The Food of Spring

 

ramps

 

 

I love New England for the four seasons among other things.  Each season helps you appreciate the next even more.  After a long cold frozen winter, the treats of spring are a gift.  The scent and flavor ofspring ramps are wild, ever so slightly earthy and perhaps a favorite allium among food lovers around here.  The spring mushrooms are beginning to pop up for seasoned foragers to find and bring to the table.  Asparagus and artichokes don their deep green coats and burst with the taste of spring.  Fiddleheads make their début and chanterelles are earthy and soft and if we are lucky abundant this season.  The pink stalks of delicious rhubarb melt in your mouth taking on any sweetness you pair with them.

 

Photo by Dieter Wiechmann

Chef Tim Wiechmann of T.W. Food has created a six course menu to celebrate and share the bounty of spring as only he can highlight it.  This special spring menu is available Wednesday, April 29th 2009.

The menu includes:

• Wild morels and ramps with seared atlantic sea scallops and smoked oysters
• White asparagus with local egg Grenobloise, cured ham and fines herbs
• Artichoke salad with beet sprouts, Pecorino cheese custard and crispy spring onions
• Vermont pheasant roasted breast and citrus confit thigh, wild fiddleheads, chanterelle mushrooms and sauce foie gras 
  or Tagliatelle hand-made with fiddleheads, chanterelles and Parmigiano Reggiano 
• Cheese and salad
• Rhubarb ice cream with French lemon dacquoise pastry and ginger creme Anglaise

For the wine pairings please visit the T.W. Food website and for reservations, please call (617) 864-4745

Good food paired with a good cause

 

Formaggio Kitchen supporting the East End House at Cooking for a Cause.

I love charity food events because I love to eat good food and I think it is really important to contribute to great causes and support those in need.  Even as a full time student, when I had little or no income of my own, I volunteered my time.  It’s a big part of my culture and my family life to always give to others.  

When I can enjoy great food and support a good cause that’s a perfect pairing.  I love the Hunger Brunch for that reason and the pairing of Didrik’s and Chef Tim Wiechmann of T.W. Food.  Two locally owned business worked together to kick-off a month of fund raising for Food for Free.  Food for Free is a local organization that rescues food and redistributes it to those in need.  Chef Tim Wiechmann of T.W. Food, known for having a close relationship with his food sources and his delectable and creative uses of all parts of his ingredients,  offered his delicious and beautiful hors d’oeuvres for Didrik’s kick-off party celebrating the beginning of  special fund raising month.

On March 20th 2009, Formaggio Kitchen paired up with some of the top chefs and mixologists in Boston and Cambridge’s East End House to put on a fabulous, delicious and convivial gala event to raise money for the East End House.  The East End House is a unique multi-service community center and social service agency in Cambridge.  They provide programs and services to strengthen family and community to a diverse population.  The East End House programs include an emergency food program, an “out of school time” program, family support programs, youth support programs and childcare programs among many others.  

It was a great event, a great view, great food and drinks, and a great cause.  There really is no better pairing than a great cause and some great food.

Let’s share what we have to offer and let’s eat.

A marriage of wine and cheese

To go with our theme of pairings, I will post a couple events happening at respected restaurants and stores in and around New England.

 

T.W. Food

 

 

T.W. Food a restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts that is tucked away outside of Harvard Square in a residential neighborhood, is worth a visit.    The chef knows his food and farmers and he keeps the sources as local as possible.  The restaurant is fine dining at a fair price.  For this special pairing meal the cheeses are French, the wines are Italian and French, and many of the rest of the ingredients are local. (Note that the links to each cheese may not be the exact cheese that Chef Wiechmann will be serving, but it will tell you a little bit about the style and flavors of each cheese.)

A Marriage of Wine & Cheese
Four Course with Wine $49

On Tuesday April 7, T.W. Food Restaurant will do a special four-course Wine &
Cheese dinner, called a Marriage of Wine & Cheese. The menu will feature
hand selected cheeses with wines from Italy and France. According to Chef
Wiechmann, “A good cheese and wine pairing can be magic.”
❣
Amuse Bouche

Gratin of tuscan kale
with bleu cheese Fourme d’Ambert
or
Oeufs au Fromage
with a Normandie Livarot

American lamb leg
shaved with local potato salad, Pyrénées cheese
Ossau-Iraty and black cherry compote
or
Gnocchi Parisienne
gratin with fennel, celery and carrot, cave-aged
French Comté
or
Farm Beef
Painted Hills Farm, roulade with potato gratin,
sauce with Burgundy cheese Epoisses

Cheese
first spring vermont greens, Loire Valley goat
cheese Bucheron

Tiramisu
Vermont Mascarpone, espresso, ladyfingers

T.W. Food is located at  377 Walden Street, Cambridge.

 For reservations call
617 864-4745

Wine and cheese pairings

 

 

How can one conceive of a one party system in a country that has over 200 varieties of cheese. Charles DeGaulle

 

 

When I think about pairings, the first thing that comes to mind are wine and cheese pairings.  I know cheeses quite well.  Having lived in France, Canada, England, and now the US, I have tasted a great variety of both mass produced and artisanal cheeses (even before they had such a fancy title).  

Characteristics of cheese come from so many aspects of the cheese:  the animal’s environment and diet, the type of milk, the process of cheese making and of course the aging or lack thereof of the cheese.  If you don’t know cheeses very well begin by going to a local cheese shop or a larger grocery chain such as Whole Foods which has a large cheese selection and well-informed staff.  Ask to sample cheeses made with different milks.  As you taste let the person behind the counter know what you like and they will guide you.

As for wines, their characteristics are regional among many other things.  To learn about wine casually, visit some local liquor or wine stores or boutique foodie shops and participate in their wine tastings.  Many stores offer free wine tastings.  You can go online or stop in to your local shop and ask about their upcoming tasting events. 

Cheers.  Let’s eat.

Pairings: What is it all about?

Why do we pair things?  I was a child who liked her sauce separate from her spaghetti.  I liked my French toast plain and a little maple syrup on the side.  It wasn’t because I was picky per-say, but I liked to taste the egginess of the French toast, and  I liked the taste and texture of the spaghetti which gets lost when combined with the sauce.  I liked to savor things separately.

Sometimes I am a purist and I like things simple and tasty when they stand alone.  There is, however an added value of a pairing.  The pairing is there to enhance or highlight a flavor that can’t be detected or appreciated alone.  It is not there to mask anything.  In my exploration of food throughout my life, I have been hesitant to mix savory and sweet, but with a better understanding of food interactions, I am even learning to love some sweet and savory combinations.

There are so many types of pairings.  Some are embedded in a recipe; a secret ingredient that brings out certain flavors.  Other pairings are classic wine and cheese pairings.  More recently, there are cocktail pairings, beer pairings, and even tea pairings (among others I am sure).

This week will be focused on some classic pairings, pairing websites and references, pairing events at restaurants and shops, and perhaps some key flavor pairings in recipes.

Let’s eat.

Takeout menu with beer pairings

 

Dann Paquette, Brewer of Pretty Things

 

 

Even if you love to cook, there is a time and place for takeout.  For some people it is a daily thing and for other’s it’s occasional.  I love to cook, but I know there are days when my time is worth more out of the kitchen so I am happy to spend a little more and have someone else do the cooking.  If you live somewhere like New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver, or London your options for really good take-out from either a restaurant, little food shop, or high end food shop are endless.  I am able to plan my takeout meals based on where I will be any given day on an errand or for work.

If you are going to be in Boston’s South End, not only can you pick up a great take-out meal, but they offer beer pairings with each meal.

Weekly Menu

 Monday, March 16th
Latin-Style Shrimp $18.95/lb 
Sauteed Zucchini and Squash $9.95/lb
Mango-Avocado Salad $12.95/lb 
Delicious with a cold Stone IPA.

Tuesday, March 17th
Shepherd’s Pie $15.95/lb.
Braised red cabbage $7.95/lb
Lemon broccoli $8.95/lb.
Serve with Palha-Canas Portugese Red. 

Wednesday, March 18th
Coriander Rubbed Lamb Kebob $15.95/lb
Roasted Eggplant Salad $8.95/lb
Chickpea feta salad $8.95/lb
Try with Arbanta organic Rioja. 

Thursday, March 19th
BBQ’d Pork Loin $15.95/lb
Scallion Mustard Potato Salad $7.95/lb
Lemon Kale $8.95/lb
Serve with a cold Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

Friday, March 20th
Niman Ranch Meatloaf $10.95/lb
Twice Baked Potato 6.95/lb
Garlic spinach 9.95/lb
Delicious with Copertino Riserva. 

Saturday,March 21st
Hoisin Glazed Salmon $17.95/lb
Chili Ginger Green Beans $8.95/lb
Aromatic noodles $7.95/lb  
Lovely with Gysler Silvaner Halbtrocken. 

Pairings: Food and blogs

Instead of trying to write about what Foodie Stuff is all about, I’m just going to jump right in and get started on the blog.  You’ll just have to experience it for yourself.  On the menu will be food, recipes, restaurants, and all things foodie.  Food will be a topic of inspiration, understanding, sharing, questioning and exploring.  That is some food for thought.  Now let’s eat.

I have been thinking about pairings a lot lately.  I’m not sure if it’s because spring is in the air or if I’m just looking for a really good excuse to have great food with great drinks.