Food

Tastefully done: Temple's naked sushi

Filed under: Food

How many times in your life do you get the chance to eat sushi off of a naked person?

Even when I lived in Okinawa, word was you had to travel to Tokyo if you wanted to witness one of these events -- and if you were a gaijin, you'd better have connections. It was the potential experience more than the food that attracted me to Temple Restaurant & Shinto Lounge on Saturday night for the first of two nyotaimori and nantaimori evenings.

The history of eating sushi off of a person ("nyotaimori" and "nantaimori" mean "female body presentation" and "male body presentation" respectively) is a bit enigmatic, and tracking down the origins of the practice is difficult. Sources differ about whether it is a longstanding tradition among geisha or whether it is a relatively recent phenomenon owed to the yakuza.

At a private birthday party the night before, Temple staff got the chance to train in a real-life setting. Still, excitement was palpable, even as models were being prepared an hour prior to opening.

All told, it takes roughly 90 minutes to prepare a model. After hair and makeup are completed, the robed individual is surrounded by Japanese shoji screens. Behind the screens, the model's sensitive regions are covered with flowers before the sushi can be arranged on bamboo leaves atop their bodies.

Levels of loquaciousness varied among the models. One male model politely declines to speak until after his shift is done; the other has his eyes closed whenever I stroll by him. Tuesdee, who also works at Temple, is happy to talk until a chef begins placing sushi on her body -- she wants to control her breathing precisely. Behind her is a mirror and a pool filled with dry ice, surrounded by four burning red votives. The low lights add to the ambiance.

You look delicious: more photos by James Tran here.

The fourth of the initial models is Ali, a 26-year-old massage therapist who is "not afraid to try anything" (obviously). "I'm not nervous," I overhear her asking one staff member. "Is that normal?"

A member of the Blackfoot Indian Tribe, she has an already-ornate tattoo that has four more hours or so of work to go. Extending from below her left breast down to the hip, it shows a native woman and the word "Pikuni," the Blackfoot word for their own people.

The toughest part for her, she says, is going to be not talking -- they models aren't supposed to speak with you, and you're discouraged from speaking to them. Ali is excited by the artistic nature of the project.

Visually, the arrangement of rose petals, colorful daises and other floral accoutrements is striking. Origins of this practice aside, Japanese eating ritual is all about the aesthetics, and we have the total package in play tonight.

Practically, though, the process of removing sushi delicately -- no hands, please, just chopsticks -- presents a challenge. Once the party begins, there are hordes of people carrying chopsticks around, and with the ample supply of liquor, someone seems liable to get stabbed.

Among eaters, there is a wide variance in chopstick proficiency. An Asian guy mishandles his sticks and drops a hunk of sushi on a model. "Sorry," he says to her. "You'd think I'd be qualified to do this." She registers the hint of a smile. Later, I will witness one poor fellow make seven earnest attempts before successfully removing a piece of sashimi. I feel like applauding when he is done. If the leaves adhere to the sushi and start to pull off the model, a staffer is there to hold the leaf down with chopsticks of her own.

Flower power: more photos by James Tran here.

Though the practice seems a more artistic than sensual one, there are exceptions. Two men approach a model whose sushi stocks have recently been depleted. "Oh no!" one says, never taking his eyes off Tuesdee. "There's no more food!" But he lingers. "C'mon," his buddy says. "Let's get more sake." I hear another man's girlfriend ask him, "are we going to keep going back to the same girl?" He blushes, and if he answers, I don't hear it.

How about the food? Personal preference requires me to sample more sashimi than sushi rolls, and the fresh maguro tuna was mouth-meltingly delectable. Among the other appetizers circulating, the shrimp bisque with Pernod and the seared Kobe beef were favorites. (As an Okinawa supremacist, I have to point out that Ishigaki beef is the wave of the future. Less hyped but just as tasty, the lean meat from one of the country's southernmost islands is waiting for some able entrepreneur to begin imports).

But the main attraction proved most popular. Through most of the evening, I find myself sitting by Tuesdee. At 8:05, they re-stock her body with sushi for the first time -- with three people wait expectantly in the wings. Ten minutes later, they're reloading her again, and again crowds hover nearby. This repeats six or seven times before 8:30, when the shoji screens come out to surround the table she's occupied for the past couple of hours.

Staff cover her with a robe before at last the roses are removed from her body. Her memorable night is done.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 10, 2008 7:35 AM | Comments (9)

 

Strip Club: cheeky or offensive?

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So far, at least, there's only been one incident of confusion regarding the name of the new restaurant, Strip Club, in St. Paul. Co-owner Tim Niver told me that one day two guys walked in with dollar bills in their hands and asked, "Where's the other room?" (The guys, likely non-native English speakers, apparently didn't realize the name is a pun on strip steak. Neither did my friend's fourth-grade son, who, when his father felt compelled to explain what strip steaks and strip clubs were, responded, "Why would anyone want to see somebody take their clothes off? That's gross.")

Niver says they chose the name because they thought it was funny and memorable and that, so far, only one neighbor has raised concerns about the name's appropriateness, citing concerns about the area's troubles with prostitution. We've seen this question raised in the past regarding Chino Latino's ad campaigns: Where's the line between cheeky and offensive?

Those who find the name in poor taste should at least be happy to know that googling "Strip Club" with "St. Paul" now brings up only mentions of the restaurant on the first page, which certainly wasn't the case when I tried that a month ago.

Posted by Rachel Hutton at March 5, 2008 11:14 AM | Comments (6)

 

Reporter's Notebook: Sarah Master

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Barbette head chef Sarah Master (interviewed this week) had far more to say than could be contained within the puny confines of a 500-word print article.

ON THE INTOXICATING ODOR OF SEAFOOD

"When I started, I was doing a lot of Creole, fried green tomatoes, and oysters, and I worked at the frier station at my first cooking job down there. My husband used to complain that I came home smelling like oysters all the time — they call them "ersters" down there, you know, so I'd come home and he'd say: 'Oh, Erster Girl's home!'"

ON FORMER BARBETTE HEAD CHEF LANDON SCHOENEFELD'S DEPARTURE

"He wanted to open his own place. I don't know how that's coming along. He's over at Porter and Fry right now, line cooking. I think he's very creative, he's an excellent cook, and I think that this place was trying to rein him in a little bit to a certain style that he didn't really want to do. He parted on good terms. He decided that it wasn't for him, and he gave his notice, and said he would work out to the end of the year, but they decided to promote me."

ON SPOON RIVER

"Spoon River was good — it helped lead up into this. I was able to do a lot of specials there. I did the vegetarian special there, which is funny, because there aren't a lot of vegetarians in New Orleans. And everything there is really heavy. And Brenda [Langton] was always like: 'No no no no, we gotta keep it light... let's put some rice on here... brown rice on this and that...' And I was like: 'I don't even know how to cook brown rice.' She kind of reined me in a little bit, and showed me the ropes of vegetarian food."

ON THE LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT

"I really like how most new restaurants around here now are going local. There's so many places around here where you can get great local produce. A dude dropped off a whole lamb in my kitchen today that he killed last week. That kind of stuff is really neat to me. It was hard from me when I moved up here to not get the guy knocking on the back door with a huge cooler of shrimp, saying: 'I caught these this afternoon.' But now, it's like, I've got people who are bringing me these great heirloom tomatoes. And I get to order whole lamb and break it down myself. We use Fisher Farms pork here... I'm trying to start a deal with Sylvan Hills Farm, for our produce, starting early summer and running until mid-fall, just getting produce from them. I see that shift happening here, and that's really neat. That was something they didn't really have in New Orleans, even though there were farms all over the place down there, they didn't use a lot of local produce."

Posted by James Norton at March 4, 2008 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

 

My-T-Fine Bakery/Cafe closed

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In case you hadn't heard, the tiny cafe at 43rd and Bryant has closed its doors, so Kingfield will have to do without its scratch-made dinners and light-as-a-bubble sugar buns. I spoke with owner Gretchen Bustin, who said that right now she's not sure what she's doing next. Let's hope it'll be restaurant-related.

Posted by Rachel Hutton at February 29, 2008 9:13 AM | Comments (3)

 

Pinkberry, we don't want 'cha anyway

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Ahh, another New York Times article about the trendy frozen yogurt battles being waged in Greenwich Village, where Pinkberry and Red Mango face-off like dairy-based Jets and Sharks.

So should we expect this sort of thing coming soon to Hennepin Avenue? Not according to Pinkberry’s website, which states that store franchises are available to residents of certain states--and Minnesota’s not one of them.

Not that we’d want the overhyped fro-yo, anyway. I recently stopped in at the Pinkberry and Red Mango shops on Bleeker Street shops was, frankly, underwhelmed. Both versions tasted like the same TCBY we’ve been eating since the 80s. Pinkberry’s is a little creamier and tangier, but otherwise, it seems the only draw is for dieters using Pinkberry to satisfy ice cream cravings. With so many great local scoop shops (Crema Cafe, Izzy’s, Grand Ole Creamery, Sebastian Joe’s, etc.), if you can spare the calories, stick with the real thing.

Posted by Rachel Hutton at February 27, 2008 10:06 PM | Comments (9)

 

Now Open: Porter & Frye

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Minneapolis got a mega-dose of luxe living when the new Hotel Ivy opened last Thursday: pricey penthouse, super-swank spa, and the year's most anticipated restaurant, Porter & Frye. One of the main reasons for the excitement is that the kitchen is run by chef Steven Brown, formerly of Harry's Food and Cocktails (and Restaurant Levain and RockStar), with the assistance of a number of other notable talents, including Landon Schoenfeld (Barbette, Bulldog NE) and Mark McGraw (Confluence).

The restaurant is located in the original historic Ivy Tower, that moody stone structure by the convention center that sat empty for years. It's set up similar to the Chambers Kitchen, with bar and tables on the ground floor, and a more formal dining area with VIP booths one story below. I haven't eaten there yet, but the menu looks formal with some rustic touches: hot potato salad and chowder with ham hock and rock shrimp for starters, lots of beef and lamb entrees. Review forthcoming, after it's been open a month.

Posted by Rachel Hutton at February 25, 2008 11:49 PM | Comments (3)

 

Critic's Notebook: Hyderabad House

Filed under: Food

I grew up in Madison, WI, understanding only about four different kinds of cooking: home cooking (lasagna, casseroles, chicken and green beans), Door County lodge food (fish fry or fish boil, cherry pie, ice cream cream puffs) German food (bratwurst from the Brat und Brau or Union Terrace), and Italian-American food (the red-sauce and pasta at Paisan's).

So when I entered my late teens and started to go out to restaurants with friends, everything seemed new.

Going to Hyderabad House took me back to some of my first restaurant experiences in college. Though I attended UW-Madison, one of my closest friends went to school in Chicago, and I'd drive down to visit her whenever we could get our schedules to click. She'd take me out to little Thai and Indian places around Hyde Park or on Devon Street, and my mind was blown by how different food could taste. At that point, everything — pad siew, samosas, chicken tikka masala — was a revelation, no matter how well (or poorly) executed it might be. It was just off of my very limited little experiential grid.

One place she took me was (if memory serves) called Hima's Kitchen. It was tiny — maybe 8 or 9 small tables — and it functioned as part restaurant, part daycare. Indian toddlers ran at high speed from table to table, and you felt very much as though you'd wandered into someone else's home, and that they'd decided (for reasons unknown) to feed you. Sure, you paid a bill, but there was an informality and chaotic feel to the experience that made it highly entertaining. Hyderabad House had the same kind of vibe; our waitress (who I'm guessing is the owner's wife and/or co-owner) kept knocking my spoon when she set down various dishes, and by the end of the meal it had become a running joke: "That spoon is broken!" After running my card at the end of the meal, she thanked me by name: "Thank you very much, James." You're not supposed to acknowledge that you know a customer's name after you run their card. It's not local custom. And yet... hell, I left the restaurant with a silly grin plastered on my face. I was acknowledged as a person, not just a financial unit.

And I as I drove back down Central Ave. to Uptown, I thought a little bit about what I'd eaten, and thought that the food tasted... for lack of a better word, real. Not processed, not picked-over for perfect consistency, not checked against any kind of measurement of what people in Minneapolis-St. Paul at large would want to eat, but checked, instead, against what people from the cook's family would want to eat. There's an intimacy to food like this.

I don't mean to over-romanticize the experience. As I mentioned in my review, I didn't much care for the handling of the meat in the main dishes. I tend to like my meat tender and well-organized, broken up into little bite-sized pieces or chunks. Call it a cultural bias, or call it my personal taste, or what have you, but there you go. And I know there are people who like their food to mildly spiced, or just plain "mild"; as a general rule, the cooking at Hyderabad House wouldn't be for you. But there are so, so, so many places where you can get your main meal exactly how you want it (or how you think you want it, or how you're conditioned to want it) that hitting a place that does things differently — hell, in a truly foreign manner, without compromise — is really a joyous discovery. At the very worst, it's fun to talk about what's different, what's "wrong," what's new about this kind of eating. And at best (here I think of the keema paratha and the samosas), it's a visceral thrill.

Posted by James Norton at February 22, 2008 10:00 AM | Comments (2)

 

Chef Shack Preview

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Damn, it's cold outside, which means it's a great time to start thinking about summer. I'm really looking forward to the reappearance of Chef Shack, which serves up some of the Twin Cities’ best street food. I was lucky enough to catch Lisa Carlson and Carrie Summer, the chef and pastry chef from Spoonriver, test-driving the Chef Shack at the St. Paul Winter Carnival a few weeks ago. The trailer was topped with a hula-hooping go-go dancer and was blasting music to lure parade goers to gourmet takeout fare, including pulled pork sandwiches, vegetarian chili, chocolate mousse, torched-to-order creme brulee, and those awesome cardamom-spiced mini-doughnuts Carlson and Summer were selling last summer at the Mill City Farmers Market (which is where they plan to park the Chef Shack this summer, so stay tuned…)

Posted by Rachel Hutton at February 21, 2008 5:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

Introducing A la Carte

Filed under: Food

When I began chatting with City Pages about food writing, I was concerned that my own style of dining (which leans toward "humble" — some of my favorite meals have involved beer-boiled bratwurst, authentic tacos, or old-school slices of pizza) might not click in a metropolis where the high-end restaurants bump so confidently up against a national scene.

So when the word came down that my former Minnesota Monthly colleague Rachel Hutton was going to take on the haute cuisine stuff via The Dish — leaving me free to pounce on little neighborhood eateries and ethnic holes-in-the-wall — I flipped out. This new column, named A la Carte, was a perfect fit. I knew Rachel, and I knew her writing — she would be the paper's world-class fancy-pants ninja, freeing me up to do what I really dig.

I struggle (emphasis on struggle) to write about food in a way that is clear and free of pretense. My concerns typically run like this: Is this food delicious? Is this food delicious for the money I'm paying? Is this food delicious in some kind of new way?

So when you read "A la Carte," you're not going to get much sensual purple prose, or references to big-name chefs. (Although, to be fair to Rachel, she often beat selected bits of purple prose out of my MNMO stuff, so you won't see much of it in her column, either.)

What you will get, I hope, is writing that takes you somewhere new, gets you out of your neighborhood and/or comfort zone, and occasionally cracks you up. You'll get writing that is a critical celebration of that which can get overlooked in the bold-faced name / big restaurant group-driven food coverage that, necessarily, can sometimes dominate the media discourse.

And I'm going to shoot for honest writing, and look for your comments to keep me on the straight and narrow. I have biases as a diner, and if I'm not exposing them to you in my prose, I hope to be correcting for them behind the scenes. I don't want "A La Carte" to be an uncritical cheerleader; while I've had some life-changing meals in neighborhood restaurants, I've also had some crummy ones, and I won't ever knowingly peddle you a false bill of goods just because it makes a good story.

In conclusion, and with real feeling: Please — please, please, please — email me (jim@flakmag.com) with your ideas. This column will not succeed unless I'm able to keep an ear to the ground and ferret out the hidden gems that this city conceals and treasures by the dozen. If you're a chef and you've changed your menu, email me. If you're a diner with a favorite little place — or even just a favorite appetizer, or dessert somewhere — email me. If you're a purveyor offering something special that's being overlooked, email me. If you're a waiter or waitress, a PR flack, a talented home cook, whatever — email me.

And, when in doubt, eat somewhere new.

Posted by James Norton at February 20, 2008 11:04 AM | Comments (4)

 

The Dish on Dish

Filed under: Food

Sometimes the truth sounds too much like an Onion headline: Food Critic's Parents Celebrate Valentine's Day at Pearson's. When I found out that Mom and Dad spent the most romantic evening of the year at a place known for its 1970s decor, Cadilac-driving clientele, and lutefisk suppers, I knew I had my work cut out for me.

As the new Dish columnist, my goal is to help you make decisions on how to spend your dining dollars. When reviewing restaurants, I will always visit three times, sample a range of items across the menu, and give you an honest assessment of how well the restaurant delivers on its promises---not just on the meal itself, but the entire experience, from making the reservation to paying the check. Think of it this way: I spend City Pages' money on lousy meals so you don't have to.

A la Carte columnist James Norton and I will also be interviewing chefs, servers, artisan food-makers, and purveyors to give you more insight into issues and trends affecting how you grocery shop and dine. If you know things you think we'd like to know about---new restaurants, unusual ingredients, people or places overlooked and underappreciated---please, by all means, write and let us know.

With your help, we believe that as knowlegable, scrupulous critics, we can encourage restaurateurs to raise the bar, and challenge them not to just deliver good value, but surprise and delight us. Of course, what pleases us may not please you: Tastes are always, to some extent, subjective. If you disagree, you don't have to heed our advice. Though, next February 14, let's hope my parents do. ---Rachel Hutton, rhutton@citypages.com

Posted by Rachel Hutton at February 20, 2008 9:51 AM | Comments (9)

 

Fast Food Menus

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The New York City Board of Health unanimously voted to make chain restaurants (more than 15 locations) post calorie numbers on their menu boards.

The New York Restaurant Association sued to stop it from happening, but lost. It seems like they might have an argument that this law should be for all restaurants. Is there some special logic to only forcing chain restaurants to displaying the unappetizing information? Aren't your arteries being clogged if you eat a Big Mac (540 calories, 29 grams of fat) or a burger from a restaurant with one (or 14 for that matter) stores?

Posted by Ben Palosaari at January 22, 2008 5:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

Half Baked Holiday

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Only in America: National Pie Day. Wow. Here are the six most valuable things I learned from the American Pie Council's Web site.

'By its very nature, pie is meant to be eaten with others.'

By bringing pie to work, 'You’ll create a lot of good rapport and maybe even get a raise.'

The best way to thank somebody is 'with a warm hug wrapped in a delicious crust.'

Most Americans believe chocolate pie to be the 'most romantic pie.'

'It’s great with lunch, dinner or as a late-night snack.'

You can get free pie on National Pie Day at Bakers Square.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at January 17, 2008 11:27 AM | Comments (1)

 

No reservations

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Meant no chance to see Anthony Bourdain last night at the Triple Rock. He packed the joint and dozens more were turned away. But he's all over the local airwaves. Mary Lucia talked with him on The Current yesterday. Channel 9 had him in studio this morning. And Kerri Miller interviewed him on today's Midmorning show. (One stunning revelation from the Miller chat: he quit smoking!) Bourdain will also be signing books at MOA this afternoon.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 27, 2007 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

 

Reservations with Anthony Bourdain

Filed under: Food , Food , Food , Food

One only has to tune in to the Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations to see that in the past two years the man has truly become a globetrotter. Hardly a regurgitation of the Zagat-approved restaurants of the cities, Bourdain dines on the street, with locals in hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and even occasionally at private residences. His show, much like his writing, can be hilarious, critical, and endearing—all in one segment.

Although he received a lot press for merging politics with food as war broke out in Lebanon, that special episode was hardly the first suggestion Bourdain has made that food and politics are intertwined. For example, recently while traveling through Texas and Mexico, Bourdain struggled with the concept of borders, citizenship, and the people who deal with these issues on a daily basis—all while dining in Texas on sushi prepared by a Mexican chef. Although he was traveling in Jamaica with a cold at the time of this interview, Anthony Bourdain managed to take a moment to chat with City Pages.

City Pages: How do you feel about the rise of the celebrity chef? Do you feel that it’s good for the industry? Is it detrimental in any way?

Anthony Bourdain: I think that on balance, it's a good thing. Even at its most annoying—if you're talking celebrity "chefs" and not including the industry created bobbleheads, the phenomenon has raised the hopes and expectations and prestige of working cooks. Kitchens have more pride and hope than when I started out—and that can only be a good thing. And almost anything that informs the public and raises their awareness and knowledge—aspirations and expectations for a meal is a good thing. The downside is the poor bastards who are taking out huge student loans to go to cooking school at age 35—without really knowing what they're getting into. Basically—if you're going to culinary school to be a "celebrity chef," you are in for a very hard—and likley very short ride in the restaurant biz. The industry will always shake out the unprepared, the uninformed, the weak, and the delusional. A lot of nice people are going to get shredded in the interim. Prestige may have grown for cooks—but the work itself is NOT glamorous.

CP: Has your cooking style changed since traveling extensively for your show?

AB: No. I cooked old school French bistro classics ‘til the end of my cooking days. Even I am not so arrogant as to think I could cook Thai food—or add anything to that glorious, centuries old tradition, after only a few weeks in Thailand.

CP:Have you ever been terrified of a meal (be it the situation or the actual food)? How did you get through the experience?

AB: Chicken McNuggets terrify me. That, and uncleaned warthog ass encrusted with sand, fur, crap, and redolent of undigested reflux. I won't be having that again. Oh yeah—I think those Cinnabon things are pretty scary. They're fucking huge. You see some Jabba-sized monster shoving one a those things into their face in an airport at six in the morning? That's the sort of thing that haunts your dreams.

CP:Do you have any theories as to why Americans are obsessed with food safety, yet continue to consume junk food?

AB: We're afraid of everything these days. We're quickly becoming a nanny state—and it's not just us. The EU is way ahead of us in building in and reinforcing the notion that the State owes you a guarantee that everything you could possibly shove in your mouth is "clean," "pure, " and without any risk. It has been decided that we are too stupid to make even the most basic of decisions about our lives—what to put in our mouths. We have essentially called for our own infantalization, and not without reason. One only need look at the current stats for expected cases of Type 2 diabetes, percentage of Americans currently considered "morbidly" obese, or unhealthily overweight, to see the point of view.

CP:If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

AB: Sushi. It's clean, it's light, it's delicious. I would, of course, want Masa Takayama preparing it for me.

CP:How do you feel about people that say they search for “authentic” food—people that expect to eat Thai food in Minnesota as if dining in Thailand, for example. Does the addition of the cream cheese wonton to a menu destroy any attempts at authenticity? Is authenticity important?

AB: Authentic first. I'm willing to try and occasionally enjoy improvs on the classics. But just as chefs should know and respect the classics before expanding their horizons, I think diners should know the "real thing" before they start eating cream cheese, crawdad, and avocado novelty hand rolls at Cajun Sushi Dome.

See Anthony Bourdain read, sign, and discusses his latest book, No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach at the Triple Rock tonight. The event is all ages, free, and starts at 7:00 p.m.

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at November 26, 2007 3:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

It's Minnesota Beer Time!

Filed under: Food , Food , Food , Food , Food

It's no shocker that the Midwest, often referred to as the Grain Belt, makes great beer. And though lately Minnesota has experienced a beer renaissance of sorts with brands such as Surly and Summit, as well as notable brewpubs like Town Hall, Minnesotans have been producing beer as far back as colonization. Doug Hoverson, a beer judge, teacher, and drink enthusiast, has meticulously reconstructed the history of Minnesota beer, from homebrews to Hamms to the present, in Amber Water: The History of Brewing in Minnesota. He took a moment in his busy schedule to chat with City Pages.

CP: What originally peaked your interest in Minnesota beer and its history?

DH: When I was at college I had some friends that got me interested in beer other than the readily available, heavily advertised, light beers, and when I came back to Minnesota it was just as Summit and James Page was starting to bring out their new beers. From there I started experimenting with different types of beers to see what was out there. I didn’t really have the idea for writing a book for another 10 years— I was looking at some old newspapers from Morehead back in the 1880s to for a paper I was writing on the Northern Pacific Railroad, and I came across some ads from old breweries I had never heard of. At that point I started to look around to see if there was a book on MN breweries There wasn’t. I thought it might be a fun book to write so I got started.

CP: I see that you’re a beer judge. How does one become an expert in the subject? What are some of things you look for during competition?

DH: The process for training is basically, local homebrew clubs put on a 40-hour class usually 3 hours a night over 12 to13 weeks. At the end you take a three, three and a half, hour and a half test where you describe beer styles, write sample ballots on mystery beers, and describe the brewing process. It’s a fairly tough test. You have to know a lot of trivia about types of ingredients and particular styles. Judging it, it’s really more like a dog show than anything else— it might be the cutest dog ever, but if it doesn’t look like what that particular type of dog is supposed to look like, it can’t win. With beer it’s the same thing—it might be your absolute favorite beer, but if they’re claiming it’s a pilsner, and it doesn’t have the right characteristics, it’s not a winner.

CP: Have you found you have a greater understanding and appreciation of chemistry through your beer research?

DH: Definitely! When I was working on the book, as well as training to be a beer judge, I had to learn things about amino acids and temperatures of reactions—things that I paid no attention to when I was doing chemistry in high school and college.

CP: What are some common misperceptions about beer—be it historical inaccuracies, or just general beer misperceptions that irk you?

DH: One of theories that comes up is what exactly bock beer is. There seems to be a perception that bock beer, because it’s much darker, is whatever is left in the tank at the end of the year, and they scrape that out and turn it into bock. There’s never anything left in the tank at the end of the brewing cycle, it’s absolutely clean afterwards. Bock is simply made stronger, with a darker grain mix. It would be like saying you made a pot of tea, and whatever you scrape at the bottom is coffee— you have to make coffee, and bock is an intentional product.

CP: It’s curious that the beverage industry often reflects trends in society more so than many other products. Why do you think that is?

DH: Beer is ultimately a luxury product. I think because of that it is more sensitive to trends. You don’t have to have it, so you’re going to choose it for enjoyment and the types of things that cause enjoyment change with the culture. There’s a big move with organic beers for example, because that has become important to people. For some, being accepted by a big group is what’s important, so Miller Lite, Bud Lite, and Coors is what you are looking for in a luxury product.

CP: It sometimes seems like we are moving away from local and independent businesses—bookstores being an obvious example. Yet the exact opposite seems to be happening with beers—Surly, for one, has become quite a local superstar.

DH: I think one difference, especially in the case of bookstores or small independent newspapers, is that it's hard to enjoy beer over the internet. There's something about the place where you're enjoying the beer. A lot of the enjoyment is the setting. One of the reasons Coors was so popular in Minnesota in the '70s, and Fat Tire is so popular now, is that it's a beer that people had out West on vacation, and so it has a good association.

CP: Are there any recent local beer developments that have you excited?

DH: Surly brewing is one that has to be mentioned. They’re products are always creative. I think it’s interesting that they decided to start canning instead of bottling. That way, it also finds a different customer group—people that play ultimate Frisbee or take it to the beach— the outdoorsy set The scene around the Twin Cities is quite active with Surly, Flat Earth, and the old standbys. There’s a lot of good beer being made—raising the standards so hopefully we can get away from people having to have 12 Miller Lites to have a good time, how about 3 or 4 nice beers. We’re not quite Milwaukee or Denver, bu we do have a lot of good people. It seems like all of the brewers really get along. There’s competitiveness at tasting events and festivals, but they’re all friendly and complimenting each other.

CP: I’ve noticed a certain stigma amongst beer snobs with canned beer…

DH: Which is another misconception. Let’s face it—the inside of a keg is an aluminum can. Most of the negative association comes from that when people drink straiggt from the can, they can taste whatever was on the top of the can. Plus, the beer hasn’t had a chance to get rid of the excess carbon dioxide from being poured into a glass.

CP: Amber Waters lays out a timeline of beer brewing and consumption in Minnesota that actually predates Minnesota as a state. What were some of the methods you used to reconstruct this history?

DH: There were a fair number of limitations because a number of the documents from the time are long gone. Sometimes I knew a brewery was in a town before the town had a newspaper, sometimes I would discover just by luck that someone else had recorded it and that info made it into a history book. Sometimes I would find references in family histories to someone starting a brewery. A lot of the earliest material was really tough to find. Once we're into the 1850s, almost every town had a newspaper, and at that point I could track info on a much more reliable basis. By 1862, the excise taxes were collected by the federal government, so I had incredible details on who brewed how much and when because the government needed their money.

CP: What are some of the more interesting examples of breweriana you came across in your research?

DH: I hadn’t realized that some of the first beer had been packaged in stoneware bottles. There were a number of early brewerina (items produced with beer logos on it)— and really early, it’s few and far between, but by the 1880s, breweries were buying taverns and stocking them with extremely fancy signs, and furniture with the logo on it.

CP: Do you keep a hefty collection yourself? I noticed that a lot of the pictures in the book are credited to your collection.

DH: Not particularly. Most of my stuff is fairly cheap. I collected mostly because I knew I would need them for the book.

CP: Do you anticipate another bust in small, local breweries in the future? Do you view the new era of microbreweries and smaller brewers as a progressive success, or is the industry cyclical?

DH: In this particular case, if there's a bust it will be a long ways away. There was a little bit of a shake-out in the craft breweries in the mid-1990s, but there weren't too many Minnesota breweries affected by it since there weren't too many at the time. Minnesota breweries have been creative and smart about making sure that they aren't duplicating each other's product. Schell is famous for their pilsners, wheat beer, and Octoberfest. Summit is more famous for their pale ale and porter. Surly makes beers that defy style guidelines.

CP: What do you think have been the strengths and weaknesses of MN beers, both past and present?

DH: Well, I think the brewers that function in Minnesota are as good as any in the country. We have some really top-notch people doing really creative work. One of the limitations of Minnesota brewing is that some of the laws are more restrictive than in other states. So, some people interested in starting a brewery somewhere might not pick Minnesota because of the tangled laws that they have top cut through, and there are a few that were interested in Minnesota, and they just discovered that Wisconsin was easier to deal with.

CP: Any tips for people interested in getting into homebrew?

DH: The best tip would be to check in with people at homebrew stores, and join a club. We have an upcoming event—on Saturday November 3, a bunch of homebrew clubs will be meeting outside at Barley John’s Brewpub in New Brighton. We’ll be encouraging anyone interested to watch ask questions and watch a series of batches being brewed.

Come see Doug discuss all things beer in Minnesota at several lectures through the city, including one at the Summit Brewing Company (be sure to get there early). Free. 7:00 p.m. 910 Montreal Cir., St. Paul, 651.265.7800. Also 5:00 p.m. Sunday at Magers & Quinn Booksellers (3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.822.4611). Check out calendar for other related readings and talks.

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at October 25, 2007 1:08 PM | Comments (0)

 

3Qs with apple scientist David Bedford

Filed under: Food

For David Bedford, a fruit crops research scientist at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center, a single apple has all the power of Google and all the health benefits of a nicotine patch. At least according to the Association of University Technology Managers' "Better World Report," which listed the Center's signature invention, the Honeycrisp, among those other world-changing innovations of the last decade. The U's Apple Research Exhibit is up now through October 31 at the Landscape Arboretum.

City Pages: The U of M has crossbred such famous apples as the Zestar!, SnowSweet, and Honeycrisp in the last few years. Are there any ethical dilemmas to consider while playing Apple God?

David Bedford: As nice as it is to be called an "Apple God," we don't really wield that kind of power. When we develop new varieties by crossbreeding or hybridization we are actually doing the same thing that occurs in nature, except that we are choosing specific parents. Ultimately we can't determine how the genes from each parent will be combined in their offspring, however. That is determined by a "higher" Apple God.

CP: The U of M's Honeycrisp apple was honored in the "Better World Report." Aside from the fact that it has "explosively crisp flesh," how did an apple really change the world?

Bedford: As proud as we are of Honeycrisp, it's hard, even for us, to say that it is comparable to Google, the V-chip, and the nicotine patch. But maybe in the smaller context of the apple world its effect has been fairly important. For apple growers in the U.S., especially in the East and Midwest, it has been a shining star for a struggling industry. Has it really changed the world? Maybe not in the same sense that Google has, but until you try one yourself you'll never know for sure!

CP: Is it good luck if I find a worm in my Honeycrisp?

Bedford: Honeycrisps are best eaten worm-free. Save the worms for your tequila.

"Apples with A-Peel," the apple research exhibit at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, is up now through October 31. 3675 Arboretum Dr., Chaska; 952.443.1400. Weekend apple tastings noon to 3:00 p.m.

--Molly Priesmeyer

Posted by Chuck Terhark at October 20, 2006 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

 

And the Lord said "deep-fry that puppy!"

Filed under: Food

The Minnesota State Fair may be head and pork shoulders above its competitors when it comes to deep-fried oddities on a stick, but some folks at the North Carolina State Fair take their cue from the Fryer Upstairs. "I had a vision from God to do the banana," declared Vincent Thomas, 49, of Creative Catering of Raleigh. Thomas introduced fried banana puddin' bites at last year's fair and will be showcasing fried strawberry cobbler, fried apple cobbler, and fried pina colada strips this year. The North Carolina State Fair runs through October 23 if you've got frequent flyer miles and are feeling peckish.

Posted by Corey Anderson at October 17, 2005 5:30 PM | Comments (0)