Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Food & Wine

2021 DR. LOOSEN RED SLATE DRY RIESLING ($18) So there’s one crucial thing to know about Riesling: Not all Riesling is sweet! File that essential information away. Check out this perfect-for-summer, super-crisp, dry (yes, dry) bottling from Germany’s inimitable Erni Loosen. 2022 SHANNON RIDGE HIGH ELEVATION SAUVIGNON BLANC ($25) At the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience, I had the pleasure of meeting vintner Clay Shannon. His 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is citrusy and mouthwateringly zesty; bring on the grilled shrimp. 2021 NALLE DRY CREEK VALLEY ZINFANDEL ($48) The Nalles have been making top-notch Zinfandel in Sonoma County since 1984. I refreshed my memory of their Zin’s style—spicy and elegant, plenty of raspberry fruit, never weighty—at a recent tasting with April Nalle.…

Varieties to Know THERE ARE OVER 500 DURIAN VARIETIES—WE ASKED CHEFS AROUND THE WORLD TO SHARE THEIR FAVORITES. MUSANG KING “This durian is prized for its buttery flesh that has a special combination of sweet and bitter flavors,” says pastry chef Michelle Goh of Mia in Bangkok. Although it’s most commonly grown in Malaysia, Musang King is the world’s most popular variety. MONTHONG DURIAN Translating to “golden pillow,” Monthong is the most popular Thai durian. They’re generally large with an ovular shape and a milder smell compared to other varieties. Its flesh is thick, creamy, and sweet, with notes of caramel. KAN YAO This variety is exclusively grown in the Nonthaburi region of Thailand, making it one of the most expensive durians in the world. It has a custardlike flesh,…

HAVE PÉT-NATS BECOME … NORMAL? This is a question I have been pondering recently. Pétillant naturel wines (i.e., pét-nats) popped onto the wine scene a number of years ago and received—as with natural wine in general—far more press attention than actual purchases. But to some degree, they’ve now become a part of the everyday wine world; you can find a pét-nat at your local Total Wine just as easily as you can at a shop focusing solely on esoteric natural vintners. Pét-nats are sparkling wines made in a manner that predates the so-called “traditional method” used in Champagne (and for most other sparkling wines). Rather than induce a second fermentation in the bottle to create the bubbles, as Champagne producers do, makers of pét-nat simply bottle the wine before the…

THE WORLD IS BLESSED WITH A BOUNTY OF POETRY ABOUT OKRA, and this does not surprise me in the slightest. The verses run the gamut from the ridiculous (musings on its mucilaginous texture and the polarizing nature thereof) to the reverent (reflections on okra as a totem of survival, every last syllable both earnest and earned). Okra doesn’t just happen by accident; you either have to be in a place that embraces it, or you have to will it into your life because you have realized you cannot be your full self without this singular and perfect vegetable. “Whenever I see okra popping up, it is a way for me to connect with my ancestors. Really, that’s how deep it is,” Pierre Thiam, chef and author of the upcoming cookbook…

Summer Playlist “JUST PLAY THE HITS,” my wife told me when I was bemoaning a few dinner fails earlier this year. Truth is, I was trying a little bit too hard to be the Food & Wine guy at home, rather than a dad cooking for a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old. So I followed Jen’s advice and pivoted my family dinner strategy, doubling down on simple, kid-friendly recipe riffs to feed the four of us. The result: more fun and less grief at the table. Then, once I’d stacked a few weeks of dinner wins, I slowly began to weave in new dishes they’d never tried before. Turns out, the same approach comes in handy during a busy summer of travel. Cooking for family and friends on vacation in an unfamiliar…

WITH TINY SPOONS and crusty baguettes in hand, our editors dipped, swirled, and sampled the best flavored olive oils on the market. Each and every bottle we tasted starts with an excellent base—an olive oil we’d happily use for cooking, baking, and drizzling on its own—that’s infused with fresh aromatics to quickly punch up the flavor of dressings, marinades, or baked goods. Our three favorites take as much care in sourcing the best ingredients for the infusion as they do with their olives, resulting in oils with fresh flavor and a delicious balance of buttery, vegetal, and piquant olive notes. 1. THE BAKER ENZO ORGANIC CLEMENTINE CRUSH OLIVE OIL AND ORGANIC EUREKA LEMON CRUSH OLIVE OIL Enzo mills its olives with local aromatics to create unfiltered Crush blends. The clementine…

WHEN CHEF DOMINIQUE CRISP OPENED his first restaurant in Pasadena, California, he did it with the intention of running spot prawns, especially from Santa Barbara, on his menu as much as he possibly could. “I love the flavor, freshness, and lore involved with them,” Crisp explains. “They’re very rare.” Despite its name, the elusive spot prawn, which glimmers translucently under an orange-reddish shell, is actually shrimp. Sweet and briny, with meat as firm and succulent as lobster, these prized crustaceans can be found up and down the North American West Coast. But due to the warm waters around the Santa Barbara Channel, they grow to massive sizes there, averaging six to eight inches (and up to 10 at times), almost double the length of those found in Washington or Oregon.…

“WE OVERCOMPLICATE BIRTHDAY CAKES,” says Ruby Tandoh, chef and author of the cookbook Cook As You Are. “This cake is testament to the idea that less is more.” Its beauty lies in the method, which calls for unconventional mixing (eggs alternate with dry ingredients) and for sour cream that moistens and tenderizes the crumb. Simplicity reigns supreme with Tandoh’s buttercream. How easily it comes together belies the striking flavors from orange zest and cocoa. “The kindest thing to do for our loved ones’ birthdays is keep it simple,” Tandoh says. And this cake rings all the bells. Sour Cream–Vanilla Birthday Cake With Chocolate-Orange Frosting ACTIVE 55 MIN; TOTAL 2 HR 15 MIN SERVES 8 TO 10 Slicing into this cake reveals orange-scented vanilla layers that bake up from a one-bowl…

“NOTHING WILL RUIN A WELL-PLANNED GOOD TIME like a cooler full of crappy things to drink,” says Derek Correia, president of ReserveBar and the recently launched GetStocked, a site specifically for canned and bottled drinks. Correia knows a thing or two about how to curate drinks for a crowd. “What’s in your cooler now depends on who you’re serving,” he says. “Years ago, it was easy—you’d fill it with beer, and if someone didn’t like that, then tough noogies.” Noogies aside, the man is right. Canned drinks have entered a new era, as increased interest and investment have spurred the development of much higher-quality options—and lots of them. What’s more, the “I’ll just drink whatever” attitude of the past doesn’t seem to exist anymore. (It died along with “I’ll just…

ONCE A STANDBY at five-and-dime soda fountains alongside egg creams and brown cows, ice cream sundaes have started stealing the spotlight on dessert menus at many of our favorite restaurants across the nation. Chefs are flexing their creativity with extravagant, artfully assembled newfangled sundaes, taking classic elements—a brownie or cookie base, a scoop of ice cream draped in sweet sauce, crunchy and colorful toppings, a pouf of whipped cream, and a cherry on top—and reinventing the frozen treat in unexpected new ways. We’re embracing the spirit of the modern ice cream sundae here with six sundaes that use a mix of homemade and store-bought flourishes to take a simple scoop (or several) of ice cream over the top. A dollop of whipped cream is reimagined into a dark chocolate–flecked peanut…

DRY SEASON NEVER COMES for Lindsay Gasik and her husband, Richard Koivusalo. For the past decade, they have been leading durian-centric tours across the planet and documenting their travels on Instagram (@durianwriter). The couple travels around the world according to monsoon seasons, the rainy periods that allow durians to ripen. They land in a country as the season comes to an end, just in time to taste the enormous, spiky fruit at its peak. Sometimes their destination is a well-known durian-growing area, like Thailand or the Philippines—other times, Zanzibar or Hawaii. To learn more or to book a durian tour, visit yearofthedurian.com. NT: How does the durian focus change how you travel? Lindsay Gasik: People are overwhelmingly friendly because you’re interested in their life. There’s always someone like, “Oh, my…

SINCE THE 1960s, plastic straws have been ubiquitous … and so has their environmental pollution. Luckily, there are excellent reusable alternatives on the market, made of metal, glass, and silicone. Read on for five of our favorite eco-friendly options that look better in your drink and function without fail. 1. BEST FOR THE BAR HAY SIP COCKTAIL STRAWS Some cocktails are best enjoyed from a straw. These 6-inch glass straws fit neatly into a lowball or a rocks glass, making cocktail hour a little more special. ($30 for six straws, us.hay.com) 2. BEST BENT MOMA TWO-TONE BOROSILICATE GLASS STRAWS Made of delicate borosilicate glass, these playful straws perfectly marry fun and function. ($28 for six straws and one cleaning brush, store.moma.org) 3. BEST PORTABLE GIR TRAVELER STRAWS These silicone straws…

DUCKING INTO NIGHTSHADE NOODLE BAR from an industrial street on a chilly Sunday in Lynn, Massachusetts, I was unexpectedly greeted by a verdant oasis. My table, part banquette, part high-top, shared space with a rubber tree that rose from the ground like a piece of scenery from Jumanji. It was 6 o’clock, and the reservations-only restaurant was already full. Nightshade Noodle Bar serves Vietnamese- and French-inspired tasting menus from chef-owner Rachel Miller. It’s not what I would have expected to find in Lynn, a once down-on-its-luck city on the North Shore of my home state. “I moved to Lynn abruptly, out of the blue. I’d never been here before,” says Miller, who relocated from the nearby city of Medford. “And it just seemed like the perfect place to try to…