Italy vs. France

Posted on July 14, 2006 by Jim

Italy: Barolo vs. France: Bordeaux. EDGE: France. It’s all about Chateau Latour. Simply put, Latour is the best wine made anywhere on this planet earth (and unless they’re growing grapes on the moons of Jupiter… make that in this star system).

Italy: Brunello di Montalcino vs. France: Burgundy. EDGE: Italy. OK. I have a big weakness for Valdicava. The ’01 Vintage maybe the second or third best wine I have ever had.

Italy: Campari vs. France: Lillet. EDGE: Italy. Sure it looks like medicine, and yes it’s bitter. But served with cold club soda and an orange slice it kills a thirst and doesn’t kill your taste for dinner (and a terrific wine). And besides, it looks like medicine… isn’t medicine good for you?

Italy: Zabaglione vs. France: Creme Brulee. EDGE: France. Toughie. I love them both. I just love the contrast between the caramelized “crust” and the creamy fill.  Gotta have Creme Brulee.

Italy: Federico Fellini vs. France: Francois Truffaut. EDGE: France. On “paper” Fellini takes the prize; but I find the film Fahrenheit 451 so compelling. Scary stuff, maybe more for the Bradbury book behind it. Still, Orwellian and chilling.

Italy: Ferrari vs. France: Citroen. EDGE: Italy. No one makes better looking automobiles than Italy. Even Fiat is better looking than 90% of the cars made.

Italy: Osso Buco vs. France: Boeuf Bourguinon. EDGE: Italy. I actually prefer this dish with a Rhone; but it is oh so good with Barbera, too.

Italy: Anzio vs. France: Normandy. EDGE: France. Actually you could throw in the Invasion of Sicily and it wouldn’t add up to D-Day… still the most amazing military achievement in History.

Italy: Coliseum in Rome vs. France: Cave Paintings in Lascaux. EDGE: France. You can’t go back much further in antiquity to find an equal representation of human expression.

Italy: Linguine con Vongole vs. France: Steak Frite. EDGE: Italy. I changed my mind three times on this one. There is something supremely satisfying about tiny little clams cooked in the shell sitting in a bed of fresh linguine with garlic & oil with a glass or two of Soave Classico or a Sancerre. 

Italy: Romeo & Juliet vs. France: Henry V. EDGE: France. Here we have locations for two of Shakespeare’s plays. What could be better than the fields of Agincourt, site for one of History’s greatest Battles?

Italy: “Il Canto Degli Italiani” vs. France: “La Marseillaise”. EDGE: France. I like the Marseillaise better than our National Anthem! At least you can sing it… Metropolitan Opera stars can’t sing our Anthem! Besides what do they sing in Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca? Enough said.

Italy: The Roman Empire vs. France: The First Empire. EDGE: Italy. You can toss in the Second Empire and the First Republic and it’s still Italy.

Italy: Il Tricolore vs. France: Le Tricolore. EDGE: France. Rumor has it that Lafayette stole the colour scheme from our Flag; but for sure the French flag and its scheme has been the inspiration for many other Nation’s flags, including Italy’s (which was created after Unification in 1848… some 54 years after France’s Flag was first hoisted).

Italy: Little Italy vs. France: Little France. EDGE: Italy. Do you enjoy strolling thru the New York’s French Quarter looking for onion soup? Not!

Italy: Andrea Bocelli vs. France: Maurice Chevalier. EDGE: Italy. Yes, different styles of music; but both are popular representations of music from their respective periods and Bocelli has not needed to switch to singing in English to enhance his popularity here.

Italy: Joe Dimaggio vs. France: Greg LeMond. EDGE: Italy. One of the best players ever… ever. LeMond has the distinction of being the first American to win the Tour de France. A great honor… but hey! We’re talkin’ Joe D heah!

Italy: Aldo Vanucci vs. France: Jacques Clouseau. EDGE: France. Two tremendous roles portrayed by Peter Sellers. In After the Fox he played a crook with big ideas, and he carried out his heist in the guise of the great Italian Film Director Federico Fabrizi. Hysterical. Still not good enough to surpass Inspector Jacques Clouseau of La Sûreté.

Italy: High Renaissance vs. France: Impressionism. EDGE: France. Yes, Michelangelo was great, as was Raphael & da Vinci; but all those fussy religious themes are glorified poster art… I’ll still take Monet, Manet, Degas & Renoir (Besides, I think her smile was over rated).

Italy: World Cup vs. France: World Cup. EDGE:Pick’em. Sorry. What a ridiculous way to settle a Championship that is decided but once every four years. A “Shootout”? Why didn’t they put Zidane and Materazzi in the center of the pitch by themselves… Materazzi could have repeated his insult, “your mother wears combat boots”… and then the winner would be declared after a hair pulling & eye gouging fight.

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An Astonomical Gripe, From the Bile of Philo Kvetch

Posted on July 14, 2006 by Jim

So the great Galileo Galilei discovers 4 moons around Jupiter… and names them Io, Europa, Callisto & Ganymeade… they were named after his cats. I don’t like cats, but that’s not my gripe here.

I want to know why Jupiter got so many moons and we only got one! I mean it’s not like there are people living on Jupiter who could appreciate this heavenly largesse!

And not only do they have so many moons; but Galileo took the time to name them! Did he take the trouble to name our moon? No! Maybe he ran out of cats?

But the fact remains, Jupiter’s got a helluva lot more moons than we do! And they got fancy names, too! It just doesn’t seem right. Look, Jupiter has nothing right? Not even a place as good as South Beach… or a South Beach Diet. Have you ever heard of the Jupiter Diet. I don’t think so! But they have all these moons – with neat sounding names!

And when they finally get around to naming stuff on our moon we get a bunch of second hand garbage like the Sea of Copernicus. What kind of name is that? I’ll tell you what… it’s a dumb name! Why can’t we have cool names like Lower East Side Sea or New Lake Michigan? Good names!

But nobody cares! And do you know why? Because we only have one moon… who cares about one moon? No one! But if we had a bunch of moons like Jupiter, then folks would notice! You better believe they would take notice! Then Christopher Cross would have to change the lyrics in “Arthur’s Theme” to if you get caught between the moons and New York City. You see! Even the song is better already!

And now you know why I’m so angry! We only got one stinkin’ moon. And I’m tired of it!

And I’m going to do something about it! I am going to start by changing the name of the Sea of Copernicus… from now on when you cast your eyes to our Moon, take pride in looking at the Sea of Johnny Unitas… and there will be other changes, too… the Valley of Wilt Chamberlain & Wild Turkey Mountain.

There… I think that’s a reasonable start…

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Another Hand

Posted on July 11, 2006 by Jim

The photograph of my Mother and Father in the 1952 MG TD in front of Buckingham Palace keeps showing up. This time nestled in an old family photo album. It was one of many loose photos stuck inside of the front and back covers. The album itself housed pictures mostly of Paul & Lynn (before I was born)… but there were shots of Mom & Dad, Mommie Soph, Bubie Lena, my Cousin Paula and other members of my extended family. Towards the back of the book even I made an appearance.

The photos were held in place by those tiny little black triangles that my Mother would glue down. Although in some cases the glue had dried out, and a few of the photos in some way had slipped from their moorings. Above a few photos, my Mother’s clear and precise printing: “Labor Day – Sept – 1945” or “Sept 46” or “Morty Beroza”.

The last time the “MG” photo surfaced was a little over two years ago. Tiny had the photo amongst her family memorabilia and passed it along to Lynn. That version of the snapshot carried the inscription on the reverse side in my Mother’s distinctive cursive script.

Having seen a copy of the photograph itself many times before, it was the inscription that captured me. Not the content of the inscription; but rather the very strokes and curves of her handwriting… the expression of her hand.

And now, the same photograph, but larger, and on its reverse side this time is my Father’s handwritten inscription:

“Lynn, Paul & Jimmie

Here it is our little red beauty outside of Buckingham Palace. July 1st my Birthday. Mother and I are truly as happy as we look and having lots of fun. You will love the MG and can’t wait to give you a run and show you its wonderful easy handling. I can see Paul & Lynn driving it a few years from now. Jimmie will have to keep to trucks + buses.

Love Mommie + Dad”

It’s been a while since I have seen my Father’s handwriting… his hand. His “L”s, “D”s, “F”s and “G”s have these wonderful loops that give roundness to his script. It lacked Mom’s precision; but I think reflected his character well… readable, yet whimsical… something that would play well to sentiment.

This is also the first time in decades since seeing the variant spelling of my name… Jimmie with an “ie” instead of “y”. Both my Mom and Dad would use this from time to time… alternating the spelling form “ie” to “y”. But maybe when this was written (I was only three), they hadn’t decided how to spell my nick name? For sure, I only spelled my name with a “y”, and certainly by the time I went to Union “ie” was no longer in use (not even by my Mom).

Well… it’s good to see my Dad’s handwriting again. I can hear his voice behind the words… hear the chuckle, too.

Yes, we all got to love the MG.

And 53 years after its original penning, I love seeing my Father’s hand just as much.

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Guess Who is Coming to Dinner?

Posted on July 8, 2006 by Jim

I have been reading M.F.K. Fisher again. She is a marvelous writer, great essayist. Whether she is reflecting on her life spent in a variety of locations, or whether she is writing about food and its special qualities… she writes in a wonderful sensuous style. Great phrasing and an economical use of words (not my strong suit).

Wouldn’t it be fun to talk to her?

Well… there you go. Talking to a food writer… obviously over dinner. Who else would I invite…

Here is the list:

M.F.K Fisher… writer, traveler, storyteller, lived life filled with parents, grandparents, children, lovers both here and Europe and knew how to pick out great produce.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart… my favorite composer. Musical genius. If nothing else he could play some music after dinner.

Red Smith… sports writer. He had a marvelously literate style and he spanned a time from Grantland Rice to current writers covering sports. It would be a gas to listen to his anecdotes.

I have already picked out the menu.

We will start with the freshest of oysters accompanied by an Alsatian Pinot Blanc that I have just tried by Jean Baptiste. Normally I would have put a Chablis with this course… but this Pinot Blanc has a delightful smokiness that would pair perfectly to the briny oysters.

A simple bistro entree… Steak Frites served with another wine that I have just picked up… Delas Seigneur de Maugiron Cote Rotie.

For dessert Creme Brulee served with Ch. D’Yquem. I adore this Sauternes. And my advice to you is acquire any vintage of this wine, it really makes so little difference. It is always the best dessert wine and “bad” vintages (or vintages of lesser quality, if you prefer) just cost less.

Excellent… OK, Wolfie… what are you going to play tonight?

I think I may do this again.

********************

You can plan your own dinner and guest list. But first a few ground rules. No one living. It’s only dinner and conversation. Everyone has to keep their clothes on.

By the by… this little exercise also regularly appeared (and maybe still does) on the back page of Bon Appetit as part of questions put to various notables… you know… name three things you keep in the frig, name three people you would like to have dinner with, etc., etc.

Posted in The Ash Creek Bourbon & Conversation Corner | 2 Comments