ReMARKable Palate #248: Talking Cheese with Max McCalman
This week, I speak with cheese expert Max McCalman the Annual Fancy Food Show, where he was leading a seminar on Spanish cheeses, particularly the ubiquitous and sublime masterpiece that is Manchego cheese. We speak about Spain, the emergance of Partuguese cheeses, and the proliferation of artisanal cheeses made here in the United States. We also get into some food science and the politics of cheese in America.
Whilst I was running amok at Peru’s La Mistura culinary festival, I grabbed Chef Maricel Presilla to help me learn the secrets of picarones, a fried dough dessert that had me addicted from the first bite. Every culture seems to have a fried dough, and that’s as good as street food gets. I thought from Maricel’s description that these were gluten-free, but alas, they do have flour. This presents a fabulous challenge for me to come up with a substitute — I bet tapioca flour would be ideal. Light and fluffy, and slathered with sugary syrup, picarones are made from sweet potato or squash. You can see a sample recipe here.
ReMARKable Palate #247: Catching Up At the Fancy Food Show
This week, I head to the Annual Fancy Food Show, where thousands of food producers show their wares to buyers, chefs, journalists, and gourmands who can’t get enough. Next week, I”ll have a couple of interviews with NEW discoveries from the show, but this week, I catch up with people I’ve interviewed in the past, and see what’s new and how they’ve grown their business since the last time we spoke.
This Week in Food #234: Chicago Restaurant Favorites
This week I am all alone in the podcast loft. Often, I am asked which are my favorite restaurants in Chicago. My wife and I visited one of our those restaurants last night and I decided to talk a few of the restaurants I visit the most. They are Tavern at the Park, R.J. Grunts and Mon Ami Gabi. These three represent the best in food and good service. When you visit Chicago, I think you should try them.
ReMARKable Palate #246: The Allure of Irish Whiskey
This week, it’s back to the Park Hotel in Kenmare Ireland, where Jennifer and I had a chat with John Moriarty, the barman, about Whiskey, both Irish and Scotch. I joined John for a hike along the Kerry Way earlier that day, so I was ready for some refreshment in the form of Whiskey! John knows quite a bit about the malted spirits, and taught us a thing or two!
This week, I catch up with my old friend Aliza Green, author of many cookbooks and culinary reference books such as the Field Guides to Meat, Seafood, Herbs & Spices, Starting with Ingredients, and many more. Today she’s here to talk about mastic, an unusual ingredient to North Americans, but with a storied history and exotic allure, which finds its way into special dishes in many Mediterranean cultures.
Fragrant Fields and Turkish Delights: Exploring Aegean and Ottoman Cuisines, October 1 to 16th, departing and returning from Athens. www.epicopia.com
Mastica Shop
145 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
Tel: 212-253-0895
Chef Mark continues his tour of La Boqueria Market with Barcelona expert George Semler, who wrote the Fodor’s guide to Barcelona. Here, George shows Chef Mark the fishmonger Pilarin, and they talk all things jamon!
ReMARKable Palate #244: An Irish Culinary Celebration
Jennifer and I chat with 3 Irish chefs who were guest chefs at the Park Hotel Kenmare for a special weekend celebrating the special products of the Emerald Isle. Chef Ross Lewis of Chapter One, Chef Derry Clark of l’Ecrivain, both in Dublin, and Chef Mickael Viljanen of Gregan’s Castle in County Clare sat with us over a glass of Irish Whiskey and discussed their love of Irish food.
This week, it’s a Smorgasbord of chefs, as I speak with Chef Jordi Artal of Cinc Sentits Restaurant in Barcelona about this Catalan food, then Chef Lee Anne Wong of Top Chef fame after a tofu cooking demo she did at the French Culinary Institute. It wouldn’t be a smörgåsbord without a Swedish chef! I also speak with Chef Danyel Couet from F12 Restaurant in Stockholm, who shared some of his dishes with us at Scandinavia House in NYC.
We were privileged to attend the Mistura Gastronomic Festival in Lima Peru last September, where Chef Dan Barber from Blue Hill Farm and Stone Barns Restaurant in NY was a guest speaker. Chef Barber was there to talk about his farm to table concept, which is not so unusual in Peru as it is here in the States. After Chef Barber’s talk, he spoke with Chef Mark about how we can learn from Peru and balance the scales in favor of more farm fresh food here at home.
ReMARKable Palate #248: Talking Cheese with Max McCalman
