Page 15 - Boca Club News - July '21

Boca Club News, Page 15
Dining Out: Hungry Al’s Food Curiosities

By Alan Serinsky of Bocaire WHY…do waiters think it’s normal to short you the change WHY….do waiters always tell you everything is great on
Country Club. Hungry Al’s love left on your cash payment? It’s “non cents” for them to decide! the menu when you ask for a recommendation? And why do
for food started very young. WHY...are we now being offered an array of olive oils infused they always choose the most expensive item as their menu
Never satisfied with his Mom’s with every extract known to mankind? What happened to the suggestion?
dishes, he started to cook his good old standard cold-pressed virgin Italian variety? WHY…do restaurants tell you there are no tables available as
way through her Betty Crocker WHY....do restauranteurs think we enjoy surgically knifing a walk-in, when you can obviously see open ones? I suggest
Cookbook. During the years a pat-of-butter out of a tiny wrapped piece of foil? stepping outside, going to the “Open Table” app and get the
to follow he spent many hours WHY...is it so hard for waiters to greet our table with a nice same table with no problem.
working in restaurants, both as server and cook, attending “hello” or “welcome” greeting as they approach our tables? WHY…hasn’t someone invented a device to level out wobbly
cooking classes and traveling the world in an effort to expand “Are you ready to order” should really be reserved for the tables? The bent paper coasters are not doing the trick!
his palette. As a professional writer, Hungry Al offers his diner counter! WHY…aren’t there hooks, or more hooks, under a bar to hang
perspective on current food trends and guides you through WHY...does a waiter need to take your glass or cup from the your purse? This one is Hungry D’s most frustrating curiosity.
your local restaurant options. table for a simple refill of ice tea or another glass of wine? WHY…do restaurants constantly over-use the “Farm to
Is a new glass that hard to obtain? Table” concept? Doesn’t all our meat, produce and dairy
Food for Thought: Since Hungry Al has been furloughed WHY....do waiters have to speak so fast when reciting the come from farms?
for awhile due to the pandemic, I thought it would be a great daily menu specials at your table? WHY…are there tables located next to noisy waiters’ stations,
time to leave you with this little list of food frustrations and WHY....do some waiters or bartenders have a tendency to drafty doors, swinging kitchen doors or aromatic bathroom
dining observations that have been building up for a while. be half-listening to your conversation? To me it’s like being entrances? Please don’t sit me there!
Maybe you have experienced or questioned some of them invited to a party without any invitation. Please stop! WHY…do we all settle for a dish that either tastes awful
yourself. WHY....do people sitting at a crowded bar always leave one or is improperly cooked to our liking. “I’ll eat it anyway”
Just Thinking…. seat empty to the right or left of them? Are they really that is not a good option when you are spending good money.
WHY....are bartenders now starting to give us a choice claustrophobic? And don’t take it out on your waiter; he or she is simply the
between the sizes of wine pours. Six ounces seems like a WHY…do restaurants believe it’s fair to have a “skinny messenger, not the cook.
shot glass to me. menu” so they can charge you the same fare for less food? If you have any of your own curiosities or restaurant
WHY...do we have to watch a bartender measuring the flow WHY...do chefs think we are impressed with their ability annoyances, please drop me a note and I will be happy to add
of wine into glasses like a chemist calibrating to a precise to “deconstruct” every standard recipe into something that them to the list. Please email them to HungryAl@comcast.net.
centimeter of an etched line? doesn’t even come close to its origin? Thanks!
Grape Expectations: Wine Flaws And How To Spot Them

By Ed Wolfarth, who moved to South As a self-proclaimed “wine snob,” he has collaborated on flavor. In deep red wines, the color is more orange and
Florida after retiring with his wife, many wine lists for private clubs and a few restaurants. Ed brown, with a vinegary and apple trait. White wines are
Vicki, as Professor of Sports Sciences can be reached at wolfarthe@msn.com. actually more susceptible to oxidation, since the tannins in
& Physical Education at both Queens There’s nothing more disconcerting than ordering a reds act as a buffer. If you really want to see what oxidized
College and Hofstra University. He bottle of wine at a restaurant, tasting it, and not knowing if wine looks like, simply open a bottle and have a glass, then
is a nationally ranked senior tennis it’s good or “off.” Most of us are not knowledgeable enough save the rest for a week. Congrats—you have ruined your
player and long- time USPTA Elite to identify a flawed wine, or are too skittish to send it back. wine! Note the difference in color and taste. Oxidation
Teaching Professional. Ed has written As consumers we drink a lot of flawed wines—nothing to is simply too much exposure to air. You can see it when
many educational and tennis articles be ashamed of, however. The good news is, they just taste you leave an apple out on the counter and it turns brown.
in the past. Over the past few years, Ed has turned his hobby bad but are not harmful in any way. So, here’s a primer on Oxidation is most common in older wines and is easy to
of wine collecting into a way of continuing his passion for wine flaws and how to sniff them out. replicate at home with any bottle. Can you fix it? No, but
writing, and has written on the subject for publications. 1. Oxidized wine – They tend to lose their color and you can prolong its shelf life by using a wine preservation
tool. If a bottle is oxidized right off the shelf, it most likely
has a faulty closure or was mishandled in transport. Send
it back.
2. Cork Taint – Cork tainted wines have a dank odor that
smells surprisingly like wet newspapers or moldy cardboard,
or a wet dog! Often the cork is a dead giveaway. This is
the second most common wine flaw. Without getting too
technical here, TCA, or Trichloroanisole, is a contaminant
that can get into a wine via the cork or oak barrels. It is
estimated that almost 2% of all wines may have some degree
of TCA contamination. Not much the consumer can do here,
but your nose will know! Send it back.
3. Sulfur Compounds – While this flaw in wine is rare,
it may be the easiest to identify. If you notice a rotten egg
or burnt rubber odor, you probably have a sulfur related
problem called mercaptan. Dihydrogensulfide (H2S) is a
byproduct of sulfur that is added to almost all wines as a
preservative and stabilizing agent. Look on any bottle and
you will find the disclosure, “contains sulfides.” Sulfur
compounds smell smoky, like a burnt match, but usually
dissipate after the bottle has been opened for 15 minutes.
While decanting may help, if you smell any of these “funky”
odors, send it back!
4. Secondary Fermentation – Did you ever see tiny
bubbles in your wine? And I’m not talking about sparkling
wines. This usually happens when residual sugar is bottled
with the wine, resulting in an “accidental” re-fermentation.
Some wines, such as Vino Verde, are naturally “frizzante”
and appealing. Bottom line: If you see or detect bubbles in
your wine when there shouldn’t be any, send it back!
5. Heat Damage – Imagine a pallet of wine cooking in
the sun in the back of a wine shop in Boca. This happens
more often than you think! This exposure to too much heat
makes the wine taste jammy and sweet, but in a processed
way. The exposure to heat also causes cork damage and,
consequently, oxidation. Always examine the cork when a
bottle of wine is presented by your server. Obvious flaws in
a cork are a dead giveaway that something might be wrong
with the wine. Of course, proper storage is the key here.
Most people accept 55 degrees as the proper temperature
to store wine, and avoid exposure to light as well.
There are other wine flaws, but this should give you
some things to look for next time you suspect a bottle of
wine may be flawed. On a personal note, I have on more
than one occasion questioned myself when presented with
a wine I suspected was damaged. On both occasions the
presenter “assured” me that there was no problem. Not to be
rude, I accepted the bottle but was disappointed nonetheless.
Definitely a sticky situation!