Vincent

We live in crazy times. As we are coming out of self quarantine (Covid Test Results came back negative – yeah!), I was thinking about one of my favorite blogs. Not because it was about a crazy person, (Vincent Van Gogh) but because it reminded me of a beautiful place and a great trip with Susan. Besides, I love the slide show set to the Don McLean song Vincent. (Click on it below)

Send me a comment if it reminds you of a fun trip or travel

Nothing inspires a menu more than great ingredients. There is no place to find better ingredients that a great farmers market. Vincent Van Gogh lived in St Remy de Provence. We went to St Remy to see the setting that inspired so many of our favorite paintings. While there, we happened on a farmer’s market that was truly inspirational.

Walking through the countryside where Vincent found inspiration for so many of his paintings, you can still see the same settings. The tour does a good job of setting the backgrounds of today, to the paintings of the late 19^thcentury. You can see the field that Vincent painted and the cafe that inspired Cafe Terrace at Night.

Move into the village of St Remy on the farmer’s market day and you can see all kinds beauty. I once got into trouble with my friend, chef Lucien Vendome, by saying he was an artist. We were waiting on our flight in Sao Paulo Brazil. He argued that calling him an artist was a misnomer. Van Gogh painted paintings that would be enjoyed for centuries. Chefs cook food. The food may be pretty to look at, but people eat it and it is gone. Our discussion went on for a while as our flight got delayed. The compromise was that great chefs are somewhere between artisans and artists. All I can say is that the beauty of the ingredients being sold that day in St Remy could make any cook look good.

The irony of this story is that Van Gogh was not a food person. He suffered from stomach troubles and was quoted as saying: “Perhaps you will not understand, but it is true that when I receive the money, my greatest appetite is not for food …” but the appetite for painting is even stronger.” So here he was in St Remy surrounded by fabulous ingredients, which he did not enjoy. This may also explain the reason he lived in St. Remy was as a patient at the local insane asylum. Fortunately, his doctors encouraged him to paint as therapy for his troubles

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Red Wine…To Chill Or Not To Chill…?

That is the question.

Experts will tell you that we should drink red wine at room temperature. Room temperature in October in Memphis is a little different than room temperature in Paris in October. My opinion is that it should be a cellar temperature in a temperate climate. The fruit will move forward and the tannins will soften. The right answer is that red wine is best when served at 60 to 68 degrees. The answer to the chill question is…chill that baby.

It is amazing how reducing the temperature of a wine from 75 to 65 degrees will change the profile and perception of a red wine. The flavor and mouthfeel changes significantly. Many restaurants store their wine at ambient room temperature that is closer to 75 degrees than a preferred 65 degrees. I am a big fan of asking a waiter for a ice bucket.

Gabby is one of our favorite waitresses and she is quick to get us a bucket of ice to bring down the temperature of our wine and listen to my silly stories

What about adding a few ice cubes to chill your red wine? Sorry, I think it is sacrilege to add ice. Yes, you can drop the temperature, but the dilution of red wine with ice/water is just simply wrong. Some like there red wine with ice. While if that is what you like, that is ok for you. Unfortunately, I am still scarred from someone putting ice in a prized bottle of Phelps Cabernet (my favorite ) that was served at a perfect 65 degrees. Every time I see ice in red wine I get painful flashbacks.

Then again, if my 98 year-old mother wants to ice in her wine, god bless her. Mom has been a firm believer in a glass or two of wine every night. She is 98 and still as sharp as a tack, so who am I to tell her she is wrong. About 5 years ago mom got in a car accident that ended her driving career. She was coming home from dinner with a friend and got in a minor accident about a block from her home in Westhampton. She was visiting us in Memphis a few months later and she told us what happened. Mom started out with: “Don’t tell your sisters, but I probably shouldn’t have had that second glass of wine at dinner. I guess I just fell asleep. The police officer who came to the accident was so nice. He drove me home and made sure I was ok in the house. He even carried the case of wine from the trunk of my car”. Maybe she should have put more ice in her wine.

Let It Rest

The standard recommendation in many cookbooks is to let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes after cooking. Yeah right? When you are scurrying to get food on the table, who has that kind of time? Yes, it is true that letting meat rest improves the juiciness and rounds out the temperature/doneness of the meat, but in the heat of the moment that step quite often gets lost.

Would your average dinner party guest pick up the difference between meat that has rested versus meat that has not? Probably not. Your average guest is usually grateful to be served and has less than a discerning palate. I love my buddy Joe Chaudoin. He is always appreciative of any and everything I serve. We once had a roast chicken served family style and someone asked him to pass a piece of dark meat. He got this puzzled look on his face and said chicken is chicken. Joe has a twin brother Ray that is as big, and as big an eater as Joe. They grew up competing for that last piece of chicken. Who cared whether it was white or dark meat. They certainly wouldn’t have noticed if it has rested.

My nephew Jimmy is a very good cook and a firm believer in letting meat rest. He has reminded me several times that I need to let a piece of steak rest. (He probably doesn’t know I have had a book published). Jimmy needs to know that every time I rush something to a table of hungry guests, I think of him. He is right that letting meat rest makes it better.

My favorite Jimmy story goes back to a Thanksgiving when I char roasted a ham. Jimmy kept telling me that my ham on the grill was burning and I kept telling him it was supposed to. Boy was he shocked when he tasted my ham with subtle char notes. I can still see in my mind the picture Jim and his bother Mike fighting over the last pieces of burnt ends after dinner.

Through this pandemic, we need to cut each other some slack. We need to let it rest. The fact that everything and everyone is split along political lines doesn’t make life any easier. The truth is that nothing I say (or write) is going to change anyone’s mind. Everyone has already decided who they are going to vote for. Everyone has their own definition of what is safe and appropriate behavior. We need to let it rest!