the idea: there is always a story behind what you eat
I recently cooked an impromptu meal for my husband, because I had Monday off and he didn’t. When I have a day off, I like to cook a longer meal that I normally would, or I might be tempted to whip out a little bit fancier wine from the cellar. So, this Monday I decided to build a meal around a bottle of 2005 Rosenblum Cellars Rockpile Zinfandel, which is an extremely well rated Zinfandel that Tony, our wine guy, was able to snag for a steal. I thought I would match this fruit bomb with some fruit-glazed country ribs and some tasty cheese-y potatoes, which would allow me to use up my leftover Beaufort.
I wasn’t really expecting to blog about it, but as I was looking for a pairing match for the wine I began to realize that my kitchen is stocked full of interesting items, each of which has a story behind it…
ROCKPILE ZINFANDEL
The Rockpile appellation or AVA is located in a remote region of the Sonoma Valley. What makes this region special is that it has an altitude above the summer fog line, which means plenty of sunshine, but moderate temperatures (touring the valley in mid-August, I can vouch that the fog/clouds don’t lift until about noon). The hillside conditions are very rocky, which stresses the grape vines. This results of this demanding terrain are in small yields with intense flavors, which brings out the best in such varietals as Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Very few dare to grow there, but those that do make arguably some of the best Zinfandels in the country (or any country since Zin is California native).
BEAUFORT D’ALPAGE
Beaufort is a cheese that my husband and I experienced in France. It tasted like Comte, but with an incredible intensity of nuts and cocoa. It coated your mouth and made you feel as if you had just eaten a rich dessert. We consumed almost an entire block during a make-shift picnic in the Forest of Fontainebleau, where we utilized the dashboard as a cheeseboard and a credit card as a cheese cutter.
I was never able to match the exact quality of the already hard to find Beaufort here in the States, but I was able to snag a still pretty tasty version from the Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco. We slowly snacked on the big Californian chunk of cheese, before I had to grind it up into the mashed potatoes in order to save it from mold… a delicious solution.
Beaufort is known as the “prince of the Gruyeres”, because it is richer and creamier than similar cheeses. Beaufort d’Alpage, specifically, comes from a small rural town in the Alps using milk from a specific type of cow, known as Tarine cows. They graze in the mountains, exclusively, which supposedly gives the cheese its rustic flavor and sometimes floral smell.
THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA
Another reason I felt like exploring this idea of the story behind food is because I am about to start a book called The Omnivore’s Dilemma (I was drawn in by its delicious looking cover). The book details the entire life-cycle of how food gets from its origin onto our plates, exploring ethics, politics, and science. I’m intrigued because it seems like it is more educational than preachy, and as a total happy omnivore, I’m glad to see a book that explores these ideas from a non-vegan, more holistic perspective. Should be an interesting read, but first I have to finish my weird book about quantum physics and the human brain, which is both fascinating and incredibly hard to read before bedtime… quarks, neurons, consciousness, zzzzzzzzz.
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