The seasonal tsunami of new books on food and wine, grilling and baking, dieting and gluten-free, are increasingly just more of the same. Another Greek cookbook? Two more Thai street food books? Tedious reveries of living, loving and cooking in either of the two Portlands? Given that most of these end up selling fewer copies than a new translation of Sartre's Nausea, one wonders why the publishers bother to keep ripping off their authors via their in-house Departments of Sales Prevention.
     So, unless, you are dying to try out another 120 recipes for Lebanese pastries or read about 1,001 dishes you'll never get around to eating, the only sensible thing to do for summer is to search out food and wine books worth the actual reading, books that inform, entertain, educate and enlighten.  Here is my pick for those kinds of books most likely to claim a place on my bookshelves past Labor Day.



THE HISTORY OF WINE IN 100 BOTTLES  by Oz Clarke ($24.95)--A wonderful read and antidote to all those windy 700-page volumes of out-of-date tasting notes and winery histories.  Clarke, who is one of the wine world's savviest and most readable authors, gives us the reasons why wines as illustrious as Mouton-Rothschild and as commercial as Mateus are milestones in wine history and for the industry itself.  Along the way there are stories of Egyptian tombs full of wine jars, the reason for Greek resinous wines, how the modern wine bottle came to be (in the 1740s), the importance of Louis Pasteur, and opinions on international wine consultants like Michel Rolland. 

SHORT COURSE IN RUM by Lynn Hoffman ($14.95)-- Let’s face it, who outside the spirits industry needs a long course in rum? There is, of course, a very long, sometimes sordid, history to the liquor that involves pirates, slave trading, and Prohibition, and Hoffman gives a good taste of that.  But he also gives a rollicking picture of working in a small rum distillery, why great rum need not be expensive (it’s all made from cheap sugar), and plenty of recipes, from cocktails to dessert.

WINE IN WORDS by Lettie Teague ($29.95)-- Lettie Teague followed years of embarrassing wine coverage in the Wall Street Journal with her down-to-earth, honest reporting on the industry, pointing out its foibles and marketing ploys and the emptiness of the 100-point scoring of wines. The chapters constitute a series of essays with titles like “The Well-Dressed Wine” (about expensive, often useless wine accessories), “Tasting Blind,” “In Praise of Mediocrity,” and “The Country of Cheap” (Chile). Teague is precisely the kind of wine-knowledgeable person who will never bore you with Winespeak, because she knows that such arcane verbiage is usually just a mask for having nothing intelligent to say about a bottle. 

JEAN-FRANÇOIS PIÈGE by Jean-François Piège ($85)-- The cliché that you can’t tell a book by its cover has never been more true than in the case of this all-gray volume, whose cover hides within some of the most stunning French cuisine of a contemporary Michelin-starred master.  Piège, 45, brought back the luster of Paris’s Hotel de Crillon Les Ambassadeurs and made a further mark at his own eponymous restaurant on Rue St. Dominique.  These are not dishes the home cook is likely to attempt, but the book is a template for modern French cuisine, which gives the lie to those who contend the gastro-scene in France has become sterile and stultified.  The photos of the dishes show the complexity of Piege’s cuisine, so it’s too bad the recipe pages themselves are printed in black ink on battleship gray paper.





DONUT NATION by Ellen Brown ($22)-- I always await with an appetite the next volume from the prolific Ellen Brown, whose topics often seem narrow but whose scope is daunting, even when it comes to an item like the donut. For this is not just a book of recipes--and they are all tempting, with names like “Dutch Monkey,” “Chocolate Stout” and “Zeppole”--it is also a Baedeker to the myriad donut shops all over America, each thoroughly researched and lovingly described.  Brown, who was USA Today’s first food editor and now is a weekly columnist for the Providence Journal, has enormous affection for American fare and she writes about it with gusto, as when she describes the nurse-like uniforms of Psycho Donuts in San Jose, CA, where the donuts types are scribbled on prescription pads.





CHARLIE PALMER'S AMERICAN FARE by Charlie Palmer ($40)-- The marriage of French technique and American good taste has affected both cuisines so that the distinctions are not as evident as they were before chefs like Charlie Palmer, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America to go the classic route of apprenticing in illustrious restaurants in France, came on the scene.  Today he runs 14 restaurants and hotels, and his long residency in the wine country of  Sonoma has been a crucible for developing family meals based on everything he knows, from baked ratatouille and green tea soba noodles with tuna to pork loin with orange and mustard-crusted rack of lamb.  Recipes are simply and clearly written and geared to the home kitchen--perfect for outdoor cooking this summer.

 


REAL MAINE FOOD by Ben Coniff and Luke Holden ($35)-- I don’t know that there is a “fake” Maine food, but Coniff and Holden will convince you that the 100 recipes culled from “fishermen, farmers, pie champs, and clam shacks” have a distinct regional flavor based on the glory of Down East bounty, both from the sea and the land.  There are communal dishes like the “Washtub Lobster Bake” and recipes using kelp in a salad; there’s a finnan haddie gratin and pastrami mackerel with whole grain mustard; and there is “Bean Hole Beans” along with anadama bread, maple kettle corn, and Whoopie Pies.  The evocative photos are first-rate, too.








PATSY'S ITALIAN FAMILY COOKBOOK by Sal Scognamillo ($29.99)-- Patsy’s is far from the last remaining Italian-American restaurant in New York, but it is to my mind the best, not just for the quality of the cooking and for the wall of celebrity photos it is famous for, but for the hospitality of the Scognamillo family that has run this ebullient Theater District restaurant for seven decades.  Patsy’s seems never to change, but in fact Chef Sal is constantly working to improve dishes with better, seasonal ingredients, without ever compromising what made them so beloved in the first place, from mussels marinara and eggplant rollatini to osso buco and spaghetti and veal meatballs.  Open any page, look at the photo of the food, and just try to stop yourself from salivating.

 

            Fathers come in varying degrees of size, height, weight, sophistication, and affluence, as do their sons and daughters. So here are some convenient, utilitarian, delicious and over-the-top gift suggestions for Father's Day.  (I trust my sons are reading this?)

LUXE LEATHER ENTREPRENEUR BY GENIUS PACK ($278)—Men can never have enough pockets, especially when it comes to briefcases, and I found that this  Luxe Leather Entrepreneur had so many pockets that I had to go over the case again and again before I found and got used to them all. A padded compartment fits 13-inch to 17-inch laptops; there’s a water-resistant umbrella pocket;  pockets for newspaper, pens, business cards, and a Genius Charger & Device to power up your iPhone (though the iPhone 5 and 6 requires use of their battery cord). The zippers are hefty, the teeth have real grip, and the carrying handles (with strap) easily fit over trolley handles and stay put. Of real importance, it only weighs 1.2 pounds. The case is not the most beautiful piece of luggage, but it does everything you need a case for. http://www.geniuspack.com/collections/luxury/products/luxe-leather-entrepreneur

MARK THOMAS DOUBLE BEND SERIES GLASSWARE ($65-$125)—These days the remarkable low prices for wine and other glasses has made it irrational not to buy good quality for everyday use.  But I cannot imagine anyone’s father not feeling giddy if given these Mark Thomas hand-blown, lead-free crystal glasses made in Vienna of such beauty and lightness. Indeed, they are so light I at first thought they were made of very, very thin plastic. But they are also quite sturdy, even to being put into a home dishwasher.  They are designed so that wine, Champagne, or beer appeals to the nose, eye, touch, and feel, while maximizing aroma and taste.  The unique double-bend design outlines the measurement for a perfect pour: the first bend indicates the ideal amount for a wine tasting, the second bend ideal for the average pour size for restaurants and wine connoisseurs.   I loved the wine glasses but, even more, I found the beer glass so convincing, so elegant and such a perfect fit to my hand that I doubt I shall ever drink a brew from anything else in the future.  The glasses are not inexpensive—they rank with some of the top-of-the-line Riedel—but the Mark Thomas series offers more in terms of design and utility.  Available through https://www.kneenandco.com/catalogsearch

 

MAGELLAN JETS’ 10 HOUR GETAWAY CARD—Anyone who has ever flown on a private jet is unlikely to forget the experience and forever regret that he can’t always fly at that level of service.  Now, just for Father’s Day, Magellan Jets is offering Dad (and the family if he’ll take them) access to a private jet anywhere in the U.S. with as little as 10 hours’ notice, with a pool of nine different jets to choose from.  The company has 24/7 concierge service to advise on the appropriate size jet (prices vary), plan or change itineraries, order catering and arrange ground transportation.  Purchases can be made through Father’s Day 2015 and the card is valid for travel through Father’s Day, 2016. Call Magellan Jets at 877-550-JETS or by visiting www.magellanjets.com

 

SHAVETECH USB RECHARGEABLE TRAVEL SHAVER ($29.99)—Outside of jetlag, the drained, off-putting icky feeling getting off a plane might be considerably helped if a man could quickly shave without lathering up back in the bumpy lavatory or depressing airport men’s room.  If you can get to your electric shaver, which I doubt many men carry, it’s a noisy business and probably needs an electric outlet to work.  Shavetech has come up with an electric shaver that is not only easily rechargeable but looks as sleek as an iPhone but smaller.  It’s not quite as powerful as some electric shavers but it’s a lot less bulky, lighter, and really pretty cool.  The outer foil  and inner blades are replaceable.

NEW YORK CORNER
By Mort Hochstein
Texas de Brazil
1011 3rd Avenue
212-537-0060
texasdebrazil.com

        Long ago I swore off churrasquerias, those generous South American-style restaurants where the food, primarily meat, keeps flowing until an ambulance arrives to take you away. It’s not because those restaurants are bad; it’s  because I’m weak and lose all inhibition and self control when confronted by fine food. 
        But recently, impelled by reports about a really good example of the genre, I toddled over to Texas de Brazil on the East Side of Manhattan. The restaurant has a small, attractive bar at street level, but all the action--meaning a huge buffet and squads of knife-wielding servers carrying meat around on skewers--is upstairs. It's one of scores of branches in an international chain that stretches to the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.
       Texas de Brazil is a churrascaria, the Portuguese way of spelling the term. And, while its servers wear very moderately flaired gaucho pants, their costumes and the restaurant decorations are more subdued than at other such steakhouses I’ve experienced.
       The centerpiece of the room is where I immediately lost control, dazzled and snared by a huge overflowing buffet table with hot and cold food and soups (right). There were enough goodies packed onto that table to appease all appetites and, indeed, the buffet is offered as a separate, lower priced option. There was sushi, good quality smoked salmon, seared tuna, charcuterie, about six varieties of cheese, asparagus stalks, shrimp salads, hearts of palm, maybe four dozen possibilities, and on one side, along the wall, hot soup, including a lobster bisque, creamy and generously lobster-loaded, a meal in itself.
       In a churrascaria guests control the service by flipping up a green card that says bring it on or by turning the card to its red side, which tells servers you need a time out. Show that green card and almost immediately a waiter is at your side, skewer up, with an ominous, glistening blade poised to slice away at a huge slab of meat. The first course in our case was a somewhat spicy Brazilian sausage, and we had to tell the waiter to ease up. Please, we begged, please split one small sample of whatever you have between the two of us.
     We knew the best was yet to come and we would be wise to leave room for pork ribs, slow roasted leg of lamb, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, flank steak, braised beef ribs--the surprise hit of the evening, tender and tasty, a flavorful ringer for the brisket we served at Passover--lamb chops, and two takes on filet mignon, normal cut and a filet wrapped in bacon. In every case, we had to frustrate waiters who were too eager to slice king-sized portions.     
      When the server was not satisfying carnivorous cravings, he was scurrying from table to table to offer garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and an irresistible cheese bread. 
      I have to mention that the waiters knew their stuff. A lot of the terms they used to describe cuts are Latin American in origin, and the servers to a man, or woman, provided an understandable translation. 
       And, oh yes, dessert. The selection was somewhat more limited. From a tray that included several types of cakes and ice cream, we chose a version of bananas foster and a tangy Key lime pie, foregoing, sadly, a generous slice of cheese cake (right).  Though the desserts were ample, king-sized to be truthful, they didn’t measure up to the meat offerings. And they came too late and fell on an exhausted palate. However, I shall return with a more tactful battle plan, after I work on my self control.

 Open nightly for dinner. Fixed price $59.99, for salad area only $39.99.

MASTER CHEF ROGER VERGÉ PASSES AWAY AT 85

By John Mariani
 

    Roger Vergé, one of France’s most respected and beloved master chefs and a pioneer of la nouvelle cuisine, has died at his home in Mougins at the age of 85 from complications of diabetes.     With his jaunty mustache and white hair, Vergé was the epitome of the modern French chef when he came on the scene in the 1960s, at a time when chefs were barely acknowledged for their efforts and the Michelin Guide gave stars to the restaurant, never the chef.
    Along with Paul Bocuse, Michel Guèrard, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, and Alain Chapel, Vergé forged a new style of French cooking whose hallmarks were a respect for the best ingredients, a simplification of cooking and presentation, and a call for creativity in the kitchen without ever abandoning the classic body of knowledge and technique that made innovation possible.  That the cooking was often lighter than traditional haute cuisine was an aspect that garnered too much attention, as if it were supposed to be health food.
    Vergé disdained the way la nouvelle cuisine was appropriated by young, publicity-seeking cooks who took creativity to mean gimmicky license of a kind Vergé characterized as “a joke. It is nothing serious. Now it looks Japanese: large dishes, small portions, no taste, but very expensive.”
    What distinguished Vergé’s cooking at his restaurant, Moulins de Mougins, which he opened with his wife, Denise, in 1969, was a distillation of all he knew of classic French cuisine with the flavors of Provence and the Mediterranean.
    Having cooked in North Africa and Kenya, he developed an avid appreciation for the taste of fruits, citrus and sweetness, which he amalgamated into haute cuisine with rigorous French techniques.  Vinegars and olive oil were used liberally, the aromatics of flowers gave a freshness to the dishes, and the presentation, on Villeroy Boch china, was fanciful.
    He’d use ingredients long banned from haute cuisine kitchens, like pig’s trotter, even pasta, and called it the Cuisine of the Sun (the title of his cookbook ), served up in an enchantingly sunny dining room with patio. The first menus, which included lobster, were fixed price at 28 francs; guests felt as well treated wearing casual holiday clothes as jackets and ties. In 1972 he won the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France award and two years later earned a third Michelin star.
    Vergé said he “liked to take risks” and a had a “dread of sameness,” which translated to a glamorous lifestyle that often took him away from Mougins, even to opening a restaurant at Disneyworld in Orlando, FL, with Bocuse and Gaston Lenôtre, as well as promoting products.  It was all a far cry from the stultified stereotype of the chef who never leaves his kitchen and has no life beyond it, including no knowledge of other cuisines but his own.
    I still have my index card notes from my one and only meal I had at Moulins de Mougins, on May 6, 1982, remarking on the lovely atmosphere of what had once been a mill and on the young staff that seemed such a contrast to those in stiff, formal dining rooms to the north.  The wine list was superb, with as many wines of Provence as of Bordeaux and Burgundy.  And my wife and I still recall just how amazed we were by dishes that would fit impeccably onto menus today: a warm mousse of salmon and scallops with lemon sauce; zucchini flowers with truffles and another rendering with a forcemeat of mullet; a lobster salad with grapefruit, mayonnaise and snow peas; turbot in cream with morels; duck confit with pears; apple soufflé with Calvados ice cream; and more.  It was all unforgettable, as much for its fine taste as for its personality, which was purely Vergé’s.
    Unlike many of his contemporaries and a generation of chefs to follow--who, like Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon, built empires on their names and connections--and except for the profitable foray into Orlando and a failed restaurant consultancy in NYC, Verge never expanded beyond Provence, where he was happy.  Which was what Vergé wanted his guests to be after dining so beautifully at his restaurant.  Life is too short to spend it in a dark dining room conversing in whispers, and Roger Vergé broke that mold with personal élan and a touch of welcome Gallic whimsy.

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR


Bobby Cox Takes
Sole Ownership of
Pheasant Ridge
by Andrew Chalk 

Bobby Cox (below), the winemaker who played a major part in putting Texas wine on the national map, is back as owner (with his wife) of Pheasant Ridge Winery. Cox and the Bingham Family agreed to split the assets with the Binghams, getting existing inventory and all of the wine making equipment at the winery, and Cox getting ownership of the brand, the winery building near Lubbock and thirty acres of vineyards (about half of which are producing). Cox said that he is optimistic about the future of Texas wine, considering the industry to be at a tipping point at which high quality is going to become commonplace. He says that he looks forward to being part of that quality revolution and will be using 100% Texas grapes.
    The Bingham Family, one of the largest growers of grapes in the High Plains, plans to move forward with their Bingham Family Vineyards in Meadow, TX, and has already released wines and opened a tasting room in Grapevine (below). Tastings and tours start at the Meadow winery facility later this summer after construction work is finished but Betty Bingham stressed that they expect the Grapevine tasting room to be the main consumer tasting facility.
    For Texas wine lovers, this development means that two producers committed to making quality wine from 100% Texas grapes can operate at full pace.  Pheasant Ridge holds a unique place in Texas wine history. Founded by Cox in the early 1980s, it committed to grow vinifera grapes in Texas right from the start. At a time when many of the few dozen wineries then in the state were producing an embarrassing mish-mash of chemistry set experiments gone wrong, Cox’s winemaking and viticulture produced medals, not just in-state but at the country’s most prestigious wine competitions. The Pheasant Ridge 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon won a medal and their Sauvignon Blanc won an honorable mention at the San Francisco Wine Competition. A silver medal was awarded to the 1984 Sauvignon Blanc at the San Francisco Wine Competition in 1985. In 1986 the 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon won a gold at the San Francisco Wine Competition. The world’s most influential wine critic, Robert Parker, wrote “For Cabernet Sauvignon Pheasant Ridge Winery is turning out lush, intense wines with plenty of character that can compete in quality with anybody’s.”
    The early 1990s saw a recession which put the original winery out of business. Cox became a prolific consultant in the Texas High Plains, having a formative impact on the viticultural and enological development of the area. Today’s news restores the status quo ante. “I aim to make the best wine possible with the available terroir,”  says Cox.