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Corti Brothers Newsletter for Summer 2004 Page 4
...continued from page 3 1 2 3 <<Page 4 Oshima Island Salt from Japan-The Rare Blue Label This salt is the counterpart of the Vignalta. This is NOT cooking salt, but finishing salt. This is the salt to use on wonderful fresh tomatoes, either just sliced or as a bruschetta topping. I can think of nothing better than the Oshima Blue Label on sun warmed, fragrant, ripe tomatoes just sliced, sprinkled with some fresh basil and drizzled with excellent oil like the Mancianti Affiorato. Adding some very fresh mozzarella to make this a Caprese salad is up to you. But Oshima Blue Label salt, made by shallow pan dehydration in a glass hot house using Pacific Ocean water, is truly remarkable. Arguments continue over salt. Is it just salt? Try the Oshima Blue Label and you will quickly see that not all salts are the same. Make the most of your summer vegetables and treat yourself to the Oshima Blue Label. You deserve it! Oshima Island Blue Label Salt 240g bag Fleur De Sel- Sea Salt from Brittany Handmade at Guérande in the Loire-Atlantique department of France, we have a production from before a 2001 Atlantic coast tanker spill which allows us to say that this salt we have is “uncontaminated” from that spill. FLEUR DE SEL is a rare variation of Guérande’s grey salt. It is the first crystallization of sea water in the salt beds or “paludes.” Harvested generally from June to September, weather permitting, this salt is sold slightly damp with a fine crystal granulation. Fleur de sel production is always artisanal. Monsieur Gilles Hervy, a “paludier” or salt producer, rakes the narrow beds mounding up the salt. Just the very first, almost spontaneous crystallization is Fleur de Sel. The remainder of the production is called “sel gris ” or grey sea salt. FLEUR DE SEL is another finishing salt. It is not pasta water salt, but will be noticeable on your fresh tomatoes, buttered steamed fresh corn, or any other dish where you use the salt as a flavoring (texture also) after cooking. Sweet butter and fresh radishes are another option to show the character of these finishing salts. Fleur De Sel Sea Salt, Gilles Hervy $ 5.4oz jar All of these salts make wonderful summer hostess gifts. On the other hand, they make wonderful gifts anytime! In many European cultures, salt and bread was always the symbol of welcome.
O-SHOYU is to the Japanese as soy sauce is to us, a necessary staple with today’s fusion cooking. It is also a necessity for making some barbeque sauces and marinades for summer cooking. I would like to point out the three we offer which could be classified, rare, rarer, and rarest. Rare, is the Owarino Tamari from the Marumata Shouten, established in 1834 in Taketoya, just south of Nagoya, Japan. Owari is the old name of this prefecture, thus Owari no tamari is “tamari of Owari.” It is made only
from Japanese soybeans and natural sea salt; slowly aged for three years in cedar casks where it develops its sweetish, smokey, meaty, full flavor,
and thick body. It is as one customer remarked: “soy sauce with balls.” Rarer, is the white soy sauce, SHIRO
SHOYU, made from wheat rather than soy. It
is made in central Japan and is used when you do not want to change the
color of a dish. It is darkish amber in color. The scent and flavor are
lightly smokey, meaty, and very persistent, but light. This is the soy
sauce to use when you want a delicate flavor. KANRO SHOYU is
the rarest. It is a double fermented (saishikomi) shoyu which originated
in Yanai city, Yamaguchi prefecture. The double fermented term means that
part of the water used in fermenting the soy beans is replaced with an
already made, unpasteurized soy sauce, hence its “double fermented” name.
It is thick, intense with a deep creamy character, less persistent than
the shiro shoyu. It is much prized in the cooking of Kyoto and for use
with sushi and sashimi. Known as “sweet dew” it is not well
known even in Japan. You might ask, “what do these Japanese products have to do with summer?” They fit very well with the dominant tastes of the season, yet are not so dominant as to be fatiguing. One excellent way of using the various soy sauces is a delicious, yet simple first course I have enjoyed at the home of Mitsuko and Jan Schrem of Clos Pegase in the Napa Valley. Mitsuko serves a small block of very good chilled “silken” tofu (kinogoshi) with good shoyu on one side and light, fruity extra virgin olive on the other, topped with grated fresh young ginger. It is a delicious combination and goes equally well with full bodied Chardonnay and high toned Sauvignon Blanc. You might even want to experiment with our selection of Greek white wines. You will, however, have to choose which of our shoyu you want to use. There are now several specialized books on Greek wines which can inform one about this new world. One that Corti Brothers has in stock and is quite an informative text with some food topics discussed, is Geoff Adams, GREEK WINES: A Comprehensive Guide, 2002, 255p, paperback. A freelance journalist, Geoff Adams is recognized as one of England’s foremost experts on Greek wines. The first specialist book in English on Greek wines is The Wines of Greece by Miles Lambert-Gocs. Formerly in the Faber and Faber wine book series, a new edition is in print. The third work, and for some reason, the most difficult to find and pry out of its author, is The Illustrated Greek Wine Book by Nico Manessis. Very well done, but impossible to get. A number of excellent Greek food books authored by Aglaia Kremezi and Diane Kochilas bring both wonderful recipes and some discussion of wine, to the table, so to speak. A good bookstore should have a selection. Greek Wines: A Comprehensive Guide, Geoff Adams, 2002 << Back to Top |
Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA