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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, April 11, 2011
I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.–Brendan Francis Behan, Irish author (1923-1964) who among other works, wrote the plays The Quare Fellow (1954) and The Hostage (1958)
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Don’t miss this fascinating interview with David Downie about his new book “Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light”
by Jonell Galloway
Rambling Epicure correspondent David Downie gave a fascinating interview on Paris (Im)perfect about his new book Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light. A must read, that lets you get a peak preview of what’s in the book, if you haven’t already bought it.
See our article of March 31, 2011, regarding dates of book signings, radio talks, etc., and for a list of other books coming out soon.
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Looking for a restaurant for this weekend? Here’s your restaurant finder
by Jonell Galloway
Click here to go to iTaste in English.
The restaurant social network iTaste is the perfect place to look for a restaurant that suits your budget, taste, mood, etc. It allows you to choose your criteria and then generates a list that meets them. Over time, you can form a network of friends who have the same taste in food as you.
The network started by covering Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy, but is swiftly spreading around the world.
According to founder Paul de la Rochefoucauld, it functions more or less like Wikipedia, allowing users to correct or add to existing information, or even add restaurants that are not yet listed. For the moment, it includes about 70,000 restaurants and has 40,000 network members.
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National Sustainable Development Week in France, Paris AMAPs in Full Swing
by Eric Burkel
Without actually achieving that holiest of grails, sustainable development, and without going doing the path of ascertaining whether Mother Earth really needs more development, sustainable or otherwise, a world-leading auditing firm outside Paris opened its doors yesterday at lunchtime to host an event to offer up a few solutions that might help its employees reduce their environmental footprint.
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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, April 8, 2011
And this is good old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod…–John Collins Bossidy
John Collins Bossidy, American poet (1860 – 1928) and Boston Brahmin. Part of a toast given at Holy Cross College alumni dinner in 1910.
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Switzerland: Does it matter what you drink with your Swiss fondue?
by Jonell Galloway
Wine, water or tea? Tradition Prevails
There is much discussion in Switzerland about the perfect drink for fondue.
Glass of Fendant de Valais, photo courtesy of Steve Lupton/Corbis
The Swiss have clear ideas about what you should and shouldn’t drink with your cheese fondue. Not water, because it will congeal and make a huge, heavy, fat-filled ball of cheese in your belly that can lock up your digestive tract and make you uncomfortable for days. Many say not to drink anything cold. Others say if you really can’t drink alcohol, drink plain black tea — though I confess I’ve never seen anyone do that — without adding sugar or milk.
The traditional drink is definitely Fendant, a slightly sparkling white wine, served almost at room temperature. Fendant is made in the canton of Valais, using Chasselas grapes. When made in the canton of Vaud, it is referred to simply as “Chasselas”.
Scientific Study vs. Tradition
A study carried out in Switzerland and Germany on 20 healthy adults (14 men) aged 23-58 — partially funded by Coop Foods supermarket chain and Etter Kirsch —was published in the BMJ medical journal in December 2010. Scientists fed them cheese fondue with either Fendant de Valais white wine and kirsch or with black tea.
Swiss cheese fondue, photo courtesy of Leser/SoFood/Corbis.
Participants who drank tea digested the fondue in about six hours; those who drank wine and kirsch (cherry schnapps) digested it in nine hours. No gastric symptoms were associated with either test group. The MRI of one of the fondue eaters in the experiment showed a massive lump of cheese, referred to as a “cheese baby,” because it looks like a fetus!
The head of the study, gastroenterologist Mark Fox, from Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in the U.K., said the findings apply to any high-calorie, high-fat meal, such as traditional Christmas or Thanksgiving feasts. Adding alcohol to fat makes it more difficult to break down fat, and Fox added that there is so much fat in fondue that alcohol couldn’t even make a dent.
What’s the Verdict?
In my worthy opinion, tradition will prevail. The study was carried out on an extremely small group, and even if it were larger, the conclusions will almost certainly not convince the Swiss to change their ways after hundreds if not thousands of years of drinking Fendant and cherry schnapps with their fondue!
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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, April 7, 2011
While we’re in the mood —
Cold jelly and custard!
Pease pudding and saveloy!
What next is the question?
Rich gentlemen have it, boys —
In-di-gestion!
Lionel Bart
Lyrics from British musical Oliver!, by Lionel Bart, based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
Click here to listen.
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