Cooking for Solutions: Why Weren't You There?

With all the interest in food (and wine) on this forum, I was scratching my head in wonder that I didn't see some of the denizens here at the recently concluded Cooking For Solutions annual event in Monterey.

What's not to like: a beautiful location, an impressive gathering of some of the mover and shaker chefs from around the world (with a focus on American chefs), availablility of same said chefs and their specialty creations, gala tasting in the stunning Monterey Bay Aquarium, and seminars galore---not just the sit-in-the-seat seminars, mind you, but working seminars where you get to tangle in the kitchen with the great chefs!

Seriously, this should be on your event horizon. Great time, with great people, in a fantastic location.

This time I got to work with three chefs in a Three-Way Seminar at the local Monterey Culinary Center (right on Cannery Row!). Mary Pagan, Jeffrey Jakes, and my friend and mentor, Chef John Ash, put together a dynamite day of food and wine wherein the attendees got to do a round-robin of cooking classes, rotating from Chef to Chef, with each Chef doing multiple recipes in a particular cuisine (Mexican for Chef Ash, Mediterranean for Chef Jakes, and Asian for Chef Pagan. So in one dazzling whirl, they got tutored in pork belly, brining shrimp, making kofti and cockles, nuoc mam and how not to incinerate your kitchen when you're doing Korean-style beef (long story).

Then, the attendees got to do a smorgasbord of all they had prepared---but I got to set up six different wines, narrate the styles, then encourage the folks to do a free-for-all pairing. Afterwards we talked about the "Aha!" moments and epiphanies. It was rewarding to see the light snap on in people's eyes when they went through the process of assembling a dish, then put a wine in conjunction with it, and being able to figure out what in the dish and what in the wine made it a good match.

The good news?

People aren't conditioned any more to be instantly afraid of a little sweetness in a wine (especially Riesling), and they easily learn that can be a good component with certain foods. Yeah! Never thought they'd get it.

The other side of the "red wine with fish" dismissal: You don't need red wine with meat; some whites work superbly with red meats. You simply need to be more carefully selective.

Most dishes are combinations of different elements (well, d'oh) and as such put different faces forward with different wines---so you consider the dominant elements for selecting your wine.

Syrah can be extremely versatile for foods---neither remarkably high in acid nor tannin, the softer berry notes of a warm climate syrah can be quite effective and welcoming as a companion for a wide variety of foods.

The wine doesn't have to be a blockbuster to make a good pairing with your dish. The occasion shouldn't be to show off a wine; it should be to create an interesting connection between the wine and the food. Save your blockbusters for special moments and wine snob tastings.

And like I said: why weren't you there?

Who Knew?

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/vi/vi_events/cooking/%20-%2020k

2010 isn't that far away.

Syrah can be extremely versatile for foods---neither remarkably high in acid nor tannin, the softer berry notes of a warm climate syrah can be quite effective and welcoming as a companion for a wide variety of foods.

The wine doesn't have to be a blockbuster to make a good pairing with your dish. The occasion shouldn't be to show off a wine; it should be to create an interesting connection between the wine and the food. Save your blockbusters for special moments and wine snob tastings.

And like I said: why weren't you there?

I heard about this event early last week, about 2 pm on an early morning talk show. What a fun time you must have had.
I am uneducated about wine pairing and have always gone with the thought that I will drink what I like with what I am eating. I am a huge fan of Syrah and Shiraz and actually prefer Australian wines. Shiraz is always in my house and I love it with beef, lamb, pasta, Mexican, fish, and chicken. I am not a fan of white wines but have found some that I enjoy, especially in the summer months. It is nice to see that some of the fussiness about pairing may be easing, a little. When we owned the Liquor Barn here in Redding, we had a great general mgr. who helped me with my pairing. We are no longer in the business and our mgr. has gone north with his own business, so I fly by the seat of my pants. I don't stress about it. I am putting this event on my list for next year, along with the Tomato Fest.

I hadn't heard of this one, either. Sounds like a blast, though - we'll check it out for next year.

Mike, I think you'd like the event, for a lot of reasons.

Karen: I can understand your affection for Syrah as a food wine, for the points we mentioned. A Syrah would give one much more latitude than, say, a Bordeaux or Merlot, and some people prefer the richness of Syrah over a more acidic (which might come across as lighter textured or leaner) Pinot or Sangiovese. Although I certainly think the last two are great food wines, mind you. And as a plus, I knew the Syrah I was using had a bit of Grenache in it, and was a bit on the soft and juicy side. And it didn't have any overage of tannin to battle with the fish dishes or the heat or the peppers.

So all in all it was a good match for the variety of dishes on the table.

The surprise to me? That so many people responded to Viognier as a good food match. I'll have to go back and rethink my Viognier now, and consider it with other foods. The floral/fruit qualities made it a good combo for several people with the Asian foods.

Ah, I love listening to the wine folks lingo about wine. Maybe someday I will be there, but I doubt it. I just love to drink it. Our son keeps trying to educate his dad and I....to no avail.

[Jenise]

The surprise to me? That so many people responded to Viognier as a good food match. I'll have to go back and rethink my Viognier now, and consider it with other foods. The floral/fruit qualities made it a good combo for several people with the Asian foods.

Ever since Jim Dietz showed up at my house with a Miner Viognier--a grape I hated--that I needed to put on the table (I serve every wine guests bring), and having no other place to put it I put it with a tomato bisque garnished with blue cheese, and discovered to my shock that viognier LOVES tomato bisque and I can love viognier, I've been a changed woman. First time I make something with that orange balsam thyme I'm growing, there will likely be a viognier close by.

But what a neat event. Was it the whole weekend? What's the entry fee?

But what a neat event. Was it the whole weekend? What's the entry fee?

Don't know, Jenise, as I was one of the presenters and therefore affiliated with the wineries and the chef seminars.

If you scroll back to the link in the original post, you can probably find it pretty easily.

I know there are seminars during the week leading up to the weekend---think they start on Wednesday. All I attended/participated in was the Friday/Saturday main events.

A friend went through the whole thing, and I can report he was totally jazzed about it. Raving about the seminars and the information he got, and the idea sharing with others.

When you start adding up all the fees for the events...it is very expensive.

If you made a weekend out of it, you'd definitely spend some pretty serious money by the time you were done. But you can pick and choose events - the one Hoke was involved with was $225 for the general public. Not cheap, but you do get a chance to actually spend some cooking time with someone like John Ash and much of the cost is tax deductible. Plus, you're helping to fund the Monterey Bay Aquarium and that's worth something right there.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is certainly worth funding Mike, especially for the work they do to sustain the oceans and fish. I would want to go to ALL the events and that is why I said it gets to be expensive. One needs to pick and choose....darn it!