Wine of the Week: 2008 Paitin di Pasquero Elia Barbaresco ‘Serra’

Barbaresco doesn’t usually come in under $30 ― and when you find one of this quality at this price, jump on it. One of the great bargains in Piedmont is the Paitin “Serra” from the Elia Pasquero family, which has been farming these hillside vineyards since the late 18th century. Very drinkable already, the 2008 has a lovely bouquet of cherries and earth. Complex and elegant, this Barbaresco has lots to reveal as it sits in the glass ― concentrated dark berries, violets, tobacco leaves and more.

May 11, 2012

Distillers lead artisanal whiskey movement

Set aside your shot glasses. The next bottle of whiskey you open deserves to be savored.The Bay Area has become the center of a booming American craft whiskey movement. For years, artisan distillers such as Anchor and St. George Spirits have been dedicated to the craft of small-batch liquid amber. Their innovation is inspiring a new wave of craft distillers, whiskey-themed eateries and events such as October’s WhiskyFest.The trend comes on the heels of a renewed interest in handcrafted artisanal

May 11, 2012

Samhap janggwa, (three braised delicacies)

Samhap janggwa is a dish of three kinds of seafood (mussels, abalone and sea slug) braised with beef and seasonings. Nowadays, the seafood is cooked alive, but in olden days it was dried then cooked after soaking in water because the amino acid and taurine content increases during drying and enhances the taste. Ingredients● 160g abalone, 5 cups water ● 60g soaked sea slug● 100g mussels, 3 cups water, 2 tsp salt, 2 cups seafood scalding water, 1/2 tsp salt ● 50g beef (top round) ● seasoning sauce

May 11, 2012

Fusion without borders

Chefs use Asian cuisine as spring board for fare that is outside of the boxIn the world of cuisine, the term “fusion” was usually married to a set of regions; giving the diner an idea of what to expect. Shall we be having Korean-Italian, French-Chinese or some other hybrid and hopefully a harmonious meeting of several different cuisines tonight? The experience was at times sensational, where ingredients that one might never have imagined appearing on the same dish did successfully meet, attracti

May 11, 2012

"Crab" chips, fruity Oreos? They're big overseas

Russians prefer their Lay's potato chips dusted in caviar and crab flavors. The Chinese like their Oreos stuffed with mango and orange cream. And in Spain, Kellogg's All-Bran cereal is served floating in hot coffee instead of cold milk.Americans might get squeamish at the thought of their favorite snacks being tweaked. But what works in the U.S. doesn't always work everywhere.In other words, Lee L

May 7, 2012

Wine of the Week: 2001 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva

Spain’s Rioja region produces some of the best red wines in the world. And most have a terrific price-quality ratio. That holds even for some of the most famous wines, like Lopez de Heredia’s Vina Tondonia Reserva Rioja. The 2001 is the current release from the family-run winery that dates back 131 years and three generations. The blend is 75 percent Tempranillo with 15 percent Garnacha, the rest made up of Graciano and Mazuelo grapes. Open a bottle a half hour or so before you want to drink it

May 4, 2012

Oiseon (stuffed cucumber)

Oiseon is a dish of cucumbers stuffed with beef, brown oak mushrooms, and egg white and yolk garnish. The cucumbers are slit and the filling tucked inside. They are then sprinkled with sweet vinegar sauce. It has a tantalizing sweet and sour taste and a beautiful color. This dish stimulates the appetite and is usually served as an appetizer.Ingredients● 1 cucumber, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp salt ● 30g beef, 2 sheets brown oak mushrooms ● seasoning sauce: 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp minced gr

May 4, 2012

The magic of macarons

Ethereal to the tongue, bright and pleasing to the eye, the dainty Parisian pastries known as macarons are tiny bites of luxury.Made of little more than almonds, egg whites and sugar, often dyed to a bright, lacquer like sheen, the shells are tantalizingly crisp, with a slightly springy interior. Dissolving in the mouth, they give way to fillings of beguiling and delicious variety: ganache, buttercream or citrus- and whiskey-soaked concoctions dancing with complexity.All this decadence comes at

May 4, 2012

New batch of brews hail from U.S.

Tavalon, La Colombe Torrefaction, Think Coffee have landed in SeoulJust when you thought a new wave of coffee and brew stops from abroad could not possibly squeeze into Seoul’s already saturated turf, they did. If the West Coast ― i.e. Starbucks and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf ― is largely credited with being the motherland of the first generation of overseas drink chains to help popularize the caffeinated brew, the new generation ― Tavalon, La Colombe Torrefaction and Think Coffee ― hails from

May 4, 2012

Daejeon ready for international gathering of chefs

The World Association of Chefs Societies’ Biannual Congress will be held in Daejeon, May 1-12 under the theme of “How to Feed the Planet in the Future.”Inaugurated in Paris in 1929, the international gathering of chefs from around the world contributes to the development of the art and science of cooking.Some 4,000 participants from the 97 member states of the WACS are expected to participate in the event which includes the Congress, Global Chef Challenge, Hans Bueschkens Young Chef Challenge, I

April 29, 2012

Wine of the Week: 2010 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis ‘Vigne Sparse’

Arneis was a grape that was practically extinct when Alfredo Currado of Vietti and Bruno Giacosa brought it back from obscurity in the early ’70s. Theirs are still benchmark examples, but I also like very much the Arneis from Giovanni Almondo. On one of these lovely spring evenings, this 2010 Arneis makes a perfect aperitif. It’s light and refreshing, perfumed with white peaches. And yet there’s an underlying minerality that gives it some weight. Never one-dimensional, Almondo’s 2010 “Vigne Spar

April 27, 2012

The dining’s fine at Caf Insecta

WOOSTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio ― If you’re reading this story over breakfast, you might want to skip over to the sports section.Go ahead, I’ll wait. You can come back when you’re done eating.Today we’re talking about bugs. Edible ones, to be exact.Ick, you’re probably thinking.That’s what I thought when I found out I’d been assigned to Cafe Insecta during my volunteer stint at A Bug’s World, a program earlier this week at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster Township. Over tw

April 27, 2012

Jogiyangnyeom-gui, (seasoned and broiled yellow corvine)

Jogiyangnyeom-gui is broiled jogi (yellow corvina) coated with red pepper paste seasoning. Dried jogi is called “gulbi.” The taste of gulbi is so good that there is an old tale in which a miser, Jaringobi, hangs one on the ceiling and enjoys the taste only by glancing at it after every spoon of steamed rice. Ingredients● 4 yellow corvina, 1/2 tsp salt● sesame soy sauce : 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil ● seasoning sauce : 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp red pepper paste, 1 tsp mi

April 27, 2012

Jeju black pigs, a special breed

Spring not only heralds longer days and warmer weather. It also signals the onslaught of yellow dust. When the dust rolls in, the masks go on and pork, which is believed to help detoxify the body of inhaled pollutants, gets served. Add to that the recent, controversial public reaction to the news of yet another case of mad cow disease in the U.S. and it looks like this might be the season of the pig. Now, when it comes to breds on South Korean turf, the Jeju Island black pig is among the most pr

April 27, 2012