Grenada, part of the Grenadine islands, has long been called the Isle of Spice or the Spice Island, however, its biggest business today is really tourism with a nod to its heritage as a spice & herb producing & processing island. Historically, Grenada has been the second largest producer of nutmeg in the world (after Indonesia). The nutmeg pod is at the 8-9 o’clock position in the basket, while the cinnamon sticks in the center of the basket are actually approximately 10″ long. Cacao pods and bay leaves are at the 12 o’clock and 1-2-3 o’clock positions.

Read the rest of this entry >

No Comments

Since we are about to head into the Holiday season, it is quite likely that you might be considering food and wine pairing when planning any holiday meal(s). It seemed like this might be a good time to share some thoughts about sensory perception and wine evaluation as you start thinking ahead to any Thanksgiving Celebration and beyond.

Local wine stores or perhaps actual wineries (if you happen, like me, to live in or near a wine growing region) may feature special holiday tastings and celebrations. You can taste a variety of wines and make notes about any tastings and then decide what you might like to buy to have available to go with your Holiday meals.

I’ll go into actual wine pairing with food per se in another post, but today let’s focus on first appreciating the sensory qualities of wine and let’s go over some of the basics involved in wine evaluation.

I do not pretend to be a highly trained wine connoisseur or sommelier, however, if you want to see a “Fine Wine” tasting sheet developed in conjunction with input from wine experts, I do know where you might possibly find one available as of the date this article was first published.

Read the rest of this entry >

1 Comment

To help celebrate the blog site going live this week, I wanted to share this recipe for a classic sensory packed variation on wassail. It can be served as a non-alcoholic beverage or it can be laced with white rum–your choice.

Everyone feels welcome walking in the door if greeted by the aroma of a simmering pot of wassail. Sniffing wisps of the pungent spices (cinnamon, cloves and allspice) with top notes of fruity aromas is likely to bring on a flood of pleasant memories from childhood past.

Read the rest of this entry >

1 Comment