I DRINK ON THE JOB - THE BLOG

Archive for July, 2011

Cooking with Rum – Legg Mason Chef Challenge Monday, August 1st, 2011

July 26th, 2011 • No Comments

Hey – you get to watch Professional Tennis and you get to taste these two chefs competing while cooking with Rum! I’m not really doing anything other than enjoying the event, but remember – I Drink on the Job – Cheers!

Chef Challenge – Experience the Flavor of Puerto Rico hosted by Rums of Puerto Rico Reception: 6pm-8pm
Tickets: $70/person – PURCHASE TICKETS HERE – LEGG MASON CHEF’S CHALLENGE

Rums of Puerto Rico hosts Chef Challenge – Experience the Flavor of Puerto Rico, pitting Executive Chef Roger Villalobos of Mio Restaurant against Executive Chef Raynold Mendizabal of Lima Restaurant in a battle to determine who most masterfully creates flavorful and original Latin dishes infusing a variety of rums as theme ingredients.

The entertaining culinary showdown will take place on Monday, August 1st from 6 until 8 pm, in the tournament’s Hospitality Tent. Among the judges are International Tennis Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez – the first-ever female Puerto Rican athlete to turn professional, Shannon Shaffer – Executive Chef of Design Cuisine, Mary Beth Albright – 2011 Food Network Star finalist and WTOP’s Man About Town Bob Madigan. Judges will sample both chef’s dishes and rate on taste, look/presentation and creativity to determine the Chef Challenge champion! NBC 4’s Eun Yang will be the emcee entertaining the audience throughout the competition.

The judges will prepare the First Course using DonQ rum, the Second Course using Bacardi rum and the Dessert Course using Barrilito rum.

Tickets for the Chef Challenge competition hosted by Rums of Puerto Rico includes food and drink during the reception, a ticket to all the Monday session main draw matches, and the chance to meet Hall of Famer Gigi Fernandez, all for just $70.

Availability is limited, so call the Tournament Hotline at 202-721-9500 or visit
http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com to reserve your spot.

Kai Pee Ree Nyaaa

July 4th, 2011 • No Comments

This video is an interview of Mark Lester at NYC Bar and Wine Show of Soul Cachaca – he discusses Cachaca and why it is becoming one of the hottest categories in the Spirits industry. My experience with Cachaca began about 10 years ago when I held a TasteDC event at the Brazilian Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. and my staff and I mixed/muddled over 100 Caipirinhas – the traditional mixed drink of Cachaca consumed in Brazil (See Recipe Below). We also enjoyed the native dish of Brazil – Feijoada, a stew of pork and other goodies with Farofa (a toasted manioc flour mixture) and delicious boiled collards greens.

Caipirinha

According to the Press Release from RDP Group, the PR Agency for the New York Bar and Wine Show:

The Brazilian Trade Bureau will present Brazil’s Sexy Spirit, Cachaca, quoted by Bar Business Magazine as “America’s Drink of the Year 2011” for Patrons throughout the United States.

Cachaca is a drink obtained from sugarcane cuts and distillation in Brazil for over 400 years. Cachaca was discovered between 1516 and 1526; mere years after sugarcane plants were implemented in the Pernambuco region of Brazil. Being the first distilled drink of the Americas, produced before pisco, tequila, and rum, cachaca has been a product of local culture for upwards of 300 years. Today, bottles of cachaca can be purchased in a variety of flavors.

Cachaca is actually Rum, or better yet “Rhum Agricole” – you see, rum can be made with sugar cane, but most of the time it is made from the leftover remain of sugar production – molasses. I’ve had rum made from pure sugar cane and solely from molasses as well, and they are somewhat different in taste. Having said that, I got hell at the DC Rum Festival I organized for TasteDC a few years back when one of the rum importers told me that rum made from molasses was just as good if not better than rum made from pure sugar cane! I think the taste difference is more in it’s un-aged pure form, but when you start adding barrel aging to the equation, all bets are off – there are so many wood, temperature, climate and other factors with aging in barrels, that I’d have to do much more research in flavor profiles.

Caipirinha Recipe Click Here

Cheers!

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler – Purchase the Book on Amazon at I Drink on the Job

 

DC IS a Beer Town!

July 3rd, 2011 • No Comments

Now that it’s July 4th in our Nation’s Capital, it’s time to celebrate with DCs new and original brewing tradition – see the video (produced by Kate Musselwhite for her film class at American University, thank you Kate!) and check out the local breweries that will be at the Mid-Atlantic Craft Brew Fest (MAC Brew Fest) on Saturday, October 15th, 2011 in downtown DC: