MY ABC's

"A" IS FOR APPLE, "B" IS FOR BUTTER & "C" IS FOR CHEESE

For our second event at the 2024 Pebble Beach Food & Wine we headed down to the Beach and Tennis Club.

And took in the magnificent view.

More impressive than any of the other and more famous locations.

But it was all of 65 degrees, and coming from Mexico where is had been 95-105 for a month, I was freezing. And then more so when I saw a teenager in the pool. Hardy Californians I thought until it occurred to me the pool must have been heated.

We were hosting an event called the “California Coastal Pacific Feast” with 12 (including me) California chefs providing tastes for 500 guests. Our taste was Antonius oscietra caviar on Pringles with lemon-black pepper crème fraiche. 

I hoped that 4 pounds of it would last the course.

It did.

But before spooning out pounds of caviar I was astonished. Not just by the view behind us, but while setting up, to see a table of apples.

Under glass.

Pheasant and partridge I had seen displayed like that, but a fruit? And had it been harvested 4-6 months previously?

And cheese? OK, I had often been served cheddar with apple pie, but I never really got that point.

‘A’ IS FOR APPLE

Boxed in the Japanese gift-giving tradition. The box and the name made me pause for a moment. Long enough to pose with Cecilia, Envy’s head of marketing and T&G Global.

Then I tasted the apple.

The thumbs up and look of surprise on all our faces is genuine. The apple was absolutely delicious. And a perfect ‘crunch’ that an apple should be.

Decades ago, I loved having lunch at Paris’ La Coupole for their huge selection of oysters, their eggs mayonnaise, and the beef tartare. A lunch hearty enough to not choose afterwards the baba au rhum or chocolate mousse soufflé served warm with vanilla ice cream. My two favorite desserts after a large lunch are the Troisgros “Pear, Pear, Pear,” a combination of pear ice, sliced poached pears, and Poire Williams or white pear liqueur. And the Coupole one of apple sorbet with a fine Calvados poured over.

Both are refreshing, and a way to shamelessly indulge in an after-lunch drink!

Envy’s Apple Sorbet

2      Envy apples, peeled and diced

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Make sure your ice cream maker bowl is frozen the night before using.

Put the the ingredients in a saucepot and bring up to a simmer and stir.

Blend until very smooth and then chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Turn the ice cream maker on and churn the sorbet mixture until thick (or according to your machines directions).

The Vodka Envy

St. Germain is an elderflower liqueur. It is made using the petals of Sambucus nigra or Elder.

A tree that grew covering our stables when I was a child in England, and it was my job to keep an eye on the flowers as they turned into dark purple berries.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

We made wine from them because I didn’t know then about vodka.

4 oz Apple infused vodka

1 oz Lemon juice

1 oz Simple syrup

2 oz St Germain

1 cup ice cubes

“In a container with a lid, combine 2 cups of diced apples (skin on) with 2 cups of vodka. Let infuse for 36-48 hours. Strain vodka from diced apples and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients and shake until ice cold.

Place 1 apple and 1 lemon peel in a coupe cocktail glass. Strain half of cocktail mixture over top and serve. Repeat with second glass.”

‘B’ IS FOR BUTTER

While serving the caviar a tall man with a beard introduced himself and asked if I remembered Gertrude. I flashed on my least favorite step grandmother for a moment, and then realized he must have meant a cow.

He showed me a photo taken years before outside my restaurant Stars in San Francisco.

She looks bored, but she was very sweet and patient.

We were promoting butter.

In those days it was considered dangerous to one’s health. But having been raised in England and France, where they were party to no such nonsense. Knowing it was margarine and fast food that was causing U.S. arteries to block.

He told me that as a teenager he had helped bring Gertrude to Stars that day and that now he had a farm where they produced milk and cheese. Telling me that “Raw milk is nature’s perfect probiotic, a living food loaded with natural immunities and the ability to build strong healthy bodies. Did you know that the majority of lactose-intolerant people can enjoy raw milk with no side effects.”

Here is his Monterey County farm.

And his Gertrude.

As for butter, I had just seen a display of butter the night before by the executive Chef at Spanish Bay, Rod Uncangco.

So I was in the groove when Seth showed up at the Grand Tasting with his Raw Butter.

It was a hit with my table of friends (from the very new and very good El Cabrón mezcal) as we ‘borrowed’ some bread from the table next to us in exchange for some baguette heavily laden with Seth’s butter.

‘C’ IS FOR CHEESE

He talked of his cheeses, reminding me of the Envy display. What was the cheese for?

One of the best tastes from all the 125 tables I had was cheese with Envy. A sandwich of the apple slices and Schoch Dairy Monterey Jack cheese.

I tried caviar on it.

That was not an ample sufficiency but a superfluous ostentation. So back to the simple sandwich.