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<pre>on 4/3/01 9:45 PM, Chatterton Brian at tn7685@orvienet.it wrote:

> The advantage of the bread method is that it is close to an actual use
> (bruschetta) and helps consumers realise that the strong flavours which may
> be overpowering to the newcomer on their own are a marvellous adjunct to
> bland food such as bread, pasta, potatoes etc.

I still treasure the memory of the local Italian restaurant/cafe/deli in
Teddington (London, an earlier life), where Franco would often liven up the
queue for his hot focaccia on a Saturday morning with a few saucers of
different oils, and chunks of bread to taste them with. He sold a lot of oil
that way...

For consumers, this is a great way to get into tasting and using good oil.
Producers and critics, however, have different needs. They need to
establish, for instance, the flavour contributions of different cultivars,
particularly if they are blending different batches of oil to achieve a
consistent result. I may wish to make an "early harvest" or "late harvest"
style, and will have to experiment to get there. As a producer with some
aspirations to quality, I have no option but to develop an educated palate,
and to use a standard tasting technique. A professional critic of my product
should be capable of the same discrimination.

In the wine world, a consumer can go in to a retailer, and be given a taste
of a wine. If they like it, they may buy a bottle or two. They don't need to
be analytical, they just have to know what they like. The winemaker, on the
other hand, has to be able to taste the grape in the vineyard, to measure
ripeness and flavour, and then be able to judge the developing flavours in
the wine in the barrel as it matures, before blending to a consistent
result. This is a technical skill essential to making wine.

A couple of years ago, tasting some pinot noir in the barrel at a local
winery, the winemaker - who was leading me gently by the hand through
tasting the effects of various oaks on the wine - reduced me to a
spluttering wreck: "That taste? That's the aldehydes. Aldehydes always stick
out like a dogs bollocks."

Winemakers have it easy...
--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"And when I find my trousers, I'll find my feet" (Viv Stanshall)
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