Michelin-NYC
NEW YORK - The exalted judges of fine European cuisine have been working undercover on this side of the Atlantic, and the results of their secret investigations are being revealed in the debut edition of the "Michelin Guide New York City," due out Nov. 1.
Michelin has already anointed restaurants in some 20 European countries in its famous guides with their red covers. The much-anticipated book about New York's culinary scene had chefs and restaurant-goers guessing for months about which of Manhattan's many gastronomic temples would get the coveted top rating of three stars. Michelin inspectors are notoriously stingy about admitting new members to its exclusive club, with just 50 three-star restaurants in all of France and only three in the United Kingdom.
Tim Ryan, president of New York's Culinary Institute of America, recalls that when he worked in France, "chefs with three Michelin stars were the culinary equivalent of the Beatles or Rolling Stones - they were sorcerers."
He added that "Michelin is the bible for Europeans, so it will be interesting to see how relevant it will be for Americans who have so many alternative ways to get information."
But he said the ratings are likely to influence Europeans who come here even if Americans prefer to get their recommendations from more democratic sources, like the popular Zagat guides, which base restaurant ratings on the opinions of readers, not experts.
Some two dozen Michelin inspectors, both European and American, spent most of last year on anonymous visits to New York City restaurants and hotels in making their judgments. Fifty hotels will be rated along with 500 restaurants, winnowed down from 1,200 that were considered for inclusion.
While the guide is expected to review highbrow establishments like Per Se, where the nine-course tasting menu runs $175, it will also list restaurants in all five boroughs, in all price ranges and types of food, from ethnic eateries to great neighborhood take-out joints.
A three-star rating indicates "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey," while two stars means "excellent cooking, worth a detour," and one star connotes "a very good restaurant in its category." Some eateries - noteworthy but not superb - will be listed with no star.
Michelin started as a tire company, and its first guide, published in 1900, was created to give drivers information about where to service cars and find accommodations and food.
Michelin already publishes a "green" guide to New York, listing various tourist attractions. The new red guide to restaurants, a paperback, is $16.95. Michelin guides to other U.S. cities are expected to be rolled out over the next few years.
---
Nationwide Zagat
NEW YORK - Sushi in Seattle? Mediterranean in Miami? Continental in Cleveland?
Whichever cuisine you fancy, if you're looking for a great meal in a city where you don't know the local restaurant scene, Zagat's 2006 guide to "America's Top Restaurants" can help.
The book, issued Oct. 26, is based on the opinions of 115,000 foodies and lists 1,352 eateries in 41 cities.
Top-rated restaurants include Bacchanalia in Atlanta, Mizuna in Denver, Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth, Nobu in Las Vegas, Fountain in Philadelphia, Bluestem in Kansas City, Tony's in St. Louis, and Le Bernardin in New York.
Interestingly, the restaurants that received the highest marks from Zagat's diners for food, decor, and service often differed from the restaurants people said were their favorites.
In Boston, the top-ranked restaurant was Oishi, recommended for sushi, but the most popular was Legal Sea Foods, famous for its chowder. In the Los Angeles area, the most popular was A.O.C., a hip Third Street eatery, but the top-ranked was Melisse, a contemporary French restaurant in Santa Monica.
The paperback version of the guide sells for $14.95. An online subscription to zagats.com is $19.95 for restaurant listings or $24.95 for access to all Zagat listings, including hotel, restaurant and nightlife listings.
---
Tips for keeping food fresher and safer longer
Always worth repeating: It's important to store food properly. You can get sick when food is carelessly stowed away in the kitchen, whether the food is leftover or fresh from the store. Here are tips for safer food storage:
-Try to buy fresh raw meat, poultry or seafood no more than one or two days before you eat them. Buy only the freshest food, to use promptly or freeze for safe long-term storage. Check the expiration date to ensure the product is still fresh before freezing.
-Label and date foods as you store them so you can easily tell what you have stored and how long foods have been in the fridge or freezer.
-Never let food thaw at room temperature. Put it in the refrigerator or in cold water instead. Allow about one day for every five pounds of frozen fish, meat or poultry you need to thaw.
-An airtight seal, such as that provided by vacuum food sealing, helps prevent the growth of certain bacteria that can cause food to spoil or get moldy. A vacuum food sealer helps preserve freshness and nutritional value.
-Freezer burn happens when air surrounds food and causes the release of moisture. Food with freezer burn may be safe to eat but has lost much of its nutritional value, flavor and texture. The best way to avoid moisture and freezer burn is with an airtight seal.
-Store food in convenient portion sizes. This helps the waistline and is also a great way to ensure foods safely cool down for storage and reheat for eating in the shortest amount of time.
-The refrigerator's temperature should be no higher than 40 F and the freezer should always be below 0 F.
-As a rule of thumb when reheating leftovers or make-ahead meals, heat them to 175 F throughout for 15 seconds.
-Promptly refrigerate leftovers. Perishable cooked foods should not stay at room temperature longer than two hours.
-Blanching vegetables before they are stored cleans off dirt and organisms that could cause them to lose flavor and texture.
(Source: Rival/Seal-a-Meal)
---
Pomegranates don't need polishing
Pomegranates, with their oddly elegant, naturally fresh leather-like skin, are in peak season now through the end of the year. Choose a pomegranate with a typical medium- to deep-red skin, thin but with no cracks or splits; it should feel heavy for its size.
The edible sweet-tart seeds inside make colorful additions to a wide variety of dishes; their unsweetened juice adds flavor and color to sauces and dressings, and is refreshing to drink when sweetened.
To remove seeds easily, cut the crown end off the pomegranate, then lightly score the rind from top to bottom five or six times around the fruit. Immerse the fruit in a bowl of water and soak 5 minutes. Hold the fruit under water, to prevent the juice from spattering, and break sections apart. Then separate seeds from the rind and membrane. Seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl; rind and membrane will float. Skim off and discard the rind and membrane. Drain seeds, pat dry and they're ready to use.
Whole pomegranates keep well at room temperature, away from sunlight, for several days, and up to three months refrigerated in plastic bags. Refrigerate seeds up to three days. Freeze them in single layers on trays, then keep frozen up to six months in airtight containers. Refrigerate juice up to three days; freeze up to six months.
Pomegranates' distinctive flavor is rivaled by their handsome looks. Fresh, whole fruit can be added to centerpieces and wreaths used as decorative accents on the table. They are also visually attractive when they're dried; arrange them in a single layer on a rack and keep in a cool place for a few weeks. Once dried, pomegranates last for years.
(Source: California Pomegranate Council)
---
Yes, there's a book on that
In case of need or interest, note the following original publishing ventures:
-"Cocina Betty Crocker" (Wiley, 2005, $19.95 paperback) is bilingual, a cookbook with English and Spanish versions of its texts side by side, all the way through.
Most of the book is given up to the collection of 125 "favorite American recipes." This includes Shrimp Creole or, if you prefer, Camarones a la Criolla; and Peanut Butter Cookies, aka Galletas de Mantequilla de Mani. Translations are word for word, and measurements are not changed.
It seems there's no Spanish equivalent for pie, brownies or toffee - but no one's going to have any difficulty recognizing what "pie" is in either language section, and then whipping up popular food items in either language.
Tucked into the back of the book are glossaries, and basic information on nutrition and cooking.
-"Apocalypse Chow" (Robertson, 2005, $12.95 paperback), by Jon Robertson with Robin Robertson, is subtitled "How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out."
Robertson explains that he and Robin, his wife, discovered how to eat well without electricity, as opposed to just surviving miserably, after enduring four major hurricanes since they moved to the South in 1983.
Manmade disasters as well as weather, he reminds us, can put anyone in the position where the instruction to "buy 52 cans of Spam," even if we'd had the forethought to do it, would not be enough to make life palatable.
The book is packed with practical ideas, 68 recipes and much more - a wide variety of useful advice, including plans for staying put, protecting your home, suggested disaster supply kits, and tips on how to improvise so that you can carry out the recipes whether you stay home or flee to a distant motel.
"Serves One" (Lake Isle Press, 2005, $16.95 paperback), by Toni Lydecker, is a new, revised edition of Lydecker's 1998 original.
The author notes that, to help busy people, some favorite recipes from the first edition are repeated in simplified form in this one, and many others are entirely new. There are some 120 recipes in all, for "simple meals to savor when you're on your own," ranging from salads and soups to meat and vegetable choices, and including sandwiches, snacks and sweets.
"The Hasty Gourmet Low Salt Favorites" (InData Publishing, 2005, $19.95 paperback) is by Bobbie Mostyn, targeting people who need to reduce their salt intake.
The book offers about 300 recipes along with nutritional analyses that include sodium and fat totals for individual ingredients, as well as for the finished dishes. Mostyn also offers plenty of general advice on choosing foods, based on her own experience of following a low-salt regime, and her medical research.
The recipes call for familiar ingredients available at supermarkets, keep things simple and suggest using plenty of herbs, spices and sauces to keep finished dishes full of flavor as well as low in salt.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.