Threw a Mardi Gras party for the kids this weekend. This could possible be the only Mardi Gras party where nudity was banned for over-10s. Nonetheless, the spread was golden: red beans and rice, chicken taquitos, homemade Rice Krispie treats, and, of course, King Cake. And my own contribution, a muffuletta (even prepared the foccacia bread myself).
It was decent. As decent as the Brit ingredients would allow, couldn't find provolone. Aww, who are we kidding? It was great, especially the red beans and rice, sooo authentic… made me miss the New Orleans that was destroyed long before Katrina.
The New Orleans of the 'pre-Starbucks' era.
Anyway, like any decent party for Mardi Gras, chaos reigned supreme after only about ten minutes. There was some pushing around the punch bowl, some shoving while waiting in line to use the bathroom, some cutting in line for red beans and rice.
The kids were perfectly behaved, though, and seemed to love the mask and flag-making table the most.
By the end of the do, felt a decent bottle of wine was in order, especially when capped with the following:
Ask the neighbour, a Dane, to come over for some food and refreshment. Morten is a nice enough guy, but he has big shoes to fill, as the only other Morten from Denmark yours truly knows happens to be the highest scoring athlete in the National Football League.
He had a good time, last to leave. Said 'thank you' to the wife and headed out. Our conversation went something like this:
"How was everything?"
Morten: "Umm, it was OK…"
"What was wrong?"
Morten: "Well, it's not really my type of food."
This is true, Morten once described the national dish of Denmark to me in one word: "Pizza."
Mentioned that another country may already have pizza as a national dish.
At any rate, the conversation turned my thoughts to the great Montepulciano d'Abruzzos going down the hatch round here. Should have plenty of time to think until police find the body.
Such impressive wines, especially, the 2004 Incanto. Montepulciano is an area in Tuscany that makes Sangiovese-based wines. Montepulciano is also the name of a grape grown in Abruzzo, a region in East-central Italy.
The Incanto, somewhat pricey at £10 is beautiful, with folds of chocolate and wild berries. Nice dry, old oak flavour with hints of vanilla and smoke. Really classic. 8.8 points.
After the Mardi Gras party, however, in the mood for something daring. Found a bottle of Santa Costanza (like the character in Seinfeld) Novello from Banfi. From Tuscany. 1999. The thing that worried me most was not the label (Italian wines had extremely poor marketing techniques before 2000 and some wines still come in those crazy basket-bottles), which looked like some kind of mosaic commissioned for the bathroom of the Medici family.
No, what worried me was the year, 1999, and the word 'Novello,' which sounds like it may mean 'new' in Italian. Figured the wine was probably way too old, but bought it anyway. Turns out it is a blend of Sangiovese and Gamay, the same grape used in Beaujolais Nouveau, that least ageable of wines. The Novello also used Carbonic Maceration, a technique used to speed fermentation and get the wine ready ASAP. This tends to lend a slight effervescence and a heavy grape outlook to the wine.
EUREKA! The Sangiovese saved the wine. Still good. WHEW! Almost lost out on, like, ten bucks there. It still tasted fresh and new, even though it was on the heavier side of almost a decade. Freaky. Aroma was grapey, the wine was grapey. But mineral notes helped make the wine unique. Great when shared with my imaginary wine friends. (Martin was the biggest fan, but what could he know? He doesn’t exist! J )
Really fun, the Novello. And a big surprise. 8.4 points.
One of my neighbours, Camilla, from the old hood came over for the Mardi Gras party. She told me that the wine she received as a Christmas gift from the Gaffney household was served at a dinner party. She brought it over and served it to her friends. She thought it was 'O.K.' But… the dinner party LOVED it… they raved and raved. She couldn't remember what wine it was, think it may have been a Ribera del Duero, but can't be sure.
The kicker here is that no one knew the wine was a gift from a wine writer. When pressed by the guests on who picked out the wine, my neighbour took the credit for herself.
Gotta love that spunk. Camilla, 8.9 points.
It was decent. As decent as the Brit ingredients would allow, couldn't find provolone. Aww, who are we kidding? It was great, especially the red beans and rice, sooo authentic… made me miss the New Orleans that was destroyed long before Katrina.
The New Orleans of the 'pre-Starbucks' era.
Anyway, like any decent party for Mardi Gras, chaos reigned supreme after only about ten minutes. There was some pushing around the punch bowl, some shoving while waiting in line to use the bathroom, some cutting in line for red beans and rice.
The kids were perfectly behaved, though, and seemed to love the mask and flag-making table the most.
By the end of the do, felt a decent bottle of wine was in order, especially when capped with the following:
Ask the neighbour, a Dane, to come over for some food and refreshment. Morten is a nice enough guy, but he has big shoes to fill, as the only other Morten from Denmark yours truly knows happens to be the highest scoring athlete in the National Football League.
He had a good time, last to leave. Said 'thank you' to the wife and headed out. Our conversation went something like this:
"How was everything?"
Morten: "Umm, it was OK…"
"What was wrong?"
Morten: "Well, it's not really my type of food."
This is true, Morten once described the national dish of Denmark to me in one word: "Pizza."
Mentioned that another country may already have pizza as a national dish.
At any rate, the conversation turned my thoughts to the great Montepulciano d'Abruzzos going down the hatch round here. Should have plenty of time to think until police find the body.
Such impressive wines, especially, the 2004 Incanto. Montepulciano is an area in Tuscany that makes Sangiovese-based wines. Montepulciano is also the name of a grape grown in Abruzzo, a region in East-central Italy.
The Incanto, somewhat pricey at £10 is beautiful, with folds of chocolate and wild berries. Nice dry, old oak flavour with hints of vanilla and smoke. Really classic. 8.8 points.
After the Mardi Gras party, however, in the mood for something daring. Found a bottle of Santa Costanza (like the character in Seinfeld) Novello from Banfi. From Tuscany. 1999. The thing that worried me most was not the label (Italian wines had extremely poor marketing techniques before 2000 and some wines still come in those crazy basket-bottles), which looked like some kind of mosaic commissioned for the bathroom of the Medici family.
No, what worried me was the year, 1999, and the word 'Novello,' which sounds like it may mean 'new' in Italian. Figured the wine was probably way too old, but bought it anyway. Turns out it is a blend of Sangiovese and Gamay, the same grape used in Beaujolais Nouveau, that least ageable of wines. The Novello also used Carbonic Maceration, a technique used to speed fermentation and get the wine ready ASAP. This tends to lend a slight effervescence and a heavy grape outlook to the wine.
EUREKA! The Sangiovese saved the wine. Still good. WHEW! Almost lost out on, like, ten bucks there. It still tasted fresh and new, even though it was on the heavier side of almost a decade. Freaky. Aroma was grapey, the wine was grapey. But mineral notes helped make the wine unique. Great when shared with my imaginary wine friends. (Martin was the biggest fan, but what could he know? He doesn’t exist! J )
Really fun, the Novello. And a big surprise. 8.4 points.
One of my neighbours, Camilla, from the old hood came over for the Mardi Gras party. She told me that the wine she received as a Christmas gift from the Gaffney household was served at a dinner party. She brought it over and served it to her friends. She thought it was 'O.K.' But… the dinner party LOVED it… they raved and raved. She couldn't remember what wine it was, think it may have been a Ribera del Duero, but can't be sure.
The kicker here is that no one knew the wine was a gift from a wine writer. When pressed by the guests on who picked out the wine, my neighbour took the credit for herself.
Gotta love that spunk. Camilla, 8.9 points.
2 comments:
Homemade rice kripsie treats? I usually pay £4 per square at a cafe... is the recipe easy?
Simple, really. Melt 500 grams of marshmellows over low heat with a knob of butter.
When liquid, take off fire and mix with a few bowls of rice krispies, using no milk of course.
Place mixture in a buttered dish and spread evenly, I suggest a silcone spatula, but a wooden spoon will work, but with more sticky grief...
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