Award Winning Craft Brewery

You may have heard me mention my favorite brewery SPH, and I've even featured them on my TV show. Good people and more good news. Kudos to my hometown friends; Don Sullivan owner of Southampton Public House, SPH and Phil Markowski, SPH Brewmaster for bringing home yet another gold medal. This team has dedication and passion for the craft, that's a winning combination.

Southampton Publick House Ales & Lagers received the gold medal at the 28th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver Colorado competing against 495 breweries from 48 states. This year’s GABF hosted 49,000 guests and was recorded as a Guinness World Record for the most beers tapped in one location with1900 different brews.

Southampton Public House Berlinerweisse took gold in the German-Style Sour Ale Category, one of the 78 categories of ales and lagers. Berlinerweisse is a cloudy, sour, wheat beer of around 3% alcohol by volume. Historically, it was a regional beer from Northern Germany, mainly Berlin, dating back to the 16th century. Southampton Berlinerweisse, released in alternate years, is brewed in very small batches due to a 6-month fermentation period. 

I’ve sampled brews all over the world, purely for educational and research purposes, of course. Honestly- I use Phil’s SPH Brews as the benchmark for a good brew.

If you want to attend next year’s Great American Beer Festival mark your calendars as tickets go on sale June 2010 for the September 16, 17, and 18 2010 GABF, always sold out event.

For more information on Southampton Public House, Southampton, NY.

East End #1 Curry Destination

The East End of London, aka Bangla Town is a neighborhood that's receiving acclaim and popularity through it's noteworthy eateries and restaurants. You may have heard of London’s East End, through its popular BBC soap opera Eastender’s, airing on PBS TV stations in the US.

It's no wonder the popularity has spread- the curry houses of Brick Lane are known for good, cheap, vibrant diversity of foods; also luring an art and fashion vibe as a student hangout. Youth are a great indicator of birthing trends. 

Head cross the pond for the annual event in London's East End, celebrating the exotic aroma of Bangladeshi cuisine. The Brick Lane Curry Festival continues until October 10th, but you can enjoy the great Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani restaurants year round. 

Know Your Sausage

The sixteen days of Oktoberfest celebrations are coming to a close. I came across this hilarious video by Mr. Perkins with his authentic how-to-cook and eat Bavarian white sausage. Don't forget make the pretzel, recipe here. 

A Good Croissant

 
The furthest thing from a pop-and-brown repast. I’ve sampled this pastry all over the world; some excellent, some good, most poor. What's involved in doing it better than good besides traveling across the pond? Several days of labor intensive work combined with years of European style baking experience. Caution- do not attempt at home. There are no short cuts. The multi day process creates this heavenly butter-laden pastry. Desired result? Picture approximately eighty flakey layers of butter and dough that should melt in your mouth and at the same time leave crumbs all over the table. Those are the signs that you might be eating something in the vicinity of a good croissant.

As history tells, this Austrian pastry, a creation by the Emperor of Austria's French baker, was created to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during an attempted siege on Vienna in 1683. Oh shock- it’s not French, but close enough!

The other key to finding that good croissant; seek out a true boulangiere vs. the fastfood mass produced version that’s gone by way of drive-thru burgers. But, I've found one worldwide chain of Belgian origin that pulls it off, Le Pain Quotidien.

Bene! Balsamic Vinegar

Hmm, for $200 you can purchase a 25 year old traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena. But what's on the shelf for let's say $5 or so? First, let's review what you are looking at and what we will use it for. Certified balsamic vinegar is only produced in Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is prohibitively expensive, with a 100ml bottle costing over $80. Yikes! Hold that thought. Use it for salads or glaze over fresh fruit. I've topped pre-dressed and plated-salads with a few drops of good Balsamic and also reduced it for BBQ sauces to more refined sauces. But it truly shines when used as an ingredient for dessert. In Modena it is popular to drizzle it over Parmigiano Reggiano, or add a few drops over berries and melon as a dessert. Ok, now back to the more than $80 bucks a bottle. I discovered a brand called Via Roma for less than $5 and yes, it's a product of Modena! Available at A&P, A&P Waldbaum's, The Food Emporium, and SuperFresh. Great find!

image