Olive oil for breakfast? Why not?
Okay, maybe not the best idea, but you see it had been a late night. I had fallen into conversation at the bar of Vesuvio with a lifetime resident of North Beach who, it turned out...
...had married a woman from the same part of England as me, and whose daughter had attended the same university. Celebratory drinks followed, and he invited me to attend the scattering of the ashes of his 97 year-old Sicilian grandmother the next day, accompanied by refreshments at Sinbad's restaurant. I was all set to go too, but the Foodbuzz convention took me to another part of town.
Anyway, these events precipitated the missing of a proper breakfast, and found me taking oil instead of coffee first thing. The tutor was chef Michael Tuohy of the Grange in Sacramento, and he seemed better rested than me. The tasting proceeded blindly through Tuscan, Spanish and Californian EVOOs, and I did learn that "pungency" in this context refers not, as I had supposed, to aroma, but to the trigeminal nerve reaction at the back of the throat - that tingling feeling which can range from mild to sneeze-inducingly prickly.
Apple slices soaked in a little lemon juice rinse the oil from the mouth after each sample. Now I was hungry, but by the time I'd made it from the market end of Mission to the Metreon Center a cab ride away, the California sparkling wine tasting was kicking off.
Four wines were presented by Alder Yarrow of Vinography. He's most engaging, but I was less transfixed by the wines: both the Schramsberg blanc de blancs and the expensive (eighty buck) Iron House blanc de blancs "LD" tête de cuvée struck me as relatively thin and astringent. I prefer a fuller style of champagne, and the Roederer "Ermitage," creamy and toasty, was not so much my preferred wine of the four, as the only one I really liked. The addition of small quantities of aged reserves contributed to the vintage character.
So, olive oil, wine, lemony apple and a few dried crackers. Fortunately, an extensive tasting showcase for local producers was set out right next door. Sausage time, as I like to say.
Prather Ranch beef hot dog, thick and meaty; and they were cooking up some nice slices of weisswurst too.
Not sure who was responsible for the braised flank steak over grits, but never mind because it was a bit bland and chewy. And then there was the case of the Kikkoman chocolates.
A chocolate truffle, indeed, it's umami allegedly enhanced by the addition of a small quantity of soy sauce during the manufacturing process. A blind taste was offered - the soy chocolate against a non-soy chocolate. Can I just say, I could detect no difference? Or rather, yes, they were different chocolates, but the extra umami was indiscernible.
Seeking further refreshment, I made the reacquaintance of Rogue Ales, whose Chocolate Stout made a showing in the Pink Pig blind beer tasting back in February. I can now recommend the Juniper Pale, a refreshing ale with a very subtle hint of juniper on the finish - nothing like beer mixed with gin, thankfully. I couldn't warm much to the Morimoto Soba Ale, though - beer made with roasted noodles?
Time to get out, because a long dinner was on the horizon. Catch up with Pim, accept a mouthful from a superb slab of headcheese sourced by Midtown Lunch from Boccalone Salumeria - apparently he'd found time to be peckish, then head for caffeine.
The big dinner coming up next.
