Fabulous World Food & Wine

Travel the World in the Most Delicious Way!

Discover the world from the comfort of your home with this periodical newsletter that brings interesting food news, healthy recipes, cooking tips, and wine news, including wine tasting notes. If you like this newsletter, please do forward it to your friends. If you are here because a friend did forward this to you and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting... Fabulous World Food and Wine

Hot Food News

With so many Irish immigrants it is not surprising Saint Patrick’s Day has become a big date in the United States. As it is filled with plenty of good will, humor, good food and drink, many non-Irish descendants also go along. Irish tradition evolved in the United States to adapt to the new range of food available. See how to cook and Irish-American dinner for Saint Patrick’s Day; choose between corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew, accompanied any of them with Irish soda bread, and have Irish bread pudding for dessert.

There are some new recipes from Asutralia. Find the cocoa iced and coconut covered sponge cakes Lord Lammington liked and have become Australia’s favorites. Try Lammington cakes or just use the icing on your usual pound cake.

Swagmen were wandering laborers. They had to cook their own food usually on the camp fire after a hard day. This swagman’s damper is the simple recipe the used for bread and they cooked in a tin on the open fire. It is good to prepare with the kids in a camping expedition.

There is also the Aussie version of surf ‘n’ turf offering the best of land and sea dressed in a zesty sauce that is certain to please. Pencil this recipe for when you start the next summer grilling season.

Between the new international recipes we added and you can start enjoying, see the New England clam chowder, the Waldorf salad, or jump half the world to the mushroom spinach chow mein from China.

Afternoon tea

If you want to recreate the British afternoon tea tradition, you will find the recipe for the perfect tea scones. Serve with jam –fruit preserve- and clotted cream. Accompany with tiny assorted sandwiches –there is something about cucumber sandwiches- and cakes.

Latest research has shown that while a cup of coffee can wake you up in the morning like nothing else, drinking too much coffee in the afternoon can actually make you feel more tired and drained. So go British and have an afternoon tea, as it has been proved it will make you more alert in the afternoons.

Tea not only keeps you more alert in the afternoon but is also packed with a bunch of antioxidants that can help you prevent health problems.

Can you make it better? Yes, you can. Using honey to sweeten your tea will give you an extra energy boost. Research shows that the compounds in honey give you the same boost than an energy drink, and it is healthier.

For a perfect afternoon break have a cup of tea and add a teaspoon of honey.

Tour around the world of breakfast

As we had an Irish style opening with Saint Patrick's Day, let's give an Irish style to breakfast. Soda bread makes good toast, and this will be a way to use any leftovers. See how is breakfast in Ireland.

What to expect next about world food

We will make two stops in our tour around the world of breakfast: Belgium and Italy.

Simply Wine News

Slow growth, but steady. What news can we offer? There are the white grape varieties to see; we added some words about wine in Japan and India to the page about wine in Asia; though you might prefer to explore Greek wines. We think that the selection of terms used to describe a wine is well rounded.

Find below the promised list of worthy wines from Australia.

Wines to get from Australia

Australia wine industry is constantly on the go. Not only is technologically innovative, but able to produce wine in large quantities and new wineries keep appearing. From the different regions in the Australian wine map. Let's start with South Australia.

Some of the Australian classics come from this region. They are expensive but you only need to drink them once in a while, just you keep in mind why wine is amazing. These are the ones if you want to test the best wines South Australia produces.

Price is not everything in wine and South Australia offers plenty of still affordable, very enjoyable wines. Quality is consistent from one year to the other and vintages don't matter much. You will find all sorts of styles and flavors, depending on the region. See the list of worthy wines to try.

The path of a confimed wine lover

Kevin, amateur wine reviewer at World Food and Wine, answers our questions and chooses some of his favorite wines on the selves, after telling us about how his liking for wine came to be.

Why did you turn into a wine fan?

I was invited to a party where everyone had to take two bottles of wine, one to share, one for an informal contest with a reward for the best wine. I had to think twice about which wine to buy. I had always appreciated good wine before that, but I always asked a friend when choosing wine for dinner at home or follow the recommendations in a restaurant.

Once there, three guests were selected at random to act as jury and I was one of them. We were offered a blind taste of all the wines. We had to choose the best one. I sampled 43 fine wines while taking careful notes and discussing the merits with the other "judges." I was smitten. I was not a wine lover before, but you can say I am well in my way to become one.

Can you explain how did you manage to have 43 sips of wine without getting even slightly tipsy?

If I had known how many beforehand, probably I'd have got scared and I would not have done it. I’m glad I didn’t ask because it was great fun.

We were given a crash course in wine tasting before trying any of the wines; including how to look at the wine, smell, sip and evaluate the wine in a number scale. I learnt the only way to taste a large number of wines and keep sober is to spit the wine out after you have tasted it. This is what professional tasters do.

How did you get started in your pursuit of wine after that?

I have a lot of time to read so I tried first to learn about wine in books and I started to follow articles and comments about wine in magazines. I always read the wine reviews at The Times. Many supermarkets in England have their own magazines and brochures with good information; those are a good guide to the wines you can find there.

I have gone to other wine tasting events since that party three years ago. I also meet with a group of friends to chat about our findings every other month. Next summer I plan to take a wine tour during my holidays; it will be the first. I have not quite decided where I will go; somewhere in Italy.

What will be your next step?

I still purchase only the wine I will use in the next few months, though I think carefully what I buy. I want to start buying good wine that will become great with age. Some of my friends have done it and they’ve got some great bottles. Before doing that, I have to consider where I will keep the wine. That is my next step: where to store a medium size collection of bottles.

If you had to start everything again, what would you do differently and what would you do the same?

I have an average nose and I am not very good at recognizing all flavors and aromas. I have improved with practice. I don’t drink wine every day, so it is slow. If I had to do everything again, I’ll start by taking a proper wine tasting course. Maybe I’ll still take it. There is always something to learn.

What would I do the same? I would attend again that tasting party. It will be a great idea to organize this kind of thing every year.

If you were to advise your friends to follow on your footsteps on the wine path, what would you tell them?

I would advise to enjoy wine, in moderation, for its flavor and not to worry about anything else. If you are not drinking too much and you are not drinking at inappropriate times, there is no harm. If you drink wine thinking of possible health benefits, part of the pleasure goes away. Drink water when you are thirsty and drink wine just for the pleasure.

Last but not least... which wines did you buy this week?

I got two bottles of Viña Herminia Crianza 2002 for dinner with friends. Fabulous aroma; I did not like the aftertaste that much, but I must say I usually find lamb too rich and the wine made it more palatable. It was a perfect match.

I bought some bottles of New Zealand whites: I saw them at the shop and I had the last newsletter in my mind. I got Villa Maria Private Bin Malborough 2006 and Nobilo Five Fathoms 2005 Sauvignon Blanc. I have not opened them yet.

I also got a bottle of Croft Platinum Reserve port. Port is one of my favorite after dinner drinks.

Thank you, Kevin. We appreciate you share your opinions and what you know about wine with the rest of us. We hope you will go on sharing them with all of use and we are looking forward to your next tasting notes.

What to expect next about world wines

We'll round the pages about Spanish wines; it is about time. We'll also talk about how Spain has discovered wine tourism in grand style and the hotel Frank Gehry designed for Marqués del Riscal, one of the most prestigious wineries in La Rioja.