Day 70: Schlitz Strong Beer

First thought - given it's almost a liter of beer per bottle, I love the pop bottle cap so that you can put it on right after and keep the fizz. And the price was ~$3.50 for a 940mL. So it's a good 20% cheaper than a domestic beer. So well priced.

I was also curious about why they had chosen 946mL for a bottle size. Seemed random? It's one US quart.

The taste light, especially for what they define as a "strong" beer at 6% alc. The texture is velvety. The taste is sweet, a little bit like maraschino cherry. Ah, after a few sips you realize why it's called a "strong" beer - it does start to take a toll on the inner cheeks.

Not bad for the price point. I also found out, through research, that Schlitz was once the largest brewery in the world! I'll admit that I never even heard of it, so incredible how it declined. Basically, its decline started in 1982, hurt by the rise of high-volume light beers such as Miller Lite and Bud Light, a direction Schlitz did not aggressively pursue. The once strong Schlitz brand was relegated to cheap beer or "bargain brand" status and became increasingly difficult to find in bars and restaurants, especially after the draft version was discontinued in 2001.

Thankfully it has since been revived because this is great value in the bottle.

On Schlitz Brewery:

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was once the largest producer of beer in the world. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was famously advertised with the slogan "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer". Schlitz first became the world's top beer producer in 1902 and enjoyed that status at several points during the first half of the twentieth century, exchanging the claim with Anheuser-Busch multiple times during the 1950s.

The company was founded by August Krug in 1849 but acquired by Joseph Schlitz in 1858. Schlitz was bought by Stroh Brewery Company in 1982 and subsequently sold along with the rest of Stroh's assets to the Pabst Brewing Company in 1999.

The beer also became available in Ontario, Canada, brewed by Stroh's Brewing, a subsidiary of Sleeman Breweries.

Day 69: Buttermilk Pancakes

If you ever have the opportunity to make these (or you know someone that can), they come out infinitely better than any pancake you can get at a restaurant. I don't know why they can't replicate this at a restaurant. But the softness of them feels like you are eating clouds - sweet sweet lovely clouds. Attached is a recipe that you can use to make them (from allrecipes.com)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. You can flick water across the surface and if it beads up and sizzles, it's ready!

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together. Do not over stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Day 68: Beer aged in Scotch Barrels

Innis and Gunn (as per the previous post) have aged this incredible tasting beer in barrels which were previously used for aging 18-year old single malt scotch. Recall that the original beer is aged in Rum casks. (Day 30)

What comes through is a marshmallowy, caramelly, dark and oaky flavour. It's like the opening of a great Brahms symphony, with the dark and deep double bass (from the scotch), pulling in tension against the high and vibrant tones of the violin (from the malt), ever rising. Sometimes a great beer can make you get melodramatic, so apologies if it's coming off as such.

On Innis & Gunn Highland Cask 18 (from company website):

This special bottling of Innis & Gunn has been matured in oak barrels which had previously been used to mature 18 year old single malt Scotch Whisky from the famed Highlands region of Scotland.

The result of this unique maturation is a smooth, complex and warming beer with notes of vanilla and toffee.

And a little about the brewery:

It all began when a famous whisky distiller contacted Master Brewer Dougal Sharp to tell him

that they wanted to produce an ale-finished whisky. Many other brewers and distillers had tried to make ale finished whisky but none had succeeded. Dougal proposed a special recipe and a special technique. He created a unique ale to impart a smooth, beery character to the oak barrels. This would in turn flavour the maturing whisky. The distillers were delighted that the process worked and the resulting Ale Cask reserve Whisky was a real success.

It was only many months later, after thousands of gallons of beer had been used to season the oak barrels (then tragically, thrown away), that Dougal received a call that would change everything. “You have got to taste this beer that we are pouring away. The workers have sampled it and they say it tastes absolutely delicious,”

They were right. The first tasting of this ‘oak barrel’ beer was an unforgettable moment – it was delicious, and had a flavour unlike any beer Dougal had ever tasted. It had been completely transformed by its time in the special barrels used at the distillery.And it wasn’t just Dougal who thought something special had been discovered. At the brewery tasting panel the beer scored an unprecedented nine out of nine! Now, Dougal believed so strongly in the potential of this unique discovery that he promptly quit his job so that he could concentrate on perfecting the process and bringing Innis & Gunn to market.

In short he demonstrated himself what he could see in the beer, real character.

What followed was one whole year of long days and late nights, all in the name of refining and

perfecting this pioneer beer. When the launch finally came, a whole new oak aged beer style was born. Beer drinkers loved the delicious flavour and so did beer judges who showered Innis & Gunn with awards. From then on we have been travelling the world introducing as many people as possible to the unique flavour of our oak aged beer. But that isn’t the end of the story. In fact Innis & Gunn Original was only the beginning. More beers of character now regularly join the Innis & Gunn family. You can find out all about these in ‘The Range’ section of this site. And it’s even available on draught now too.

So there you have it, the story of Innis & Gunn. An inspiring tale of one man who showed his

character in the quest for a beer that would reveal a unique character all of it’s own.

And now it’s the choice of drinkers of character too.

Day 67: Gluten Free Beer

Nickel Brook Gluten Free Taste - yikes... yikes yikes yikes... now that is a kick in the groin. Real bitter - one that bites and lingers and just stays on all parts of your mouth. A pure sort of bitter. Maybe it is pure hops. I can see from the ingredient list that there is no malt or barley or wheat in it. Interesting. There is a distinct lacking of depth to the flavour, but what's neat is that you are kind of deconstructing the flavour of beer by isolating the taste of hops. Interesting. But a kick in the groin nonetheless.

On gluten-free beers:

Gluten-free beer is beer made from ingredients that do not contain glycoproteins (gluten). Gluten can be found in many common cereal grains including barley and wheat. Of gluten-free products, beer is seen as the most difficult to produce in a commercially acceptable version. However, gluten-free beer is becoming increasingly available, and there is now a range of ales and lagers to choose from.

Still, while pleased with how the brew turned out, brewmaster Peter Romano admits it's not the first thing he reaches for in the fridge. “I think we did a pretty good job, but you're never going to be able to capture that malt flavour without using malt. I enjoy it, but there are other beers I enjoy more — I'm not going to lie to you.”

Day 63: Wagyu Beef

So we now have contestant #3 on this short list of the quintessential food (recall contestant #1 was Iberian Ham de Bellota, and contestant #2 was Foie Gras)

Look at that. Is that your typical piece of beef? Yes, my friends, get ready to bow to the Wagyu cow -and yes, those white streaks absolutely are the marbling of fat! Isn't that the most absolutely intensely, beautiful, wonderful piece of meat you'll ever see? Well, probably not. In Japan, they rate beef marbling on a scale of 1 to 12. According to the butcher, he gave me an 8 or 9. To put this into perspective, the top cuts here in Canadian groceries are 5-6. Only this week, they found a supplier in Australia who get them this incredible cut. the price is surprisingly not too bad at $40/pound, or $88/kg. For those of you who don't shop, ground beef might go for about $4-6/pound, a nice steak (Filet Mignon, New York etc.) might be in the $15-$20 range . So in comparison, $40/lb is not bad. An 8 oz portion of this is therefore $20, which is affordable for many households on a special occasions basis. And keep in mind that in Japan, Kobe (Wagyu beef, but from the capital of Kobe province) beef often runs for $300 per pound.

I just seared it (naked - no seasonings) on a thick bottomed pan, although the cast iron would be more ideal. Nonetheless, ended up with a great sear on both sides, and a wonderfully rare inside (almost blue, actually, unintentionally). Waited for 5 minutes, then thinly sliced. Right before serving, I threw on some sea salt.

The smell is fatty, almost resembling - wait for it - foie gras. That was the biggest, and most pleasant, surprise. The texture is soft, and the little nuggets of salt explode in your mouth when they hit. The taste is exceptionally meaty, and the caramelizing on the edges give it that final crunch. And you have to wonder why life is that good to you. What have you done in a past life to deserve this, because certainly there's nothing in this life that made you deserving.

On Wagyu Beef:

Wagyu beef refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyū cattle. If raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, it is called Kobe beef. If it is cross-bred with Angus cattle, it is called "Kobe-style" beef. What is pictured above was "Kobe Style".

Farms in America and Britain have attempted to replicate the Kobe traditions, providing their Wagyū herds with beer. U.S meat producers claim that any differences between their less expensive "Kobe-style" beef and true Kobe beef are largely cosmetic. The cattle are fed American and/or British grass and grain, which is different from the more expensive Japanese feed. Cuts of American "Kobe-style" beef tend to have darker meat and a bolder flavor.

The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Wagyu beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more. The beef is also eaten raw by people in Japan as in the form of sushi.

The Wagyu cattle that produce this highly-prized meat were introduced into Japan in the second century as work animals, used in rice cultivation. As beef consumption became more prominent in society, farmers began hiring workers to massage the animals' backsides to improve meat quality. The mountainous topography of the islands of Japan resulted in small regions of isolated breeding, yielding herds that developed and maintained qualities in their meat that differ significantly from all other breeds of cattle. Herd isolation and distinctive feeding techniques, which resulted from the limited land availability, have led to distinguishing features that make the meat both superior in marbling and in the ratios of unsaturated versus saturated fats.

Japan has tracked genetic lines of Wagyu cattle for more than 30 years and have developed a grading system that's precise where eating quality is concerned; that system includes evaluation for meat color, fat color, marbling scores from 1-12, and meat texture. In the United States, all fed beef is graded by the USDA into 3 categories... Select, Choice, and Prime. Prime is ~5-6 on a the Japanese marbling scale.

Day 62: White Truffle Oil

I put white truffle truffle oil on just about anything. One of my favourite things is to put it on eggs, but I put it into pastas, into ground beef - I once put it into my cereal and regretted that day for the next 2 hours. It's a great substitute for truffles during the off season (although they are in season now, so no excuses), and also if you don't have the money to spend on truffles on your eggs.

The bottle in the foreground has the ingredient "white truffle flavour" in the ingredient list, and the shorter bottle in the background actually has white truffle oil slices inside of it. Yum. The flavoured oil actually had a stronger truffle flavour to it, I thought. The other one was weaker. They both cost around the same (~$17) although I did get the bottle with sliced truffles inside of it from Homesense on discount, and from what I gather, oil with sliced truffles usually costs a bit more.

I actually especially love putting it onto fresh field mushrooms.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has described white truffle oil as "one of the most pungent, ridiculous ingredients ever known to chef." But fortunately, I feel a lot of tv chefs like to make comments that sounds good, but really make no sense. For instance, like how everyone cooks with extra virgin olive oil, and claims that it tastes better, even in its cooked form! So while Ramsay may have the money to buy real truffles, I doubt many of his customers do, and so I would think they would benefit from this compromise.

On Truffle Oil: Truffle oil is a modern culinary ingredient, used to impart the flavor and aroma of truffles to a dish. Most truffle oils are not made from actual truffles, but are a synthetic product that combines a thioether (2,4-dithiapentane), one of numerous organic aromas or odorants found in real truffles, with an olive oil or grapeseed oil base. As with pure olive oils, these range from clear to cloudy, and yellow to green. A few more expensive oils are alleged to be made from truffles or the by-products of truffle harvesting and production, though the flavor of truffles is difficult to capture in an oil.

Truffle oil is commonly used to make "truffle fries," which feature french fries cooked in truffle oil, parmesan cheese, pepper, and sometimes other ingredients. Some pasta dishes and whipped dishes such as mashed potatoes or deviled eggs incorporate truffle oil.

Truffle oil, available in all seasons and steady in price, is popular with chefs (and diners) because it is significantly less expensive than actual truffles, while possessing some of the same flavors and aroma. The emergence and growth of truffle oil has led to an increase in the availability of foods claiming to be made with or flavored with truffles, in an era when the price of truffles has pushed them out of reach for most diners. "Their one-dimensional flavor is also changing common understanding of how a truffle should taste," Daniel Patterson complained in a New York Times article.

Day 61: Soft-shelled clams

World famous Maritime clams. Do you love clams? I do. I love them manila clams, razor clams, savoury clams, cherry clams. All of them very different. All of them taste best when they're in season. All of them need to be prepared well well. And these soft-shelled clams are beautiful fried.

I usually like the smaller ones because they are softer in texture and sweeter in flavour. These ones, pictured, are from the Hilton Garden Inn hotel right outside the Halifax International Airport, and it's a regular stop over the last few years when we go back to Nova Scotia - and I go straight for the clams. I don't know what it is about it there, but they do clams SO well. Maybe they source the small ones? Maybe they have a secret recipe? But it comes out tasting so sweet, and the batter is perfect... not too bready, not too salty, not too hard. Rather it's all still super nice and moist when you eat them. Nothing worse than perfectly good seafood that gets overly salted, then frozen for years, then mummified in bread crumbs, then refrozen, then deep fried and sold to you at an overpriced family restaurant for $20 a plate (including a leaf of kale, just to make it authentic!)

On Soft-shelled clams

Soft-shell clams, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams" are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.

These clams live buried in the mud on tidal mudflats. They are well-known as a food item on the coast of New England in the Western Atlantic Ocean, however the range extends much farther north to Canada and south to the Southern states. They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, for example in the UK, as well as in the North Sea's Wadden Sea (where they are the dominant large clam).

Soft-shell clams are edible and can be enjoyed in a variety of dishes. Before cooking, it is generally recommended that clams be stored in saltwater for a few days to facilitate the expulsion of sand from their digestive tracts. Some recommend that cornmeal be added to the water to give the clams something to filter from it.

Soft-shell clams can be eaten steamed, fried, or in clam chowder. "Steamers" (steamed soft-shell clams) are an integral part of the New England clam bake, where they are served steamed whole in the shell, then pulled from the shell at the table and dipped, first in the clam broth in which they were cooked, to rinse away sand, and then in melted butter.