Friday, March 26, 2010

The Palace of Pork . . .

Long, long ago in a far away land there stood the Palace of Pork.
And though the meats were divine, and it was open most of the time,
the Prince was a bit of a dork.
For he liked to make rhymes at inopportune times and disliked the use of his fork.

His meats were, agreed, the best of their kind, to be found anywhere, in his kingdom. With garlic and fennel, mace and clove, his salumi was flavored to perfection. Far across the land, would he seek these fine meats, and for his customers, go and fetch them.

With a knife and a slicer he would carve piles of meats and no one they said did it nicer. Carefully packaged and wrapped, with paper of white and a sticker placed just so, he would send out his wares, for those who did care, about what they packed on the go.

But he needed some meats, that were quite tasty eats, that could be taken on the run. Without slicing and wrapping, (someone started clapping), these meats could be purchased with haste. Creminelli! He thought, would be the right spot, to find some amazing salumi. Barolo, Felino, Sopressata, Cingale, all were fantastic and quite small-a.

So the Prince of Pork announced to his people that Creminelli would be his new staple. And the Palace of Pork was the talk of the town, but he's still not doing bacon with maple. . . Cheers.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Things We Do. . .and why. vol 2


When I was a much younger man and just begining to learn about wine I was once told that wine bottles should be stored upside down or on their side (you see where the title SIDEWAYS comes from now?). I was also told that wine should always be kept in a cool dark place or at least away from direct lighting. So, when we decided to build the store I made a point of making sure the lighting for our store would not be directed onto our wines. I also made sure to find racks that kept our wines on their side and NOT standing up. We also made a conscious decision to make sure the store temperature did not fluctuate more than a few degrees, knowing that swings in temperature can really affect wine, in fact it is a constant 70 F year round.

So why do so many other wine shops and stores let their bottles stand often under bright direct light? I cannot honestly answer that question. Maybe they don't know, maybe they don't care. Maybe they think that selling a bottle is more important than building a relationship with their customers. I don't know. What I do know is that if I only sold you one bottle of wine, I would want to make sure that bottle of wine was not compromised by heat, light or oxidation, if there was a way that I could prevent it. I mean, I might only have that one chance to build that relationship with you and a bottle of wine that was bad could keep you from coming back.

We make sure that our bottles are kept under the best possible conditions that we can provide without having you look for wines in the cold dark basement. We also hand select every bottle, so that we know what we are selling to you and you know that you are buying a wine that we believe is both great and a great value. We can even help you find something to go with your wine or a wine to go with your something, we even do special orders.

So come in today and see why Salumiere Cesario is THE best place in Walla Walla to buy wine. Cheers.

Friday, March 19, 2010

RAMEN. . .say it with me now RA - MEN.

Ramen, is not what you ate in college. That was INSTANT Ramen the invention of a Japanese business man. Traditional Ramen is, more or less, noodle soup. While other major cities in the US are just discovering ramen, as a must have food, I was introduced to real ramen while living in Los Angeles many years ago.

While out on a tech scout for the TV series Power Rangers (yes, that's right), our director Koichi, suggested we take lunch at his favorite place, a ramen shop called Kouraku. Large bowls heaping with noodles, veggies and meat were quickly dispatched to our tables. The smell was enticing and the taste was new but yet somehow familiar. Needless to say, I was back a few weeks later with a friend and it became a regular stop for us when we were in little Tokyo.

Flash forward a few years. Because ramen shops are not as plentiful in the PNW as they are in LA,and there is no little Tokyo district in Walla Walla, (or anywhere else that I can think of around here), I have been craving some hot tasty noodle dish for quite a while. (Pho Sho has happily fed my addiction for the past few years). So in order to satisfy my cravings for all things Asian (more ANIME please) I decided to teach myself to make Ramen. And that is what I have done.

Our Ramen is a bowl full of udon noodles (we will be making our own REAL ramen noodles soon. . .), a cornucopia of veggies and some freakin' amazing slow roasted pork (belly and shoulder) all bathing in a luxurious, rich broth. This is my kind of food, simply and tasty.

We will also be serving our Albacore sashimi and house made pickled ginger. For those that need the heat, we'll have some Yuzu Kosho available too. We might even make a few other items to go with all of this. Why? Why not? With the economy the way it is all of Walla Walla should be spending their money here instead of in P-Town or Sea Tac. And we are happy to provide the extra service. So come on in for lunch this next week and see what were talking about. . . Cheers.

The Price of Tea in China. . .

We have just received a new shipment of tea. Many of you who are tea drinkers will be very excited as two of our most popular teas, the 15yr Puh-Er and the White Dragon Pearls, are back in stock. Many more of you will be pleased, I am sure, because we are now carrying some teas that we previously would not stock. . .

For those of you that know me, I am a bit of a stickler for quality. My thought precess goes something like this, "if you are going to spend your hard earned money on something, why not buy the best that you can afford?" So, while I was opposed to carrying teas like Earl Grey, Chamomile, and Mint Tea (because the quality is usually VERY poor), I have now found ones that live up to my expectations and are of the highest quality. Although the mint and chamomile are not actually "tea", but herbal infusions. Nonetheless, they are of the highest quality, as you have come to expect from us.

The Earl Grey is made from the finest Ceylon Black tea and Italian Bergamot. It is perfumy, but not overly so as most Earl Greys are. Chamomile has been known in China as herbal medicine, used to calm the nerves and aid in digestion. The mint tea has also been used to sooth and calm the digestive system.

All of the tea we stock comes hand selected from our tea supplier. They actually travel to Asia every year to hand select the best teas from the finest farms and growers. Yes, they actually buy tea from the actual grower. That is how good the tea is. And it is all for our customers. Because you deserve the best. . . Cheers.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Feast Day of St. Patrick . . .

For the past seventeen years (yes I said 17) I have been honoring St. Patrick's Feast Day by making the traditional Irish-American (the Irish do not know what corned beef is) corned beef and cabbage, or boiled dinner, for family and friends. This is usually accompanied by a few pints of Guinness and Harp, the original Irish beers.

Well this year we decided to spread the love around and offer this at the shop for those who wish to partake. We will be offering all week long the traditional boiled dinner of corned beef and cabbage and boiled potatoes, although I guarantee this will be the best you have ever had, did I mention 17 years? While we will be closed on the actual feast day of St. Patrick, Wednesday March 17, we will be offering this on all of the regular day we are open this week. So, come in for some food and a little libation. And we promise, no snakes. . . Cheers.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Things We Do. . .and why.


Many people are surprised that we carry tea. In fact many people often come in and say "when did you start carrying tea" or my favorite "I didn't know you carry teas, where are they?" Usually this is followed by the question do you have and lemon zinger. . .No I am sorry we only carry REAL tea. Lemon zinger and many other "teas" are actually herbals, an herbal infusion with some tea, or none, added (usually of very low quality). The teas we carry are all near the register on the front counter in the Tea Tins.

Our tea tins are unique. They are stamped tin and double insulated. There is a lid and then another lid to keep our air. Why you ask? The two main oxidizers that tea faces are light and air (yea, oxygen). So to keep our teas their freshest, besides buying vintage tea every season, we keep them in dark air tight containers. That way when you buy your tea from us, you know it is going to actually be WORTH the money you are spending on it (and we sell smaller versions for you to use at home too). Any one who is selling you tea out of a clear container is not concerned with what they are selling you, but you should be. . . Cheers.