Insider Talk from Food Writers at New York Travel Festival

The second annual New York Travel Festival was a fun weekend of panels, workshops, one-on-ones and masterclasses with industry experts -- all aimed at providing insight and information to avid travelers. The event was held again at Bohemian Hall in New York City. The session that most spoke to culinary adventurous folks such as myself was What's Yummy in Travel. 

The panel was moderated by Matt Gross,editor of BonAppetit.com, who is a traveler, journalist, and author of  The Turk Who Loved Apples: And Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World. Matt was joined by Peter Meehan, co-founder of Lucky Peach gastronomy magazine, former New York Times food columnist, and author; Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, a New York-based journalist and author of A Tiger In The Kitchen: A Memoir of Food & Family and former Wall Street Journal staff writer; and Jen Murphy, editor at AFAR magazine. 

What's it like to be a food writer traveling internationally? Sure, it can be glamorous, but according to Peter Meehan, there can be too much of a good thing. His first food writing trip to Europe included nine Michelin star restaurants in less than a week. Food writers face challenges other travelers don't, like when the local speciality is "fish cum" and you end up eating it at every meal, because every host wants to serve you their best dish.  How do you survive a press trip that includes five courses at lunch and dinner? Slender Jen Murphy confided she has resorted to hiding food in her purse. 

But, in a world where food writing seems to be everywhere, what makes a good food story? Jen Murphy believes it is a story that takes you deeply into a culture, a story where the food tells you about the history of a place.  Cheryl Tan likes to write about the characers that haunt the local hole-in-the-wall spots.  She told attendees that the best place to eat in Singapore is the red light district because "men are hungry and the food is cheap!"

The New York Travel Festival has been a spring in New York City event. Check the website in early 2015 for details on the next or follow them on Twitter at @NYTravFest to find out more.

Bold, beautiful Damilano Barolos

"The wine of kings, the king of wines.” Barolos are among Italy’s most prized wines, and they are loved for their perfumed nose, layered flavors, great structure, and long cellar life. Paolo Damilano, who has vineyards in the best sites in the region, recently stopped in New York to discuss his family’s historic wines and some new projects.
Because of they are so highly valued, Barolos are typically sold in the U.S. for no less than $50-$60 and often for far more. Yet this tasting began with the Damilano Barolo Lecinquevigne 2009, a relatively new project for the winery. At $35, it is a “gift for the market,” according to Paolo. The wine was ruby with slightly browning at the edges from age. There were tight tannins and spice. As for the nose, Paolo stated, “Balsamic is typical for a Barolo.” The complex layers of flavor included cherries and clove. Seventy percent of sales of Lecinquevigne are in the U.S., and it is the perfect economically priced Barolo to drink now. For those who have never tried Barolo, it’s a good entry point as well.
The Barolo region has a collection of specific vineyard sites that vary in sun exposure, soil, climate, and vine age. In the tasting, we were able to clearly distinguish among Barolos from different vineyards, even among wines of the same vintage, and all of which are comprised (as all Barolos are) of 100% Nebbiolo grapes. 
Barolo lovers, and they are a passionate bunch, know that the Cannubi cru is widely acknowledged as the most highly regarded vineyard in Barolo. Paolo noted, “Wise people always knew Cannubi had great exposition,” and the Cannubi name was found on a wine label as early as the 18th century. While the borders of this historic vineyard area were recently expanded, the original cru is only 15 hectares in size. Ten of those hectares are farmed by Damilano. 
The tasting continued with the Damilano Barolo DOCG Cannubi 2008. There were violets on the nose, cherries on the palate. The wine was beautifully perfumed, elegant, and had great length. With this wine, Paolo advised, “Don’t look for the power, look for the elegance.” Paola said that in 2008, the winery made a change and stopped using the smaller barrique barrels for aging: they now use only large format barrels. The change has provided a wine in which the fruit is more prominent and the flavors that oak can impart are less present.
We continued with the 2006 Damilano Barolo DOCG Brunate, which I gave my highest rating of the tasting. The wine had higher tannins and more fruit than the Cannubi – in short, it was a bigger wine. With eight years aging, the color of the wine was a light ruby with browning. The nose was balsamic and floral, the flavor was intense with tobacco, cherries, and spice, and it had great length. The wine is produced from the vineyard Brunate in the municipality of La Morra. 
The 2006 Damilano Barolo DOCG Liste was our final wine. This wine was deeper in color and the nose had blackberries and smoked meat. This well-structured wine showed the aging potential of great Barolos. Along with the production of the moderately priced Lecinquevigne and the commitment to quality in the historic vineyard production, the Damilano family is now looking to bring a Riserva wine to the market that would only be produced in the best vintages. In 2015, Paolo hopes to launch the first Riserva from the 2008 vintage. Judging from the exceptional Damilano wines we tasted that night, the Riserva will be a rare treat that Barolo lovers will eagerly anticipate.

Get your mouth ready for Covela Escolha Branco

"I don't like white wine." How many times have I heard this from my wine class students or regular folks when discussing vinous preferences?  What I always want to retort is, "You probably don't like Chardonnay." It's that old reliable, widely planted, flourish-in-so-many places grape that's made into the white wine Americans know best.

Because of this attitude, I love when I find a game-changing white.  At a recent David Bowler portfolio tasting in New York City, I had an eye-opening, palate-wowing, nose-pleasing wine that got me excited.

It was a tip from my Portuguese Facebook friend, Vitor Mendes, that led me to the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. I zipped out of my day job, crossed the Hudson, and hustled over to 18th street. "Where is this tasting?" After a confusing few minutes trying to resurrect the FB conversation with Vitor on my phone, I remembered: he told me 19th Street! Time was wasting. I took the stairs at a fast clip and reached check in at 4:58 p.m.  "The tasting is closed."  In my early blogging years, I would have slunk away.  But I was a veteran: "I just want to see Covela."  It was a legitimate request, and the gatekeepers acquiesced. I grabbed a glass and ran to the table where I met the energetic and charming managing partner of the winery, Tony Smith.

When Tony poured the 2012 Escolha Branco, he explained that it had been revolutionary when it was first made because it  combined native Portuguese with foreign grapes. The blend includes Avesso, Chardonnay, Viognier, and Gewurztraminer.  As I lowered my nose to the glass, I was seduced by strong aromas of white flowers and lychees.  I was not entirely sold, however. I've had many wines that promised worlds on the nose and disappointed on the palate. But as soon as the wine touched my tongue, I knew this was not one of those wines. I immediately sensed a crisp acidity.  Thank God, as Viognier itself can go flabby, as I saw far too often in Virginia during WBC. The Portuguese grapes gave this blend a shot of acid, the aromatic varieties added beautiful fruit and flowers, and the Chardonnay gave it heft. This unlikely combination of varieties formed a harmonious, unique Portuguese wine from the historic Quinta de Covela estate in the Douro Valley.

Wine geeks might enjoy analyzing Escolha Branco, which Tony called "iconoclastic" for the winery, but that would miss the point - that this is a wine for unabashed enjoyment.

Crunch & fizz - fried chicken and Cava

 

Recently I received inspiration - not quite divine, but close - to cook homemade fried chicken in my very own West Orange kitchen.  Now, this lady has barely deep fried in her life, so it was all or nothing tonight at home on my range.

I got ready for a messy (five prep bowls and lots of scattered flour) night of cooking, and I carefully followed the recipe for buttermilk-brined fried chicken.  A dozen organic chicken legs were battered and coated in seasoned flour.   A couple inches of oil was heating up in my dutch oven.  And a just-bought bottle of Cava was cooling down in my freezer.

It occurred to me recently that Cava, with its delicious fizz and lovely acidity, was a great beverage to wash down the crunchy goodness of fried chicken. I was drinking solo tonight, so frugality pressed me to discover the best, least expensive Cava I could find.  I'm fortunate to have a well-stocked wine shop right down the road, and I found the inexpensive yet quite satisfying Conde de Caralt, a traditional method bubbly for under $10 - now there's a feat that's hard to match, as most cheap bubbles have CO2 added to the tank.  Fried chicken is one of the least pretentious foods, and this good quality Cava is a great match, both on the palate and in the pocketbook.  

As it turns out, frying is messy but it's not that hard.  Bake a pan of cornbread, steam some asparagus, and you've got a dinner to look forward to.  My dining companion declared it "marvelous."  At 14, she was a bit young for the Cava, so she would have to wait to learn how delicious it all was washed down with some of Catalonia's magic bubbles.

La Fiorita Brunello and the hot date at home

“Shall I open the wine?” my friend asked as he began preparing a magnificent dinner for two.  I was about to jump in the shower. “No that’s okay.” I had only been thinking of not getting started on this bottle as an aperitivo – I wanted to make sure we saved it for the duck confit to come. 

The wine in question was a lovely bottle of 2007 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino. By the end of the night I had learned two things.  One – that I don’t drink enough Brunello.  And two – that this was a wine that needed to breathe to be fully enjoyed. 

After I primped for a “hot date at home,” I stepped into the kitchen on improbable stilettos, breathed in the wonderful scents, and tipped small pours of wine into tall stemware.  And that’s when the grainy tannins and the tightness hit me.  This wine needs oxygen!  I spun the stems of our glasses.  He sipped and liked it.  “It will improve,” I assured him.  “It needs to breathe.” 

There was no decanter in the rustic kitchen that weekend, but I spied a large Mason jar and unceremoniously dumped the lovely Italian into it.  Dinner was almost ready, and I wanted oxygen to start doing its work on the wine for as long as possible.

Throughout the candlelit meal of duck confit with white truffle, mixed green salad, haricot verts, and potatoes gratin, I poured small portions of wine and spun the glasses each time – willing it to evolve. 

At the end of an exquisite dinner, I poured two final glasses of this King of Wines from that lowly workhorse of the kitchen, the Mason jar.  We adjourned from the table and curled up on the couch.  A roaring fire cast dancing lights on the bowls of our glasses.  I crossed my fishnet-clad legs and took a sip.  I smiled at my companion.  “Now,” I declared, “it’s perfect.”

Farm to fingers - visit to Carlingford Oyster Farm

Everyone knows that the shorter the distance food travels, the fresher it is when you take a bite. My visit to Carlingford Oyster Farm gave me a rare treat of dining on oysters just pulled from salt water. 

The visit was arranged by Failte Ireland for a dozen bloggers who had been in the country for TBEX. As we gazed out on an inlet at low tide, the water dark on the slick gray sandbanks, we were welcomed by the farm's co-director, Kian Louet-Feisser.  The oyster farm is in northeast Ireland in the compact village of Carlingford, which boasts an 800 year old Norman castle, some very cute pubs, and a lovely Georgian inn and restaurant, the Ghan house.  Kian - a tall, affable man with zero pretension - explained that they purchase young Pacific oysters (faster growing and more disease-resistant than Atlantic ones) from a hatchery in Normandy, France. The French merchant was there on the day of our visit. "Go on, ask him something," Kian encouraged our group of mostly North Americans. "He's got a lovely accent," completely unaware of how charming we found his brogue.  Kian scooped a handful of baby oysters out of a flat black mesh bag and passed them around. At four months, they were slightly smaller than dimes.  The farm was started by Kian's father, who, now in his 70s, has begun a new project of raising oysters from 20 day old larvae.  They are so small at that stage that a million fit into a tablespoon. We saw them at one month - specks as small as a newborn's fingernail- resting on black rubber disks.  Kian waved a long arm at his dad, who was standing on the back of a flatbed truck, "Keeps him out of trouble." The patriarch laughed, his wildly curling gray hair a testament to a life lived in the winds of the coast.

These bivalves grow at different rates- it takes between 2-5 years for them to mature- so the same age oysters will range in size.  Therefore, much of the work at the farm involves "grading" the oysters - sizing them with a mechanical sieve. Those large enough are stored on land in saltwater tanks, the rest go back in the inlet. Kian explained, "It takes a year to grade all the oysters we have. It's like painting one of those large American bridges - by the time you're finished you have to start again." When they reach the weight of 80-100 grams, they're ready for market. He then led us to the cement building where mature oysters were resting in tanks of flowing salt water.  Kian pulled out a shallow plastic bin with lumpy shells that held the promise of an early evening snack. 

We followed him to the gravel outside and huddled closely to watch him demonstrate proper opening technique - moving the knife gently back and forth until the hinge clicked open and then wiggling the blade up the side of the shell. Then he cut the meat away from the underside and began handing them out.  We took the shells eagerly in hand, upending them to slurp the oysters, salt water running off our chins and fingers. Around that time, Kian's wife Mary strode forth, her light blond hair stirring in the breeze as she set a picnic basket of Prosecco on quickly-created table of crates.  She passed out glasses of Italian sparkling wine, the bubbles delightfully washing down the salt water-washed flesh of generously sized oysters.

The darkening sky signaled it was time for our visit to end.  We toasted to the generosity of Kian and Mary and to the pleasure of farm to finger dining on the shores of Carlingford, Ireland. 

Croatia's De Gotho Grasevina a Tropical Treat

My journey to Croatia to speak at the International Wine Tourism Conference was a lovely first trip to this Balkan land.  Seeing the old Hapsburg-influenced capital in snow was among the memories I treasure, as was staying in the Regent Esplanade Zagreb, a historic luxury hotel built solely to provide

 accommodation for travelers on the famed Orient Express.

But one treat that I didn't have enough of was drinking the local wines.  IWINETC is truly an international event, and there were wines from around the world to enjoy.  A snowstorm shut down our scheduled winery visit, so I left the country feeling like I wanted to learn - and taste - more of this land's vinous creations.

Luckily, I came home with a bottle of white Croatian wine - the 2012 De Gotho Grasevina.  Grasevina is the most planted white grape variety in Croatia.  It is the Croatian name for the same grape called Welschriesling in central Europe.

As soon as I pulled the cork, fruit aromas came wafting out of the neck when I lowered my nose to it. In the glass, the aromas of tropical fruits, including lychee and pineapple, were abundant.  The wine is a lovely light gold color, and the mouthfeel is medium weight.  I really enjoyed that - despite the plush tropical and citrus fruit on the palate - the wine has a zippy acidity.  This is a spunky wine that is enjoyable with many foods or on its own.  It paired perfectly with a chicken in a lemon parsley sauce that I picked up for dinner.

Next year's IWINETC is in Georgia, whose wines I already know offer many delights and surprises. As for me, I'll look for the opportunities to taste more Croatian wines here at home, as my bottle of Grasevina is almost gone.