Month: June 2012

My Loire adventure by bike: part 2

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Lucky for us we could start our first day of cycling in sunny weather. For me it was a little bit to warm (or I was just dressed to warm), because it sure wasn’t because of my bad shape ;-). The first day took us from Tours to Rochecorbon

To get to our first vineyard ‘Maison Brédif’ located in Rochecorbon, we cycled through the beautiful vineyards or Vouvray. This thanks to Christophe Marzais (from Détours de Loire) our guide. What seemed for a walk in the park for Christophe, was a little tougher for the rest of us 🙂 (not the downhill part)

But the ‘paysages’ were really nice!

Where are my manners, I’ m always talking about us, but I didn’t even introduce my cycle buddies… Please find my cycle buddies on the picture below (They made the trip even better!). FYI, we just came of our bikes when this picture was taken, so nooooo judgment please 🙂

As said, our first stop was at vineyard ‘Maison Brédif’ located in Rochecorbon.  Founded in 1893!

What I liked about all the vineyards  we’ve visited (also at Maison Brédif)  is that you can really see and feel the history they’ve all been through and they have the most beautiful cellar you could possibly imagine (If I think of wine cellars, these are the ones I think about). So I would really recommend if you would come to the Loire valley, to stop at some vineyards.

Ok, now it might get a little bit technical, but what do we need to know from the region around Rochecorbon/ Vouvray? Maybe the diversity of the soil here, that changes from parcel to parcel. It goes from very sandy clay to chalky clay… which results to a big difference in the flavor the grapes will be having (even if they are the same kind of grapes). If you don’t believe me, just pick a grape on every different type of soil and compare 🙂

Even though you can also find red wines in the Vouvray region, it are mostly the white wines that are well known (and best, if you ask me). FYI, all grapes get picked by hand!

Of course we also tried wines 🙂 , that was the reason of all the effort of cycling, right? If I would and could generalize the Vourvray wines (but maybe I shouldn’t, but I will 🙂 ) I would say that most Vourvray wines are actually sweeter wines with touches of exotic fruit like pineapple or Quince .

The most special wine we were fortunate enough to taste was the Vouvray Collection from 1959, which got a cognac color during the aging process. FYI, did you know that normally white wines are better for aging for years instead of red wines?! (Neither did I, so never too old to learn). You would think it would get sweeter, but it doesn’t 🙂

After this last tasty wine at Brédif, we jumped (more or less) on our bikes to head towards the Vitiloire wine fair. But more about that in the next blogpost…

My Loire valley adventure by bike

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What does one think about when thinking of the Loire Valley? Most people (including me) would b say that the first thing they think about is castles, which is indeed something we cannot ignore. Chateau Chambord would be one of the famous ones, but there are many more beauties across the valley.

What surprises me though is that not so many people would be think of wine when they think of the Loire, unlike for example Bordeaux where people would instantly think of wine. I can say for a fact that the Loire valley is one of the regions with some of the best French wines just think of Sancerre or  Pouilly Fume as most welknown, but there are also wines like Chenin Blanc, Chinon, Cremant de Loire, Malbac,….

When they first asked me if I wanted to join to do a wine tour through the Loire valley, I didn’t hesitate long. First of all because I had never been there and secondly I was sure that I would actually see that the Loire Valley is more than ‘Chateaus ‘. What I didn’t really didn’t take into account, was that it was a tour through the Valley by bike :-).

I honestly have to admit that I have underestimated the bike ride, not that I’m so out of shape, but some of those climbing’s were pretty tough! BUT, I’m really glad that I did it by bike as I got to see things that you just would see when taking a tour bus or car. The next best thing would be doing it by Vespa 🙂

We obviously couldn’t cycle through the whole Loire valley in 2 days. For the first day the choice fell on Tours which would be seen as the capital of the Loire Valley and the second day we would be visiting the region around Saumur.

Stay tuned if you want to read more about my adventure in the Loire valley….

 

 

Not all coffee is just coffee

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Coffee is often seen wrongly. Lots of people see coffee as something that helps you to stay awake, to make you warm, etc… But for me coffee is so much more, I see it as a harmonization of smells and tastes. And just like wine or beer it is the master blender who puts all his love and knowledge in the making the perfect coffee for all of us to enjoy.

This is also why I was more than happy to accept the invitation from Douwe Egberts to learn more about the magic and especially craftsmanship that is behind the making of Coffee.  For those who don’t know Douwe Egberts, it is a major Coffee brand that was founded in 1753 (YES, 1753), so if there would be somebody knowing how to make coffee, I’m sure they are having all the experience. Eventhough Douwe Egberts is a very large company, they still succeed of keeping the quality of their product! Which to me is one of the most important things (besides keeping is simple).

Something important to know about coffee is actually that 99% of ALL coffees produced in the world, are either ‘Arabica’ or ‘Robusta’. The big difference between both would be that if you like a strong coffee with a kick, you would be going for a Robusta (I would go for this coffee). Like I said coffee is all about the flavor and smell, the first thing that influences the smell and taste might seem normal. Depending on where the coffee bean comes from it will be having a different taste (normal I would say). For example a Colombian bean will give your coffee a more lemony flavor.

Anther very crucial part of preparing the perfect coffee or ‘blend’ is the burning of the beans. Depending on how long you let the beans burn, you will be getting a different taste.

My favorite part of making the coffee (before drinking it) is the grinding of the coffee… the smell that comes free at that moment is just soooooo wonderful. I’m sure people driving on the Ring in Brussels will have already had the pleasure of smelling the freshly grind coffee from Douwe Egberts (so you know I’m not lying). You just can’t ignore it as it smells so good. It always makes me so happy and actually crave for some coffee 🙂 . Did you know that depending on which coffee maker you use, the coffee beans should be grind differently!? If you are for example using a fresh coffee maker  the beans have to be grind  rougher, whereas for when making an Italian coffee with a Bialetti coffee maker the beans have to grind more finely.

Of course, making coffee really needs the hand of the master blender like André Hoinkis to make the perfect blend of coffee. Although for some of you this might seem like a very easy job, I can assure you that it takes a lot of experience and research to find the perfect combination of beans and the time it should be burning. If not a balanced well you will get one crappy coffee 🙂

You might have already seen the new commercials on TV or in magazines about the new types of coffee Douwe Egberts has launged. What André Hoinkis together with the other master blenders  they have tried to create 4 types of coffee, these 4 types should cover and please all the types of coffee drinkers. These 4 all have their own character, going from very strong and complex (Black) , a normal milder tasting coffee (Delicate) to a very balanced blend (Original).

The fact that I could drink all these coffees without sugar, really means they are good, otherwise I would have added so much sugar you could straighten your spoon in it . Now it is up to you guys to see what kind of fruits, nuts, etc… you taste or smell in these coffees. You will be  surprised what you will find.

The last thing I really want to share with you is actually how Decaf coffee is made.  Something Important to know about decaf, is that it is never 100% decaf :-), there is always still 0,1% of caffeine in it as it would be impossible to take it all out. The taking out of the caffeine already happens with the Green bean (so almost immediately after picking it and removing its holster). As this way they can take the caffeine out and still keep most of the flavor. There are 2 ways that are mostly used. The first is the water-carbon method (H2O/C)  where water will stream over the green beans for as long it takes to dissolve the caffeine in the water (they reuse the water, so nothing gets wasted). The second way would be the dichloromethane method (DCM). Here they will be using dichloromethane to dissolve the caffeine.

I know this might seem very technical, but I really needed to share this with you guys!

I really would like to thank Douwe Egberts and André Hoinkis for revealing some the secrets of making the perfect blend of coffee!

My birthday weekend part 2

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So as you could read in my previous blogpost, I’m a real spoiled boy! The first part of my birthday was already mind blowingJ. For who thought it stopped there, I’ve got something coming. This year my fiancée really had outdone herself to make it something great.  She had a family and friends part, which are both very important to me. I can reassure you that they really made my day(s). Ok the looooots of gifts I got (like a Le Creuset pot (I’m too cheap to buy it myelf) didn’t make my weekend worse 😉

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After the amazing dinner with my family and a brunch with my best fiends (I’ve got the best friends ever!), I actually thought that was it. But noooooo sir, as cherry on the cake my girlfriend had booked a table at restaurant Veranda. You cannot believe how long I’ve already tried to get into this restaurant!!

If I would have to describe this restaurant in a few words I would say that this is a restaurant serving highly gastronomical food (Michelin star level) with no nonsense attitude, in a normal brasserie I might even say bar  like setting (which actually makes you feel more comfortable ) for a very normal price.

I did have high expectations as many great Chefs had told me so many great stories about this restaurant… I do indeed have to confirm what they said, as it was a very nice experience. The restaurant only has one menu that changes every x days, but also the wine list changes constantly.

Our menu for the night was Rouget with fennel (served with  white Bastingage from the Loire Valley 100% Chenin) . Followed by Encornet  (a kind of calamari)with green asparagus  (served with a Bellotti Bianco, even though it is a table wine I still liked its rich taste). As a main course they served a lambs shoulder served with Grenache from the Languedoc (with the dish it worked, I wouldn’t drink it without food) called  Matin Calme . We finished off with getting 2 different dessert (yes per person, we’re greedy I admit 😉 )

A true petting of the tongue (I think the pictures speak for themselves), this is definitely a restaurant I’ll be returning. (If I manage to find a free spot). A true price – quality value! So thank you to the team of the restaurant and also to my fiancée for making this all possible. One restaurant less on my to do list 🙂 jeeeeeeeej

Restaurant Veranda

Address:

Guldenvliesstraat 60

2600 Berchem, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)2 18.55.95