Darra Goldstein
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Join me this week and meet one of my most interesting former guests. Darra Goldstein is Professor of Russian at Williams College and founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, named the 2012 Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. She has many other award winning books to her credit and her latest “The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets” will certainly garner even more awards!
A sweet tooth is a powerful thing. Babies everywhere seem to smile when tasting sweetness for the first time, a trait inherited, perhaps, from our ancestors who foraged for sweet foods that were generally safer to eat than their bitter counterparts. But the “science of sweet” is only the beginning of a fascinating story, because it is not basic human need or simple biological impulse that prompts us to decorate elaborate wedding cakes, scoop ice cream into a cone, or drop sugar cubes into coffee. These are matters of culture and aesthetics, of history and society, and we might ask many other questions. Why do sweets feature so prominently in children’s literature? When was sugar called a spice? And how did chocolate evolve from an ancient drink to a modern candy bar?
The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets explores these questions and more through the collective knowledge of 265 expert contributors, from food historians to chemists, restaurateurs to cookbook writers, neuroscientists to pastry chefs. The Companion takes readers around the globe and throughout time, affording glimpses deep into the brain as well as stratospheric flights into the world of sugar-crafted fantasies. More than just a compendium of pastries, candies, ices, preserves, and confections, this reference work reveals how the human proclivity for sweet has brought richness to our language, our art, and, of course, our gastronomy. Learn more about Darra here.
A book of Epic proportions filled with interesting history, lore and more about sugar and sweets, truly a delicious encyclopedia! Get a copy NOW
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week: 2013 Cedrus Le Blanc
Cedrus Le Blanc is made about 60 miles away from Cahors in the Armagnac region. This area and its grapes are the source of the finest brandy in France, but there’s also a little ‘country wine’ made under the Cotes de Gascogne appellation. If you like Loire Sauvignon Blanc, you will love this crisp 60/40 blend of Colombard and Ugni Blanc. The nose presents superb aromatics of exotic fruits and white flowers. Served chilled, its fine texture and clear fresh fruit character will combine beautifully with seafood or just by itself.
Produced and bottled in Arkansas City, Kansas with grapes from the Suisun Valley. The Suisun Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Solano County, California, located just east of the Napa Valley wine region in the Coast Range. It has touches of spice, generous fruit and perfectly integratd oak flavor and aroma from twenty four months in new French oak barrels.
Written in a cinematic style, this book is about the creation, growth, and sale of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The concept began when Paramount Pictures reached out to see if there was interest in creating a restaurant based on the movie Forrest Gump. It is also the personal story of the author’s growth as a CEO and creator of restaurant concepts. A host of situations are described such as restaurant concept creation, high stakes boardroom confrontations, and escaping corrupt officials in foreign lands. The narrative is partly an unvarnished peak behind the everyday scenes of restaurants, movie studios, and Wall Street. There is also an almost step-by-step recounting of how the Bubba Gump concept and others were created and operated. Lessons can be learned on unorthodox methods used in moving from traditional approaches to untried ways of doing business.
generation pitmaster, Andy started his BBQ journey with the HoDeDo’s BBQ team, to spend time with his dad, George; backing his Uncle, Tom Groneman and Bob Eickhoff in the pits. By 1996, Andy wanted to cook more than the HoDeDo’s could schedule, so Smoke on Wheels was born with his brother in law, Matt Winterscheid. Since then Smoke on Wheels has earned hundreds of BBQ awards, including the Empire State championship, 20 Grand Championships, and 2 ‘Chest to Chest’ Brisket Invitational awards – including 2012. In 2009, Smoke on Wheels closed the season ranked 5th in the nation out of 4700+ teams. For 2010, Andy decided to dip his toe into the BBQ products arena with the launch of his two marinades. Smoke on Wheels BBQ Marinade, and Smoke on Wheels Pork injection and marinade. Both products have helped teams take their competitive BBQ to the next level! Andy has made BBQ a family affair, cooking 20-30 weekends each year in competition, along with his wife, Kim, and two girls Kaylin and Lauren. Both girls enjoy time behind the grill with their dad, and competing on their own in Kid’s Ques. They have both been champions in the 2012 season! Outside of BBQ, Andy is a Solutions Engineer for Sprint, with 14 years in Telecommunications. Currently, specializing in wireless and hosted/cloud computing solutions.
Terra d’Oro wines were first released in 1973 under the Montevina label, the first Amador County winery to produce wine since Prohibition ended. We quickly earned a reputation for crafting robust, full-flavored red wines, Zinfandel and Barbera in particular. Word spread, and a short time later, Amador’s historic wine industry was revived.
2014 Terra d’Oro Chenin Blanc & Viognier