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Carli Ratcliff: Australia’s National (barbeque) Day

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Permalink 0

by Carli Ratcliff, our Australian correspondent

Carli Ratcliff, named Best New Food Writer 2010, looks at the origins of the nation’s most recognisable foods, some served in celebration.

January 26 marks the beginning of British settlement in Australia. Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet, sailed into Sydney Cove on this day in 1788. Over time, the day has become a wider celebration of Australia’s spirit and diversity, recognising the country’s indigenous owners and the multicultural population.

On the Chocolate Trail: Of Hearts and Men

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, January 25, 2011 Permalink 0

by Christina Daub

At last. The chocolate lover’s favorite holiday is almost here. Valentine’s Day. Day of truffles and roses. Love and poetry. Heart-shaped boxes which inevitably lighten when passed from hand to hand.

I read somewhere that 75% of chocolate is purchased by women, except during the week before Valentine’s when it’s 75% men. Men, I have some good news for you. You can do this online. Of course you then deprive yourself of tasting while you shop, but if you’re that busy, read on.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 25, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, January 25, 2011 Permalink 0

The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star.–Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), Physiologie du Goût (1826)

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, born April 1, 1755 in Belley, France, died February 2, 1826, in Paris. He was a lawyer, politician and writer of one of the important works on gastronomy ever written, Physiologie du Goût, meaning literally “the physiology of taste”, a handbook of gastronomy that is a must for any serious cookbook collection. As a lawyer and deputy of the third estate at the States-General of 1789, he was forced to flee to Switzerland and the United States during the Terror. He returned to France in 1796 and became a judge of the court of cassation during Napoleon’s consulate. He published several works on law and political economy before his classic work on gastronomy.

Destination Dessert: Italian Pinolata, or Pine Nut Tart

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, January 24, 2011 Permalink 0

Pinolata, Italian pine nut tart, Jamie Schler, Life's a Feast, The Rambling Epicure

by Jamie Schler

The Italian Pine Nut Tart

I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts.–Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet

When we speak of dessert we invariably pepper the conversation with such words as sinful, decadent, guilty pleasure, hints of gluttony and naughtiness behind hands pressed to mouths, stifling schoolgirl giggles. We see someone succumb to the temptation and share a knowing look as if having caught him or her in a compromising position, albeit a tad envious of the other’s daring in delving into some tempting, tantalizing, uncontrollable urge.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 24, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, January 24, 2011 Permalink 0

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.—Adelle Davis

Adelle Davis was one of America’s best known nutritionists and helped lay the foundation of twentieth-century nutritional concepts. She dedicated most of her career to working with physicians on diet-related issues. Today, the Adelle Davis Foundation supports programs for educational and developmental activities relating to nutrition.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 23, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, January 23, 2011 Permalink 0

Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well mitched they are as body and soul, living partners.–Andre Simon

André Louis Simon (1877 – 1970) was the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years. In 66 years of authorship, he wrote 104 books. For 33 years he was one of London’s leading champagne shippers; for another 33 years active president of the Wine & Food Society. Although he lived in England from the age of 25, he always remained a French citizen. He was both Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and holder of the Order of the British Empire. (excerpt from official site)

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 22, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, January 21, 2011 Permalink 0

The gentle art of gastronomy is a friendly one. It hurdles the language barrier, makes friends among civilized people, and warms the heart.–Samuel Chamberlain

Critics’ Café: Book Review, Food Wine Burgundy, by David Downie and Alison Harris

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, January 21, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

I have written many a guidebook, I have used many a guidebook, and I know Burgundy pretty darned well, but this exquisite book, Food Wine Burgundy, is like none other. It is chock full of information not found in any other book I’ve seen about Burgundy. It is Burgundy for those who want to discover Burgundy for the first time, but it is also Burgundy for those who, like me, already know Burgundy and want to know it still more.

Downie is a writer’s writer, a writer for those who appreciate good writing, yet his writing is clear and accessible to all. His lucid manner of presenting and describing food and wine make you feel confident that he has done his homework (which he has; this book is 20 years in the making) and that you can rely on his recommendations. He not only has an amazing depth of knowledge about food, wine, and history, but he weaves it all together in an amazing, catchy prose not seen in modern-day guidebooks. He has a love of “terroir”; of what the land has to offer, of earthy food and wine. He seems to have the nose of a truffle hog, because in the addresses we’ve tried so far and already know, we’ve never found him to be off the mark.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 21, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, January 21, 2011 Permalink 0

Americans, more than any other culture on earth, are cookbook cooks; we learn to make our meals not from any oral tradition, but from a text. The just-wed cook brings to the new household no carefully copied collection of the family’s cherished recipes, but a spanking new edition of Fannie Farmer or The Joy of Cooking.–John Thorne, American food writer

Chartres, Easy Getaway from Geneva: Restaurant St-Hilaire

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, January 21, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Rambling ’round France: Chartres Cathedral, a Gothic Wonder

Chartres makes for an easy, affordable weekend jaunt. There is no lack of things to do.

The Gothic cathedral is of course, the main thing to see, and you can spend 2 days just exploring that.

The cathedral itself, both inside and out, is truly one of the wonders of the world. The crypt includes a Romanesque church on top of which the cathedral was built, Roman ruins, an old Druid well, and a gallery that was probably used by the Druids to worship Bellissima, and later converted into a chapel dedicated to the Mother and Child of Chartres (it is said that the Druid goddess Bellissima also held a baby in her arms, although in a different position from the classic Christian manner).