Mis en Bouche

[Bird]

Bird, isn't Thunderbird one of the better wines? Annie Green Springs and Boones Farm? And what ever happened to Mogan David? Those were the wines of my youth!!

You know when I started on the police department in 1964, Thunderbird was the wine of choice for the homeless winos and the regular tenants in the city jail. In later years (late 70s or early 80s), Mogan David (MD 20-20, also known as Mad Dog 20-20) became the wine of choice for those folks. I'm not sure why they changed from a white wine to a red wine. Is the Mogan David cheaper? If I remember right, they were both 20%, so stronger than most wines, and of course cheap.

I tried some Thunderbird once in the early 70s that a cousin had bought as a joke. I think kerosene might taste better. But I've never had occasion to taste the Mad Dog 20-20.

 

[jdbower]

French wines are very particular to region and style.

Certainly true. French wines are steeped in tradition and ceremony, but this is also part of their downfall in the mass market as it stifles creativity and creates an aura of aloofness that the Aussies couldn't muster if they tried. The French also hate it when you remind them that many French wines have American roots.

Of course, I'm not one to talk. My wine tasting abilities are probably on par with Bird's.

 

[rox]

Certainly true. French wines are steeped in tradition and ceremony, but this is also part of their downfall in the mass market as it stifles creativity and creates an aura of aloofness that the Aussies couldn't muster if they tried. The French also hate it when you remind them that many French wines have American roots.

Of course, I'm not one to talk. My wine tasting abilities are probably on par with Bird's.

JD that was an interresting story. howeve I noted that the French vines were grafted to American roots. Meaning the root of the plant was American but the leaves and fruite would have remained French. Plus those roots are long gone by now so I wouldn't think it was correct to say that the current French vines are Americna stock. Just my opinion.

The California wine industry was created by brining over French vines. Move onto Australia same thing, French variatals
Wine Tidbits - A Short history of Shiraz
Australian Wine

My husband and I were very aware of marketing when we created our label and how we package our olive oil. We put the name of the Olvie Variatal on the label. The French are so enamored with thier old lables that have been used it seems like for centuries in the same family that no one wants to change it. The are just now coming to realize that but I think the market has moved on with the French wines. They were to steeped in tradition to change, even though throughout the world most of the wine grown is French variatals, they still just wanted the family/estate name on the bottle. I would not call it aloof, I would call it they wanted to maintain tradition. I have a thought on that, you know the Magional Line didn't hold either. Might have been a good idea on paper but when the forces (or market) change you better learn to change and adapt also or you will get overrun.

We created a contemporary labels and put on the lable what variatal of olive trees produced the oil.

 

[jdbower]

No offense intended, of course (and I hope none was taken), I was simply imparting the contents of the article I had read. Nothing wrong with being perceived as "aloof" by the mass market unless that's your intended audience, and I would argue that making a wine Bird and I would like would be akin to Porsche making a cheap economy car - it would cheapen the brand beyond recognition (although one could argue that they've already done this with the Boxster...).

Back closer to topic, your presentation of your mis en bouche is fantastic!

 

[dmccarty]

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird /QUOTE]

How many Aussie's fit in a box?
How big is the box?
Does the box have air holes?
Are Aussie's bringing in Fosters?
Why does Bird want Aussies in a box?



Am I working too many hours?

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

The Californians are also making high end olive oil now too. One of Mario Batali's favorites is Da Vero. I've ordered some (since I'm currently using his cookbooks). I hope to be ordering some of Rox's too.

Rox, Chef Batali mentions many times how 'gathering' is such an important part of local Italian cooking. No doubt it is just as important to the French. Mushrooms seem to be a major part of such 'gathering'. Unfortunately, unless you are an expert, gathering mushrooms in the US can be fatal.

I did, however, gather and eat morrels this spring. They are almost impossible to mistake for anything eslse. We had a bounty this year and they were fabulous. I hope we get a good crop next spring.

We have 'dog fennel' here in great abundance. The stem and leaves smell much like regular fennel but I do not think it ever makes a bulb. I may have to research it a little more. I like 'gathering' from nature as well. Thus the venison in my lasagne bolognese.

As for wine, I remain quite uncultured. I probably like them all. Prefer whites to red. Prefer dry to sweet. The best I can usually do is to match the region where the wine came from to the region that the food comes from....and of course reds and whites with the proper meat etc. Always liked Mouton Cadet's reds and whites but never see them around anymore. I consistently like and enjoy and can identify Pouilly Fuisse wines but even in the grocery store they tend to be pricey. That's about all I know about wine.

 

[rox]

N80 funny you should mention Morels. I researched on the internet and found out you have to plant spores. One day in the not to distant future I'm going to get sme mroels growing. The olive trees should shade them very well. Morels are extreemly expensive you are very lucky to be able to have them in abundance. For fennel you don't need the bulb for cooking. Just use the leaves and stalks.

 

[N80]

Rox, here is a picture of one batch of morels that we found:

I'd say we found a total of 3-4 times that many over the course of about 3 weeks. We figured we probably ate a couple hundred dollars worth!

We tried them several ways but found that frying them quickly with a light tempura batter was the best. I'll experiment more next spring if we get any.

I have heard that they are very difficult to culitvate and are very unpredicatable. We often see one or two in our woods but last year there were tons of them. They say they need lots of leaf mulch and perfect humidity levels. However, I have seen the spores offered for sale. So no harm in giving it a try!

As for fennel, I do like the leaves as a garnish but I really like the bulb part the most. It has a very distinct flavor somewhat like anise. The only info I can find on 'dog fennel' is concerned with its eradication, says that it stinks and is only eaten by wasps and moths. I maybe calling it the wrong thing. Who knows?

Bon appetito

 

[rox]

Rox, here is a picture of one batch of morels that we found:

I'd say we found a total of 3-4 times that many over the course of about 3 weeks. We figured we probably ate a couple hundred dollars worth!

We tried them several ways but found that frying them quickly with a light tempura batter was the best. I'll experiment more next spring if we get any.

I have heard that they are very difficult to culitvate and are very unpredicatable. We often see one or two in our woods but last year there were tons of them. They say they need lots of leaf mulch and perfect humidity levels. However, I have seen the spores offered for sale. So no harm in giving it a try!

As for fennel, I do like the leaves as a garnish but I really like the bulb part the most. It has a very distinct flavor somewhat like anise. The only info I can find on 'dog fennel' is concerned with its eradication, says that it stinks and is only eaten by wasps and moths. I maybe calling it the wrong thing. Who knows?

Bon appetito

Oh I guess I don't know what dog fennel is. Oh man I am just salivating looking at your morel pic. I LOVR Morels in a cream sauce served with veal. LOVE it! My husband always uses morels for making a sauce and then serving on meat. Why didn't you dry those morels? It's killing me thinking that you wasted some. Our food budget does not allow for morels but next year should be our best year ever on the olive farm and them I can lookforward to getting some. I do not have time to go mushroom picking. I guess the French workwers with their 35 hour work week, 5 weeks paid vacation and 12 paid holidays have time but not the French farmers. Well at least not my hsuban and I. But next year should be a LOT better for us. Our trees are now under control for pruning and hopefully we can get through the pruning in half the time as previus years. Do me a favor don't post any more Morel pics it's kind of like torture on my end

 

[Egon]

When a young lad on the farm we used to go out with milk pails to pick morels!