Just got back from Palm Springs. Spent a few days there with my sister, but
had a good time anyway. ;^D

We had leftovers last night. I guilt tripped her into cooking (I'd cooked
the past 3 nights) and she opted to create a stir fry out of the last of the
lamb I'd grilled a few days ago. I guess it was Asian style, but I've never
had (or seen) lamb in an Asian restaurant.

A neighbor had dropped by earlier with a gift bottle of wine. It was
Riunite Lambrusco - something I hadn't tasted in many years. I realize that
this isn't considered "serious" wine, but it has its place - and arguably on
a slightly higher tier than white Zinfandel.

The wine was quite pleasant served chilled: soft, fruity, a little fizzy
and interestingly yeasty.

To make a long story short, it went quite well with the stir fry. Even
better after I added a bit of a newly discovered hot sauce (Waha Wera
Habanero) from New Zealand!

I can see trying this again - perhaps with Kung Pao chichen or the like.
Spicy Asian cuisine is a tough one to match with wine, but I may have
stumbled onto something here.

Tom S

Tom S wrote:

> I guess it was Asian style, but I've never
> had (or seen) lamb in an Asian restaurant.

Never seen a lamb curry in an Indian restaurant, Tom? *wink wink*

>
> I can see trying this again - perhaps with Kung Pao chichen or the like.
> Spicy Asian cuisine is a tough one to match with wine, but I may have
> stumbled onto something here.
>

Interesting discovery, but I'm not sure it's enough to get me to invest in any
Riunite! :P

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Tom S wrote:
>
> > I guess it was Asian style, but I've never
> > had (or seen) lamb in an Asian restaurant.
>
> Never seen a lamb curry in an Indian restaurant, Tom? *wink wink*

Arggh! I forgot about Indian, but that's *not* the Asian I was referring
to - and I'm pretty sure you knew that, Mark. I meant the Chinese sort of
Asian. You're just yanking my chain. ;^)

> > I can see trying this again - perhaps with Kung Pao chichen or the like.
> > Spicy Asian cuisine is a tough one to match with wine, but I may have
> > stumbled onto something here.
> >
>
> Interesting discovery, but I'm not sure it's enough to get me to invest in
any
> Riunite! :P

Hah! Won't cost you much to try it, will it? Can you spare ~$5?

Tom S

Tom,

I've seen lamb on menus at restaurants specializing in the cuisines of northern
China.

Thinking about it, a little fizzy and a bit sweet doesn't sound like a bad
combo for a spicier Asian dish.

Mark,

I understand reluctance to try a Riunite. But what this thread makes me want to
try is Kung Pao chicken (or Mongolian lamb) with the Renardat- Fche
Cerdon-de-Bugey I mentioned at CSW. Pink, lightly petillant, sweet without
dessert level.


Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale Williams wrote:
> I've seen lamb on menus at restaurants specializing in the cuisines of northern
> China.
> Thinking about it, a little fizzy and a bit sweet doesn't sound like a bad
> combo for a spicier Asian dish.
> I understand reluctance to try a Riunite. But what this thread makes me want to
> try is Kung Pao chicken (or Mongolian lamb) with the Renardat- Fche
> Cerdon-de-Bugey I mentioned at CSW. Pink, lightly petillant, sweet without
> dessert level.

You see a great many things on Chinese menus that are totally unknown in
China. Until Nixon's visit to China in 1970 almost all Chinese food
served in Chinese restaurants in the US was invented here in the US.
Fortune cookies finally made it to Hong Kong in 1968.

As the menus finally got away from the "Canton" basis where the original
Chinese settlers came from, we started seeing wonderful dishes that were
not all corn starch glazed. I have lamb recipes in many Chinese cook
books and other south east Asian but I don't think that it really is a
native food.

But then again, I have struggled with where they got chili peppers from.
My history tells me that Columbus spread chili peppers around the world
but the Chinese claim their usage predates him.

Bill wrote:

> You see a great many things on Chinese menus that are totally unknown in
> China. Until Nixon's visit to China in 1970 almost all Chinese food
> served in Chinese restaurants in the US was invented here in the US.
> Fortune cookies finally made it to Hong Kong in 1968.

One of the few exceptions was/is chow mein, which in true Cantonese
cooking can be an exceptional dish. In fact, several of my friends from
Hong Kong/Kowloon used to judge Cantonese restaurants in SF on the basis
of the quality of their chow mein.

>
> As the menus finally got away from the "Canton" basis where the original
> Chinese settlers came from, we started seeing wonderful dishes that were
> not all corn starch glazed. I have lamb recipes in many Chinese cook
> books and other south east Asian but I don't think that it really is a
> native food.

What is native, Bill? Sheep are indigenous to the Caucasus Mountains
and were almost certainly domesticated in the region of present-day
Georgia, Chechnya, Armenia or Azerbaijan. But most domesticated species
spread through Eurasia several millenia ago. Photos that I've seen from
Mongolia show plenty of sheep, so N. China ought to have a few too, I'd
think.

>
> But then again, I have struggled with where they got chili peppers from.
> My history tells me that Columbus spread chili peppers around the world
> but the Chinese claim their usage predates him.
>

My Indian students steadfastly deny that the Spanish or Portuguese
brought the chili pepper to the Indian subcontinent, but it's
nonetheless true. Genetic analysis has shown that the chili pepper
originated in the Peruvian Andes (along with the potato) and was first
domesticated there. It spread through trade throughout Mesoamerica,
making its way as far north as the SW US, but was unknown outside of the
New World until the Columbus encountered it in the Caribbean.

To bring this nearly back on topic, I'll mention that, starting in 1992,
my wife and I threw an annual Chili Pepper festival to celebrate the
500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and the subsequent "discovery" of
the chili pepper. Sad to say, we served only beer, though, having yet
to learn of the ability of certain white wines to pair with some
chili-laden foods.

Mark Lipton

Mark Lipton wrote:

> One of the few exceptions was/is chow mein, which in true Cantonese
> cooking can be an exceptional dish. In fact, several of my friends from
> Hong Kong/Kowloon used to judge Cantonese restaurants in SF on the basis
> of the quality of their chow mein.

I had thought that chow mein was in the same category as chop suey being
among the first dishes created in San Francisco to feed Americans.

> Genetic analysis has shown that the chili pepper
> originated in the Peruvian Andes (along with the potato) and was first
> domesticated there. It spread through trade throughout Mesoamerica,
> making its way as far north as the SW US, but was unknown outside of the
> New World until the Columbus encountered it in the Caribbean.

Columbus was very successful at bringing the spices from the West Indies
as was his charter. I have tended to celebrate his success in the past
myself. I was very much into Chinese cooking in the 70s and had a lot of
Chinese friends that offered up lots of proofs that they chili peppers
long before Columbus and I countered with the fact that the parrentage
of the pepper was well established.

> To bring this nearly back on topic, I'll mention that, starting in 1992,
> my wife and I threw an annual Chili Pepper festival to celebrate the
> 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and the subsequent "discovery" of
> the chili pepper. Sad to say, we served only beer, though, having yet
> to learn of the ability of certain white wines to pair with some
> chili-laden foods.


In addition to the Wine and Chile Fiesta there is/was a restaurant in
Salt Lake City called Santa Fe that prepared every dish with chili.
The dishes were from around the world; Chinese, Indian, Southwest,
Mexican, North Africa, etc.

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> To bring this nearly back on topic, I'll mention that, starting in 1992,
> my wife and I threw an annual Chili Pepper festival to celebrate the
> 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and the subsequent "discovery" of
> the chili pepper.

Hey, I didn't know you were a chile head, Mark! Me too.

I've been growing my own Habaneros, Serranos and some Jalapeños for a number
of years, and making them into hot sauce after fire roasting them over
French oak (old wine barrels). I call my creation "Bungholio al Flamante".
Doesn't go too well with wine though. :^/

Tom S

Bill wrote:

> Mark Lipton wrote:
>
> > One of the few exceptions was/is chow mein, which in true Cantonese
> > cooking can be an exceptional dish. In fact, several of my friends from
> > Hong Kong/Kowloon used to judge Cantonese restaurants in SF on the basis
> > of the quality of their chow mein.
>
> I had thought that chow mein was in the same category as chop suey being
> among the first dishes created in San Francisco to feed Americans.

Perzackly why I mentioned that tidbit, Bill! ;-)

> Columbus was very successful at bringing the spices from the West Indies
> as was his charter. I have tended to celebrate his success in the past
> myself. I was very much into Chinese cooking in the 70s and had a lot of
> Chinese friends that offered up lots of proofs that they chili peppers
> long before Columbus and I countered with the fact that the parrentage
> of the pepper was well established.

"Against ignorance the gods themselves strive in vain"

>
>
> > To bring this nearly back on topic, I'll mention that, starting in 1992,
> > my wife and I threw an annual Chili Pepper festival to celebrate the
> > 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and the subsequent "discovery" of
> > the chili pepper. Sad to say, we served only beer, though, having yet
> > to learn of the ability of certain white wines to pair with some
> > chili-laden foods.
>
> In addition to the Wine and Chile Fiesta there is/was a restaurant in
> Salt Lake City called Santa Fe that prepared every dish with chili.
> The dishes were from around the world; Chinese, Indian, Southwest,
> Mexican, North Africa, etc.

Yup, been to the Wine & Chile Fiesta: great time. I got Rick Bayless to
autograph my program at the Big Event (already owned his cookbooks)

Mark Lipton

Tom S wrote:

> Hey, I didn't know you were a chile head, Mark! Me too.
>
> I've been growing my own Habaneros, Serranos and some Jalapeños for a number
> of years, and making them into hot sauce after fire roasting them over
> French oak (old wine barrels). I call my creation "Bungholio al Flamante".
> Doesn't go too well with wine though. :^/

LOL! Great name, Tom. Last year we grew habañeros, poblanos and Thai
chilies. But, frankly, with over 10 different varieties of fresh
chilies available in the local grocery store, and another half dozen
dried available too, there is little incentive these days to grow our
own. My tastes also run to fire-roasted salsas, which IMHO make great
food accompaniment for a variety of grilled meats. In particular, I
love a chipotle-blackened tomatillo-cilantro salsa that is excellent as
a very different BBQ sauce.

Mark Lipton