In Harmony (installment 1)

I'm trying out a new regular feature on this blog. Last weekend, when making stock, I finally brought a CD player into the kitchen (I usually just have the TV on in the background) and was amazed how much more fun cooking was with some of my favorite tunes playing. Later in the week, I went to a wine class, and it occurred to me how much more pleasurable wine drinking might be with a soundtrack. Like pairing food with different wines, doesn't it make sense to pair music with certain wines? Looks like I'm not the first one to have this thought...though this article gets into brain waves and stuff...makes my head hurt a little. I'm more interested in mood. Certain wines, with their flavors and aromas and mouth feels, put you in certain moods. I think music to compliment this mood would most likely enhance the wine tasting/drinking experience.

I recently opened a new favorite find...Garnacha de Fuego.

I think I've pretty much liked every blend wine I've had that included Grenache, so it makes sense that I would like straight-up Grenache. this is a bargain at about $8 a pop. Here's a professional's description:

"Bright red. Smoky cherry and dark berry aromas are complemented by candied licorice, dark chocolate and zesty minerality. At once silky and lively, with impressively complex cherry and dark berry flavors joined by an exotic floral pastille quality on the finish. This boasts remarkable focus and persistence for the price."

I pretty much have to agree with that assessment. Furthermore, I see it as kind of a casual kind of wine that most people could groove with. Fruity, but sultry. Which brings me to my playlist (these are amazon links, and you can listen to little previews of the songs):

-Badfish, Sublime- such a chill-out song, with a nice slow beat and rich bass. One of my favorite summer driving songs.

-Son's Gonna Rise, Citizen Cope. This is such a good album. I highly recommend it. This is the song that hooked me (actually a co-worker discovered it from a car commercial).

-It Was a Good Day (Remix)-Ice Cube. From an album celebrating NWA and it's individual members, called N.W.A. legacy. While the original is great, this one is more mellow and smooth with some funk.

- Freedom Hangs like Heaven, Iron & Wine. Nice guitar, slightly upbeat...And "Wine" is part of the bands name...it's only natural!

-Like the Weather, 10,000 Maniacs. My favorite Maniacs song. Laid back, sad without sounding too melancholy, Natalies's unique fluctuating voice.

-What a Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers. What?I I like, darn it. You need a little cheese with your wine, right? Anyway, this song is fun and (I think) pretty darn cool.

-Moondance, Van Morrison. God I love this voice. Brings in the "smoky" aspect of the wine, and the sultry nighttime relaxed mood.

-Doors of your Heart, The English Beat. Another slower, but not dragging, deep bass beat. Plus, it's all romantical and crud. Nice!

So that's it...my Granacha de Fuego playlist. please let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, to sort of bring this full circle, an update...you see, I was drinking the de Fuego (I love saying that!) while I was making my onion butter the other night, so to follow up... for "dinner" tonight (had a big, late lunch, so didn't have a real dinner), I put the onion butter with some Cabot's Seriously Sharp cheddar cheese on a shredded wheat cracker (store-brand, not Triscuit, because Racheal Ray needs to get off my box of Tricuits already!).


Wow! Although my initial taste of the uber-caramelized onions the other night was a little too bitter, this was fantastic! The creaminess and sharpness of the cheese balanced the bitter out, and the salty cracker enhanced the sweetness of the onions. Success! It's been requested for Thanksgiving, even.

ETA: While barely awake yesterday morning, I remembered that there is a song to go along with my little onion butter cheese snack, and nearly laughed out loud:

It's so perfect!

meat-al heads

Looking at various packaged meats and meat products, It occured to me that some of the phrases on the packaging would make great band names. See?

-Fully Cooked
-Heat & Serve
-Resealable Bag
-Thaw Slightly
-with gravy
-Coated with Seasoning
-Caramel Color added
-Fully Cooked, Homestyle
-With Catsup Sauce
-Serving Suggestion
-Artificial Flavor
-Net Weight
-Strictly Kosher Beef
-Great For Grilling
-Sell By Date
-Sandwich Style
-Leak Proof
-Mechanically Separated Chicken
-With Shaped Minced Beef
-Packed in Broth
-Without Giblets
-In Milk Gravy

Rock on!

aural and oral

Last week I came across this article in the New York Times, talking about the complexities of picking music to play in restaurants. It's very interesting if you think about it. The wrong music can ruin a meal. I can't think of an example except the couple times I've been to places where the music was really loud. That was probably my fault, though, because they were bar/restaurant combo kind of places, and when you go for a late dinner at a place like that, you have to expect the music is gonna be more at a bar atmosphere volume.

I've made food-themed CD's before, but selected the songs because they had a food-related item in the title, rather than a "music to dine" by kind of idea. Here is the playlist of my most recent food CD:
Hey! Mashed Potato, Hey!, 5.6.7.8's
Peaches & Cream, Beck
Apple Candy, Ben Lee
Birthday Cake, Cibo Mato
Lost in the Supermarket, The Clash
I Ain't Been Licked, Diana Ross
Banana Pancakes, Jack Johnson
Vegetable Friend, Robyn Hitchcock
Cinnamon, The Long Winters
Milkshake, PICTURES
Chocolate, Snow Patrol
Fat Meat, Willie Hudson
Crumb by Crumb, Rufus Wainwright
Soup, Blind Melon
Honey Molasses, Jill Scott
I Eat Dinner (When The Hunger's Gone), Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Biscuit, Portishead
Know Your Onion! , The Shins
Hot Burrito #1, Belly
Sugar Daddy, The Jackson 5
Spam Song, Monty Python

Since reading that NYTimes article, however, I'm thinking about what kind of music I'd actually pair with meals. Pretty much what this Stylus Magazine article does. I like the thought that music can enhance your dining experience and vice versa. Ear and mouth teamwork! As the author of the Stylus article says:
" Paired together properly, however, they can act as powerful reinforcements and co-dependents. Food can taste better, music can be improved, moods can be set, characteristics can be heightened, and moments can become indelible."

Last month there was a piece, again in the NYTimes, which had the top 5 songs on the playlists of 3 top restaurants. Here's the link, and here's the content (so I can refer back to it once it becomes a paid article):
"The Remix; Ear Candy
Everyone has heard a great (if obscure) song while dining and asked, ''What is that?'' At last, these restaurants' current Top 5 playlists provide some answers. PAUL L. UNDERWOOD

Momofuku, New York
Waylon Jennings, ''Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?''
Early Man, ''Thrill of the Kill''
The Hold Steady, ''Multitude of Casualties''
Pavement, ''Frontwards''
Luna, ''Moon Palace''

Avec, Chicago
Desmond Dekker and the Aces, ''Israelites''
The Specials, ''A Message to You Rudy''
Kraftwerk, ''Trans-Europe Express''
The J.B.'s, ''(It's Not the Express) It's the J.B.'s Monaurail''
Buzzcocks, ''Why Can't I Touch It?''

Tableau, Las Vegas
Rod Stewart, ''Manhattan''
Nat King Cole, ''Walkin' My Baby Back Home''
Queen Latifah, ''Baby Get Lost''
Norman Brown, ''What's Going On''
Julia Messenger, ''Look Up Look Down""

Speaking of Music-Food pairings, here's a fun list of Best Music to listen to While Eating Spam on Amazon's Listmania. Ha!

The relationship between food and music is definitely one I'll be exploring more. Both are fantastic ways to learn about other cultures. Both stir up strong emotions in people. Both can make your day or put you in a bad mood. In the introduction to the Philharmonic cookbook by June Lebell, Rose Levy Barenbaum explores her connection to each and how they intertwine:
" The connection between food and music is found even in the words used to describe them. In the food industry, the most common word used to analyze flavor is note. Texture is another word food and music have in common. One of my favorite musical memories is of the time I met Isaac Stern at a party celebrating the birth of Jenifer Lang's book Tastings. I had provided the Chocolate Oblivion Cake that was featured in the book. When George Lang introduced me to Isaac Stern, he rose up, took my hand, and bowed deeply from the waist saying: "Your cake was like velvet." My response: "That is the very word I used to describe your playing the first time I heard you play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto when I was sixteen!""

And finally, there is a discussion over on Chowhound about food and music. Does a person's taste in each correlate with each other? Is someone who is adventurous in what they cook/eat also adventurous about his or her music choices? The consensus seems to be that it really depends on the person.