Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Wine & Food of the Giro 2015 Stage 5: Pecorino Toscano & Sesti Monteleccio


Where are we:Stage 5: La Spezia - Abetone 152 KM - Medium mountain

 Goodbye to Liguria, as we had to Abetone and the Province of Pistoia in  Tuscany,about 80 kilometres northwest of Florence. Abetone is one of the most frequented ski destinations in central Italy. The name means “big fir," from a huge tree that once stood in the village until it was cut down in the mid-18th century.
The ski runs extend for over 50 km and across four majestic valleys. They also have a Blueberry festival in the summer. Cycling fans may remember that Ivan Basso is a blueberry farmer, though not in this area. 

Stage:  Our break of of the day features Axel Domont, Serghei Ţvetcov, Silvan Dillier, Sylvain Chavanel, and Jan Polanc. Chava! Hope for my fantasy team. 
 

 
With fifty kilometers ridden, their gap was over eight minutes. That gap would continue to grow. With sixty six kilometers left, it was at almost eleven minutes.
A bit of a misadventure for Ţvetcov brings a tiny bit of excitement or at least amusement as he rides a bit off course. He made it back to the break, but needed some duct tape for his shoe.
 
Forty kilometers to go and they still had ten minutes. Thirty kilometers and it was still over nine minutes. Behind, a bike change for Contador as they near the final climb. Mechanical or did he have something planned? Seventeen kilometers to go and the gap was around seven minutes. Ahead, the main climb of the day.  Twelve kilometers to go, the gap had dropped to just under five minutes and they had started to attack each other up front. With ten kilometers to go, Polanc was ahead solo. 
 

Alas, Chava. Behind, repeated attacks by Pirazzi. 


 Behind, Clarke was dropped and would lose the pink jersey. More attacks, this time by Contador with Aru, Landa, and Porte. The gc boys had decided to play after all. Back and forth they went, taking turns attacking each other. The big losers? Any of the other potential gc candidates. 


 Ahead, Polanc would hold on for the stage win. Great ride for him. Second place for Chavanel. Behind a fierce sprint from Contador, Aru, and Porte for the remaining bonus seconds.

Stage: Jan Polanc
 

GC: Alberto Contador
Wine: Sesti Toscana IGT “Monteleccio
from Dig $25

From Kermit Lynch, the importer: Although he always enjoyed visiting vineyards and attending tastings, Giuseppe Maria “Giugi” Sesti did not initially choose a career in wine. Instead, his Venetian upbringing inspired him to study music, art, and astronomy, the last of which became his profession. He met his future wife in North Wales while writing his first book on this topic, and in 1975 Giugi and Sarah moved their family to Tuscany, where they bought the abandoned ruins of the hamlet and castle of Argiano, slowly clearing the land and restoring the buildings to create the breathtaking estate we see there today. Giugi was now a father of four, vice-director of a local Baroque opera festival, and actively writing books on astronomy, but he miraculously found spare time to visit local wineries and help his neighbors in the vineyards and cellar. His passion for wine grew along with his experience, and in 1991 he planted his own vineyards on the slopes around the castle. The children helped pick and stomp grapes from the earliest age, and though they, too, pursued international studies in various fields, they always managed to come home for the harvest. In 1999 the couple’s only daughter, Elisa, joined the estate full time, and today she is an active partner in all aspects of the vineyard management and winemaking.

 While helping out at neighboring estates Giugi observed that simplicity and careful attention were the most important factors in producing great wines, while chemical intervention skewed their delicate balance; so he determined to make entirely natural wines right from the start. He even took a pioneering extra step by applying his prodigious knowledge of the moon’s influence on living things to his vineyard management and winemaking. Today the family continues this thoroughly eco-friendly philosophy (although no official certification currently meets their personal standards), and Elisa’s primary concern is the materia prima, or raw material, that goes into the wine. 

Sesti's Monteleccio is 100% Sangiovese made from the property's youngest vines (15-years). Aged for one-year in large casks, Monteleccio is fresh and delicious, offering aromas of cherry, herbs, and a touch of orchard dust.

 http://www.sestiwine.com/

I say: Tuscany! Time for a red, paired with steak on night one. Cherry, violets, and herbs with enough acid to keep it lively. 
Food: Pecorino Toscano is a firm-textured sheep’s milk cheese produced in Tuscany. Since 1996 it has enjoyed protected designation of origin (PDO) status. 

 Academia Barilla has a short history of the cheese here. Among other things, they say that "Sheep have been raised in Tuscany since the time of the Etruscans. The Romans are responsible for maintaining the tradition and also began to make cheese using the sheep’s milk.
The first to mention of “cacao,” or sheep’s milk cheese, is attributed to Plinio the Elder who wrote that it was made in the area of Lunigiana, the territory surrounding the ancient city of Luni located at the mouth of the Magra river. Tuscan pecorino is also mentioned by the most important authors of the 1400s who referred to it as cacio marzolino.

I ate mine with some fava beans harvested from our backyard garden.
between September and June when the is grass best for grazing. It can be eaten 'fresh' when it is relatively soft and creamy or it can be aged in a variety of ways until it is quite firm but crumbly, nutty and sharp in flavour. Mature Pecorino, aged for at least 18 months, is often grated over a robust pasta sauce rather than the well known and more delicate Parmesan. - See more at: http://www.walkaboutflorence.com/articles/tuscan-food-cheese#sthash.X5oKwwNL.dpuf
between September and June when the is grass best for grazing. It can be eaten 'fresh' when it is relatively soft and creamy or it can be aged in a variety of ways until it is quite firm but crumbly, nutty and sharp in flavour. Mature Pecorino, aged for at least 18 months, is often grated over a robust pasta sauce rather than the well known and more delicate Parmesan. - See more at: http://www.walkaboutflorence.com/articles/tuscan-food-cheese#sthash.X5oKwwNL.dpuf
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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Wine & Food of the Giro 2015 Stage 4: Punta Crena and Trofie





Where are We: Chiavari - La Spezia 150 kilometers

 Chiavari is a small town, best know for the Chiavari chair designed in 1807 by a local, Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi. The chair was a success and led to the opening of many factories in Chiavari and surrounding towns.
Located only 25 km from the region of Tuscany, La Spezia it is on the eastern end of Liguria. The Gulf of La Spezia is also called the Gulf of Poets. Hemingway described La Spezia this way: “The streets are wide and the houses are high and yellow.” 
La Spezia also has a place in the world of Opera. "The story related by Wagner in Mein Leben concerning the musical inspiration for the opening of the Ring is well known. Lodging in La Spezia in September 1853, Wagner took to his hotel bed, tired and debilitated by dysentery. He fell into a trance-like sleep and it was in that state that he thought he heard rushing water that gradually coalesced into E-flat arpeggios. This, he claimed, marked the inception of Das Rheingold, though scholarship has sometimes taken a more skeptical view. "

The stage:  First a Pozzovivo update can be found here. He reports "“I’m ok but it was a very heavy fall,” Pozzovivo said. “I don’t remember what happened because I fell. I remember that the descent was difficult and maybe my wheel slipped. I wanted to finish this Giro well and it pains me to leave the race."

 Also, as I mentioned the grupetto yesterday, you can read more about it in Chad Haga's rider diary here. 

Off they go, with full stage television coverage. The break of the day, in picture form:

 
 Behind them, a chasing group of fourteen. With that large a gap, it seemed possible that they could make it to the finish today. To the surprise of everyone, Tinkoff-Saxo was helping with the chase behind.


 Halfway through the stage and the chasing group had caught the leaders. The huge group our front contained: Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Garmin), Tom Danielson (Cannondale-Garmin), Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli), Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge), Amaël Moinard (BMC), Andrey Zeits (Astana), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge), Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R-La Mondiale), Martijn Keizer (LottoNL-Jumbo), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF), Mauro Finetto (Southeast), Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida), Andrey Amador (Movistar), Yonathan Mosalve (Southeast). Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Davide Malacarne (Astana), Eduard Michael Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Team Sky), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge), Sylvester Szmyd (CCC Sprandi), Simone Stortoni (Androni Giocattoli), Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha), Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Eduardo Zardini (Bardiani CSF) and Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Soudal). 

As that group started breaking up, word came that Gianni Meersman had abandoned the race. That is the second Etixx rider out of the race, following Serry's early injuries. That is not good news for Rigoberto Uran. 
With fifty three kilometers remaining, that gap had dropped to 7:45. 

Only twenty riders were left in the main peloton containing the main GC contenders, with fifty kilometers left in the stage. That was unexpected. Forty four kilometers to go and that gap had dropped to under six minutes. With thirty six kilometers to go there was a lead group of 15, with the reduced peloton at 5:25. The grupetto appeared to be at least another five minutes behind. Thirty kilometers to go and that gap to the main peloton was down to around three minutes.
Further behind, concern for the grupetto:


Twenty kilometers to go and the gap to the peloton was down to two minutes. Fifteen kilometers and at 1:48. The pink jersey, Michael Matthews, was back on the grupetto, at least twelve minutes back, so there would be a new race leader at the end of the day. 
With just about ten kilometers to go and an attack by Aru, with him Porte and Contador. Distanced behind, Uran. In front, Formolo was solo, with about thirty seconds over the GC group. Three kilometers, twenty two seconds. 

 

 

Stage: Davide Formolo

GC: 
Wine: Punta Crena Pigato Riviera Ligure di Ponente Vigneto Ca’ da Rena 2013
From Dig

From the importer:
The tiny village of Varigotti sits on the Mediterranean, just a few rows of houses and restaurants on a pristine beach, with its back against steep hills. Climb up into the hills and you will discover neatly terraced vineyards on the slopes and in hidden clearings further up on the peaks. The Ruffino family has been tending these vineyards for over 500 years, hardly changing a thing as they pass their knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next. Today the estate is run by four siblings: Tommaso, the eldest, is the winemaker; Paolo is the salesman; Anna handles logistics; and Nicola helps out in the vineyards and winery. Their mother, Libera, was a strong businesswoman who revolutionized sales by dealing directly with clients rather than working with the merchants who controlled the market at the time; but today she stays in the background, happily cooking for the constant flow of guests and tending the home-grown vegetable stand in the courtyard as her numerous grandchildren scamper around her. These unpretentious people are firmly rooted in Varigotti, and the wines they craft are infused with local tradition and character.

 Ask Paolo if the family follows organic methods in the vineyards and he’ll laugh. We’re not “organic,” he says as if you had asked about some crazy new technology. We just do everything the same way our ancestors have for hundreds of years. They even build their stone terraces by hand, using the method established here three thousand years ago. The vineyards of Punta Crena (which is named for a large promontory jutting into the sea at the edge of the village) are all within 1200 meters of the water and enjoy sea breezes that help keep the grapes healthy and happy.  They believe that their only job after the harvest is simply to avoid ruining their lovely fruit as it turns to wine. These are light, fun wines with no pretension.






I say: Well aren't we pretty. Light and easy to drink, more round and less acidic than I expected. Stone fruit with mineral notes and some salt.



Food: Trofie. So here we put it all together, serving our pesto with handmade pasta, known as trofie, a short, thin hand-rolled pasta form the area. The dough is made simply with flour and water and does not include egg. It was simple to make and the rolling and twisting is a fun cooking with K sort of project. You can find a recipe here. The most common recipe found features trofie, pesto, green beans and potatoes.

It turns out that K was much better at forming the shapes than I was. When I asked her why, she said "I used to really like play-doh." 


Our recipe came from a book that will make several appearances here, the wonderful Pasta By Hand, by Jenn Louis. Focusing on pasta that can be made without specialized equipment and with recipes divided by regions, it is a perfect food of the Giro book. Highly recommended.
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Monday, May 11, 2015

Tuesdays with Dorie with K: "Nutella Buttons"





So, Tuesdays with Dorie is back with Nutella Buttons. K "Really? Do we have to use Nutella? I hate Nutella. Oh wait, it says we can use jam instead. Okay then."

 The truth is, I do not really like Nutella anymore than K does, so we subbed in homemade strawberry-balsamic-black pepper jam.

 The recipe actually reminds me of a more sophisticated version of one of my first childhood baking projects, that may or may not have been called surprise muffins, featuring jam in the middle of a rather plain muffin batter.
Anyway, K reports that these were easy enough, though our lack of mini-muffin tins meant that some did spread out a bit as they baked.

 The verdict: "I like these. They would be fun to do with more flavors of jam." So, a hit.

Now, back to the Giro for me! 


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Wines of the Giro 2015 Stage 3: Çimixâ & Pesto





Where are we: Rapallo - Sestri Levante 136 kilometers

Rapallo is a municipality in the province of Genoa, in Liguria, northern Italy. As of 2011 it counts 30,742 inhabitants. It is situated on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiavari. The climate is moderate. Among its famous visitors: In 1928 Yeats moved to Rapallo where he published The Tower in 1928 and The Winding Stair in 1933. 
According to tradition, Sestri Levante was founded by the Ligurian tribe of the “Tigullii” and it was already known in the Roman Age under the name “Segesta Tigulliorum”. The ancient core of the town developed in the Middle Ages in a fortified position on the "island". After the 15th century, the town expanded onto the alluvial plain south of the Gromolo river. Sestri Levante then became part of the Fieschi family’s domain, until it passed under the flags of the Republic of Genoa, which built the castle on the “island” and kept control of the town until the Napoleonic conquest." 

The stage:  Happy birthday Adam Hansen! As I've mentioned before, he is trying to set a record for the most consecutive grand tours ridden. Read more about it here.
Twenty-five riders in front before we even have live video? I wasn't expecting that. Our group consists of:


Ahead:


 That large group would breakup and reform, as behind Tinkoff-Saxo drove the chase. Seventy-one kilometers to go and the gap was around one minute. Here somes our first grupetto of the race. I once again make a plea for a grupetto cam. (In case you are new here, a grupetto is a group of cyclists in a road cycling race who form a large group behind the leading peloton.) With fifty kilometers to go, the gap was still under a minute. Riders were dropping both from the lead group and the peloton as they continued climbing. 
As the gap continued to drop, Pirazzi attacked from the peloton. He reaches the break, though their gap is only eighteen seconds. With the top of climb in sight,
Kotchetkov attacked, getting enough points to be in the mountain jersey tomorrow. 
And then with about thirty eight kilometers to go, a bad crash for Pozzovivo. The images are awful and as the commentators said, there are too many of them on our screens. 


A report:


Further word came that he was conscious and breathing. 

Ahead, it appeared that the break would be caught. Sure enough, a bunch sprint to end things with Michael Matthews taking the stage in the pink jersey. 



 Stage: Michael Matthews
Pink: Michael Matthews
Wine: Bisson Cimixia L'Antico 2013
From the importer: Enoteca Bisson was born in 1978 when Pierluigi Lugano fell in love with the wines of the Ligurian coastline. He began as a trader in small lots of bulk wine, later became a wine merchant and finally a grower in his own right. He now splits his time between his busy wine shop in Chiavari, the wine cellar and his vineyards.

 For the grapes he purchases, he works hand in hand with local growers from pruning to harvest, then carefully vinifies the different lots of grapes. Lugano is a serious student of oenology and is an expert on the local grape varieties. His passion extends to the preservation of local traditions and this is reflected in the distinctive character and personality of his large range of wines from the Cinque Terre region.

 It takes a heroic effort to cultivate vines on the steep slopes of the Ligurian coastline high above the Mediterranean Sea. Mechanization of vineyard tasks is out of the question and everything must be done by hand. Only truly passionate winegrowers are willing to carry on the traditions that have come down through the generations since the ancient Greeks first planted vines on the steep, stony slopes here. Lugano works closely with several small, local growers. He believes, as we do, that wine is made in the vineyards and he closely controls the work done in the field. Further, he has embarked on an ambitious program to purchase his own parcels in prime zones throughout the Cinque Terre and surrounding areas. He staunchly defends indigenous, and increasingly rare, grape varieties and works tirelessly to ensure that they do not disappear for future generations of wine lovers.  He is in the forefront of the movement to prove the worthiness of the Bianchetta Genovese, the Alberola and Bosca as well as the scintillating Ciliegiolo.

 I say:  Cimixa. That is a new one for me.  More here, from the Ark of Taste site including this tidbit "The Scimiscià or Çimixâ vine has been widely grown in the area of Genoa since ancient times; however there are no written documents that can help determine their exact place or era of origin. The grape, as shown by historical data, was widely cultivated in the district of Chiavari and especially in the Val Fontanabuona, where other varieties were once widespread and blended." 
Apricot and chalk. Riper than I expected, though balanced with minerality. Pale yellow.
 

Food: Pesto! Most of the pesto I make these days is from random CSA greens, often arugula. It tends to be a whatever is in the fridge blend: greens, nuts, garlic and cheese. 
So it was a nice change of pace to make a more traditional version with basil, pine nuts, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. 


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Sunday, May 10, 2015

Wine & Food of the Giro 2015 Stage 2: Albenga - Genova

Where are we:  Traveling 173 kilometers from Albenga to Genova/Genoa.

Albenga: Albenga is situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of city of a hundred spires.

Genova: Tourist website here.  The folks at Michelin tell me that it is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus and capital of Liguria. Genova features picturesque districts huddled on the slopes of the surrounding mountains. The city revolves around its port (re-designed by the architect Renzo Piano) and the sea, to which it owes its wealth and reputation. Genova “la Superba” is a city of contrasts where splendid palaces and ornate churches stand alongside more modest buildings, criss-crossed by a network of narrow streets known as carruggi.“The most winding and incoherent of cities, the most entangled topographical ravel in the world,” Henry James called it.

The stage: What should be our first sprint stage today. Alas, though, No Cav for the Giro this year, as he is riding the Tour of California. The favorite for the day is probably Andre Greipel, but there are other contenders.
They are heading here:

 

We have our first break of the year, featuring Frapporti, Owsian, Berlato, Zhupa, and Lindeman. Their gap would grow steadily, up to eight minutes at one point. Along they went, with lovely images of the local coastline.  

With 52 kilometers to go, the break had 2'55" on the peloton. From the break, we have our first mountain jersey leader of the race, Bert-Jan Lindeman. 
Meanwhile, the water bottles must be brought up to teammates, so we have a new device in action.
 More history:

Twenty seven kilometers to go and the gap was under two minutes. Twenty four kilometers to go and caduta! Haussler and much of the IAM team involved. Everyone appeared to be back up and riding. 
Aware of the possibility of more trouble on the circuit in Genova, Tinkoff came to the front to protect Alberto Contador, the pre-race GC favorite.  Sure enough, how come the small cadutas. Haussler down again, among others, creating some splits in the peloton. Caught behind, Pozzovivo and Hesjedal. Eleven kilometers to go and the break has been reeled in. Time for the sprint trains to start organizing. Under three kilometers to go and the teams of the gc men can relax, as after this point all riders would receive the same time as the bunch if there were to be a crash. More here. 

 

Our stage winner: Elia Viviani, with his first grand tour stage win. 

  

Wine: Rocche del Gatto Rossese 2012
From Biondivino $27

I say: I know. I don't like to repeat producers, but I could not resist a Ligurian red. Plus, as I mentioned yesterday: Fortress of the Cat. Plus, a new grape:
From Winemonger:
Rossese immigrated to Italy from France, brought most likely into Liguria by soldiers of the powerful Genoese Doria family in the high Renaissance. Rossese owes its name to the vibrant color of the grape bunches, although the wines are not so deeply colored, ranging in hue from garnet to light ruby. Varietal characteristics include bright wild strawberry, blackcurrant and other forest fruit flavors, heralded by enticing rose and black-pepper aromatics. Modest of alcohol and vibrant of acid, Rossese shows intense fruit aromas when young, and does quite nicely with a slight chill” typically a wine for the pantry rather than the cellar.

I say: Light and delicate. Check on the acid, also the cherries, flowers and plums I expected.




Food: As you can see, I made focaccia. In honor of the herbs prevalent in Ligurian cuisine and all of the mentions of flowers in the region, I included radish flowers, rather than more traditional herbs. The basic recipe I used can be found here. I'd make it again, but would add more salt and more of the radish flowers. 

You can learn a lot more here from Bruce Schoenfeld on the region's food.






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Saturday, May 9, 2015

Wine & Food of the Giro 2015 Stage 1: San Lorenzo Al Mare to Sanremo




Where are we: Heading from San Lorenzo Al Mare to Sanremo with a 17.6 kilometer team time trial. 
San Lorenzo al Mare is located in the Province of Imperia in Liguria, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Genoa. Imperia is Liguria's westernmost province. It borders on Piedmont to the north, Savona to the east, and France to the west. To the south, it is lapped by the Ligurian Sea. The largest town is San Remo.
Sanremo is fairly well-known in cycling circles for the March Milan to Sanremo race. About that name, from Bicycling Magazine: "The town officially calls itself Sanremo, a contraction of San Romolo, the patron saint and protector of the city. The commonly seen two-word spelling, San Remo, was introduced in 1924 by the mayor and used in official Fascist documents. "
The city tourist guide tells me that: The city of Sanremo, which was founded in Roman times in a large inlet on the western Ligurian coast, is known as “The Pearl of the Riviera of the flowers” and is famous throughout the world for its perfect climatic conditions for swimming. Sanremo is also called the Town of Flowers - its flowers are well-known all over the world – and this can be clearly seen in its luxuriant gardens, its colorful flowerbeds, and in the town parks where tropical plants flourish.

 The stage: A reminder: this is the "live race" portion of these posts, written while watching.
Here we go, starting with a 17.6 km team time trial. I've explained team time trials before, here and here, essentially though, in a TTT,  each team rides together with the time taken as the fifth rider crosses the line. As I've also said before, a TTT rarely wins a Grand Tour for a rider, but a loss of time to rivals can be significant. You can see the Podium Cafe stage preview here. 
And off they go: 


 There will be five minute gaps between the teams. The order is:
Lampre-Merida, Ag2r La Mondiale, Androni Giocattoli, Astana Pro Team, Nippo-Vini Fantini, Trek Factory Team, Bardiani CSF, BMC Racing Team, Team Sky, Etixx-Quickstep, Giant-Alpeci, IAM Cycling, Movistar, Southeast, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, Orica-GreenEDGE, Lotto NL-Jumbo, Lotto-Soudal, Katusha, Tinkoff-Saxo, Cannondale-Garmin, and FDJ. 
The favorite on the day? Orica-GreenEDGE. 
First in, of course, Lampre at 20.25 or 51.722km/h. The first of the contender's teams, Astana sets an early time of 19.39. That time would hold for a long time, with BMC slotting in to second and Sky third. Etixx-Quickstep threatened, but they were in second to Astana. 
But, sure enough, our winners on the day were Orica-GreenEDGE. Into pink, Simon Gerrans. 


Wine: Rocche del Gatto Pigato 'Spigau' 2006
From Biondivino $34.00 
From an importer:
After a decade of solitary experiments and a growing line of brilliant releases, Rocche del Gatto (www.lerocchedelgatto.it) represent today one of Liguria’ most interesting, self-styled small growers, determined to propose an extreme, highly individual interpretation of Pigato and Vermentino varietal whites. Rocche del Gatto specializes in producing concentrated, marine whites from estate vines located in the Ponente region of Liguria, made entirely from the native Pigato, Vermentino and Ormeasco varieties. Owner Fausto De Andreis, agronomist and one-man-winery, is credited by Gambero Rosso as the ‘last Pigato artisan’.
Rocche del Gatto operates in one of the most beautiful and picturesque corners of Italy, the Riviera Ligure di Ponente, in westernmost reaches of Liguria close to the French border. Here alpine mountains meet the Mediterranean, producing a landscape of breathtaking contrasts: rugged coastal peaks, vivid maritime colours, ancient villages and steep vineyards intermixed by olive groves facing onto the Tyrrhenian sea. Rocche del Gatto estate vineyards amount to 5 Ha., concentrated in the commune of Albenga.
The annual wine production barely reaches 35.000 bottles, split into classic varietals such as Pigato, Vermentino and Rossese, plus the not-so-common red-berry Ormeasco [presumed to be a local clone of the Dolcetto variety from Piedmont]. Fausto De Andreis is a self-made agronomist and winemaker who meticulously take care of every phase of production from planting and pruning up until bottling and labeling.
 
I say: The Fortress of the Cat. How could I resist? Plus, pigato, a white grape planted primarily in Liguria. Deep golden. Herbs, minerals, nuts, wax, citrus. Not surprisingly, a lot more interesting as it warms up a bit and even better on day two. This is an excellent start.


Food: So this year, in addition to my wine picks, each stage will have a featured food. Some will be ingredients, some prepared dishes. Note that because I am not always 100% organized, the foods and wines may also not always pair, but are both from the regions the riders are cycling through.

 I start with olive oil, specifically from Punta Crena. Spoiler: one of their wines will make an appearance soon. Why olive oil? Because it is an important product of the region and will turn up as an ingredient in my dishes for the rest of the Ligurian stages. The importer, Kermit Lynch, says that describesit as "Our lightest and most versatile oil, from thousand-year-old Taggiasca trees growing along an old Roman road high above the Mediterranean. Perfect for fish, salads, and most things—you’ll find that you go through it almost as quickly as a bottle of their Pigato."

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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Tuesdays with Dorie with K: Coconut Tapioca


So we skipped the last project, because although Limoncello cupcakes sounded good to me, there was a little too much alcohol involved for K. Plus, I am in the middle of Giro wine prep. 
K was not very enthusiastic about this one either. "Coconut? I hate coconut."  "I know K. But try it." As luck would have it, we made this on a night when she had a friend over. The friend had a lot more enthusiastic for coconut than K did. Plus the presence of an extra child meant that they could handle almost all of the steps on their own.

Links to other Tuesdays with Dorie Coconut Tapioca posts here. 


The verdict: Instructions: clear. Taste: nice alone, but it really came alive the next day when I paired it with strawberries and the first blueberries of the season.







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