Archive for June, 2010
I find it kind of funny when i think about there being whole committees and associations around cheeses alone! I guess this is true for all things food, but the dedication to one was certainly apparent at the Seattle Cheese Fest this year. Judy and I took a nice stroll through Pikes Place Market on this lovely day, amazing weather, and checked out the wares.
They had everything from cheedar to gouda. Supposedly we tasted the “best gouda in the world” which tasted pretty good. The amount of people at the festival made it hard to grab some cheeses but after wrestling through the crowds we managed to snag a few. It was not until then I realized that cheese tasting is almost as developed as wine tasting. Sure you pair the too up very well but even on it’s own, telling the differences between good cheeses is near impossible. In my mind, if it wasn’t some store bought brand, it was good 
I must confess that I am no where near a cheese guy, and being a veggie boy means it is no where near my diet. It’s nice to step out of ones tastes to explore what wonderful things other folks are doing though. At the festival there were a few cooking demonstration, one about gnocchi and another about making your own cheese. They were very well put together and I was very pleased to see the amount of people watching. My hope is at least half of that will make their own cheese or gnocchi one day rather than buying.
So the Cheese Fest was a success by terms of people, the way the cheese impacted, and the robustness of not just providing cheeses to try but also things to do with them. I will see you again next year Seattle Cheese Fest!
Judy and I received a last minute invite to a local wine club event called the “Tom Douglas Press Club” which was having a salmon and Pinot Noir pairing tasting. Once I heard what the pairings would be I was immediately interested. Prior to this night, I have not once hadPinot Noir and salmon paired together, not once I tell you! Turns out that I wouldn’t just explore but I also learned quite a bit about wines and salmon.
I will state this up front, I don’t like pinot noir with salmon. I’m not 100% sure why, but the pairing combinations just did nothing for me. This could come from the fact that I am no where near a good wine person and end up sticking with whites and reds general pairings (seafood vs meats). From what I can tell, this combination isn’t something that occurs very often and I applaud the club for stepping out of the box and trying something new. Although i wasn’t fond of the pairing, I was very fond of the information I learned about salmon and pinot noir.
The event gave me the ability to try steamed salmon from six different species. Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, Sockeye, and Steelhead. Out of those six the following are place in order of my liking: Chinook, Steelhead, and Sockeye. So let’s talk about the ones I didn’t like, Pink, Chum, and Coho for a brief second. They were all too dry (not overcooked, but taste wise) and had very strong fish flavors. Sure when you eat fish, you will have that flavor but those three seemed to really stand out as fish and might stand out very loudly as fish in dishes. The Chinook, Steelhead, and Sockeye had a very fluffy light texture and had hints of their natural flavor and not too much of it. These three would probably provide a very awesome base for any sauce due to their textures and not masking fish flavor.
So what about the Pinot Noir? Well we had eight different selections coming with 2 from: New Zealand, Oregon, France, and California. It was nice to be able to compare and contrast the different regions. Obviously France was superb and I expected no less at all, however Oregon played a very close second. I found it strange that I like Oregon over California but really their wines were not only priced well but delivered well also. Also interesting about Oregon, in 2007 they had a bit of a weather problem which caused some deviations in their quality. Nothing horrible but nothing amazing, then going up to 2009 they grew up into amazing! The nice tidbit I learned was if you find a 2007 buy it (cause it’s cheap) and store it for a few years, 2008 is a bit more but still not awesome, and 2009 is awesome (although the price is higher for such awesomeness).
So I realize that I have been gone for a long time. It wasn’t my plan to disappear like that at all! As some of you may know, my family and I decided the west coast was where we belonged so I managed to find a job in Seattle and packed up shop. It finally feels like home again and I am ready and more prepared then ever to bring Madzak back into the interwebs.
Since moving here I have been visiting different restaurants and festivals, which appear to be plentiful out here. I have collected pictures and information from these things and will be posting my thoughts on them in the up coming days. I also have a bit of a secret which I believe is ripe enough now to be shared…
I am a vegetarian, yup for the last year I have slowly converted to the wonderful world of vegetables. Some would classify me as a vegan but really I am just eat plants. I will also share my reasons in depth in an upcoming post. Rest assured that the same fun and adventures will continue, but will involve veggies instead. Don’t worry meat lovers, a little veggie love will help broaden your cooking skills and I will have some guest chefs to help you guys and gals get your meat fix.
Once again I am sorry to leave you hanging like I did. The good news now is my passion for food is even more alive out here in Seattle then it ever was. I cannot wait to share that passion with all of you as well!
Talk to you soon,
MadZak
