Corti
Brothers Newsletter for June 2005 Page 3
Joy of Sake Tasting: Honolulu, Hawai'i September 8, 9, 10, 2005
In keeping with things Japanese, I would like to tell you about a wonderful sake tasting which has been held for the last 4 years in Honolulu, Hawai’i. I am telling you now so that if the spirit moves you, you can make arrangements to attend. This is a major sake tasting of the three quality levels of sake, daiginjo, ginjo and junmai sake. The names refer to quality levels of sake produced by rice milling and fermentation techniques. I have been a judge at the last three of these blind tastings. Its imposing title is the U.S. National Sake Appraisal.
A group of sake experts from Japan and a like number of American tasters judge the 140+ sake entered in the competition. Some sake entered do not even have representation in this country, but the competition is considered important enough for them to enter. Reverberations of this competition are felt even in Japan.
Once the official judging is done, then the public gets to have a chance at tasting all of the sake judged by the professionals. Together with being able to see this number of very high quality sake, the best Japanese restaurants of Honolulu participate with dishes to accompany sake. This is the actual Joy of Sake tasting which is held at, and benefits, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i in Honolulu.
This year there will also be a seminar for the public on tasting sake and an explanation of what specific points to look for given by the Japanese experts who are also judges. Should you decide to attend the JOY OF SAKE tasting, then stay at my favorite Honolulu hotel, the HALEKULANI at Waikiki, possibly the best hotel in Honolulu. One of the dinners, the Kurabito dinner, will be held there. Special packages are available from the hotel, so please contact the HALEKULANI directly at (800) 367-2343.
For JOY OF SAKE information, please contact Chris Pearce at (808) 286-0114 or JOY OF SAKE HOTLINE (808) 739-1000 or www.joyofsake.com.
The Joy of Sake tasting cost is $65.00 per person, $125.00 for all programs. Should you decide not to travel to Hawai’i, the same tasting will be held in San Francisco, September 15, at the Hotel Nikko and in New York, September 27, at the Puck Building.
Vinegars for Summer Enjoyment
As the medieval minstrel would have it, “Sumer is icumen in” and what makes a terrific salad other than great greens, wonderful oil, and flavorsome salt, is excellent vinegar. Corti Brothers has several vinegars which I would like to point out.
One is our Corti Brothers Finest Red and White Wine Vinegar in both 375 ml and ½ gallon bottles. Age is important in vinegar since the sharp flavor of acetic acid is attenuated and softened by aging, especially by bottle aging. Most producers do not even want to think about aging vinegar, but it must be aged to be at its best. Even so, many customers do not know what to do when confronted with aged vinegar since there is so little of it around.
Natural, unpasteurized vinegar develops in bottle and then after some time, begins to appear less intense both in flavor and scent. This is due to the autodigestion of acetic acid by the acetobacter not having any alcohol to convert to acetic acid. The scent of old vinegar is very high toned and perfumey; it tastes more like old wine than vinegar. It is at this point that vinegar becomes truly delicious and does not conflict with wine.
Our Corti Brothers White and Red vinegar is arriving at the delicious stage. A crust has formed in the bottles and the vinegar should be decanted carefully into a cruet for use. While harmless, the crust merely makes the vinegar appear hazy, but otherwise does not affect its flavor. Sometimes in young vinegar, this deposit can mean that the vinegar has not been fully converted and there is a yeasty, leesy smell of vinegar in conversion. This scent which is unpleasant, yet very common, is often thought to be the scent of fine vinegar.
The wine substrate influences vinegar very much. The more aromatic the wine, generally the more aromatic the vinegar. A case in point are two Catalan vinegars from Unió in Reus. One is the Vinagre De Moscatel and a new one Vinagre De Vermouth. The Vinagre De Moscatel is made from wine of the local muscat variety, Moscatel Romano (a clone of Muscat Alexandria). The varietal scent and flavor are retained and this just off dry vinegar is perfect for use with stone fruit salads, not too bitter greens, or as an alternative to other white vinegar.
A new product from Unió is a unique vinegar made from vermouth. Vinagre De Vermouth is complex. First, vermouth with various herbs, spices and extracts macerated in a wine base is made. Acetification then takes place and the vinegar is now further aged. The vermouth substrate remains as a base flavor, with the pungency of vinegar as the follow through. Unique in vinegar production this is lovely in a salad and wonderful for deglazing. For culinary experimenters, I think you will like it.
We now have back in stock Mastro Acetaio, the Condimento Balsamico of San Geminiano, the producers of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale that we began importing in 1982. This is the three year old version of the Reggio Emilia production of Aceto Balsamico di Modena–with one exception: it’s better. Mastro Acetaio must be made from boiled down grape must, blended with vinegar, then aged. It is a less expensive version of the Tradizionale.
Saba, boiled down grape must is also back in stock, both for cooking purposes and for use in making sorbets or even traditional summer drinks. Try it mixed with sparkling water and a bit of Condimento.
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale is “real” balsamic vinegar. There are three quality levels: Red Label, the youngest; Silver label, a very fine product with age and density; and Gold Label, the best production possible. These quality levels are assured since the vinegars must be tasted before being bottled and accepted in their quality levels by the tasting panel of the producers’ consortium. It is a rigorous, incontestable tasting. For salads a few drops of this vinegar are added to good, normal vinegar. For summer berries, a drop or two changes the fruit flavor profile. A few drops on grilled meats raises them to another level. Just remember, a few drops are enough.
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