc (syrah, cinsault, grenache, carignan). Nice with mixed grill.

If you're looking to spend a little more: Allegrini Palazzo della Torre 2000, $22. Sort of valpolicellas illegitimate child, this big boy will keep your hearty autumn dishes in line. Think beef stews with tomatoes, osso buco, hearty bolognese.

Cool producer: Torbreck, Australia. Met the winemaker last week. His wines aren't cheap but are very good. Try the "Descendant" shiraz if you can find it. It's got 8% viognier (a white variety) that turns the familiar aussie shiraz style into something deliciously different.

Token white: Gessami Gramona, a spanish blend of sauv blanc and muscat. Pleasantly dry and crisp with a nice tropical fruit edge to keep things interesting.

Hot italian variety: nero d'avola. sicilian, cheap, tasty with italian fare.

Hot region for good, approachable reds: Jumilla in spain. Look for bodegas olivares alto de la hoya monastrell 2003 or finca luzon 2003. both loads of fruit, decent structure, very good companion.

Ahead of the crowd: reds from the douro region of portugal. this is the port region and many of these reds are made with the same grapes as port but are fermented dry to make very nice table wines that are great with food. they can be slightly pricey but I predict they will be even more so soon.

Click at your own risk as there are many unusual and unfortunate things done to meat within these pages.

Hat tip to Gabe for the link.

A 20 year old with a sophisticated sense of taste, thorough knowledge of viticulture and the support of the industry. I'd like to taste what he's making know and would be very interested to see how he's doing in 20 years.

ARgh. Rachel Ray has a 4 page piece in the NYT. I only got as far as one page.

At least the picture is about as unflattering as can get. The bizarre pose, the flash x-raying her shirt, perfect.

I missed last wednesdays food section coverage due to busyness on other fronts and a general feeling that the feature is boring. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to scan the usual sections and others and simply link to those I find interesting. That way the task is broken up into more manageable pieces for me and less cluttered for you.

bu-bye,
Matt

NYT: You know the conventional wisdom on English food? Apparently so does the Times. The lead article is on English cuisine and honest, it can be good. I have no doubt that there are fine restaurants in England, particularly London. However, I can only imagine this assignment wasn't regarded too highly.

Speaking of English, Nigella tells us how to bake. Is she still a featured columnist here? I thought she went away.

Further on down is mention of a new chef memoir that has attracted the ire of many people featured in its pages. The author conveniently blames being greek for his transgression. Meanwhile, Mr Minimal takes on the grand ingredient, escarole, which I think would be funny to bring to a bank and try to deposit. Finally, an article examines the impact of the hurricanes on the Gulf fisheries. Prognosis not good.

In wine, the panel sits around and drinks some Portugese table wines, particularly those made in the Duoro. Many of these are made with the same grapes as port but are fermented dry as table wines. We've got one in the store and its a big seller. For something a little different, seek one out and you'll be pleased.

SF Chronicle: The Chronicle takes a practical look at the many quick meals columns in food magazines and sees which ones work best and are actually do-able in the time listed. I like this idea because it is possible to make a good meal in half an hour or so but often these sort of things are stretched beyond reason.

A profile of Chuck Williams, the man who founded Williams-sonoma, should be a nice read for anyone who is planning to marry, recently got married or is addicted to spending ridiculous amounts of money on kitchen stuff that in most cases, they'll rarely use.

Etc: Canola oil mayos are better than imagined. Restaurants need additional staffing. Hooray, souffle. Some japanese guy has a new seafood book, its a "prized catch". A travel piece touches down in the French countryside in Bergerac. If you're wondering why that sounds familiar, it's where Cyrano was 'de'.

Ok, the wine section is not updated on the food page but is if you click on it. The feature is on fancy cocktails crafted at some of the Bays restaurants. The tasting is Cali. Viogniers matched with pan-seared fish with fancy salsa. Oh, great, yet another mention of vacherin fribourgeois, man I am so sick of hearing about that cheese! Finally the bargain bin compares syrah and pinot noir.