Learning to Cook and Other Things

Terroir is a French winemaking concept which considers topography, climate and soil as the major factors in classifying wine. Rather than the grape variety itself, terrior dictates the quality of wines based on where the grapes were grown, what kind of soil it was grown and the time of the grapes’ harvest,. In essence, terroir means “unique wines from a unique area”. Although the concept remains debatable among the world’s wine producers, terroir serves as the basis for the French AOC or Appelation d’Origine Controlee system which in turn is governed by the Institut Nationaldes Appelations d’Origine or INAO. AOC’s appellation system mandates France ’s stringest winemaking and production controls. AOC more than guarantees that the wine from every French bottle comes from the region indicated on the label to specify which types of grapes are grown in a region and how the wine was made. The AOC serves as a model for many European systems. Defining the topography factor,

I would like to make a correction please. Yesterday, when I checked my Entrecard stats p age, I got the information I used for this post. Actually, I had a feeling already that there was some mistake. I was trying to find Juliana . Why did she suddenly disappear from my top droppers. Holy smokes, today that mistake gets corrected by Entrecard. She is listed on the 9th place. I think that is the more accurate statistic. Sorry, Juliana. But to you I dedicate this short post. Thank You for spending the time, clicking through my site. I appreciate it.

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Ah ah ah. That’s not what I meant. I am talking about Curtis – The Take Home Chef. This would be my second post on a celebrity chef (the first was The Naked Chef , of course that’s Jamie Oliver) First time I saw Curtis was on his Take Home Chef show on cable. I thought the show’s concept was brilliant. I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere. The tact is Curtis goes around supermarkets to pick-up a lady shopper, bring her back to her home, where Curtis will prepare a special dinner menu for her and a loved one. Yes, that is very right - he will do all the cooking and the food preparation (well, not really. I saw the show's credits and he has a sous chef), all in front of the cameras. It’s like a reality cooking show. Back to Curtis, he was born in Australia . Before realizing he wanted to cook, he was studying Business. He went on to start his cooking career in Savoy , quite a famous Aussie hotel. From there he proceeded to England to work for that famous chef and

Here's an image of the evoo brand I would like to have the next time I buy my supply of olive oil. Alcubilla is an olive oil mill which exclusively produces Extra Virgin Olive Oil extracted from certified organically farmed olives. Alcubilla is owned by the Luque family from Castro del Rio, Cordoba in Spain. They have been in the olive oil business since 90 years ago. This evoo “is an artisan-made fruit juice” which does not undergo any heating process. In 1990, Alcubilla obtained the Certificate of the Committee for the Regulation of Organic Agriculture which means that what they say about their olive oil is true and accurate. Futhermore, Alcubilla has developed a tracking system which controls the production process of its evoo brand from the harvest of the olives till it reaches the dinner table. I have been using Filippo Berio and Bertolli from Italy since I have been introduced to olive oil but got worried when I read this . Olive Oil and More from Wikipedia: The Internat

Since I am on the subject of grapes aaannnd wine, I am looking f orward to serving a dear cousin who's coming to visit next week. She's going to have some 'great' wine from Italy . We have in our wine bar an o ld, old labeled Cinzano Asti Spumanti. I am posting about this because I am trying to learn as much as I can about different types of wine and their origin. According to Wikipedia Asti or A sti Spumante is a *DOCG white sparkling wine produced in an area to the south of the town of Asti in Piedmont , Italy . Made from the Moscato Bianco grape, it is sweet and low in alcohol, and often drunk with dessert. It retains its sweetness through a complex filtration process. DOCG or Denominazione di origine controllata is an Italian quality ass urance label for food products and especially wines. modelled after the French AOC and was instituted in 1963 and overhauled in 1992 for compliance with the equivalent EU law on Protected Designation of Origin , wh

My friend who recently came down from California, believe it or not gifted me with grapes harvested from her own family's Napa Valley grape plantation and wineries. Yes, she married into a family who's been into wine making for the longest time . Swell. And the green seedless grapes were delivered in a large balikbayan box, delivered door-to-door in time for her arrival. And so, af ter disbursing some to my mom's and brothers' I asked myself, what shall I do with these luscious looking fruits? Good thinking. There's more than enough to prepare a green grape salad concoction such as this: 1 kilo seedless grapes, washed very well, peeled, refrigerated in a separate glass bowl 1 cup grated queso de bola 1 cup grated ordinary cheddar 1 cup lemon juice 1 cup mascu vado sugar 2 cups sour cream Mix everything in a large glass mixing bowl. Chill. When almost ready to eat, toss peeled grapes into the mixture. Serve lusciously :-) This is really decadent as f