"without the Culinary Arts, the crudeness of reality would be unbearable"

 

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This month’s featured listing!

 

Bohicket Yatch Club, SC

 

 

For details, call Jim Moring

@ 843-577-8877

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Advertise with us!

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SCREW CAPS TARGET WINE CORKS

Since time immemorial humans have searched for a way to seal things, to protect them from the biggest killers of them all — air. So wooden pegs gave way to corks which were wrapped in muslin cloth that had been dipped in oil. Gradually science presented us with more advanced means and while medicines to juices all went on and willingly adopted the screw cap, the wine world chose to stay in the dark. Read Article

 

WINE TALKS BACK TO YOU – EVEN WHEN YOU’RE SOBER

Recent psychological studies show that your wine-drinking habits have a direct correlation to your personality.

Take this simple quiz to reveal your coping styles, or curl up with a loved one and take it together. Choose the statement in part one that best describes your wine style, then click on the link below or scroll down to see the results.

 

1. I drink slowly, savor every drop, and swirl each sip around my mouth to appreciate the full taste and aroma.

2. Bring me champagne! Life is for celebrating!

3. My wine cellar is my pride. I've been collecting first growths since 1959.

4. Wine's first duty is to be red.

5. I prefer a sophisticated, dry white.

6. I usually order merlot. It's soft, reliable, and I can pronounce it.

7. I often spend five minutes interrogating the sommelier, and I'm not afraid to send wine back if it doesn't meet my standards.

8. I'm not one of those wine snobs. I drink white zin because I like it. So what?!

9. Exploring wine I've never heard of is an adventure.

10. In this bag? Ripple, I think. I dunno. You got a dollar?

 

Click here to see what your wine habits say about you.

 

TUNE’IN OUT THAT CHALKY CANNED CATCH

Until it was dethroned a few years ago by shrimp, canned tuna was America’s most popular seafood. But the typical canned tuna most of us eat, the kind from the supermarket that needs gobs of mayonnaise to mitigate the chalkiness, is as far removed from the luxurious olive oil–packed tuna from Italy, Spain and Portugal as bluefish is from bluefin. And tuna belly, or ventresca, takes Mediterranean canned tuna to an even higher flavor plane. Read Article.

 

 

O CANADA!

Last month, the bar Cowboys in Edmonton, Canada put on (took off?) its Long Weekend Lingerie Beer Fest, which is exactly what it sounds like. All the sexy, young bartenders and beer-tub girls served drinks all night in their hottest lingerie during a three day weekend. Forget curling, this is one tradition we Americans need to import from our northern neighbors.

 

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Since time immemorial humans have searched for a way to seal things, to protect them from the biggest killers of them all — air. So wooden pegs gave way to corks which were wrapped in muslin cloth that had been dipped in oil. Gradually science presented us with more advanced means and while medicines to juices all went on and willingly adopted the screw cap, the wine world chose to stay in the dark.

The reason cited was that wine needs air to evolve and cork allows the wine to breathe and hence age. Well lately this has come under a lot of questioning. People do not believe anymore that wine ageing is purely an aerobic process. The problem of corked wines which develop an off-taste due to some bacteria which contaminate the cork and consequently the wine have forced wineries to write off 30% of their annual produce as waste.

Big wineries have experimented by bottling wine under screw caps as well as with corks. After a few years, both wines have shown evolution, but the screw capped ones taste ‘fresher’.

Opening a screw cap, although a bit unceremonious, as many believe, is easy. For wines which will be consumed within a couple of years of being bottled, it is best to go with screw caps. They facilitate storage and service. For wines we want to keep away for a decade, cork of the highest quality is used. Some bottles of high-end wines could be made with screw caps for adventurous few. Restaurants may get bottles with corks to keep the romance of service alive. But, don’t disregard wine with a screw cap! Back to top.

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1. You have a sensual, artistic nature; you relish every experience. In fact, everything you do takes way too long and you drive everyone crazy because you're never ready on time.

2. You're an exciting, carefree person, always the life of the party. You have a wide circle of friends. You have to because by the end of the party you've always made such an idiot of yourself that your old friends are embarrassed to be seen with you.

3. You are capable of deep feelings and form lasting emotional attachments. When you love someone you hang on like a leach and won't let go even when it's obvious to the rest of the world that her phone isn't broken, it's off the hook. You're a yawning black hole of neediness.

4. You have a Rabelaisian appetite for life. Dramatic music, spicy foods and bright colors attract you. You play your car stereo way too loud at traffic lights. You have an elevated sense of your own self-worth. You probably beat your wife.

5. You have highly developed organizational skills. Everything has to be color-coordinated. If things don't go your way, you throw a hissy fit, sulk and ruin everyone else's night. You're a pain in the butt.

6. Your calmness and serenity make you invaluable in the workplace. In fact, you're the only one who's ever kept the tollbooth job for more than a month. Your children sometimes ask your wife where "that guy who lives here" is.

7. You have fine, discriminating tastes and great attention to detail. You check under your bed every night and sometimes hear voices. Medication might make the black helicopters go away.

8. Congratulations! You don't follow the pack. You live in your own little world of denial and don't notice the pathetic shambles you've made of your life. If you seek counseling now, it might not be too late.

9. You're a risk-taker who sees the big picture. You're successful in business because your ruthless, cutthroat tendencies strangle the competition. You're selfish, greedy, and have no empathy for others.

10. You're practical and thrifty, and don't let the false promises of worldly possessions bog you down. You have a good chance of happiness in life.

Well, there you have it. We hope you were able to gain some valuable insight that will help you in your day-to-day interactions. And we also hope you get the treatment you need. Back to top.

 

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Until it was dethroned a few years ago by shrimp, canned tuna was America’s most popular seafood. But the typical canned tuna most of us eat, the kind from the supermarket that needs gobs of mayonnaise to mitigate the chalkiness, is as far removed from the luxurious olive oil–packed tuna from Italy, Spain and Portugal as bluefish is from bluefin. And tuna belly, or ventresca, takes Mediterranean canned tuna to an even higher flavor plane.

Canned tuna is considered practically sacred by Italians, who use it in dishes such as vitello tonnato (cold veal with tuna sauce), as part of antipasto platters and in salads, especially with white beans. Italians generally don’t eat fresh tuna unless they live close to where it is caught That’s why canned tuna is so prevalent in Italy. It’s not a price or convenience issue. It’s a fresh issue.

Not to be outdone, the Spanish have so much respect for canned tuna that many tapas bars proudly serve it right out of the can.

So, what makes 4 ounces of high-end canned tuna cost as much as $16? It starts with the tuna itself. For example, American tuna canners don’t use bluefin tuna because it is too dark and intensely flavored for most American palates. Yet, bluefin was once a staple of Mediterranean canned tuna. Today, it is scarce, and expensive, largely because the Japanese covet bluefin—especially the ventresca, which they call toro—for sushi and sashimi. Fortunately, you can still get canned bluefin, which Italians call tonno rosso, at a price: about $30 a can.

Italians also use yellowfin tuna, which isn’t as dark or as deeply flavored as bluefin. Albacore, called bonito del norte by the Spanish and alalonga by the Italians, is also extensively canned in the Mediterranean, as is skipjack. Albacore, regardless of where it comes from, is the only tuna that can be called “white” or “solid white.”

Another difference between Mediterranean and American supermarket tuna is the way in which the fish is processed. Whereas American canned tuna comes from boats that stay out for months at a time, according to Corti, the Italians and the Spanish work with fresh fish. It is also cut and packed by hand, as opposed to being stamped out and packed by machine. Hand-packed tuna has a firmer, meatier texture. Finally, tuna packed in olive oil tastes richer. Despite the extra calories that oil provides, water just can’t compete when it comes to taste. Back to top.

 

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