Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2020 i SAVEUR

CHEESEMAKING, MANKIND’S LONG-running alchemy of controlled rot, involves transforming perishable milk into something exponentially more complex, long-lasting, and valuable. It requires the dedication and patience of a monk. Until recently, Antoine Ricardou was, in no way, a cheesemaker. An architect and co-founder of the branding and design firm Be-poles, Ricardou spent his days jetting between the firm’s Paris and New York City offices, overseeing projects for such clients as Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan and Les Roches Rouges on the Côte d’Azur. Then, this past March—well, you know what happened this past March. So, the 47-year-old, along with his wife and their three children, left a pandemic-stricken Paris for the relative isolation of France’s Haute-Savoie region, where the family owns an early-1800s chalet. Ricardou, who chuckles at the word “chalet,”…

I’VE OFFICIALLY OUTLIVED MY MOM,” my mother said to me through winestained teeth over a barbecue chicken pie. We were celebrating her birthday at a California Pizza Kitchen in Fulton County, Georgia—7,000-plus miles away from Seoul, Korea, where she grew up. She had just turned 49. This scene took place a decade ago, and sticks with me still because my mom almost never mentions her mom. It’s not that the subject makes her sad, but that she barely remembers the woman who birthed her. How young do you have to be when your mother dies to forget her? In my mother’s case, 15. The few things my mom, Jean, does recall about Grandma Gesun are vibrant fulgurations, akin to old Polaroids that somehow remain vivid. “My puppy, my puppy,” Grandma…

tamara irish produces her wine the au naturale way, by climbing bare-ass naked into the steel milk vat she uses as a crush barrel. “It’s only me here, so I take my clothes offand jump in,” Irish says. “I adopted this ‘immersive technique’ to push the material around with my hands, because every time we put a machine in front of our food or drink, we’re one more step away from it.” The 62-year-old Australian grows five pinot noir clones at Herrmann Wines, her family’s 4-acre vineyard in Victoria’s Henty wine region, 60 miles from the Southern Ocean—close enough that a sea breeze blowing in from Antarctica shivers the vines. Irish barreled her first grapes in 1998, and drew the label for that first bottling, a hand-lettered spiral tone poem…

THE KIND CITIZENS OF ATHENS, New York, (population 1,603) thought I was crazy when, two months into quarantining here, I dug up my entire backyard to plant a vegetable garden. “The groundhogs will get it,” said one neighbor, matter-of-factly. “You have invasive knotweed,” warned another, as my teenage son tilled. (Google confirmed that guy was right.) But what did I have to lose? Everyone already believed my husband and I were bonkers Brooklynites for buying the big pink-and-yellow Victorian pile that sat vacant for years in the center of the village. The house may not have had heat or a water-resistant roof, but it did offer views of the Hudson River, along with that yard, as sun-flooded as it was neglected. If vegetables grew as profusely as the weeds had,…

NORMAN JEAN ROY FEARS NOTHING, NOT EVEN DEATH. But he is a little worried that his rye berries may overcook. It’s July 29, 2020—day 140 of the pandemic—and Roy tells me as much while stirring the berries into submission for a few loaves of Danish rugbrød. He’s spent the time in lockdown furiously preparing to open Breadfolks, a new bakery in Hudson, New York. “Smell these,” he says, brandishing a wooden spoon. The rye berries smell earthy and the tiniest bit sour. Roy is either a world-famous photographer moonlighting as a small-town baker, or a small-town baker moonlighting as a world-famous photographer, depending on whether you consider “energy expelled” or “income generated” the more compelling indicator. With the exception of an odd job here or there (say, a recent Allure…

01 The Artist Who understands Your Pandemic Pain Rafael Gonzales Jr. not only gets it, he makes a game of it. With a series of Lotería cards that call upon our shared COVID-19 neuroses, this San Antonio visionary (@pinche_raf_art) has turned Mexico’s version of bingo into a highly collectible coping mechanism, one that may or may not rival the curative powers of a salt-rimmed frozen margarita. —Shane Mitchell 02 GRILL? WHO NEEDS A GRILL WHEN YOU HAVE THIS? You could spend a few grand to have a brick pizza oven built in your backyard. Then again, you could also just buy this little number for $500. Ooni’s Koda 16 portable pizza oven (ooni.com) hooks up to a standard propane tank and reaches temperatures of up to 932°F—hot enough to deliver…

If Money Were No Object… Is there any logic capable of justifying $255 for a single soup ladle? Of course not. But that’s the problem with logic—it’s logical. Desire, on the other hand, burns far brighter. And do I ever desire this functional masterpiece from Erica Moody of Waldoboro, Maine (ericamoody.com). That burnished patina. That forged-steel handle. And then when you hear the craftswoman talk—about sculpting the spun-copper dipper with a ball-peen hammer, or tapping those delicate rivets into place—well, this splurge seems a worthy one. —Kat Craddock…

Serious cooks typical ly frown upon pre-mixed seasonings, but these bottled blends include ingredients that have never darkened Mrs. Dash’s doorstep: Vietnamese anchovies, Persian licorice, green chiles from Hatch, New Mexico. Sprinkle atop finished dishes or incorporate earlier in the process to introduce layers of complexity. —Kat Craddock Desert Provisions Hatch Green Chile Salt This Arizona spice company combines green Hatch chi le powder with unrefined salt from the nearby Sea of Cortez—and not a thing more. Use to rim margarita and bloody mary glasses, or pour a pinch over fatty pork carnitas with lime. ($12 for 3.4 ounces; desertprovisions.com) Red Boat Fish Sauce Spiced Garum Salt Cool-kid Vietnamese sauce company Red Boat paired with Stuart Brioza, chef-owner of San Francisco restaurants the Progress and State Bird Provisions, to create…

1. Picpoul de Pinet is the “perfect white T-shirt” of any wine collection. As in, this crisp, clear, high-acid white from the French Mediterranean goes with everything. Sommelier Vanessa Price is determined to bring wine talk down to earth, even if that means occasionally hitting the drive-thru. In Big Macs & Burgundy, Wine Pairings for the Real World, she expands on her popular column for New York Magazine’s Grub Street blog. Among Price’s other supremely helpful fashion analogies: A Mendoza malbec, like an old pair of Levi’s, is equal to any occasion and consistently good, even at the value tier; Italian Barolos are akin to tailored blazers—pricey yet foundational for adults; and vintage port is equivalent to a piece of prized leather, which becomes more nuanced with age. 2. For…

VIRTUALLY EVERY PLACE HAS AN iconic street food—that inexpensive, highly portable bite capable of telegraphing its geographical culinary identity to the rest of the world. The United States is known for hot dogs; Vietnam, banh mi. In Guadeloupe, the bokit (pronounced “BOkeet,” not “bo-KIT”) sandwich speaks volumes about the French-Caribbean archipelago’s complicated history with slavery and colonialism. To call this wonder a sandwich would be to seriously undersell its bread. Yes, there are fillings: typically cod and conch, but also chicken and pork. Toppings too, including lettuce, tomato, and hot-pepper sauce. The main attraction, however, remains that perfectly crisp, pillowy envelope, reminiscent of the American South’s yeast roll, had said roll’s dough been deep-fried instead of baked. Versions of this bread—some yeasted, some incorporating cornmeal—are prevalent throughout the Caribbean, called…

PAGE 59 Pandemic Punch The “Ménage à Quatre” has filled many a coupe at my house in 2020. Racy name notwithstanding (we’re bored, but not that bored), this respectable little cocktail issues its siren song at today’s acceptable cocktail hour. (Four o’clock? Two o’clock? Noon?) My husband and I discovered it in David Lebovitz’s Drinking French: The Iconic Cocktails, Apéritifs, and Café Traditions of France. What can I say? We’re still drinking our way through this situation. — Catherine Tillman Whalen In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine ¾ ounce gin; ¾ounce Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or triple sec; ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice; and ¾ ounce Lillet Blanc or Cap Corse Blanc. Shake for several seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe to serve. PAGE 53 The Salty Owl’s…

In 1990, Richard Linklater revolutionized the indie-film world with Slacker, a movie that made doing absolutely nothing look like active rebellion. Then Nirvana more than underscored the point with Nevermind. Which inspired the 1992 grunge collection that got Marc Jacobs fired from Perry Ellis, and turned him into a star. Is it any wonder that the suits over at the Coca-Cola Co. saw a youth movement in need of a soft drink, and launched OK Soda in 1993? Sample tag line: What’s the point of OK? Well, what’s the point of anything? A bit of backstory: After realizing that “OK” was the only word more universally recognizable than “Coke,” the adagency creatives commissioned by the beverage behemoth decided that the word also perfectly captured Gen X ennui. TV and radio…