Wine School of Philadelphia featured on NPR
Thursday, November 26th, 2009The NPR show All Thing’s Considered picked up a story about an article I wrote for the Daily Beast.
Archive for November, 2009
This Evening: Country Honk At Pub & Kitchen
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Are all of these incoming Thanksgiving vibes somehow still not down-home enough for you? Then maybe Pub & Kitchen’s 1st Annual Country Delight will hit the spot. Canned beer specials, fried chicken, stop us when you stop worrying about Obamunism.
Pub & Kitchen, 1946 Lombard St. (215) 545-0350
Pork Roll: A Delicious Conspiracy
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Outside of this region, people have no idea what a pork roll is and we recently found ourselves wondering, too. A comment on an earlier post sparked an unhealthy interest in the breffast meat that needed to be investigated.
Pork roll comes to us by way of our friendly neighbors to the East, New Jersey. Originally made by John Taylor of Trenton in 1856, pork roll was originally branded Taylor’s Prepared Ham, and it is still referred to as Taylor Ham by old people who also use words like “ragamuffin” and “poppycock.” Around 1906, thanks to the Pure Food and Drug Act that passed that year, Taylor Prepared Ham could not by law be referred to as ham because, let’s face it, we all know that there is a huge difference between pork roll and ham. Taylor re-marketed the product as both “Taylor’s Pork Roll” and “Trenton Pork Roll” and eventually ditched the latter, probably figuring that the word Trenton should never be followed by pork and roll when describing food. Since then, other companies have joined the pork roll game — such Pennsy meat companies as Hatfield and Philly’s own Habbersett. But what is it made of? This seems like one of those bits of trivia that should be but a Google search away, but the industry seems to keep a tight lip about this, only refering to the seasoning, curing and salting but nowhere do they say what part of the pork makes the roll. Attempts to contact Taylor, Habbersett and Hatfield over the phone were promptly transfered or systematically funneled towards seemingly vacant voicemail boxes. Perhaps Big Pork Roll is making an unintentional point: It’s probably better not to know than to speculate. We’ll just keep cutting those pacman-mouth slits into the sides of this savory delight and leave the questions for another day.
This begs the question: What the hell is scrapple? Coming Soon.
and the award goes to…
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009CIA announces inductees to the Vinters 2010 Hall of Fame.
2010 Inductee Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon
(From Wine Business News)
Three Options For Turkey Time
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
By now, everyone probably has their Thanksgiving game plan set in motion, so what better timing to look at the many different approaches preparing the Thanksgiving centerpiece: The Turkey. There are many factors that go into turkey prep such as kitchen space, timing, and of course, recipes. Here are some unconventional options for turkey prep that could save time and effort on that all important day of the fowl.
That’s our three cents. Take them for what they’re worth or even mix and match. For instance, A brined bird would do well on the grill. One final thing to consider is that your thermometer is your best friend; don’t rely on those button popper deals on the turkey. Happy turkey cooking, Philadelphia!
If you cook up a bird of your own in an interesting way, take a picture and we’ll share it with the rest of the Phoodie universe. Send them to phoodieinfo@gmail.com.
The Weekly Wine Tweets
Monday, November 23rd, 2009- Update: Jonathan Newman is Back! http://bit.ly/5Vnl1E #
- Update: Beaujolais Nouveau Day! http://bit.ly/3sPbor #
- Update: The Wine School at Time http://bit.ly/1wnT3D #
- Update: The Weekly Wine Tweets http://bit.ly/4DpzC4 #
Arbois: Rare Mountain Red
Monday, November 23rd, 2009November 23, 2009 (Mon): Dried
cranberry and Alpine herbs explode in the fantastic ‘05 vintage of
Jacques Puffeney’s Arbois, a red wine crafted in the Jura Mountains of
France and brought to us by importer Neal Rosenthal. Try this rare wine
tonight only for just $6½ (regularly $13).[...]
Austrian Cider & Cheese
Monday, November 23rd, 2009November 24, 2009 (Tue): During
his visit to Austria, Tria wine director, Michael McCaulley, scored
just two cases of a sensational sparkling apple cider from Hans Reisetbauer
(Reisetbauer is Austria’s top producer of fruit eaux de vie and one of
the gems of the Terry Theise import portfolio). We’re[...]
Pork Roll: A Delicious Conspiricy
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Outside of this region, people have no idea what a pork roll is and we recently found ourselves wondering, too. A comment on an earlier post sparked an unhealthy interest in the breffast meat that needed to be investigated.
Pork roll comes to us by way of our friendly neighbors to the East, New Jersey. Originally made by John Taylor of Trenton in 1856, pork roll was originally branded Taylor’s Prepared Ham, and it is still referred to as Taylor Ham by old people who also use words like “ragamuffin” and “poppycock.” Around 1906, thanks to the Pure Food and Drug Act that passed that year, Taylor Prepared Ham could not by law be referred to as ham because, let’s face it, we all know that there is a huge difference between pork roll and ham. Taylor re-marketed the product as both “Taylor’s Pork Roll” and “Trenton Pork Roll” and eventually ditched the latter, probably figuring that the word Trenton should never be followed by pork and roll when describing food. Since then, other companies have joined the pork roll game — such Pennsy meat companies as Hatfield and Philly’s own Habbersett. But what is it made of? This seems like one of those bits of trivia that should be but a Google search away, but the industry seems to keep a tight lip about this, only refering to the seasoning, curing and salting but nowhere do they say what part of the pork makes the roll. Attempts to contact Taylor, Habbersett and Hatfield over the phone were promptly transfered or systematically funneled towards seemingly vacant voicemail boxes. Perhaps Big Pork Roll is making an unintentional point: It’s probably better not to know than to speculate. We’ll just keep cutting those pacman-mouth slits into the sides of this savory delight and leave the questions for another day.
This begs the question: What the hell is scrapple? Coming Soon.
Wine Spectator’s Top 100 of 2009
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Columbia Crest’s Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Reserve 2005 ranks number 1 at 95 points (and $27). The entire Wine Spectator list published here.
Check out the post on the author’s site.