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By: 99/1 Food Service Management Rebecca Tibbitts
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Tuesday, 01 November 2011 14:21 |
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Originating from Germany, Riesling wines and grapes are produced in many regions of Austria, Alsace, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Riesling is one of the noble grape varieties although it is often given less attention than its more known noble counterparts. Arguably, Riesling is one of the most undervalued and misjudged.
 The vine itself is known for its knotty appearance, hard wood vine that is frost resistant, making it a good choice to plant in cool wine regions. The grapes themselves also ripen considerably earlier than most other varieties. Riesling grapes are naturally high in acidity with aromas of green apple, white flowers, honey and minerality.
This aromatic grape is renowned for show casing the terroir (local conditions that denote a certain area of origin like topography and soil) of where it was produced. Because during the wine making process there are rarely additional steps like oak ageing or heightened alcohol levels, Riesling wines are very pure and able to showcase its area of origin. Due to the purity of the winemaking process, the wines can be particularly susceptible to cork taint. To avoid the possibility and guarantee the purity and freshness expected from most Rieslings, producers often bottle these wines with a screw cap closure, not a cork.
An important characteristic of Riesling wines — both dry and sweet — is their high acidity. This acidity increases saliva production in the mouth, which, in turn, makes you want to eat more. This helps Riesling pair very well with a wide variety of foods. Try pairing pork, fish, salads, spicy food, salty food and smoked foods with Riesling.
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By: 99/1 Food Service Management / Chef Tim Tibbitts
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Monday, 17 October 2011 14:23 |
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It’s that time of year again. Oct 15th brings joy to eaters all over the region as Stone Crab season officially opens for another year. Stone Crab is to me the jewel of our waters. It’s also an amazingly sustainable fishery. Stone Crab have the unique ability to regenerate their claws. So when harvesting, fisherman take one claw from the crab and return them to the water to regenerate that claw again and again. One claw is left to allow the crab to defend itself from predators. To be kept, claws must be a minimum of 2.75 inches in length from the tip of the immovable finger to the first joint. 99% of all Stone Crab claws harvested are cooked on the boats then put into freezers immediately in order to let the meat release from the shell for easy extraction.
The two main ways people enjoy the claws are simply cracked from the shell and eaten warm with drawn butter or cold and eaten with a tangy mustard sauce. Both have their merits. However, if you go outside the box there are endless ways to prepare these delicious creatures of the deep. Here are some suggestions to enjoy the beauty of our Stone Crab!
Simple Hot Crab Claws
Approx. 1 lb per person Crab claws
A large pot of boiling water, seawater is best as long as it’s clean
Sauce
1 lb butter (always unsalted)
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Drop crab claws into boiling water, a few at a time, to prevent water from getting too cold. Cook for exactly 3 minutes. Remove from the water. Crack open with a mallet and remove shells. Meanwhile in a small saucepot melt butter with minced garlic. Infuse butter with garlic flavour for 15 minutes over very low heat. Season with salt and add parsley just before serving.
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By: 99/1 Food Service Management, Rebecca Tibbitts
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Monday, 03 October 2011 16:35 |
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This is the time of year that vineyards work and wait for: harvest time. A year’s worth of decisions, pruning, nurturing and watching all come to fruition at this time. This work and these decisions are all combined under the name viticulture. Viticulture encompasses growing grapes and the decisions made during their growth like training of the vines, pruning of the vines, irrigation, pest management and manipulating the vines’ and grapes’ growth through canopy management.
There are conditions that affect style, quality and price of wine and these are called “factors of production: grape variety, climate and weather, soil type/terroir, grape growing (viticulture) and wine making (vinification). Except for the wine making, these factors of production all affect harvesting.
Here is an overview of what happens to get to the act of harvesting once the grapes start developing.
 Veraison: This is the softening, fattening and sweetening of the grape bunches. The little hard green grapes start plumping up with juices and sugar and gain mature hues of color (to golden yellow for some white varieties, deep dark reds and purple for red). Because of different locations in the vineyard and on the vine, not all grape clusters ripen at the same time, so harvesting must be done in stages to ensure grapes are ripened to their prime.
Crop Control: This is the stage where more canopy management is introduced. Because grapes and grape clusters ripen at different times, actions must be taken to ensure the crop can produce the highest quality fruit consistently. Sometimes the green growth (leaves) must be removed to force the vine to focus its energy from the sun and water on the fruit. Big, green leafy vines look nice, but those leaves take away precious energy from the grapes.
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By: 99/1 Food Service Management / Chef Tim Tibbitts
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Wednesday, 21 September 2011 10:01 |
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Since returning to the Bahamas 4 years ago, I, like many here have forgotten how drastic the seasons change in the north. There was always something special about autumn in Canada. The changing of the leaves and the cool nights so great for sleeping were always welcome. But best of all, the farmers’ markets! This is harvest time and there is more food available at this time of year than any other: tree fruits like pears or apples, unlimited kinds of squashes and the best tomatoes of the season. So many excellent choices are available to build your end of summer menu. Here are a few of my favourite fall menu items!
 Butter Nut Squash Soup with Parmesan Croutons
Ingredients
• Olive oil
• 16 fresh sage leaves
• 2 red onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 1/2 fresh red chile, to taste, seeded and finely chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 1/4 pounds butternut squash halved, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 2 quarts good-quality Chicken or vegetable stock
• Extra-virgin olive oil
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