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Corti Brothers Newsletter for September 2007 Page 3 << Continued from Consorcio Tuna Page 2 Ventresca: Thin light strips of tuna belly, the most prized part of the fish; rich, not your everyday tuna.
You might wonder why I have chosen such a large selection of products from Consorcio. They are to fit several budgets and requirements. For sheer pleasure, the Bonito Del Norte is supreme, but production is low and it is expensive. This is for serving when you want to make a statement about you and your guests. This is tuna for serving unadorned, just some good bread, perhaps some sliced tomatoes. It is surprising how good unadorned tuna can be especially at this quality level. While made for restaurant service, these large formats of tuna make superb gifts, especially the 1600g jars. Yellowfin Atun is equally fine, but just slightly stronger in flavor and scent and less expensive. This is tuna for adding to pasta sauce, serving with beans as a salad, making vitello tonnato, tuna salad, and every other time you would use tuna. Atún ventresca is similar to bonito ventresca, and since there is more of it per fish, costs less. I would suggest that you look in Elizabeth David’s Italian Food for a wonderful selection of recipes using both tuna and anchovies. These recipes are simple, easy to follow and really Italian. If you do not have the collection of Elizabeth David’s cookbooks, you should immediately get one. Chartreuse, Histoire D'une Liqueur: the complete history of Chartreuse liqueur, 143 p. 2006. Written by Michel Steinmetz, this is the first complete history and time line for this world famous, collectable liqueur. A treasure of historical photos and advertisements, it features a complete photographic description of both bottle and label of every production of the liqueur from 1840 to the present. This is the last word for collectors and lovers of Chartreuse and is a remarkable example of a business history.
La Grande Chartreuse: au delà du silence. 175p. 2002. A photographic picture book history of the Monastery of La Grande Chartreuse with stunning photographs of the buildings and surroundings; a brief history of the Carthusian order from its beginnings in 1084 to the present. Detailed are the library with its magnificent collection of books confiscated during various periods of turmoil; the history of the order as precursors of modern steel production; the liqueur production, and stunning photos of the scenery of the “Desert” of Chartreuse, its place name. Superb photographs and text. In French.
Un Jardin De Chartreux: gardening suggestions by a Carthusian monk of Vauvert, history, patrimony, and savoir-faire. 144p. 2004. Comprising the historical gardening document, The Solitary Gardener, written in 1704 by Brother François le Gentil, a Carthusian monk of the Paris chartreuse of Vauvert. Now part of the Luxembourg gardens, Vauvert was then the most important plant nursery in pre-Revolution France, supplying plants as far away as America. Authoritative texts on the historical aspects of gardening and fruit production with reproductions of historical colored plates and wonderful photographs showing actual production techniques, makes this a book for garden lovers of any stripe. (Historically, in 1605, it is at this Paris chartreuse that the recipe for the “elixir of long life” which becomes the liqueur we know as “Chartreuse” was given to the Carthusian monks.) Really superb photos and text. In French.
(From time to time, Corti Brothers offers bottles of older VEP Chartreuse for customers wanting to experience the magic bottle age does for this liqueur. Should you want to experience this for your self, please inquire.) |
Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA
