An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt) is a term coined by American zoologist and cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson for an object of historical, archaeological or paleontological interest found in a very unusual or seemingly impossible context, according to the ubiquitous Wiki.This week, we enlarged that definition to include culinary/agricultural objects, at least for the case of the post.
I spent a day working the market with a young man with Hollywood good looks, Andrea Lonardi, who along with being director of winemaking for Gruppo Italiano Vini, also fancies himself a dashing musketeer in la cucina (I had more than one woman come up to me that day who wanted to invite him over to their place to sharpen their knives; sorry ladies, he’s married).
Andréa was in town to kick off the release of his special project in Puglia, Castello Monaci. We had the NegroAmaro Rosé, called Kreos, the regular NegroAmaro, Maru and a duo of Primitivos.
But we got to talking about the Romanesco artichoke salad that Sharon Hage is making at York Street from locally supplied chokes. I have read that most artichokes grown in California are variations on the Globe variety. During forays into Southwestern Louisiana, locals have told stories of legendary artichoke plantations. Now in Dallas, we have a local source and Sharon matches it up with fennel and arugula. Wonderful dish. I was lamenting that artichoke is a hard food to match with wine. Andrea pops up and says, the Bianco Basilicata from Re Manfredi, an unusual blend (for the South) of Muller Thurgau and Traminer aromatico, is a great match. And voila, out of the wine bag the bottle of white appears. You know what? He was right. I have long been a fan of this wine and now with the food, I have found one of the great wine and food matches of 2009. So see, there is good news coming out of this year. And all from this juxtaposition of a seemingly out of context food with grapes grown also in a place where they aren’t thought to come from.
The younguns' like to eat; how do they stay so slim?