There is a saying in the newspaper business… the more famous the chef, the less likely you are to get an honest answer. Full Disclosure: I completely made that up. But in my experience, when I’m dealing with the little guy (candy makers, picklers and the like) I tend to get gushing responses in all of five minutes. The more famous the chef, the more time it often takes to get there (and if a publicist is in the room, good luck getting anywhere with all the wink, wink, winking going on). Hence the reason I tend to stick to the little guy. But hey, it’s understandable, as chefs have a lot more riding on what goes in print interviews and on television than most incognito artisans selling $3 jars of sauerkraut (namely, whether customers will want to pony up $200 a head for dinner ever again).
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It’s hard not to love really good balsamic vinegar, especially the extra aged, tangy-sweet-syrupy stuff. As of late, I’ve also been getting reacquainted with saba, the ancient precursor to balsamic that’s made from the must of Trebbiano, and often Lambrusco, grapes (barrel aging helps lend that dark caramel color to the white grape juice). In essence, saba is literally balsamic before becomes balsamic — in Ancient Rome it was known as defrutum or sapa. The name “cooked grape juice” pretty much says it all, as the juice is cooked slowly until reduced by a third or more so it becomes concentrated and slightly caramelized.
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Remember when crème fraîche required cooking stories explaining what it is, how to use it, and where to find it outside of France? Ah, the days when newspaper stories ran through that litany of posh restaurants and their star chefs (three does a story make) using the the coveted ingredient. In lilting staccato prose. With obvious references, and a clean, neat story “lead-out” that sums up what we already know. Followed by “tasting panels” that involved excessive amounts of soured milk consumption. Guilty.
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