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Italian and Thai chefs will join forces for two days of discussion, cooking and collaborative four hands dinners on 8 and 9 March 2019. Be sure to book a place!
A recent bumper crop of black truffles in Northern California has people wondering whether the state could become one of the major truffle producing regions.
Forbes has released its 30 Under 30 Europe list which highlights a number of young innovators across food and drink.
Learn how to make this satisfying oaty sweet tray bake and you’ll never go hungry again!
The trailer for Chef’s Table Season 6 is here and the four stories of chefs Asma Khan, Dario Cecchini, Sean Brock and Mashama Bailey will give you goosebumps.
The Italian haute cuisine congress is in Milan from 23 to 25 March with a whole host of great Italian and international chefs, from Bottura to Crenn.Migraines can be debilitatingly painful, and regular sufferers will do almost anything to prevent them, including giving up something they dearly enjoy, such as wine. But should they? New research from the Netherlands’ Leiden University Medical Center shows that while many people report alcohol—and red wine in particular—as a trigger for migraines, the relationship between the two isn’t so simple.
“Alcoholic beverages have been reported in top 10 trigger factors for migraine,” Gisela Terwindt and Gerrit Onderwater, both researchers from the study, told Wine Spectator via email. “We aimed to investigate which particular beverages are frequently reported by patients as triggers for their attacks, and also estimate the triggering consistency and time to attack onset after consumption of these beverages. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate the effect this has in alcohol-consumption behavior in migraine patients.”
Using the Leiden University Migraine Neuro-Analysis study population, the researchers conducted surveys of 2,197 Dutch adults, ages 18 to 80, who suffer from migraines and fulfilled the International Classification of Headache Disorders criteria. They asked questions about each patient’s drinking habits, whether they believed alcohol was a trigger for migraines, and how often and in what timespan drinking brought on an attack.
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The results, published in the European Journal of Neurology, revealed that roughly 36 percent of the patients did consider alcohol as a migraine trigger. This belief affected many of their decisions around drinking: Among the 650 participants who said they had either stopped drinking or never drank, more than 25 percent said they did so because of alcohol’s presumed triggering effects.
Of the 1,547 participants who were drinkers, nearly 45 percent did not report alcohol as a trigger, while roughly 43 percent did. (The remainder were unsure.)
When drinkers who considered alcohol a trigger were asked about a particular alcoholic beverage bringing on a migraine, red wine was mentioned most frequently (77.8 percent of the answers) and vodka least frequently (8.5 percent). Interestingly, though, only 8.8 percent of participants reported getting migraines after drinking red wine 100 percent of the time. “[This implicates that] other factors may also be involved,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore suggesting total abstinence should not be a direct consequence taken by patients.”
That finding is the primary takeaway of the study: “The association between trigger and attack is a complex one, likely influenced by other internal and external triggers and varying susceptibility,” said the researchers. “It can be debated if alcohol is a factual or presumed trigger.”
Even among those who do believe alcohol to be a trigger, there is no clear understanding of why. Is it the alcohol itself? Or, considering that so many believe red wine is a leading culprit, is there something in wine specifically?
“We currently do not know which compound(s) might be responsible for the presumed triggering effect, or whether other trigger factors may be in play,” said Terwindt and Onderwater. “Testing various factors in an experimental, placebo-controlled fashion, one would be able to specifically investigate this.” However, they note, these studies are difficult to carry out, and expensive, too.
Past studies have looked at whether specific compounds in wine, such as histamines or tannins, can trigger migraines, but the results have been inconclusive.
Keeping a record of when migraines occur, and the circumstances under which they are brought on, can lead to a better understanding of one’s triggers, but migraine sufferers should continue working with their physician to best cope with the problem.
The most viewed food videos on YouTube are not what you think they would be. Food channels are so popular on YouTube, so here are the most viewed recipes.Eight ingredients, plus pantry staples. That’s all it takes to make an entire meal from scratch. Add in a good bottle of wine for less than $20, and you’ve got a feast for family or friends.
I love roast chicken. It’s so easy to adapt to any season and occasion. Spatchcocking the chicken before roasting makes it even more versatile by reducing the cooking time to well under an hour—just the right amount of time to also roast a selection of seasonal vegetables. This makes it easy to get an entire dinner out in one pan.
All you need to spatchcock a chicken is a pair of kitchen shears. Removing the backbone butterflies the chicken, allowing it to lay essentially flat so that it cooks more evenly than roasting it whole. It’s easier to do than you might think, but if you feel hesitant, you can ask your butcher to do it. Many grocery stores now also sell pre-spatchcocked, pre-packaged chickens.
I opted to use za’atar (aka zahatar), a Middle Eastern blend of herbs and spices that adds a lot of flavor in one easy move. Earthy and slightly warming, it’s ideal for this time of year.
An assortment of root vegetables completes the meal. I chose a selection of seasonal favorites and tried to keep the prep as quick and easy as possible. My mix included carrots that were moderately thin and small cipollini onions, both of which can be roasted whole, reducing chopping time.
Given the chilly temperatures this time of year, I was craving a red wine to pair with this dinner. To avoid overpowering the light meat, I selected reds with light to moderate tannins: a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley and a medium-bodied Côtes du Rhône.
The Côtes du Rhône had a mix of red berry and blackberry notes, with a hint of smokiness, black pepper accents and lots of herbal touches. The Pinot Noir showed bright red fruit, with a refreshing beam of acidity and details of spice. Both wines worked really well with the chicken, so the selection came down to how each paired with the vegetables.
With certain bites, the Côtes du Rhône soared; the herbal notes in the wine resonated beautifully with the za’atar spice blend. However, the wine soured just a bit against the sweeter vegetables in the mix. This is a great match if your vegetable selection tends toward the savory side.
Though the Pinot Noir had savory touches, it was more fruit-forward, which worked with all of the vegetables, making it the more consistent match across the board.
Pair with a red with moderate tannins such as Oregon Trails Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2015 (88 points, $20).
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 to 50 minutes, plus 5 to 10 minutes resting time
Total time: 55 to 70 minutes
Approximate food costs: $26
1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Lay the cleaned chicken, with innards removed, down on a cutting board with the legs pointing toward you and the breast side down. Using kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone to remove it. Flip the chicken over, breast-side up, and open it up so that it lies flat. Press hard on the center of the breast to crack the sternum and help flatten the chicken further.
2. Tuck the pieces of butter under the skin of the chicken, distributing as evenly as possible. Sprinkle half the za’atar, salt and a generous pinch of pepper on the skin of the chicken, then rub to distribute well. Tuck a few of the thyme sprigs beneath the skin of the chicken as well.
3. Lightly grease a roasting pan. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer in the roasting pan. Drizzle the vegetables with the apple cider vinegar and olive oil, then sprinkle on the remaining za’atar, plus a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat well, then place the remaining sprigs of thyme on top.
4. If you have a roasting rack, set it in the pan, then place the chicken on top, breast-side up. If not, simply lay the chicken on top of the vegetables, breast-side up. (You can add the backbone to roast with the rest of the chicken and vegetables, or discard as desired.) Place in the oven and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 F and the skin of the chicken and the vegetables are lightly browned. Halfway through cooking, toss the vegetables and add an additional splash of apple cider vinegar if needed. If parts of the chicken are beginning to brown faster than the rest, tent lightly with foil or parchment paper.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving. If the vegetables need additional browning, continue cooking them in the oven while the chicken rests. Toss the vegetables in the chicken drippings before placing them on a platter, then arrange the chicken on top. (You can carve the chicken in advance, or serve whole for presentation and carve at the table.) Serve any additional chicken jus on the side. Serves 4.
Think you know all the ways to cook the perfect steak? From sous vide, to ageing in butter, check out our list of top tips and other weird steak recipes.