Tedorigawa Yamahai Junmai: Shichimenchou-Zake

What is Shichimenchou-Zake? Well, I am not sure if it is an actual word or not, but it means "Turkey Sake." The term "shichimenchou" is the Japanese word for "turkey," and literally means "seven-faced or seven-sided bird." I simply added "zake" to the word, which is often done for sake related words. By turkey sake, I meant sake for Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving, I opened a number of bottles, ranging from a Lambrusco to a VORS (30+ year old)...

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America's Test Kitchen: Recipe Research

With the many thousands of food blogs in existence, the most common type are the recipe blogs, where writers post the results of their home cooking. I recently had cause to ponder some questions concerning these recipe blogs. How often do they practice a recipe before posting it? Have they considered other factors that might influence their recipe? Can you successfully replicate their recipes if you try them at your own home?What brought these questions...

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Rant: Beware The Self-Proclaimed Expert

I am very tired of self-proclaimed wine experts, gurus, ninjas and whatever whose actual knowledge is lacking. This is obviously not a problem restricted to the wine world and many fields have this same problem, a deluge of self-proclaimed experts who can't back up their claims. Just look at how many so-called social media gurus are around. But I am going to restrict myself here to the realm of wine and others alcoholic beverages.There are easily over 1000 wine blogs in the U.S. and it is simple for anyone to start a blog as no prior wine knowledge...

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Shojo & White Sake

If you are wicked, then beware of white sake as it may poison you!I previously discussed the tanuki, a legendary Japanese creature which loves to drink sake yet the tanuki is not the only supernatural creature in Japanese folklore which loves this delicious brew. The shojo is a Japanese sea spirit with long scarlet hair, red skin and a pronounced love for sake. In addition, the shojo possess magical powers which often seem to involve sake. The legend...

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Sake Dinner at Om Restaurant on 12/5

Would you like to learn more about Sake? Though it can seem like an intimidating beverage, it is probably much easier to learn about than you think. It is also a versatile drink, with a wide variety of flavor profiles, making it very food friendly. In fact, one of the best ways to understand about Sake is to taste it with food, to see how well it interacts with a variety of dishes. If that interests you, then you should come to the upcoming Sake...

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Happy Thanksgiving: Be Thankful For All You Have

Today is Thanksgiving, a holiday when many of us will get together with family and friends to share good food and drink. Besides enjoying the occasion, we should take some time to reflect upon our lives and consider everything for which we should be thankful.Yes, this year has likely been tough for many of us, especially economically. There are plenty of changes we wish would occur, from greater employment to lower costs for many essentials. But, if we are honest about our lives, we will realize how much worse it could be, and that we do have...

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Wednesday Sips & Nibbles

I am here, because of the Thanksgiving holiday, with a special Wednesday edition of my usual Sips & Nibbles column, where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.**********************************************************1)  Each holiday season from November 1st through New Year’s Eve, the Legal Sea Foods family of restaurants (Legal Sea Foods, Legal Test Kitchen, Legal C Bar and Legal Harborside) makes waves in assisting Children’s Hospital Boston. For the past sixteen years, a portion...

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Wine-Sense: An Update, With Cookies

How time flies sometimes! This past Thursday, I stopped by Wine-Sense, a small, boutique wine shop in Andover, for their special Thanksgiving wine event. As I prepared to write about the event, I realized that I had reviewed Wine Sense back in June 2008, more than three years ago. It is probably time for an update, to determine whether my review is still relevant or not. A period of three years can sometimes see significant changes in a...

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Rant: Outraged By Sake Prices At Restaurants

We often hear complaints about the outrageous prices of wine sold at many restaurants. Some places charge three, four or even fives times the usual retail price of a wine. Who wants to pay $30-$50 for a wine at a restaurant that they can buy at a local store for $10? I have heard all of the arguments put forth by these restaurants, and though I would agree to the validity of a certain markup, some markups are absolutely unnecessary, bordering...

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Flavors of Fall: A Recap

I never expected that a spoonful of food at Flavors of Fall would so intrigue me.This past Monday, as part of the media, I attended the Flavors of Fall event at the The Charles Hotel. The event was organized by BostonChefs.com, and cosponsored by City Square Associates, Inc. and The Charles Hotel. This fun event offers food from local chefs, wine, beer and live music, and all of the proceeds go to a local charity. I have...

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Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.**********************************************************1)  Foxwoods features special Thanksgiving dinner menus at several restaurants, including the following:Paragon $35 per person· Roasted Natural Turkey· Whipped Potatoes and Giblet Gravy· Fresh Cranberry RelishCedars Steak House · Butternut Squash Bisque ($7)· Roasted Turkey...

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Culinary Creativity: Chef Franck Iglesias

(Check out my Introduction to the Culinary Creativity series.) Executive Pastry Chef Franck Iglesias was born in Argenteuil, France, just north of Paris, and while his mother prepared traditional French specialties at home, his father worked as a restaurant chef.  When he was 16 years old, he entered Andorra Culinary School and two years later moved on to Perpignan, where he learned the art of pastry making. After a number of years working...

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Rant: U.S. Sake vs Japan Sake--Context Is Everything

Is sake produced in the U.S. as good as sake produced in Japan? Does the question require more specificity? Or is it even a fair question? After my recent visit to the SakeOne brewery in Oregon, I pondered these questions. In addition, as I was doing some additional research, I stumbled upon a blog post, from February 2011, which attempted to answer these questions and those answers irked me. W. Blake Gray posted US sake vs. Japanese:...

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Thanksgiving Recipes & Recommendations

The Thanksgiving holiday approaches and some people might have already started to panic. Will you eat at home, go to a friend or relative's home, or dine out at a restaurant? If you are cooking, are you looking for a new recipe to try?  Which wines should you serve? So many decisions to make, so let me offer a little assistance and maybe ease your worries.First, stop worrying that everything needs to be perfect. It really doesn't. Thanksgiving...

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Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.**********************************************************1)  Boston magazine announces its second annual Taste event on Monday, November 14 to be held in the setting of Boston’s Museum of Science. This culinary event will showcase cuisine and cocktail selections from 30 of Boston and Cambridge’s hottest restaurants. Taste attendees will have the chance to...

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