Cava is THE BEST sparkly: let’s get disgorging

  
I opened a Cava. Because I could. I will give tasting notes and mayyyybe I will give some tech notes and neither will really matter because bubbly wine is joy contained in a glass. I mean in terms of technical facts, disgorging is getting rid of sediment and I could go on about that–but do we need to think about the part of the wine we are not taking in?
That is nonsensical, but so is the name of this lovely:

NV One plus One equals Three Cava Brut (Penedes)

Was there a logical reason to crack this lovely?

Well, a weekend of rehearsing and a fun musical improv show and then the whole Easter thing seemed like a valid excuse for me, by myself, alone in the kitsch cooking purple potatoes, to open some bubbly.

Cheers to life! Why not.

Thoughts: Oh geez this is a selection that gives me reason to say “I might possibly like cava better than even true Champagne”.

Refresher course: Cava is a sparkling wine made in Spain, using the same methods as champagne. Champagne is a sparkling wine coming from the region of France known as Champagne. This particular cava comes from Penedes, which is in Catalonia. In España. Grapes I REALLY don’t know: Xarel-lo, Parellada and Macabeo.

Champagne is where you go for your galaxy of yeast cruising on teeny-tiny bubble cruise ships. It’ll be the most delicate yet hearty foam to cross your lips. Cava is where you go for dainty bubbles with just a bit of the coarse swagger of the stereotypical dames swabbing the state rooms of the bubble cruise ships. They are unique, maybe a bit salty, and ephemeral. That is such a sexist image but I am digging it to explain Cava. Crap I like Cava.

But all this is neither here nor there, let us talk about consuming the lovely.
It touches your tongue like a plush yet effervescent cloud. Storm imminent. And said storm occurs as you let the bubbly glide down your tongue. You get both the (tasty) acid rain and the lush foam of dainty bubbles all at once. So like, medium in body.

One of the things most spellbinding things about a good bubbly is its ability to play so many roles at once.
Flavor? Well we have fresh fall fruit. We have honey. And maybe papaya. The bubbles invoke minerals, flowing down the river of pureed white peach. I am not joking about that last one, please, do feel free to make fun of me for saying it.

I deserve it. And I will still stand behind it.

Crap I love Cava. 

soviet cuisine

  
World history has never been my forte. Art history? Sure. Food history? Heck yah. Political movements? Not so much. It is not that I don’t get concepts-it is just that I am terrible with names and dates and I have a sneaking suspicion that what I am taught has been passed through a misogynist and Anglicized filter.

Oddly, I can recite recipes for chocolate chip cookies and umpteen cocktails, complete with amounts. And yet I cannot for the life of me remember years that things happened and then I get historical events out of order. Save remembering that WWI was before WWII. Got that one down.

So I’ve been gravitating towards cookbooks that teach me a bit of history too because where there is food involved I am more likely to remember. The CCCP Cook Book: True Stories of Soviet Cuisine deals with Soviet cuisine which is fascinating. The regime in power tried to promote an official cookbook and way of cooking for the all of the Soviet Union’s restaurant and catering businesses in order to get everyone serving exactly the same food everywhere, I suppose. That “official” cuisine seemed to veer towards Russian dishes, but the Soviet Union (aka USSR or CCCP) was pretty vast. The recipes that represent Soviet cuisine found in people’s homes ranges from Russian to Georgian to Tatar.

It is also interesting how much the the economics of the time drove the dishes. There is a reason for all those breadcrumb coated dishes. Meat at the time was scarce and the quality of what was available was poor. Crumbs disguised mystery meat. The lack of meat is the same reason there were so many canned fish, and varying patties of chopped meat.

Scarcity can also lead to remarkably good dishes. Eggplant “caviar” for instance. I’m not making it to replace real caviar. I’m making it because it is pretty dang delicious. Which I found shocking because rarely do I care for eggplant dishes.

The book is full of stories of dictators being jerks (to put it mildly) and the government being corrupt. The stories are alternately funny and sad. For instance the regime would champion eggs as not being so good for you when eggs were not readily available. When eggs finally were available in some abundance the government “realized” that eggs were in fact delicious and nutritious. Mmm, the tasty tales of executive power. By the time I finished reading and cooking through this book, I will be nourished both in body and mind.

As I mentioned, there are quite a few chopped meat recipes. There are some classics like sauerkraut, chicken Kiev, borscht and stroganoff. The recipe I am sharing is a sweet and spicy beet broth eaten with a toasted cheesy bread. Think of it as a variant of the classic pairing of grilled cheese with tomato soup. The topping on the toast is positively addictive. If you don’t like spice, you may wish to cut down the cayenne but being a nut for heat, I went all in.

The story behind this dish is about a chatty lil’ supper meeting between Stalin and Mao. Stalin steered Mao towards the soup because Mao grew up in southeast China, where the Hunan cuisine was full of the spicy flavors. Apparently at this dinner there was some wine drinking too, and Mao asked why Stalin liked to mix red and white wine. Stalin’s answer was that he liked creating his own bouquet of wine flavors. Now, I don’t recommend being like Stalin in general, and I REALLY don’t recommend mixing your red and white wine. But should you be into historical reenaction feel free to pop a couple of bottles open to wash down this meal. Just don’t reenact anything else the dictators might have been up to.

Borschtok with Spicy Toast adapted from The CCCP Cook Book by Olga and Pavel Syutkin

For borschtok:

2-2 1/2 liters meat stock (being veg, I substituted vegetable stock)
400 g (around a pound) beets
3 Tbsp. vinegar
1 egg white
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sugar
For the toast:

2-3 slices white bread
25 g (almost 1 oz.) butter, plus some extra for frying
200 g (around 1/2 pound) semi-mature cheese (I used cheddar)
2 eggs
50 g (almost 2 oz) tomato puree or ketchup (I used tomato paste)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
For the broth:

Add the beet, finely chopped, and the vinegar and egg white to the stock. Place over low heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. Add the cayenne and sugar and simmer another 5-7 minutes. Skim off any fat (if using meat stock) then run through a sieve (I lined mine with cheesecloth).

For the toast:

Heat the oven to 180 celsius or 360 Fahrenheit. Cut the bread into rectangular slices and fry in some butter. Grate the cheese and mix it with the tomato concoction of choice, eggs, butter and cayenne. Spread on the fried bread and bake in oven 10-12 minutes. Serve with the broth. Dip it. Dip it good.

Bloody Jove and friends

I really do not know much of Italian wine.

This is Tuscan and made of a bunch of grapes I do not know of. Well, the first one I know: Sangiovese.

Translation: The Blood Of Jove.

Yum.

But my knowledge of   the other grapes? Not so much: Colorina. Foglia Tonda. Barsaglina.

Say whaaaaaa?

2013 Mocine “Mocine” IGT

Sweet in the way-I dunno dates? It is sweet at very top of tongue. Spices mid-palate. Then mouthwatering acid. The tannins hit down between dates and spices which is just right.

In this wine tannins are the moderator. They align and adjust extremes.

For all I’ve yakked this wine is not terrible complicated. It will take a bit more thought than grape juice but far less than, say, some crazy Syrah. Crazy. Not all Syrahs are crazy but if they are well then….

Somehow the jigsaw puzzle of spice, tannins and juices don’t make me love this, but I thoroughly enjoy it in the “Okay I’ll have another half-glass” way that I use at the wine bar I adore when I am too lazy to taste another new wine and want more wine but not another entire glass of wine because I am still a lightweight who needs to have half-glasses. Because I hate being drunk.

I’d just keep on drinking this one. I dig it. Or else I would not share. I’m curious to taste this winery’s other offerings.

Juicy

  
I just wanted to lap up juice like a kat. Don’t give your cat juice, by the way.

Okay normally if I am drinking juice it involves some fermentation.

But free juice.

Colorful juice.

I’ll try it. And I did.

V-8 sent me some new brews to try. They are:

• Orange Kiwi (has Mandarin Orange, Carrots, Grapes, Sweet Potatoes, Kiwi, Apple)
• Red Radiance (Grapes, Sweet Potatoes, Beets, Watermelon, Pink Guava, Apple, Carrots)
• Pineapple Fusion (Grapes, Sweet Potatoes, Pineapples, Carrots, Passion Fruit, Apple)

Okay the thrilling taste test results:

Pineapple Fusion! I love pineapple! My favorite of the bunch. It was the least processed of tastes. The most singular of tastes. As in it tasted very pineapple-y. As opposed to a pineapple blended with other things. And god is pineapple good. I would never have guessed there was sweet potato there seeing as I hate sweet potato. But I am happy it worked here. I like this juice. I would drink it and use it in drinks. And smoothies.

Red Fusion: I thoroughly enjoyed. To me it was the most balanced, actually. It was quite sweet but passion fruit has this way of being both sweet and sour. Maybe that was it. It was plush.

The Orange Kiwi: Look, I did not love this one but I do not like plain orange juice so…not gonna talk more. It was highly identifiable as orange in origin so if you like orange juice by all means…go get it tiger.

In the end they all taste sort of similar. But they have veggies! And for all that sweetness less sugar I suppose? At least not added like some juice. Hmmm. If you want very pretty delicious juice reach for that Red Radiance. If you want to feel the tropical vibe get ye some Pineapple Fusion. 

Next week we will return to your regularly scheduled booze.

no make-up Burgundy went to bed this way

  
The title of this post is how I consumed this wine. I was given little notes from ye olde Garagiste so the notes I give on this are the unvarnished truth of what I thought, unaltered by other tasters’ notes and just before bedtime when I am vulnerable because I fear the bed monster. Only because I have major problems sleeping. That’s where the fear is from. Don’t get ideas.

So. Another Garagiste-procured pick. I’m on a bend. Also I feel no need to buy other wine seeing as I have this enticing collection right now.

Paul Croses Côtes de Nuits-Villages Grand Vin de Bourgogne 2011

That link will give you other tasters’ thoughts. Should you doubt my sleepy musings.

Burgundy in color. Hahahahhahhaa. 

Okay, if you are learning wine, know that “Bourgogne” is what we English-speakers call “Burgundy”. That lovely Pinot Noir-rich region of France. The color of this wine is the color. That explains how we named the color Burgundy burgundy. Ain’t nothing like a burg Burg!

This is medium-light in body. Medium-high in acid. Juicy as sin. And I swear to heck it has tiki spices to it. Largely it is the taste of Velvet Falernum so I am gonna say allspice. Yes. This wine is like a goddamn Christmas holiday in spices crossed with Easter in terms of springtime fruit.

Oh, you beguiling region Bourgogne. Beguiling.

Sexy minx.

Smooth motherfucker.

That’s you.

The wine! That is the wine. It really is smooth.

Okay I am done. No I’m not. This wine hits your tongue with an acidic and spicy kick then slides over the tongue. Smoothly in the center but you will feel the sides tingling. It is nice. I don’t know that I am a Burgundy girl in general but I’m digging this doll.