Wine: March 2008 Archives
I'm reading an extremely humorous blog this morning, Stuff White People Like, and the writer suggests using this line at a bar on St. Patrick's day to look cool. While the context here is snark squared, there's something to the spirit of the statement.
One of New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris' cardinal rules is that diners should "eat it where it lives." Eat Maine lobstah in Maine, for example, gulf shrimp on the gulf coast, you get the idea. Sure, we can flash-freeze and overnight ship just about anything these days, but it's just not the same as eating whatever it is locally. The influx of Asian seafood on the market, even here in New Orleans, is a good example of this. We've discussed the bland lack-of-flavor to flash-frozen Asian shrimp or crawfish previously. Once shellfish are cooked, you can put flavor on them, but you can't put it in them. Crab boil is concentrated to the point of borderline toxic so that all those spices and flavors seep through the shells while shrimp are boiling. No way mass-market producers are going to use the stuff.
Location and atmosphere often go a long way in terms of making mediocre food seem like the best meals we've ever had in our lives. Let's face it, classic English fish and chips is a boring meal. Eat it in a pub near Hyde Park and it becomes a memory. That's one of the reasons I never argue with visitors to New Orleans when they told me they had such a fantastic meal at a place where I'd never spend my own money. There's just no value in trying to shoot down the memory.
If you think meals can create memories, booze is makes the memory even fonder. A common theme among travelers who go to France or Italy is that they will remember a fantastic red table wine in a bistro in Paris, Florence, or Naples. It was part of a fantastic al fresco meal, one of the most wonderful evenings of their lives. They come back to New Orleans and go to Martin Wine Cellar in search of the wine that made them feel so good. They find it, get it home, grill up some steaks, open the bottle, and take a sip. Unfortunately, a bottle of mid-tier house wine doesn't engage a Star Trek-style holodeck, and they're not transported to their bistro. The wine is what it is, a mid-tier table wine. It gave them a great buzz at the time, though, and that's what the memory is all about. Now, have a martini or three before those steaks, and odds are that the wine will taste just as good to the dulled senses.
So, yeah, Guinness does taste better in Ireland. Or so they say, I've never been. But I can attest that Bavaria tastes so much better sitting outside at a pub in Utrecht. Jug-quality Riesling is fantastic with lunch at small restaurants in Koblenz.
Feel free to share your own "tastes better" memories in comments!
One of New Orleans food critic Tom Fitzmorris' cardinal rules is that diners should "eat it where it lives." Eat Maine lobstah in Maine, for example, gulf shrimp on the gulf coast, you get the idea. Sure, we can flash-freeze and overnight ship just about anything these days, but it's just not the same as eating whatever it is locally. The influx of Asian seafood on the market, even here in New Orleans, is a good example of this. We've discussed the bland lack-of-flavor to flash-frozen Asian shrimp or crawfish previously. Once shellfish are cooked, you can put flavor on them, but you can't put it in them. Crab boil is concentrated to the point of borderline toxic so that all those spices and flavors seep through the shells while shrimp are boiling. No way mass-market producers are going to use the stuff.
Location and atmosphere often go a long way in terms of making mediocre food seem like the best meals we've ever had in our lives. Let's face it, classic English fish and chips is a boring meal. Eat it in a pub near Hyde Park and it becomes a memory. That's one of the reasons I never argue with visitors to New Orleans when they told me they had such a fantastic meal at a place where I'd never spend my own money. There's just no value in trying to shoot down the memory.
If you think meals can create memories, booze is makes the memory even fonder. A common theme among travelers who go to France or Italy is that they will remember a fantastic red table wine in a bistro in Paris, Florence, or Naples. It was part of a fantastic al fresco meal, one of the most wonderful evenings of their lives. They come back to New Orleans and go to Martin Wine Cellar in search of the wine that made them feel so good. They find it, get it home, grill up some steaks, open the bottle, and take a sip. Unfortunately, a bottle of mid-tier house wine doesn't engage a Star Trek-style holodeck, and they're not transported to their bistro. The wine is what it is, a mid-tier table wine. It gave them a great buzz at the time, though, and that's what the memory is all about. Now, have a martini or three before those steaks, and odds are that the wine will taste just as good to the dulled senses.
So, yeah, Guinness does taste better in Ireland. Or so they say, I've never been. But I can attest that Bavaria tastes so much better sitting outside at a pub in Utrecht. Jug-quality Riesling is fantastic with lunch at small restaurants in Koblenz.
Feel free to share your own "tastes better" memories in comments!
