Memory Lane

I'm sipping a very inexpensive Soave and remembering The Veneto. I think it's remarkable that a wine priced this affordably can be fragrant, complex and dry without losing impact. Forgive me, feeling pretty suave for it, while I watch Reilly, Ace of Spies Disk 2 which is just as engaging as it was on first run, and I'm thinking of far off places. I'm also enjoying Michael Krondl's book, The Taste of Conquest and have just finished the sparkly chapter on Venice. Krondl's style is spicy in itself, but I have yet to read about allspice, my current favorite addition to robust meat dishes of any kind. No mind, a glance ahead in the index says that it will be mentioned in the chapter on Lisbon. Krondl focuses on the principal middlemen in the game and the cities that prospered most from that effort, venice, Lisbon and Amsterdam, but it seems so far there is a constant background city in Istanbul, for it seems that all merchants had to either deal with or get around dealing with Istanbul and The Turks. It's a ripping yarn to be sure, and I recommend the book for it's clarity and general cheer.

I get my allspice from Nicole's in South Pasadena, a great source for raw spice here in LA. I crush it with a pan and add it early in the cooking so that the breakdown can occur, it being a robust, slow release of its flavor. Particularly good with roasting pork or beef, any stew from any ethnic cooking, including chile con carne or a bolognese ragu, benefit from its peppery, nutmeggy, faintly cinnamon-like flavors. With a little fresh sage and thyme, my little kitchen is in business tonight for roasted loin of pork with whole onions.