International living experiences and food

RIESLING! Among the best Rieslings I had tasted to that point in my young life. Produced up north, near the Caspian Sea area..

This sounds interesting.

What has production been like over the years and successive governments?

Could we expect to see some quality examples imported to the US in the future after future regime changes (both in Iran and the US)?

I don't know if it was the country or just the stage of my exposure to food, but I lived in Japan for one year after university and had the pleasure of learning to cook from an older Japanese woman who was quite traditional.

She would scold me for wanting to include too many ingredients in different dishes, and she told me that my dish of miso broth with tomatoes and carrots was "American soup" not "miso soup".

In some respects I think that her insistence (and the style of Japanese cuisine in general) on clean clear flavors has been the inspiration for my current style of cooking which favors singular dominant flavors/ingredients buttressed by one or two supporting flavors/ingredients.

But, the rational part of me realizes that I might have gotten that from any serious cook in any culture and it just so happened that I was in Japan when I became more serious about cooking.

Still, let romance live..

As far as eating and not just cooking, I would have to say that is one of the best parts of travelling. Because I realize that you can often get food that is "technically" prepared better or has "superior" ingredients to what you find in the native environment.

But, to me it is still special to taste dishes and cuisines in their native environment because you can see how they interact with the local culture and also you can never replicate the air, the minerals in the water used to wash the food and the plates, the environment, the romance...

As such, while pristine fish can be found everywhere, my fondest memories of sushi are of course in Japan. Especially at the fish market Tsukiji in Tokyo.

However, my fondest seafood memory is eating crab freshly pulled out of the sea on the north coast of Hokkaido. They were boiled in a small shack and we sat with the sea air kissing our faces devouring the most inspirational crab meat I have ever consumed. Would not have been the same in a sterile Tokyo restaurant.

RIESLING! Among the best Rieslings I had tasted to that point in my young life. Produced up north, near the Caspian Sea area..

This sounds interesting.

What has production been like over the years and successive governments?

Could we expect to see some quality examples imported to the US in the future after future regime changes (both in Iran and the US)?

Rahsaan,

According to the government, no wine is produced in Iran these days. But when I was researching my book, I discovered that right before the turn of this century, Iran produced a few hundred thousand tons of grapes. I can't believe they ate them all, especially the ones that were wine grapes.

I also can't believe that the Iranians have been keeping up with winemaking technology these past thirty years, so I don't expect, after regime changes, a quick export of Iranian wines that were as good as what I drank in the 70s, which at that time, good as they were, the wines lacked finesse. For instance, the Riesling always cast tartrates in the bottle and bottle fill was inconsistent, not to mention the cheap corks.

The Iranians also produced a wine they called Claret. It was a light red, clairette style wine that I believe came from the north.

According to the government, no wine is produced in Iran these days...I also can't believe that the Iranians have been keeping up with winemaking technology these past thirty years..

Aha.

Still, always heartened by the prospects of long traditions and good terroir that can be reinvigorated by the right people.

According to the government, no wine is produced in Iran these days...I also can't believe that the Iranians have been keeping up with winemaking technology these past thirty years..

Aha.

Still, always heartened by the prospects of long traditions and good terroir that can be reinvigorated by the right people.

As soon as both regimes get back to reality (or are gone) if I'm still able to walk, I'd love to go back there and help give the Iranian wine industry a new start.

This is the country that holds some of the oldest archeological wine locations, along the borders with Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq, and not far from Georgia, where I believe the oldest so far has been uncovered.

I believe I told you sometime back in chat, but maybe Rahsaan is interested also: wine is still made there, but of course everything is planted just to be eaten! A few years back I got to try an Iranian Riesling and that was a good example of home-made wine: it wasn't earthshattering, but it was true to the grape and was a pleasure to drink.

-O-

I believe I told you sometime back in chat, but maybe Rahsaan is interested also: wine is still made there, but of course everything is planted just to be eaten! A few years back I got to try an Iranian Riesling and that was a good example of home-made wine: it wasn't earthshattering, but it was true to the grape and was a pleasure to drink. -O-

According to Habib, my girlfriend's brother-in-law, who lives in Tehran, there is quite the thriving cottage industry in wine, beer, and spirits. And for those less creative types, most any kind of alcohol is available on the black market.

Officially, they can buy alcohol-free beer. At home, and this really kills me, they make beer out of crushed, dry macaroni noodles.

I believe I told you sometime back in chat, but maybe Rahsaan is interested also: wine is still made there, but of course everything is planted just to be eaten! A few years back I got to try an Iranian Riesling and that was a good example of home-made wine: it wasn't earthshattering, but it was true to the grape and was a pleasure to drink.

-O-

Yes, Otto, I remember you posting about that a while back.

According to Habib, my girlfriend's brother-in-law, who lives in Tehran, there is quite the thriving cottage industry in wine, beer, and spirits. And for those less creative types, most any kind of alcohol is available on the black market.

Officially, they can buy alcohol-free beer. At home, and this really kills me, they make beer out of crushed, dry macaroni noodles.

Yeah, while I was there the penalty for hashish possession was severe, but that didn't seem to matter much--of course, inhaling was a problem for me...

I believe I told you sometime back in chat, but maybe Rahsaan is interested also: wine is still made there, but of course everything is planted just to be eaten! A few years back I got to try an Iranian Riesling and that was a good example of home-made wine: it wasn't earthshattering, but it was true to the grape and was a pleasure to drink.

-O-

Yes, Otto, I remember you posting about that a while back.

And you might be interested to hear, Otto, that the wine industry in the US survived in large part by producing wine for religious purposes (god forbid any should find its way into secular usage), as well as a thriving industry in shipping grape juice and grape concentrate to the East and Midwest in railroad cars---strictly for making non-alcoholic products, of course. They even went to the extent of describing precisely what one should NOT do in order not to end up with fermented grape juice.

Plus, although most people don't realize it today, during our Prohibition you could still make fermented wine for home consumption; perfectly legal--you just couldn't make it in commercial quantities or sell it. Likewise, the spirits industry was legally allowed to make spirits for medicinal uses----and doctors would frequently prescribe what was otherwise proscribed.

... during our Prohibition ... the spirits industry was legally allowed to make spirits for medicinal uses----and doctors would frequently prescribe what was otherwise proscribed.

Yes, and this seems to've been good for retail pharmacies. A sidelight little mentioned today (though witnessed by people at the time, some of them still around) is that pharmacies (UK: chemists; Eur: apothecaries) were well positioned to convert to wine or liquor stores after the repeal of US Prohibition. In my region (Northern California), that was the genesis of some successful wine retailers.

--
Some trivia for you:

Prohibition (actually, constitutional provision for prohibition of) table-wine manufacture in United States: 1919-1933 (14 years)

Prohibition of table-wine manufacture in Bulgaria: 1396-1878 (482 years)

Yes, and this seems to've been good for retail pharmacies. A sidelight little mentioned today (though witnessed by people at the time, some of them still around) is that pharmacies (UK: chemists; Eur: apothecaries) were well positioned to convert to wine or liquor stores after the repeal of US Prohibition. In my region (Northern California), that was the genesis of some successful wine retailers.

--
Some trivia for you:

Prohibition (actually, constitutional provision for prohibition of) table-wine manufacture in United States: 1919-1933 (14 years)

Prohibition of table-wine manufacture in Bulgaria: 1396-1878 (482 years)

Max, a correction: during Prohibition, wineries could manufacture and store their product; they could not distribute and sell it. There are accounts of millions of gallons of wine having been stored under this provision, and when 1933 came, the stored wine was released--it was also quite bad.

Hey, I remember when pharmacies sold liquor in Jersey City...1960s.

Thanks for the correction, Thomas. Should have written "manufacture for sale."

One of the sources with a lot of historical detail on (US) Prohibition, from a winemaking perspective -- maybe Schoonmaker and Marvel, 1941, or else one of the recent histories -- has remarkable details about the enforcement of the Prohibition laws. Untrained, often corrupt local personnel; and a senior federal Prohibition official, with an air of common sense, who after a while resigned her post to join with some other people in a large commercial effort to make wine available via one of those loophole channels.

Thanks for the correction, Thomas. Should have written "manufacture for sale."

One of the sources with a lot of historical detail on (US) Prohibition, from a winemaking perspective -- maybe Schoonmaker and Marvel, 1941, or else one of the recent histories -- has remarkable details about the enforcement of the Prohibition laws. Untrained, often corrupt local personnel; and a senior federal Prohibition official, with an air of common sense, who after a while resigned her post to join with some other people in a large commercial effort to make wine available via one of those loophole channels.

Many believed that wine would escape Prohibition, and I think some in Congress left the loopholes with that hope in their stupid little heads.

Thomas Pinney's book has a good section about the madness of Prohibition laws and loopholes.

Eric Ifune wrote:
Born and raised in Southern California. Went to school in Chicago for 4 years, then to New Orleans for 5. Entered the service. Lived in South eastern Turkey for 15 months; Germany for 3 years; Croatia for 6 months; Japan for 3 years; Northern Italy for 3 years. Back to Northern California for 4 years.


The food memories, Eric, the food memories...

Well, I guess my main memories of each place was the food. Have a story about Turkey. I was one of the few people who lived offbase. Shopped mainly at local family shops or the twice weekly market. Saw some wonderful produce but listened to the base public health office for a couple of months admonishing me not to eat unwashed, unpeeled items. Got to thinking, "the locals don't wash their food in bleach solutions, why is that? Because their systems are used to it! I'm going to see how long it takes MY system to get used to it." It took 6 months. Never got really seriously ill, fortunately. However afterwards, I could go anywhere, eat anything, drink the tap water; Turkey, Syria, Egypt, even the rural areas. Raw meat kabobs, lamb carcasses hung up in trees, butchered and cooked an a portable grill, street food with all the condiments, ect. Was able to enjoy some great stuff. Oh, and the melons from Turkey, and the local honey. Terrific stuff.

Eric Ifune wrote:
Born and raised in Southern California. Went to school in Chicago for 4 years, then to New Orleans for 5. Entered the service. Lived in South eastern Turkey for 15 months; Germany for 3 years; Croatia for 6 months; Japan for 3 years; Northern Italy for 3 years. Back to Northern California for 4 years.


The food memories, Eric, the food memories...

Well, I guess my main memories of each place was the food. Have a story about Turkey. I was one of the few people who lived offbase. Shopped mainly at local family shops or the twice weekly market. Saw some wonderful produce but listened to the base public health office for a couple of months admonishing me not to eat unwashed, unpeeled items. Got to thinking, "the locals don't wash their food in bleach solutions, why is that? Because their systems are used to it! I'm going to see how long it takes MY system to get used to it." It took 6 months. Never got really seriously ill, fortunately. However afterwards, I could go anywhere, eat anything, drink the tap water; Turkey, Syria, Egypt, even the rural areas. Raw meat kabobs, lamb carcasses hung up in trees, butchered and cooked an a portable grill, street food with all the condiments, ect. Was able to enjoy some great stuff. Oh, and the melons from Turkey, and the local honey. Terrific stuff.

You lucky man. I ran right out of the gate and of course contracted amoebic dysentery.

Took my digestive tract a few years to make a come back. The only good thing about the after effect was that I could not gain weight no matter how much I ate for the next five years. That's all over now