gruyere

mama said knock you out, no this cheese will knock you out!

this mostly hard cheese breaks off in your mouth, leaving you a little thirsty, especially when your teeth bite into the little surprises embedded within. luckily there's extant such a thing as good wine. there are little crunchy bits in this cheese that almost count as their own crackers. they're so tasty, they add another flavor and texture to the mix. i love cheeses that come at you from all angles.

consider my taste buds cordoned off...

i especially like the cave aged variety, which adds another layer of deep taste to this mostly hard cheese. don't melt it! but do put it on spinach salads with a few pine nuts. it'll make ya go nuts.

rating: 5/5 the kind of cheese your mama warned you about.
price: ?? (affordable)

right now i'm having some with an italian red, and it's marvelous. i can taste the farm when the two merge under he direction of my careful mandibles!

goats do roam

a play on cotes du rhone, this tasty south african red wine from paarl, za is a blend of shiraz, cinsaut, carignan and mourvèdre with a dash of local pinotage. or so i hear. dunno what all that's s'posed to mean, but i can say that this little wine goes well with goat cheese and also with lamb. we had some with our easter dinner, and it sent chills down my spine with it subtle reach. i bet it would go well with mussels too.

i don't usually buy wines over $10, but i think it's time i started. and i'll have to keep my eye out for another bottle of this goat-wine.

taste: 4/5 - one of the better wines i've had in awhile
price: ~$14

steve's classic bountiful omelet

2 organic eggs
splash of organic milk
small handful of organic baby spinach
20 small diced pieces of red onion
1 slice of honey ham lunchmeat (optional)
1/2 hass avocado
a few diced tops of asparagus from the night before
7 slivers of sottocenere cheese
salt, pepper to taste

inside: onions, spinach, ham, asparagus
on top: avocado, cheese, salt, pepper

there ya go -- to keep the eggs from getting too done, 2/3 of the way through, cut the heat and cover. this finishes the eggs through without overdoing them on the outside, as well as melts the cheese.

belhaven scottish ale

one of the guys from my linguistics department turned me on to this.

imagine guinness about 1/2 as dark, but just as creamy, with that same layering of taste and texture as the nectar pour into a glass. that same waiting of 3-5 minutes before its settled enough to taste, each second the lips smacking awaiting the honey-colored joy.

imagine not so bitter, twice as sweet. what a lot of schmaltzy beer schnobs would call a malty smell. the taste of fuits and nuts that fades relatively fast, so you gotta drink up!

in summary - to me it's like guinness without all the hype and sweeter than stout.

score: 5/5! perfect!
price: ~$7 for 4 14.5 oz draught cans

sottocenere

I'll keep this brief, as I'm trying to get work done, but I felt I needed to write this today, as I'm eating some now on me roast beef, and boy is it good.

This aromatic, semi-soft, semi-salty French cheese aims to please, and hits the bullseye! It's got a nice truffle-coating, lending a nice earthy layer of taste.

If you have a local artesian cheesery (fromagier, or somesuch), or one of the many organic stores that Whole Foods has been devouring these past 10 years, go give it a taste. Great on omelets, in salads with walnuts and spinach, and on roast beef sammiches.

Rating: 5/5!
Price: $9.99/lb at Whole Foods.

aster's ethiopian cuisine

28?? n-ih-35 just north of dean keeton on the southbound frontage road, austin, tx, usa.

visited this place last friday night with a friend from work and his gf. both carnie- and veggie- food that one can easily fill oneself up on with n-1 dishes (1 dish for 2, 2 for 3, &c).

just reopened after a ten-year hiatus where the owner's husband's job took them out to virginia. we're glad they've returned, though we would have preferred they'd opened back in their old digs up on rundberg and parkfield around the corner from our house. as one of the more diverse neighborhoods in austin, it'd be nice to beef (or lamb) up our cultural cache with the caucasian majority with their presence up north, but oh well. closer to campus is better for their business i'm sure.

update: returned last week and sampled a few of their meat dishes, along with a few veg. very much prefer the veg dishes. eating greasy meat with my hands is not so much fun, especially sinec i splattered a drop on my new shirt. waaaaa...

but go, you'll be happy w/the veg!

comestication

n - the state of devouring something "edible," be it food, art, or otherwise.