This year’s edition of A Taste of Argentina, a wine tasting fundraiser for the Edmonton Jazz Society, will be held at the Sutton Place Hotel on May 4. Tickets are $65, available through Tix on the Square or the Jazz Society.
When authors attack: this list of the 50 best author vs. author put-downs is highly entertaining. A lot of these insults were slung in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but a few memorable ones involve contemporary authors like J.K. Rowling. Unfortunately, one of my favourite author-on-author slanders is absent from this list: Stephen King bashing Stephenie Meyer.
deVine Wines & Spirits is hosting its 5th Anniversary Tasting on Saturday, May 1. Hard to believe it’s been almost two years since I stopped working there!
Sorrentino’s 19th Annual Garlic Festival is well underway. This year features black garlic, which is created through fermentation. It has a molasses-like sweetness with garlicky undertones; it also has twice the antioxidants of raw garlic and supposedly produces none of that stinky garlic breath aftereffect. Sounds too good to be true.
Nina Paley, creator of the fantastic animated film Sita Sings the Blues, is still fighting the copyright fight. Her crusade for copylefting is noble, courageous and extremely frustrating. If you haven’t seen Sita, stop everything you’re doing and download it RIGHT NOW. Seriously. It will change your life.
I was intrigued by this article about the relationship between wine and music. It reminds me of the studies conducted by Frédéric Brochet in 2001 about the subjectivity of wine. It supports what I’ve been saying for years: wine is a subjective, social phenomenon.
Lux Steakhouse is having a Sebastiani wine dinner on May 1. They’ll be serving pork tenderloin, sous-vide duck, and grilled lamb.
To anyone who claims they have a sulphite allergy: no you don’t. Sulphites are one of the most misunderstand compounds in the world, and I’ve heard way too many people citing their alleged sulphite allergy as the reason why they can’t drink red wine/why wine gives them a headache. News flash: a sulphite allergy causes respiratory problems, similar to an asthma attack, in the 1% of the population with this allergy. While the compounds that cause the infamous “red wine headache,” this definitely isn’t caused by sulphites. Try eating a couple pickles, or a handful of dried apricots, to test your sulphite sensitivity – if you can’t breathe after eating them (both of those foods contain way more sulphites than most wines), perhaps you do have a sulphite allergy. Ok, I’m done ranting now.
Comments
Cellar News: black garlic, snotty authors and Argentinean wine — 3 Comments
I just bought some black garlic at The Italian Centre Shop south – but haven’t used it yet… thanks for the reminder.
YUM
Valerie
Thanks for the tip, Valerie – I had been wondering where you could find it in town. I wonder if you can substitute it for regular garlic in most recipes, or if it might work best only in certain dishes?
While I was grocery shopping yesterday I saw some black garlic in little pouches in the produce section at my nearby store, two bulbs to a bag for $6.99. That’s not actually as expensive as I thought it might be! It doesn’t help anyone in Edmonton, but apparently some Metro stores out here in Toronto have it.
I just bought some black garlic at The Italian Centre Shop south – but haven’t used it yet… thanks for the reminder.
YUM
Valerie
Thanks for the tip, Valerie – I had been wondering where you could find it in town. I wonder if you can substitute it for regular garlic in most recipes, or if it might work best only in certain dishes?
While I was grocery shopping yesterday I saw some black garlic in little pouches in the produce section at my nearby store, two bulbs to a bag for $6.99. That’s not actually as expensive as I thought it might be! It doesn’t help anyone in Edmonton, but apparently some Metro stores out here in Toronto have it.