Are You Going To Eat That?

So, in my post Do You Smell That we discovered the proper way to taste wine, the difference between taste and flavour and the importance of balance.  We now know that wines can have many different flavour elements yet the taste must remain balanced between sweet, sour and bitter.  In cooking we must also look for a balance between sweet, sour and bitter but, also between salty and umami as well as heat (temperature as well as spice) and texture.  How the wine reacts to food is what I will be discussing in this post. 

Before we start to look at guidelines we need to identify and define certain terms.  When we discuss wine we are generally going to place them within six basic styles: Aromatic, Crisp, Rich, Fruity, Smooth and Powerful.  In descending order think about the lightest whites up to the darkest reds.  Aromatics tend to be dry and medium dry white wines, Crisp tend to be dry and unoaked whites, Rich are the full bodied (oaked) white wines, Fruity tends to be light to medium bodied red wines, Smooth are medium to full bodied reds and Powerful are big and intense red wines.  Rosés can fall anywhere within the spectrum from Crisp to Smooth.  In this varietal chart, separated by white and red, simply substitute light, medium and heavy with Aromatic, Crisp and Rich in the white wine chart and Fruity, Smooth and Powerful in the red wine chart.  This will give you an adequate idea of the wine styles for each category - there are, of course, exceptions which is why these are all guidelines and not rules. 

When we speak of food we also use similar descriptors to those for describing wines.  A dish can be heavy, or light, it can have balance, it has heavy notes and high notes, it is layered.  With today's cuisine the emphasis is on balance and harmony amongst the ingredients.  Fusion is no longer a fad but, has truly become the cuisine of many countries due to the mobility of humankind and our cultures.  Even when we cook using a certain cuisine's techniques we often use ingredients from another culture all together.  This makes the task a little harder but, the good news is the rules for matching are less stringent. 

So, here are my very simple guidelines for matching foods and wines.  

1) Do what tastes best to you

2) Do not develop or let someone insist you follow any set rules

3) Try to make sure the wine is always sweeter than the food you are eating 

4) Proteins and fat will mute the astringency of high tannin red wines - think meats and cream

5) Deep fried and greasy foods tend to want more acidic wines to cut the grease - especially batters

6) When a dish is too hot, cooks will add sweetness to dull the heat; the same holds true for sweet wines

7) Contrasts are sometimes just as good as compliments.

Aromatic Wines

Sole, Flounder, Clams, Oysters

Crisp Wines

Snapper, Bass, Shrimp, Scallops, Veal Paillard

Rich Wines

Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish, Lobster, Duck, Roast Chicken, Sirloin Steak

Fruity Wines

Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish, Duck, Roast Chicken

Smooth Wines

Game Birds, Veal Chops, Pork Chops

Powerful Wines

Lamb Chops, Leg of Lamb, Beefsteak, Game Meats

Classic Cheese Pairings

Chevre/Fresh Goat Cheese - Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc

Montrachet, Aged Monteray Jack - Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux

Pecorino, Parmigiano-Reggiano - Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Barolo, Amarone

Manchego - Rioja, Brunello di Montalcino

Camembert, Brie - Sparkling Wine, Champagne

Aged Gouda - Riesling

Stilton - Port

A note about sauce.  It is always important to consider the type of sauce when attempting to match a wine.  A light flavoured protein that is served in a heavy cream or marinara sauce will require a rethink.  Does the dish now require a bolder wine, a sweeter wine or a crisper wine?  Matching wines to sauces is the trickiest part of wine pairing and, until you acquire experience, feel comfortable asking your local LCBO product specialist for assistance. 

When you do match a wine to a meal properly you will be in for a memorable experience.  All of my favourite wines became so because of the way the reacted with the food I was eating.  I will re-live two for you as examples:

In 1999, while in BC, I was dining with friends and took my first shot at ordering a bottle of wine with dinner.  We were having a dish which had scallops and fried oysters with a lime sauce.  After reading the descriptions of the wines I chose a 1998 St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc.  The match was amazing and, as I am typing this, I can even remember the taste of the food, the decor of the restaurant and the faces of the friends I was dining with.  This wine remains my favourite Sauvignon Blanc. 

This past week I cooked Ossobuco alla Milanese and served a 2008 Tenuta San Guido La Difese which, when drank by itself is higher in tannin than one would like but, when had with this meal was enough for me to write an entire post about it.  The same magic holds true for this wine: I can recall the flavours of the food and the enjoyment of the evening much better than if it was just the food alone. And I know that I  need only try this wine any time I wish to relive those memories.  

Rubbing Salt in the Wound

I am often accused of being a curmudgeon, or contrarian or cynic because I am not willing to accept every new study or latest fad in the health and nutrition world.  So, every now and then, I like to find gems like this one from Scientific American that debunks the myth that salt causes hypertension.  The article does a great job of illustrating the difficulties of designing studies that can make definitive claims of links between certain foods and illness, and also shows how important it is to have more than one study to substantiate claims.  

There is no shortage of "experts" willing to jump on the first study they find that shows a correlation between anything we eat and our latest health "epidemic".  Inevitably, these connections are later shown to fall apart under further study, but once the thought is implanted it is difficult to wipe it from out lexicon.

The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance.  How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again. - Mark Twain in Eruption.

It's no different for foods that are supposed to be good for us, either.  The idea that red wine is a great way to stave off heart attacks or cancer are just as unsubstantiated and yet everyone who needs to justify their over doing it seems to want to remind us of the miracles of the magic grape.  Or the latest study on the benefits of coffee.  I drink coffee and wine because I like them.  I put salt on food because it tastes better.  I said it before, eat less/move more/all things in moderation, including moderation.

St. Supéry Merlot 2007

I am, this minute, tasting a glass of St Supéry Merlot 2007 from Napa Valley.  St. Supéry is one of my favourite wineries in the world and they make a Sauvignon Blanc that is amazing.  We seldom see this producer in LCBO stores in Ontario, but it is a popular winery in BC liquor stores.  The LCBO are beginning to acquire more product from them and I like to think I had a hand in that by continually asking for it...maybe not.

As far as the tasting goes, this wine has a beautiful ruby red colour and a remarkable bouquet with aromas of dark tree fruit, eucalyptus and cedar.  On the nose the oak really comes through.  My first sip hit me with a nice acidity and fruit forward.  After a few moments the wood, once again, made an appearance with tobacco and vanilla flavours ending after a minute with tannins highlighting the tobacco flavour.  As it sits in the glass I am noticing a change in character with a pleasant liquorice flavour.

This is a wonderful wine and one that I think I will be able to store for about 3-4 years to enhance the fruit and mute the tannins.  I know I always advocate trying Ontario wines, but this is one of those wineries that just seems to match my palate and I highly recommend any of their wines, when you can find them.

Do You Smell That?

When I first started on this adventure of mine, I was interested to see what preferences my friends - who, generally speaking, have no formal culinary training - would have toward styles and origins of wines, beers and certain foods.  My aim was/is to find out if they would have a preference for products made closer to home, as is my suspicion.  This is by no means a scientific study, but I do think people tend to be influenced a lot more by their environment, including gastronomically, than we would believe.  The Italians believe that the food of your mother's childhood home is the food you would prefer.  And that is the hypothesis I am working on.

Over the last couple of months while conducting tastings and asking people for their opinions, I have watched the way they have been tasting wine.  People tend to look at the wine, smell it then take a sip and swallow almost immediately and then spend some time analyzing the taste - which then tends to be the finish, or aftertaste.  Many would struggle with the question "what are you tasting?" while others would react more to the aromas of the wine than the taste.  I have done some research into the tasting of wine and will give a synopsis here of what is important in tasting a wine.

During wine tastings it is important to observe the appearance, colour and body of the wine with the eyes but one should understand that the visual aspects of today's wines do not give the hints as to flavours or quality that previous generations of wine did.  Hold off at this point in determining anything about the wine other than whether or not it appears to have an off colour (dark gold to brown for white, red-brown to brown for red).  Swirl the wine a little and look to see if the wine has "legs", this means long, thin streaks of wine running down the sides of the glass.  Alcohol is denser than water and thus has more body, these "legs" are an indication that the wine will have a decent body feel (a fullness, coating the tongue) in the mouth and appropriate alcohol content.

Now place your nose deep into the glass, not just above the rim.  Getting your nose inside the glass ensures you pick up just the aromas of the wine and not aromas from the room.  This is where the majority of the fruit will be noticed.  We are able to distinguish thousands of scents and you should try to think about what the wine reminds you of, not what it smells of.  Try to detect the aromas of the fruit and the barrel aging if any.  White wines should have mineral, light coloured fruits and grassy or herbal notes; red wines should have darker fruits, woody scents, exotic spices and leather or tabaco, generally speaking. The bouquet of a wine will give us a better sense of what to expect in the mouth and on the palate.

Now, sip the wine as you breathe in and hold the wine in your mouth for 3-5 seconds.  Purse your lips so that the sides of your mouth press against the sides of your tongue.  Think about what you are tasting.  As Kevin Zraly would suggest, it should taste like wine.  It is in the tasting that we get tripped up expecting to detect all of the fruits and flavours associated with wine, but our tongue is only capable of 5 basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.  The first four we are all familiar with, but the last one is more recent and comes from the Japanese to describe the combination of tastes or the taste of savoury items - think about the taste of steak, asparagus or mushrooms.  When we taste wine we can forget about the salty, if it tastes salty take it back and get a refund.  That leaves us sweet, sour, bitter and, to a small extent, umami.  If a wine is extraordinary you should experience all these tastes in balance, each on the appropriate areas of the tongue.  A wine higher in tannins tends to be higher in bitter, but that should not mean a bad wine, just as some whites will be higher in sweet and does not mean bad.  Basically, we are looking for an overall balance between sweet, acidic (sour) and tannin (bitter).

Now, swallow the wine and take a breath through you mouth and nose simultaneously.  This will bring the olfactory bulb into the picture.  Olfactory receptors running from the bulb to inside your nose and the back of your throat help in distinguishing what we call flavours of the wine.  This is different from actually tasting the wine.  At this point we have determined the bitter, sour and sweet constituents of the product and prior to that the scents, and now we are detecting the combinations of these on our palate.  It is at this point that the wine will reveal itself, and yet, it is at this point that so many people get confused as everyone describes what they are experiencing.  Some people find they are unable to detect specific flavours that others are detecting.  Others are perplexed because they are detecting contradictory flavours from those of others.  All of this is normal and completely acceptable.  Mark Twain said it best: "There are no standards of taste in wine, cigars, poetry, prose, etc.  Each man's own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard."  I could not agree more.  Having people tell others what they are tasting may simply help someone else articulate what that something is that they are experiencing, but we are all different and if that molecule is not being detected by someone it does not mean that it isn't there or that the person is not appreciating the wine.  There is no more a subjective interpretation than that of human taste.

It is at this point that we may consider all of what we have experienced and decide, do I like this wine?  Is this a wine I think of when I think of the grape or the style of that wine?  Would I pay what is being asked for this wine?  Would this wine do better with something to eat?  All of these questions will help to determine if, in your opinion, this wine is good or bad, better or worse, etc.  I hope this helps.  My next post will pick up on the idea of taste as I discuss pairing wines with food.

I actually remember the days when the LCBO was a liquor control board and kept all their product behind closed doors and you had to write the product and code on a piece of paper and hand it to the clerk, who then disappeared into the back to retrieve your purchase.  There was no way of knowing what stock they had and the staff were of little help in choosing anything.  You had to know what you wanted and this usually meant purchasing what your parents drank.  Over time the LCBO evolved into a liquor store based on a grocery store with all the product on low shelves so the staff, who never ventured far from the cash registers, could keep an eye on any suspicious persons. The staff, for the most part, were on had to "card" those who looked too young and to catch any shop lifters; customer service was far down the list of responsibilities.  But for the first time you could browse the stock and select product based on the bottles, though you usually chose what you had come to enjoy drinking in the local taverns.  Eventually, this gave way to the full service stores we have come to enjoy today.

And enjoy I do!  The last few years I have actually enjoyed my shopping experiences at the LCBO more than I do at any other retailer.  They have been a leader in the field of service with items like the Food and Drink magazine (who doesn't pick up one of those when they come out?)  the Vintages release catalogue and several intermittent publications aimed at helping consumers find new products.  Inside the stores they have retrained staff to be more responsive to customers, to look for people who may need a hand finding something, added "Product Specialists" who can make recommendations for food and drink combinations and have regular product tastings.  In addition, the return policy is unmatched anywhere else: if you open a bottle and feel it is bad, take the unused portion back to the store and it is refunded in the entirety without hassles.

I know that not all experiences are as mine are, and I am sure there are things that this monopoly is not as good at (I know many of the small Ontario wineries feel they do not get the same consideration as larger wineries).  But, from a consumers perspective - being someone who looks to try new wines, has shopped at various locations, has used the inter-branch ordering, has used the phone in Bordeaux ordering and taken advantage of the procuring process - I have always found the staff friendly, professional, knowledgeable and courteous.  I have never had a problem finding new wines, spirits or beers to try and have even had them look into getting wine from one of my favourite Napa wineries.

They have truly upped their game and I for one would be seriously disappointed to see this change with privatization.  I think it is important to know that privatization will not guarantee to solve the problems that people complain of with the LCBO: price, selection, availability, social problems etc.  There is also no guarantee that private retailers will be any more likely to open shelf space to small Ontario wineries.  And what I would like to see happen is consumers becoming more educated about these wineries and asking their local LCBO to bring in more of them to try.  This seems to me something that should be happening already, now that many large wineries are opening retail outlets inside grocery chain stores.  The LCBO should not feel the need to continue to provide a large amount of shelf space for those larger companies and thus provide a section for the discovery of small Ontario producers.

I love the LCBO and the service I get there and I am confident that they will find a way to help promote some of the smaller producers while continuing to be responsive to their customers.  What I worry about is certain politicians and entrepreneurs eyeing the potential revenue available by privatization and convincing consumers that private business is more responsive to consumers than government, the 407ETR should have taught us that is never the truth.

Shanks for the Memories

I love rich tasting food around this time of year and anything braised on a cool rainy evening helps ease my mourning over the loss of summer.  There is nothing more rich than Ossobuco braised in a tomato based sauce with Marsala and beef stock and served with the traditional Risotto alla Milanese.  So when I was asked to cook this dish I jumped at the opportunity.  This dish is quickly becoming one of my favourites to make as well as to eat.  The sauce was scented with thyme, garlic and mirepoix and thickened with just a little roux. On the side were served Saffron infused Risotto and braised Peas with Mint.  A great meal for the wow factor and surprising little effort to make.

I find that, when there is food being cooked, guests tend to want to be in the kitchen, and since the kitchen actually belonged to one of the guests last night, it really wasn't my place to say anything. But, this is fine when making a Risotto that everyone believes must be stirred constantly.  The truth is, it need only be stirred regularly and you can get on with other chores as it cooks.  But, since everyone is going to be in the kitchen anyway, lack of stirring is not a problem.  In fact, absent minded stirring of Risotto while chatting is a great way to spend the early part of an evening.  Braising anything is also a good way to cook with guests as the food really requires little to no attention and allows a cook to spend time with other chores or simply talking, though I would know little about the latter.

I love Italian cooking for its simplicity and its treatment of ingredients.  It is surprising how few ingredients there are and each dish highlights the main ingredients so well.  What is also amazing is how well Italian mains and sides taste served together.  Last night's plate was an amazing match of tastes and textures.  The creamy rice with the rich, meaty shanks were amazing and the peas and mint added a nice brightness.  It would be a shame to serve a wine that would disrupt this wonderful harmony.

I took my time at the LCBO and sought out the advice of one of the product experts to assist me in choosing the right wine for the meal.  And I am glad I did.  My man Dan pointed me in the direction of a great bottle of Tuscan Le Difese which not only did not disrupt the harmony but actually became the Maestro of this orchestra.  A blend of 70% Cabernet and 30% Sangiovese this wine is just starting to arrive at its ideal time to experience.  The wine was as rich as the meal and elevated the peasantry of the dish to a true gourmet experience.  You know a wine is working well with a meal when comments revolve around the deliciousness of the meal and the wine is not overtaking the event.  The spiciness and berry flavours and the balance of tannins, sugar and acid of this wine showed why these wines are known as Super Tuscans.

If you are eating rich Italian tonight (that didn't sound right) you can not go wrong with Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2008 LCBO 147876 $28.95.  Thanks Dan.

13th Street Premier Cuvee

Last night, prior to dinner, a friend and I enjoyed some 13th Street Premier Cuvée Sparkling Wine. This was a remarkable sparkling wine blend of 2/3 Pinot Noir and 1/3 Chardonnay.  It was very bright with tastes of green apple, citrus and herbs.  The high level of carbon dioxide created a high level of bubbles that persisted through the finish.  This would be an excellent choice to serve at any special celebratory event and could hold its own with any champagne.  It is recommended that this wine be stored for 2-3 years to achieve its full potential.  A great demonstration of the talents of Ontario wine makers. LCBO 142679 $29.95.

A Whole Lotta Shakin'

If you value your wine collection and live in an earthquake prone zone (and who doesn't) you might want to give consideration to securing your racks and wine.

A Great Rosé for Under $9

I have been enjoying Strewn Cabernet Rosé as a general sipping wine.  This is a beautiful wine that goes well with anything grilled and with any mixture of foods that a classic match is not suitable for.  The wine has aromas of strawberry, kiwi and, to me anyway, banana bread.  The feel in the mouth is crisp and semi sweet with a taste of strawberry, kiwi and a finish of tobacco.  I have really enjoyed this wine and will make it a regular in my collection especially for next years bbq season.  This VQA wine from Niagara is available year round for $8.95.

How Sweet It Is.

I recently went shopping at a local farmer's market and as usual stopped at the honey supplier to check out their offerings.  I love honey and use it as a sweetener in coffee and tea as well as in my cooking.  I prefer the taste and there is no unpleasant after taste like that I detect with refined sugar.  It is also my opinion that honey is just sweeter than other sweeteners.  But, mostly, I use it because I love the flavour.

I always find it amusing, though, that honey is the one food I purchase at farmers' markets that is marketed to me by the vendors as some kind of miracle cure all.  I do not doubt that honey is a good source of some nutrition, but the same can be said for any food.  This vendor on this particular day was even more effluent than usual about the health benefits of honey and was trying to convince me that honey was more of a panacea than a food.  She asked me how much honey I use and I told her I go through a large jar every couple of weeks to which she replied "oh, that's wonderful. Good for you. You will never have to worry about cancer or diabetes."  This I found amusing since I am at high risk right now for diabetes and my doctor is currently considering medication for same.  But, I let it go.  She then cautioned me to not use that horrible stuff they sell in supermarkets, to which I assumed she was referring to pasteurized honey.  She enlightened me that honey from large companies is not real honey.  I did not have the patience to sit through an explanation of what it was so I did not ask.

In the end I told her that her product was nice, thanked her for the sample and said I wasn't really in need of any just now but maybe next week.  This only seemed to open the door to a discussion about the health properties of bee's wax candles.  Really?  Burning a candle is going to provide me some kind of health benefit?  I still haven't seen any relief from mosquitoes by using citronella candles so I'll be damned if I am going to spend $10 on a bee's wax candle.  I was able to extricate myself from her grip and went on with my shopping but the experience stuck with me and I wondered just what is the evidence of honey's health benefits?  Off to Google I went and the only evidence was a number of pages for benefits-of-honey.com.  However, while the information appears well written and well sourced, when you actually click on the links they are only linking to themselves as the source.  Obviously this would be unreliable.

So, I went to PubMed and looked up some of the most recent studies. I reviewed 11 recent studies on PubMed that looked at various health effects of honey.  These studies suggested that there is limited evidence (most in the form of using honey as a wound dressing in diabetic foot) regarding the health benefits of honey.  None of the studies used very large sample groups and none showed overwhelming statistical evidence to support their conclusions.  The general conclusions were that honey does seem to have some antibacterial properties that may benefit in the use as a topical ointment in diabetic foot and that honey may be used as a low glycemic sweetener in healthy and at-risk individuals and could be a sugar substitute for diabetics as long as hemoglobin A(1C) is monitored (elevated levels tend to be the cause of diabetic foot and eye sight loss).  To me this does not show overwhelming evidence that honey is a miracle food that we all need to consume. There was one study that looked at the in vivo effects of honey on damaged cells but no follow up studies have been conducted to replicate the findings.

I love honey, all types and styles and, yes, even BillyBee honey.  I look at honey as a better tasting sweetener, and am aware of some of its dangers (and here.).  I will continue my use of honey out of pure love of the taste and won't be feeling guilty about buying pasteurized honey either, and I might even save a little money in the process. But it would be nice, in the mean time, if honey producers would concentrate on marketing their product as a great tasting, quality sweetener that won't kill you when used in moderation, you know, like everything else.

Not the Apple of My Eye

If an apple a day could keep the doctor away the doctor I would want to keep away form me would be Mehmet Oz.  This quack has a long history of pushing all sorts of woo and misinformation (see here, here and here ) but recently he made a claim that defies stupid, that popular brands of apple juice contain harmful levels of arsenic and may be poisoning children.  Here is a link to the story.

This claim is ridiculous of course because any element on the periodic table may appear in any food grown in our environment.  As anyone with a high school education could have told the good physician, arsenic appears in two forms, organic and inorganic and the latter is the one we need to worry about.  The FDA made that perfectly clear in their correspondence with this twat and he still refuses to admit his mistake and amend his claims.  Imagine how enraged he will become when he finds out that fish contain levels of mercury.  I think PZ Myers said it best when he suggested apple orchard owners consider a class action against him.

I found this tweet by @kreativekonnect to be demonstrative of people's lack of understanding: "the moral of the apple juice story? Why doesn't the FDA make sure food is labeled with all the ingredients?" Because then they would be labeling oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, iron, carbon etc, etc.  Toxins occur naturally in the environment and our bodies are evolved to deal with them in the small doses we would normally be exposed to them.  Some are more harmful and some are more plentiful.  It is nice to know that there are intelligent people working in agencies whose job it is to measure these toxins and determine the safe levels.  While I don't advocate blind obedience to government, there comes a time when we must place our trust in those that work for us.  In this case, Dr. Oz has undermined that trust and called their integrity in to question.  I hope they litigate him into ruin.  

Eternal Life

There is an interesting post about the effects of a molecule found in red wine that might someday provide a way to prolong life.  Of course, this kind of news will inevitably be used by some to justify over consumption and others will develop useless pills purported to have all the same elements of the molecule being discussed but which will do nothing, conveniently ignoring the challenges the article mentions. When it comes to scientific discoveries about prolonging life I always wonder at the lengths we go to, all of us, to find ways to live forever.  Many skeptics, myself included, mockingly point to the futility of the religious in a quest for eternal life through faith.  Yet many of those same skeptics will also trumpet any scientific discovery that promises some hope of living a longer life.  This quest for eternal life seems to be a strong common human trait.

But, I have had the opportunity to see life from a different point of view.  Being the type of person who never needs much motivation to engage in conversation, my job as a lettercarrier has given me the opportunity to meet fascinating people.  Two that come to mind whenever I read about longevity of life, were an 87 year old female and a 92 year old female.  Both lived alone in houses that they had owned with their spouses.  Both are remarkably active and in good health physically and mentally.  And both, I am willing to bet from conversations with them, would not be willing to take a pill that would extend their life.  In fact, both have stated to me in conversation that they hoped not to live much more than a few more years.  Their reasons were similar: loss of friends, boredom, a feeling of living in a world no longer theirs and just a general feeling of a life accomplished and a need for an ending.  The older of the two is an active member of her church, I suspect more for social reasons than belief, and the younger was once religious but has told me she is "pretty certain now that what is here in this life is pretty much it".

At first I was a little shocked at their casual acceptance of the inevitable but as I have thought about it I realized that I, also, would not want to take that pill.  I would definitely take a pill that would assure the time allotted to me was spent as healthily as possible - the one thing that scares me most in life is aging - but to prolong an existence that is driven toward working towards an end (i.e. end of a book or movie, end of school, end of the work day, end of the work week, end of a working life etc.) seems out of step with a natural order.  A look around nature shows us that death is inevitable and as much a part of the continuity of existence as birth and life and sex and all that living entails.  That is not to say the women or myself are actively seeking death, but accepting mortality does seem to bring a kind of peace of mind.  The best one can really hope for is a life well lived and a quick and easy death.

There are, of course, those elderly who would take the pill to live longer, especially if it included better overall health, and for many I suspect this comes from a feeling of lack of accomplishment or the fear of eternal punishment for a perceived transgression of youth.  But, I think even those people will tire eventually of "the daily grind" of life. Many come to grips with this sooner than others.  I think the idea of eternal life is really a quest for the young who believe that life moves slowly and there is still so much to learn and experience.  People who are just approaching middle age and have not yet had to come to terms with their own mortality and who are satisfied in their occupations or vocations.  To them the idea of eternal life must be a no brainer.

But, if one contemplates the issues of living maybe 150+ years and considers the reproductive rates of humans, the lack of natural predators, the scarcity of land, the diminishing supply of food and fresh drinking water, might one not pause to wonder if prolonged life isn't more about selfishness?  Would it not be society's duty to try to enforce a population control like is the norm in China?  Ask yourself: if you are willing to spend that much time on this planet, would you want to spend that time with everyone already here? And how would you deal with the declining health of the planet without a natural population cull? And who makes the decision on who lives longer and who doesn't?

As the article points out, science has many ways to help us stay healthier longer.  Much of them I snub my nose at and here is my reasoning: life is fleeting.  We have all won a lottery - as Warren Buffet called it, the lottery of the womb - in which, from millions of chances we have arrived. But as events 10 years ago have taught us, it can all be taken away so easily, despite our health.  For those of us living in Canada, I believe we have won the jackpot.  Life here is full of opportunities to experience pleasure, emotion, thrills, nature, tastes and culture.  To deny one's self these opportunities might, in fact, lead to a longer and healthier life, but would it be a happier one?  I don't think so.  I think partaking of life's pleasures requires the same decision making as the taking of various medications, there has to be a balance of the quality of life obtained against the potential side effects. Also, just because one has the ability to live longer through sacrificing does not guarantee against a tragic ending and the denial of those small pleasures left unexperienced till a later date. And, just as with medicine, each individual has to make that decision in terms of what is the best balance for them.  I believe the fullness of a life should be measured in the quality of years rather than the quantity.  I don't think my years have been filled with the quality I might have liked, but I feel at ease with the idea of an end, later rather than sooner at this point in my life.

So, what do you think.  If you read this, do me a favour and post a comment here, not on facebook or other links, and tell me if I am way off or not.  You can post anonymous comments, and simply say if you would want to live forever and why or why not.

Do You Google Doodle

I love the way Google pays tribute to certain people and events with their Google Doodles - drawings that incorporate the Google logo on their main page.  It is why my home page is always Google.ca.  Today's doodle is in honour of Alber Szent-Gyorgy, the Hungarian physiologist who is credited with discovering vitamin C and the citric acid cycle.  Go to the link and click on the google logo and see where it takes you.

How to Make a Great Burger

Hamburgers are one of those perfect foods.  Simple and complex all at once they can be too much or too little or just right.  The perfect Saturday night before hockey meal and the mid week craving that just must be satisfied.  All dressed, a burger can be all the major food groups in one sitting.  Attempts to reinvent them tend to end in disappointment.  This is not to imply that there is only one way to serve a burger.  The endless list of toppings and bread choices make the combinations unlimited.  But what must always stay the same is the patty itself.  Simplicity is the rule here.  I will let others debate the origins of the humble hamburger.  I will simply discuss what I, in my many years of eating them, have come to view as a great burger. 

Markham does not have a great burger.  There are some good ones, I had a perfectly fine burger tonight at Liberty Burgers on Main Street.  I had eaten there earlier this summer and felt that the burger was very good but the toppings left room for improvement.  Not much has changed.  The burgers are good and they are charbroiled which is good, I guess if you like that.  But they seem to fall just a little short when it comes to the finish. 

Let me try to explain.  A great burger starts with great meat, we can argue how it gets ground up, but generally you need meat that is a maximum of 85% lean, I prefer 75%.  The meat does not need much else, a little cumin, maybe some egg, a little worcestershire sauce and that's it.  Salt and pepper would be added just prior to hitting the grill.  The patties should not be thick, just 1/2 inch at most.  This is important: a thick patty takes too long to cook through and by then the outside is too charred.  Hey, if that's not enough meat for you add another patty. Why do you think double cheese burgers were invented?  Care must be taken to ensure the patty properly fits the bun/bread of choice.

The cooking must be done on high heat and done quickly to a medium finish.  For the very best results the perfect implement for cooking is the stainless steel flat grill that a professional kitchen has, this ensures you maximize the Maillard effect and allows the burger to retain those vital juices (a cast iron pan fills in nicely for home use).  A charcoal style grill just lets the juices run off and away from the meat and causes the meat to dry out before the Maillard effect has a chance to enhance the flavour.  Real charcoal would be an acceptable substitute only because the coals can get extremely hot and will add some great flavour. 

Now, this is important.  Follow these steps exactly or you run the risk of going out of business - just ask the Lick's franchise in town that just went under.  Place the patty on the grill and LEAVE IT ALONE!  Just don't touch it for at least 2 minutes depending on how done you want it.  Do not press on it, do not continually flip it and for the love of all things holy do not cut into it to see if it's done!  After 2 minutes flip the burger over and, again, leave it alone for 2 more minutes.  As long as you followed my advice up until now, your burger is now done.  Take it off the grill and let it rest while you toast/warm/whatever your bun/bread/whatever.  If, however, you did not follow my advice and you have made one of those meatball like burgers, you will need further cooking time.  Since you insist on ruining a perfectly good meal anyway, go ahead and put it in the microwave on high for 1 minute (next time do as you're told).

At this stage you have an exceptional burger and the chance to enhance it by adding any combination of great toppings.  But we have been very particular up to now, haven't we?  So particular attention must be paid to the toppings as well.  These toppings are being given the opportunity to rest upon the shoulders of a giant (our perfect patty) and should not be given the same attention one gives to a garnish of parsley casually thrown on top.  NO! Our toppings must put as much effort into this burger as our patty has.  If we are using bacon we must go through the effort of properly cooking the bacon.  If we are adding avocado we must choose the perfectly ripe avocado.  If we are adding a special sauce it must truly be special and not just hot sauce mixed into mayo.  Perhaps we are going to serve theme burgers, then every ingredient must be chosen for its authenticity in regards to said theme; you can not put cheddar cheese on a Bavarian burger and lettuce, tomato and onion are not mandatory on all burgers especially if you are having a Mexican burger with salsa.  Use some creativity and try different types of buns instead of a sesame seed.  In fact, try different types of bread.  Imaginative use of ingredients will elevate a good burger to a great burger and allow a restaurant to stand out from the crowd of ok burgers.

What a Shock

Tried this new beer this evening. Very good white with plenty of sweetness, can really taste orange up front followed by a strong wheat flavour in the finish.  I couldn't drink a lot of them but it was a refreshing drink while waiting for my burger.  I like white beer and this one is, in my opinion, better than the Rickard's and Keith's versions both of which I find on the gassy side.  This was like eating an orange and loaf of bread simultaneously...that tastes much better than it sounds, trust me.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Well, I did it.  I went and pre-ordered 3 lots of Bordeaux futures for the 2010 vintage.  Now, I just have to remember in 2 years to take possession.  I know I'm all about the Ontario wines, and while I am still a big fan and maintain Ontario wines are the most under rated in the world, I do loves me the Frenchies.  And 2010 has unanimously been touted as one of the historic vintages.  There were several good buys and looking at the returns of last years vintage - not spectacular - I couldn't resist the opportunity.

So, my wines?

I will say that the ordering was a pleasure and the Vintages rep I dealt with was pleasant and efficient.  The whole process was smooth and effortless, the customer service was great and they even sent me an email of my invoice.  Once I finished ordering they even called back to get my air miles number.  I was very impressed!

But now I wait.

Everything Old is New Again

The wine industry really is a microcosm for the capitalism of Adam Smith, when you think deeply enough about it.  Smith's view that competition drives quality is no more exemplified than in the history of Viognier.  This grape, which had come close to extinction in the 1960's due to the high cost of production, has experienced a rebirth largely due to the need of New World producers to try rarer varieties and techniques to set themselves apart from the Old World.  As a result, one of the oldest varietals of the Old World is now one of the world's most sought after and widely produced wines.

Viognier is a tricky grape to grow and has a short time for harvest which varies from place to place and year to year.  In addition, the vines produce a low yield which can be susceptible to a powdery mildew which could ruin the crop resulting in a costly bottle of wine.  This grape produces a wine which some consider to be the red wine lovers white wine.  Rich, silky, fragrant and dry.  Just don't expect it to age well in the bottle next to your best reds.  For the most part this wine is enjoyed young.

As with most of the top grape varieties, this grape's heritage is somewhat sketchy with many myths surrounding its origin.  University of California, Berkley, scientists have traced its DNA profile to a possible link to the Friesa of Piedmont with a side trip through the Nobbiolo.  In France Viognier is considered an ancient and nobel grape grown mostly in the Rhone valley and bottled as Condrieau.  The French also use Viognier and its low acidity to soften Syrahs.  Viognier in France is used in several red and white wine blends.

Californians and Australians have taken a particularly strong liking to this grape due to its love of warmer climates.  The longer growing seasons allow for a higher sugar content which results in a higher alcohol content but a drier wine low in acidity. Despite its preference for warmer climates many vineyards in cooler climates are also showing very good results.  A light contact with oak produces a wine rich and silky in texture, golden in colour and aromatic and perfumed in its fragrance.  The wines are strongly reminiscent of stoney fruit such as peaches, mangos, nectarines and pears with a touch of honey on the palette.  While a cheaper version may provide a pleasant experience, it is recommended you splurge on the more expensive wines for a complex and memorable experience.  This wine pairs nicely with rich seafood, sushi and mildly spicy foods.

So, I guess the question is, can Ontario's wineries produce a decent bottle of Viognier.  I am currently researching the labels that make one and, to tell the truth, having a hard time finding any stock in a nearby LCBO.  I will continue to hunt them down, along with a couple of examples of the other nations noted above, and we will put them to the taste buds of some of my friends to see how they match up.  I am looking forward to this one and may let someone else run the test so I can participate in the tasting.  I hope to have the results soon.

Sunday Comic