Ron Cooper showing us a picture of a bowl of pulque.

And now comes the last part of my recap of the Tales this year and my last session to write about was all about agave – tequila and mezcal.

The session was moderated by Steve Olson and the panelists were  Paciano Cruz Nolasco, David Grapshi, David Suro-Pinera, Iván Saldaña, Misty Kalkofen, Phil Ward, Ron Cooper, Tomas Estes

This 3 hour long seminar was preceeded by a Del Maguey tasting which i also attended. There i did meet both Ron Cooper and also the maker of my favorite Del Maguey mezcals – the San Luis del Rio and the Crema, which contains San Luis del Rio.

it was an interesting tasting and some very fresh cocktails, my favorite was made with fresh muddled pineapple.

A pineapple and one of those wooden mallets i hope to find some day.

Mezcal cocktail extravaganza!

Roasted agave to chew on – it´s tasty.

In a 3 hour long session there´s a lot being said and there´s no way i can recap it all or even half of it. But we got to kearn a lot about agave spirits.

For example that withn the genus agave there´s 150- 300 different species and they are not related to the cactus but to plants like onions, palm trees, garlic, pineapples, aspargus and artichokes who belongs to the lilies.

By definition the agave is the biological reaction of adaption to stress..and has adopted all the ways and requirements needed to ensure it survive in harsh conditions.

Terroir – which is a french term to describe the natural conditions that affect the growing organism – can affect size, maturity, sugar maturation and even shape.  Terroir is soil, climate, year round temperatures, day and night humidity, wind, air quality and sun exposure.

And after terroir we have the final touch – the hand of the maker. Agave is a fascinating plant and so ancient…

In the state of Jalisco where 95% of all agaves are grown and tequila made, there are two regions producing two differerent taste profiles of tequila. First the tequila valley where the tequila is described as masculine (wine-term) earthy and herbacious while in the second – Los Altos the Jalisco (the highlands) the tequila is said to be feminine, round and fruity.

These are no exact descriptions, it´s only generality and does not apply to all tequilas in these two regions to fit into the descriptions. But terroir is becoming more and more important.

The word mezcal comes from the pre-hispanic nahuatl language. Metl meant “maguey” and mezcalmetl meant “roast maguey” The common used word for agave today in Oaxaca and most of Mexico is maguey. But when you point at the plant in the tequila region people say “mezcal”

I`m not going into how tequila and mezcal is made, i´ve posted about that before and there´s tons of info on the net, let´s just say it´s handcrafted spirits that goes deep back in it`s  history and the lives of the makers and that has lots of flavor!

Y`all just have to come down to the Tales next year and see the sessions for yourselves and taste some great spirits and cocktails. Next year is the 10th anniversary as well so expect a lot of activity…

Tastings tastings…

A mezcal clay cup – they are called copitas, it tastes better in them.

Ready to imbibe…

Thirsty? come to Tales 10 year anniversary next year!

Forget about your ordinary Poboy´s for a while..no matter how tasty they are…cuz i`m gonna present some killer one´s that i hope you`ll try when you get a chance, maybe next year at Tales?

I saw two pics of these gourmet poboy`s and the first one got me to seriously drool..and the 2nd pic blew me away.  When i saw those pics i was happy that i was there in Nola and not a thousand miles away from those sandwiches…i`m talking about the gourmet poboy´s at Ye Olde College Inn.

Ye Olde College Inn” is located on 3000 South Carrollton Avenue. They open at 4pm.

College Inn uses fresh produce from the Fig Street Farm, Crescent City Farmers Market, the Hollygrove Market and Clayton Miller Produce. Locally grown seasonal fresh produce ensures fresh crsp and good quality food.

Fried green tomato and shrimp creole poboy

Fried breadpudding poboy with Rum Sauce

So how did they taste?

Well, i must say they are BIG and the pictures do not do them justice, not by a long shot. The bread is lightly toasted, it`s a lot that goes into your mouth so to me a half poboy was enough. But i also did order the award winning dessert Poboy – Fried bread pudding Poboy with Rum Sauce and it was deliscious.

The other Poboy was a fried green tomato shrimp remoulade poboy, quite a bit of creole mustard in the remoulade sauce and it was of course also deliscious.

My friend ordered baked redfish topped with lump crabmeat and it was of course mind blowingly deliscious in a way food can be only in Nola..! Next time you go to Tales or just to Nola, try to stop by College Inn for some real good treats, maybe paired with something fun at the neighbouring Rock`n Bowl.

You can also take the st Charles streetcar to get there, ride all the way to the end station at South  Carrolton (it`s a scenic and enjoyable route) and then you walk a couple blocks until you see College Inn on your left side.

OYSTERS AND ALLIGATOR

Charbroiled oysters and buttery garlicky cheeze sauce at Acme Oysterhouse.

Freshly chucked gulf oysters on the half shell at Felix´s Restaurant and Oyster Bar

Opposite each other on Iberville st near Monteleone are two very good places for oysters, both on the half shell and charbroiled. The first one almost always has a long queue – Acme and the other is Felix`s.

At Acme we had a fantastic meal with charbroiled oysters, fries and hush puppies, a fantastic smoky jambalaya which i will return to eat, fried shrimp and fish platter, french bread to sop up all the buttery garlicky cheesy sauce…

Well..there´s a reason why there´s almost always a queue outside that place.

But the place on the other side, Felix`s – is also worth visiting and less queue. They have great oysters and their blackened alligator is seriously yum!

Blackened Louisiana alligator at Felix´s.

Many thanks to Tony Harion for the pictures of the blackened gator and the charbroiled oysters.

That was all from this year`s food adventure from me which this time was all about seafood.

This seminar was led by Jeff Beachbum Berry, Ian Burell and Steve Remsberg – a trio guaranteed to both enlighten and amuse.

Since the Mai Taii is my favorite cocktail this also was a must seminar. The contoversy of the who made the Mai Tai has been going on for so long but after this seminar the whole thing is a bit clearer at least to me.

I have always been of the opinion that the Mai Tai is Vic´s but how it became his has been a bit blurry, was it a copy of the QB Cooler or not? well now i know – it was a drink in it´s own right inspired by the QB Cooler which by the way we also were served during this seminar. I will never cease to be amazed at how alike they taste – the Mai Tai and the QB Cooler despite the different ingredients.

The seminar took us through the history of the great Tiki bars and then the Mai Tai controversy which now is pretty much cleared up. It`s amazing how a topic can keep being discussed year after year after year and still manage to fascinate people all over the world, that says something about the power of the Mai Tai..

Despite it´s appeal, the Mai Tai wasn´t an immediate success like the Zombie was which also is the very first Tiki drink. It wasn´t until in the year 1954 with the Matson Line that the Mai Tai became famous and the Mai Tai did for Vic what the Zombie did for Don.

So Trader Vic´s Mai Tai is a drink in it´s own right folks! and is one of these drinks that has a perfect balance and flavor.

The 1937 QB Cooler

Remsberg`s oh do cool portable blender.

Ian did bring along a big antique style shaker which he used to ROCK and SWING the drink instead of shaking it…i told ya these guys are amusing!

We also tasted the Florida daiquiri #2 which is very alike the Mai Tai, only a few ingredients differ.

It was a very interesting and also amusing session with a solid trio in the tiki drink and rum world.

VANILLA VANILLA BABY!

This seminar was another not to miss session since i love vanilla and find the vanilla to be one of the most interesting plants and spice on earth.

The session was held by Philip Duff and he took us through how vanilla is made, it´s history and chemical components – this orchid is iamazing. Since i´ve been growing orchids for over a decade and have vanilla as my favorite spice i`m very familiar with it but there´s always something more to learn when it comes to this exotic spice.

Is there any more exotic and sweet smelling mellow spice on this planet? i don´t think so and Philip did a great job presenting it with both knowledge and humour. Of course we were served some  good cocktails as well as tasting samples of vanilla extract, Cariel vanilla vodka, Licor 43 and Stoli Vanil who were the sponsors of this seminar.

One of the cocktails had fresh passionfruit in it and a half shell for garnish and i have never tasted such yummy, fresh and s´crsip passionfruits before, those we get in sweden does not have that same great flavor, these were amazing!

Those who knows me and/or read my blog knows that i use a lot of vanilla in my cocktails and to make syrup and extract. Vanilla is so versatile and my favorite is the Tahitian bean which is fatter, thicker and more floral.

Beautiful, intriguing, sweet smelling, expensive, sexy and irresistible – that is vanilla…and in combo with passionfruit as in this cocktail we got it´s a killer! maybe it´s time to try to dream up a vanilla and passionfruit cocktail?

Mahalo Nui Loa Cocktail

It`s inevitable to miss a whole bunch of both seminars and other events during Tales since there´s so much going on at the same time but the good thing is that there´s more than enough for everyone.

My next seminar after the Six Rums and the iconic Negroni was Stanislav Vadrnas Swizzling Around the World here and Now seminar.

Bois lele swizzle stick from Martinique

Wooden swizzle sticks from Guyana and 5070 Swizzle

Starting with a discussion to explain the meaning of the italian term Sprezzatura which the way i understand it is about doing things naturally and with grace in such a way that it`s done with a certain nonchalance. (With a lot of training behind of course)

Then the audience were asked to stand up. Be prepared for a certain element of surprise when you attend seminars by Stan  Now some of us had to switch seats with others on the other side of the room And then when you think that this was done, we had to stand up again and now switch seat to sit beside our closest neighbour who who we didn´t already know.

So we were getting to know each other better! and come closer so we could later on perform the swizzling of the 151 swizzle all at the same time with aloha – you can´t get aloha unless there´s some unity….

The meaning of the word aloha, or Alo-HA means breath of life, unconditional love, outpouring and receiving of spirits,  kindness, hospitality and spirituality.

And exchange breath of life we also did…we turned to our closest unknown neighbour, put our hands on each others shoulders , forehead to forehead and look into the eyes and say “Aloha” and exchange breath..

And then the swizzle seminar begun…

With the history of the swizzle and the swizzle sticks used – for example the wooden stick from Martinique – bois lele. We also got a wooden swizzle stick, very similar to the bois lele but from Guyana – what a nice treasure!

To my great surprise i learnt that the Slovakians made a swizzle stick called Habarka which was made of the Christmas tree! it looked like a thicker and more clumsy version of the bois lele. These swizzle sticks has been used all over the world in various fashions to swizzle up soups and etc in cooking.

It was in the Caribbean that the way of making mixed alcoholic drinks with a swizzle stick was invented.

We also learnt that the mythical Trinidad green swizzle from cirka 1925 most likely was made of something called carypton which is said to have given the drink it´s green color and then rum, lime and sugar. Carypton was a product made by Angostura before Prohibition and seems to be a very high alcoholic falernum type of thing.

The first of the drinks we were served was Martin Cate´s 2070 swizzle which is one of those drinks typically Martin to come up with…he is a drink genius.

Then followed a drink called Ushua ia – 15ml citrus 81:1 lemon/lime) 15 ml ginger liqueur, 1o ml vanuilla syrup, 5 ml simple syrup, 2 dash chocolate bitters and 45 ml genever gin – this is what my hard to read notes says.

Third drink – Mahalo Nui Loa – 15 ml lime, 2 dash chocolate bitters, 30 ml pineapple juice, 30 ml Rhum JM. (Which JM my notes doesn´t say…)

151 people swizzling the 151 swizzle…buzzz…

My 151 swizzle!

And then the finale – as it was written – 151 bartenders to swizzle the 151 swizzle with Lemon Hart 151 with Aloha Here and Now” – and so we got to work, that`s why we got those cool wooden swizzle sticks from Guyana.

The room swizzled and then we imbibed…a little bit more enlightened than before about the history of the swizzles, the sticks, the technique, the drinks, the aloha, sprezzatura and the here and now.

And who wouldn´t enjoy a 151 swizzle with Lemon Hart 151 on a thursday afternoon?

Stanislav Vadrna

Saintsations and Young Pinstripe Brassband to kick off the Taless 2011 toast.

Brassbands…some of the best music you can hear.

The yearly toast to kick off Tales started with music and dance by the Young Pinstripe Brassband and the Saintsations! and as a huge Saints fan i was very happy to see them! And then followed the toast to Tales to honor the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society and the Sazerac Seal of Approval winners.

The 2011 Sazerac Seal of Approval recipients are Sylvain, Napoleon House, Tujague’s, Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House, Dominique’s and Loa in the International House hotel.

This was followed by the the world´s largest Genever slurp toast -  the Bols Genever Kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-tjuh) represents the original Dutch ritual of a beer paired with a Bols Genever shot.

So the street was set with long tables with shots, a Bols t-shirt and a cold beer and everybody who did get a space did the slurp together. Those who didn´t get a space (me for example) since the street was completely packed did get the beer and  t-shirt.

The calm before the storm..

People wanna do the Kopstootje slurp!

And slurp!

So with this Tales was on!

The first seminar i went to was not surprisingly a seminar about rum. “6 Rums You Will Probably Never taste Again” led by Ed Hamilton from Ministry of Rum.

THERE´S A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC IN EVERY BOTTLE OF RUM…

Six very special rums is what we got to hear about and taste and these six were rums from Prichard`s – barrel aged (Tennessee), Botran Reserva and Solera 1893 (Guatemala) Flor de Cana (Nicaragua) Abuelo Centuria (Panama) Santa Teresa Bodega Privada selection (Venezuela) Neisson Réserve Spécial (Martinique)

Ed showed us pictures from the distilleries and told the story about these rums. These were all very good rums, i specifically liked Abuelo Centuria and Neisson Réserve Spécial.

Taste is personal…but here´s a little about how i found these six rums:

Prichard`s – barrel aged – fruity, a bit oaky and vanilla.

Botran Reserva and Solera 1893 – sweet, a little oak,  fruity and caramel

Flor de Cana, from a barrel sample that was put aside for Ed – lots of depth,  this was unfiltered rum right out of the barrel. Woody, oak, much complexity and long finish. each sip was full of flavor.

Abuelo Centuria – The only one of these six that has been commercially bottled and fetch a price of USD 136. It´s a blend of rums, where the oldest rumis over 130 years old.

Very tasty and fullbodied, sweet, round, sugarcane, excellent rum.

Santa Teresa – As part of their Bodega Privada selection, the Santa Teresa sells a blend of aged rums to those who want their own rum which is stored in casks at the Santa Teresa warehouse until it is bottled for the owner.

This sample belons to an anonymous friend in the industry. The oldest rum in the blend is 12 years. A quite light rum with flavors of vanilla and oak.

Neisson (1993) – 18 yo, a bit higher proof. Rhum agricole made from sugarcane juice. Excellent, dry, rich and aromatic, very flavorful – superb.

That was a rum filled and interesting seminar with some good rum samples to enjoy!

Next seminar was all about the Negroni.

NEGRONI AN ICONIC COCKTAIL

I went to this session because i`m a lover of the Negroni and of Campasri and so this was a must. We got the history of the Negroni told with some very interesting photos to see from the old days in italy.

This seminar was moderated by Paul Clarke and the panelists were Jacques Bezuidenhout, and Livio Lauro

The Negroni – both a perfect and icoic cocktail, fresh and vibrant with a deep and true history which you`ll soon be able to read in a new book that is coming out.

The book is written by Kuca Picchi and is called “The true Story of the Negroni Cocktail” and if you´re interested you can send an e-mail to – Negronibook@gmail.com for further info and to reserve a copy.

The Negroni originates from the italian coffeeshops and the aperitivo is a way to keep italians from going home…and the ritual started in Turin, Florens and Florens or Firenze is the capital of the Negroni.

We tasted 3 different Negronis, one classic, a Negroni Swizzle and one carbonated. What vermouth adds to a cocktail is both sweetness and acidity and bitters adds some spice and fun! The appeal of the Negroni is that it uses bitters, speaks of it`s place (Italy) and is a very special cocktail!

There was actually much more Negroni to come during this Tales…

There was also the Negroni with a Twist Party with the World’s largest Negroni cocktail ever made at the Sonesta and a more packed room than that one i have never seen before, i tweeted “How much people can they possibly fit into a room”??????

It was almost impossible to move…much less balancing two cocktails and a plate of food….seems like most everybody wanted a taste of the world´s biggest Negroni…which was served from a huge ice block. Well, huge crowds is very much a part of the Tales…

The recipe included Campari, Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin and M&R Sweet Vermouth. Also other twists of the Negroni was served made with Italian brands such as Luxardo, Aperol and Mionetto Prosecco.

To go with the Negroni cocktails was served crispy grissini sticks, strawberries drizzled with balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese pieces cut to bite size and served in a hollowed out cheese and some very fat yummy green olives.

The third Negroni event was a Negroni toast hosted by Campari to celebrate the nominees of this year’s Annual Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award and Negroni´s was served in the Monteleone lobby.

Charbroiled oysters at big Al`s

Prior to Tales of the Cocktail i just wanna post a little about this wonderful city which has such amazing food. Of course the food here isn´t only seafood and poboys, there´s tons of different things, but I´ve mainly been eating fried seafood here since i came back – since that`s what i like the most and also cannot get where i live unless i make it myself.

And as you know, it always tastes better in place and what i make at home may be tasty but it doesn´t even come close to what you get here. One reason is the fresh produce, gulf shrimps for example has more and different flavor than any other shrimps i´ve had anywhere, same with the oysters.

They sure got flavor down here!

Not been here for more than a couple days but lawd what an amount of great food i already have had. OK i won`t be able to post about that many places in this post, so i´ll most likely post more later on. But maybe this post can help to point out a few good places to go for those of you coming in for the Tales in about a week from now. i know you wanna eat! (not only drink..)

The first place i wanna point out is Jaques-Imos. I wrote about Jaques-Imos last year and it was the first place to go when i came back last friday. You find it in uptown on 8324 Oak Street right beside the Maple Leaf bar (which i also recommend and where Rebirth brassband plays on tuesdays)

The menu is as ecclectic as the place itself and reservations are only taken for parties of five or more up to 30 days in advance. All other parties will be first come, first served. That means – since it´s so popular you might have to wait for a table, we waited 2 hours almost, but it´s well worth the wait believe me. And while you wait you go to the Maple Leaf of course and have beer;-)

Lump crab meat stuffed shrimp at Jaques-Imos

Alligator cheesecake

We ordered a big mix of all kinda things and shared the sides which one of them was the unforgettable alligator cheesecake – make sure to get that one. I also had lump crab meat stuffed shrimp, fried oyster salad and BBQ shrimp…

As you can see i`m a seafood lover and have no problem in ordering two different shrimp dishes at the same time paired with crawfish and crab…but there´s more than seafood here of course. When you been to Jaques-Imos you`ll think that you never ever will be able to be hungry again!

Another place i want to recommend is Palace Cafe on 605 Canal Street, between Chartres and Royal Streets. If you wanna get something REAL good, go here! Their BBQ shrimp is “to die for”.  I also had lump crabmeat cheesecake with fried crab claws on top with a New Orleans style barbecue sauce, spiked with Abita beer and served Creole toasted French bread.

BBQ shrimp at Palace Cafe

This lump crabmeat cheesecake is baked in a pecan crust with a wild mushroom sauté and Creole meunière sauce and topped with 3 fried crab claws. Butter sauteed crawfish at left.

Then i had butter sauteed crawfish, turtle soup and finally a bananas foster. To that i drank Abita andygator – but there´s cocktails if you want – why not try Peter’s Planters Punch with New Orleans Amber Rum, fresh lemon & orange juice and housemade cardamom syrup? I´m gonna do that the next time which will be soon.

Bananas Foster at Palace Cafe

If you get a chance to get out of New Orleans and happen to love seafood i recommend big Al`s Seafood in Houma, about an hour drive or so from NO.

Here is seafood heaven! I had fried softshell crab (fried to perfection) fried shrimps, crawfish, hush puppies, charbroiled oysters, sweet potato fries..all served with various dipping sauces and of course washed down with ice cold abita beer. YUM YUMMY and YUM! Ah…those crunchy crab legs…

Fried softshell crab and sweet potato fries at Big Al`s.

Then we have the Poboy´s…anyone who have been here knows what that is and there´s many places to get them and i won´t try to go into where´you get the best sandwiches since i haven´t tried all places yet. But here´s two places, yes only two…i wanna recommend for now – if you wanna find out more about where to go, just google “best poboy” – you´ll get a few hints…i have also saved a real good one to have its own post – soon to come.

So one is Gene’s on St. Claude & Elysian Fields, (1040 Elysian Fields Ave) their hot sausage Poboy is wicked, and then we got Johnnie´s on 511 Saint Louis Street in the french quarter. They are everywhere and they are tasty and they are the best dressed sandwiches on the planet.

And they all share one thing, they got that bread…Leidenheimer…it has has a crunchy crust with a very light center. And they should preferably be dressed. (That is with mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles etc)

So make sure you get yourself  Poboy`s and try many different ones! shrimp, hot sausage, alligator, oyster, catfish, softshell crab, french fries,  roastbeef…you won´t be hungry.

Well, that was a little about some of the food here, more to come…

It`s only about five weeks left until the Tales of the Cocktail 2011 kicks off in New Orleans and it´s time to present a few of the sessions i`m planning to attend this year. If you`re planning to go it`s high time to book your sessions they´re running out FAST!

And the Mai Tai war goes on…..come and listen to what Beachbum Berry, Steve Remsberg and Ian Burrel (UJ Rum Ambassador) has to say about this matter while shakin`up different samples of Mai Tai recipes for us….oh YUM!

We will also see vintage slide-show images and new information learned after the publication of Jeff’s most recent book, Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Beachbum Berry needs no presentation – but you can read about him here and his blog is here

Steve Remsberg owns the world’s largest private rum collection and has lectured on rum and participated on rum judging panels and tropical drink competitions across the U.S. and the Caribbean, read more about him here and here.

Ian Burrel is the UK Rum Ambassador and founder of the UK Rumfest – read about him here.

I have had the pleasure of meeting them all and i can vouch for their expertize and knowledge in all things rum (and tiki)

Do you love the Mai Tai? do you love rum? then this session is for you!

The session is sponsored by Banks 5 Island Rum.

It`s only about 2 months left until the Tales of the Cocktail 2011 kicks off in New Orleans and it´s time to present a few of the sessions this year. If you`re planning to go it`s high time to book your sessions they´re running out FAST!

The session called ” 6 Rums You`ll probably Never Taste Again” is moderatred by Ed Hamilton who has dedicated himself to the pursuit of the finest sugar cane spirits in the world and is the owner of the Ministry of Rum website.

This session deals with the rums that the distilleries are not producing for the masses because ” Each distiller prides him or herself on the spirits that they can not produce for the masses. By their very rare nature these spirits are reserved for the distiller’s table”

So here`s 6 such rums collected – rums that you’ll probably never taste again – that you now will have a chance to sip and savor at Tales of the Cocktail. Most of these rums have never been bottled, or made available to the public.

These are those special rums savored by the distillers to be shared with special guests on special occasions.

Here`s for example a barrel sample from the Santa Teresa distillery which is a part of their Bodega Privada selection which is a blend of aged rums to those who want their own rum which is stored in casks at the Santa Teresa warehouse until it is bottled for the owner.

There`s rare rums from Tennessee, Panama, Martinique, Guatemala and Nicaragua – all to be sampled during this session. It`s probably a once in a life experience.

These are barrel samples of spirits that are components of premium blends that are never sold separately, vintage rums where there isn’t enough available to bottle commercially, experimental rums that aren’t going to be bottled and at least one surprise that is so special that not even Ed have yet tasted it.

Time: 10:30 AM to 12 PM

More detailed info about this session is here.

Note: The picture on top is only an example of a rum bottle.

It`s only about 2 months left until the Tales of the Cocktail 2011 kicks off in New Orleans and it´s time to present some of the sessions for this year. If you`re planning to go it`s high time to book your sessions they´re running out FAST!

Let`s go back in the history of the swizzles..

After missing Nola for too long – i could have kissed the ground when i landed..I have met both old and new friends, both from the city and from the whole world,  had many nice long walks, seen the roseate spoonbill – aka “Evangeline Rose” and gators, (eaten them too – well not the spoonbill…) Been to the Museum of the American cocktail and theSouthern Food and Beverage Museum.