Panettonne That Holiday Classic

The classic big boxes are standards right now in supermarkets and gourmet stores right now up until the New Year. They store gold of a sort,  panettones , those delicious buttery breads filled with everything from candied cherries to chocolate chips.Its' complicated recipe is now becoming an obsession with American bakers.

Tejal Rao wrote about this holiday must have in yesterday's New York Times Food section. The recipe was usually the domain of expert Northern Italian bakers , thanks to its' complexity . According to Ms. Rao, it is wildly sensitive , demanding and occassionally infuriating. It is a yeast dough , after all and that is not always easy to deal with in baking.It is a high maintenance dough . The end result should be an airy crumb that can be pulled apart with the ease of pulling apart cotton candy It should be sweet and light ,melting on the tongue.It should be as weightless as cake and have a slight tang like sourdough. Many Italian bakers begin with lieveto madre the starter.Some recipes don;t call for this,Jim Labey of the Sullivan Street Bakery  has a recipe that calls for less sugar which also means no starter . The home baker can just make a simpler version of it called pan d'oro or golden bread. It's essential a panettone without all the  mixing and baking drama.
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Prosperous households made the bread as early as the Medieval Period.. Even back then there was an obssessive amount of attention being paid  to technique and ingredients. Over the years as it became mass produced, it took on the qualities of a mass produced, perfumed sponge. One American baker from San Francisco, Roy Schvartzapel has elevated the recipe after tasting an artesenal one. It has a wispy  texture, melting instantly in his mouth and he recreated it with the help of Italian baker Iginio Massari outside of Milan. He makes small batches of it to sell. Other bakers have tried , some have relegated their doughs to the garbage. Screw up on it and it becomes trash. Everything about the panettone has to be perfect, from the fermentation to the timing, to the temperature, from the emulsion to the starter. Even as something as straightforward as mixing can have pitfalls. Maybe the best bet is taking the slices and turning it into a yummy bread pudding that starts off with toasting the panettone slices  and then covering them with an eggy milk mixture.It's then baked in a aluminum tented pan for forty-five minutes. The end result is a  puffed, golden treat , perfect for a holiday dessert.

Good home bakers should try this Italian treat. It can be a challenge but worth it. If not you can always buy it and turn it into a tasty bread pudding.

The Perfect Wine Shop

We all  know what makes a good food store. We know it;s a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, good customer service and a welcoming atmosphere. Now what makes a good wine shop? Ask anyone and they'll draw a blank. What does make a liquor store stand out?

The answer was a very good article in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Eric Asimov wrote about it in  his Pour Column and it's worth saving. Many people just walk into their local liquor store and overlook the obvious signs . One , the ambient temperature should be fifty four degrees - the temperature of a wine cellar. If your local wine shop feels a bit too warm , then walk out  and find a moderately cooler one.Also, another bad sign is if the place is flooded with sunlight.  A liquor store should be dark, otherwise  the light can damage the wine,especially if it's in clear or light blue bottles.
Dusty merchandise is also a telling sign, The staff has been lax in upkeep and possible negligent with inventory. Another sign of an attentive sales force. Look at the description listed under the bottles.Staff written ones means they're personally involved and a distinct point of view. They'll also offer you advice on what to  buy  and even offer samples.Buyers should also note if the bottles are laying down or standing up. It's a good sign if they're placed on their side, this way the cork won't dry out  and let in oxygen.This can oxidize the wine.

Mr. Asimov also visits some of the better wines shops across the country. He visits Bay Grape in San Francisco which even has wifi and tables  There are also discussion groups with sales people leading them and teaching shoppers about different types. All of this has made Bay Grape a popular wine shop with a loyal clientele. New York City also has wine shops that are much more. Take Black Label Wine Merchants..Sales clerks will either  engage shoppers in conversations to determine their likes and dislikes or back away from the more distant ones. Some stores even track their shoppers purchases, to better anticipate their next trips to the store as well as help them in the future. Wine shop owner.Vanessa Moore, of Unwined In Alexandria Virginia,trains her staff to recognize customers by name and get to know their tastes. There's also another family aspect  in the sense that she only buys from family wineries. She does change brands frequently  which can turn off devotees of certain wineries. Greenwich Village's Some Good Wine offers wines from places that normally aren't associated with wine making, from the Canary Islands, Corsica and the Czech Republic, thanks to owner Jeremy' Blocks passion for exotic wines.This means his customers can also expand their repertoire too.

A good wine shop has to have several different components to be successful. The bottom line is both the merchandise and the customers  have to be treated special. This translates into a liquor stoe with a long life and a loyal follwing.