Wine Pairing
I thought I once wrote a post about pairing wine with cookie dough. You know when you're depressed and feeling sorry for yourself, you curl up in front of the TV with a bucket of cookie dough and a bottle of wine? I had suggested chocolate chip and Chardonney or snickerdoodles with a nice Merlot ... or something like that. I just tried the search thing that was added to my blog and it came up with nothing. I don't think it works.

The reason I bring this up is because there was a hilarious article by Frank Bruni, the NY Times restaurant critic, about going to Alaska and being game to try the local cuisine. It was published Nov 3, 04 and titled Chewing the Fat While Its Still Fresh. I'd give you a link but the NYT is notoriously stingy with its articles. I think you can get it free the first week if you register for their site, otherwise they'll probably ask you for $3 (as if). If you have a library card your library might have access.

While preparing for his Alaska feast Bruni realizes "the difficulty of matching wine to whale." He and his friend go to the local general store and ask "What goes best with sea mammal?" The cashier shrugs and suggests white wine. Then they ask about bear and he says: beer!

The highlight of the article is Bruni's heroic sampling of blubber: "I did as told: grabbed the hide and bit into the blubber. It tasted like a wedge of solid rubber that had spent several months marinating in rancid fish oil." His host takes away his wine and says, "You'll be needing Jack Daniels."