3rd Annual Shavuos Contest!

We are proud to announce our 3rd Annual Shavuos Contest. Last year’s prize (a beautiful basket of cholov Yisroel N&K cheeses), went to Pessy Haskelevich in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn; the year before that Brachie S. from Lakewood took the top honors and also received a great selection of cholov Yisroel N&K cheeses. Both times Brigitte Mizrahi, from Anderson International Foods graciously supplied the prizes.

This year Brent Delman from The Cheese Guy.com is supplying the prize:

Photo by: Brent Delman, The Cheese Guy

Two winners will be selected and each will receive a basket consisting of: Italian Montaggio and Pecorino Romano, Pepper Jack, Mild Cheddar, Monterrey Jack and Aged Havarti as well as a jar of honey and a jar of Swiss Hero preserves. All cheeses are cholov Yisroel.

The last date for entries will be May 25th (the Friday prior to erev Shavuot which will start on Motzey Shabbat) at 12:00pm. We will choose the best dairy recipe using cheeses as one of the ingredients. We’ve had some great entries in the past, be creative and send us your best. Winners will be announced on June 4th, the first Monday following Shavuot.

You may enter multiple times if you believe you have more than one possible winning entry. We can’t wait to sample those recipes!

Please send us your recipes to:

kosherscene@gmail.com

CS

Upcoming Wine Events

Sunday, March 4th

Gotham’s 9th Annual Kosher Wine Extravaganza

Where:

West Side Institutional Synagogue – 120 West 76Street, New York, NY 10023

When:

VIP Tasting: 1:00pm – 2:00pm – $60.00 per attendee
VIP tickets are entitled to attend the whole show.
Part1: Join Chief Winemaker Shiki Rauchberger of Teperberg Winery for a wine tasting showcasing wines from his iconic winery.
Part 2: Join Costas Mouzuras in a short tasting featuring some new and old treasures.

Early Admittance: 2:00pm – 3:00pm – $40.00
Enjoy chocolate samplers from ChocolateWorksNYC.com.
Cheese tasting sponsored by Anderson International Foods.
Join Brigitte Mizrahi from AIFoods and taste a huge selection of cheeses.

Be adventurous and try our chocolate and wine pairings, our cheese and wine pairings and… YES! will also be presenting TISHBI’s Fruit and Wine Preserves. What a heavenly combination!

General admission: 3:00 – 6:00pm – $30.00 ($35.00 at the door)

What:
Over 300 wines from offering a panoramic view of Kosher wines in today’s market. Sample amazing wines from every major vineyard from Israel, France, Italy, Spain, South America, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, United States and more at this annual Wine Extravaganza.

Taste and enjoy wines from wineries such as: Adar, Aldaz, Alexander, Baron Herzog, Barkan, Bartenura, Binyamina, Borgo Real, Bravdo, Capcanes, Carmel, Casa Da Corsa, Castell D’Olerodola, Chosen, Cordovero, Covenant, Dalton, Elvi, Domaine du Castel, Dovev, Drappier, Efrat, Ella Valley Vineyards, En Fuego, Five Stones, Flechas, Florenza, Gabriele, Gamla, Goose Bay, Guillermo, Gush Etzion, Harkham, Joseph River, K Wines, Kinneret, Lan Zur, Laurent Perrier, Luis de Sacy, Mony, Noah, Notte Italiana, Odem Mountain, D’Owyers, Or Haganuz, Pacifica, Psagot, Ramon, Rashi, Recanati, Segals, Shiloh, Tabor, Teal Lake, Teperberg, The Cave, Tierra Salvaje, Tishbi, Tzora, Vignobles David, Weinstock, Yatir, Yogev, exciting new wineries from France, and many many more.

Get your tickets at Gotham Wine & Liquors‘ website.

—-)OoO(—-

Sunday, March 11th

Where:
City Winery – 155 Varick Street, (between Spring and Vandam Streets) – New York, New York 10013

When:
2:00 to 5:00pm

What:
Over 100 of the best Kosher wines from around the world!

• Taste exciting new Kosher wines,  including the winners of The Jewish Week‘s recent Top 18 Kosher Wine Competition.
• Meet Kosher wine vintners, wine experts and local retailers
• Enjoy food from various leading NYC Kosher restaurants and food companies

 $35 in advance/$40 at the door

Pick up a free copy of  The Jewish Week‘s Kosher Wine Guide packed with great ideas for food pairings, as well as the Top 18 Kosher Wines in 8 categories, and more.

DO NOT MISS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT WILL NOT REPEAT ITSELF FOR ANOTHER YEAR!!!

SYR and I expect to attend both events, we’ll we meet you there?

CS

Kosherfest 2011 Highlights – Part 2

Wednesday, the last day of Kosherfest 2011, proved even more eventful than I expected. Irving Schild and I started the day by interviewing Alain Bankier (from Manischewitz) which you can hear motzey Shabbat at 8:30pm (Eastern Time) on BlogTalkRadio.com.

We then proceeded to cover the 4th Annual Kosherfest Culinary Competition, produced in partnership with the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts (see here, here and here) and sponsored by Jack’s Gourmet.

Shortly after getting there I was asked if I could take over as the third judge because cookbook author, James Beard Award winner and encyclopedist Gil Marks, had an emergency. The pressure started at this point… I had eaten at the various establishments represented and thought each was truly superlative. This was not going to be easy!

(Photos by: Esti Berkowitz of Primetime Parenting
for The Kosher Scene)

From left to right: Emcee Chef Avram Wiseman - Dean of CKCA, Chef Jack Silberstein - from Jack's Gourmet kosher sausages, yours truly and Chef Philippe Kaemmerle from CKCA

Chef Avram, last year’s Kosherfest Culinary Competition winner, more than ably emceed the event with wit and charm intermingled with educational tidbits. The three contestants were (in alphabetical order): Craig Solomon from Ariel’s (18 Engle St  Englewood, NJ 07631; Tel: 201.569.1202)…

Chef Craig

Seth Warshaw, from etc steakhouse (1409 Palisade Avenue; Teaneck, NJ 07666; Tel: 201.357.5677)…

Chef Seth

Moshe Wendel from Pardes (497 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11217; Tel: 718.797.3880)…

Chef Moshe, rarin' to get started!

Immediately before hitting the clock to allow 45 minutes for cooking and plating, Chef Avram unveiled the secret ingredient…

...Boneless Duck Breast!

Each Chef was allowed to bring something from his restaurant, each one’s individual style shone through as they made three plates each. Chef Solomon showed the gracefulness and precision of a well trained ballet dancer; Chef Warshaw betrayed no nervousness under pressure and was the first one to plate, with over a minute to spare; Chef Wendel, ever the innovator, performed his magic with unusual ingredients.

Chef Craig brought in habanero peppers and sugar cane, Chef Seth used pomegranate – his signature ingredient, while Chef Moshe preferred the exotic. He brought in amba, a tangy Iraqi mango pickle condiment, which he made into a heavy sauce.

The judges walked around to observe each chef in action. We were looking for cleanliness, technique and overall mastery, while Chef Avram periodically announced the countdown and kept the audience entertained throughout. A few minutes before the clock came to a stop the three of us sat down and readied to taste.

First to serve was Chef Seth he presented each of us with a beautiful tower of duck resting over three cornmeal johny or journey cakes. Next came Chef Solomon who showed had he cooked and moved with precision and graceful elegance but his square presentation looked like an architectural masterpiece.  Chef Moshe served a very aromatic duck covered with a generous helping of amba, another beautiful presented very succulent dish as I’d come to expect from him!

...remains of the winning dish

Each dish tasted very different, each showed the consummate professionalism and artistry of its creator. Incredible how the same basic ingredient can be made so differently! It was hard to decide which was best – specially as we tasted in very quick succession washing out our mouths in between each dish. The maximum number of points, per Chef, per judge, was 30 points for a total a grand total of 90. All three were within one or two points away, after a few minutes of deliberation in a back room (where each judge explained the rational for his grading on preparation, presentation and taste) we finally had a winner…

The winner, his silver trophy and $1000.00 in cash

Seth Warshaw from Teaneck’s etc steakhouse!

After the competition we visited with Brigitte Mizrahi, CEO of Anderson International Foods, makers of Sugar River, Les Petites Fermieres, and Natural & Kosher brand cheeses. Sugar River won this year’s Kosherfest Best New Cheese Award. You can hear the interview tomorrow eve.

From there we proceeded to Jack’s Gourmet (see here and here), while I had a pretty good idea (having tasted it at Dr. Broner’s while they were perfecting it, a couple of months ago) why they won this year’s Best New Sausage Award though I still was surprised by how much they had an improved an already delicious recipe. Needless to say, we kept on coming back again and again… As an old TV commercial used to say: Betcha can’t eat just one! Hear the interview with Dr. Broner tomorrow evening.

The wines we tasted at various price points were superb, proving yet again that great wines can be (and are!) kosher. Shortly before leaving, I run into Alex Veyg, from veygsgourmet.com. This young man produces a line of delicious natural flavored honeys and he too will be on our internet radio show, tomorrow evening – mothzey Shabbos – at 8:30 pm (Eastern Time). You will tune us in, won’t you?

CS

Internet Radio Show Tonight

Thanks to Sidney and Tammy Cohen  we did an incredible one hour show last week, live from 18 Restaurant (240 E 81st St, New York NY10065; Tel: 212.517.2400). Our guests lineup included: Gil Marks – author of Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum – who spoke of her brand new cook book. Kim Amzallag from Kosher Inspired Magazine, Esti Berkowitz from the Prime Time Parenting blog and, of course, the incomparable Tammy Cohen . The food was great, the atmosphere just perfect and the place was packed.  We all loved it!

This evening, at 7:30 pm (Eastern Time), we will broadcasting again. You can listen to our show at BlogTalkRadio/kosherscene. We will start with a reading of a very short piece I wrote a few years back (which was reprinted on The Jerusalem Post and on Ynet.com) it’s about the first Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day, commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem. I was there when the Old City – Ir Hatika became ours again…

Then we’ll turn the conversation to Shavuos and dairy food with Brigitte Mizrahi and Moshe Vogel from Anderson International Foods (who manufacture the cholov Yisroel line of cheeses Natural & Kosher, and the non-cholov Yisroel brands Les Petites Fermieres and Organic and Kosher. We will follow with Kim Amzallag (whom I prerecorded yesterday afternoon), who will talk to us about the new Shavuos issue of Kosher Inspired and much more.

A tiny selection of Anderson International Foods' cheese offerings

Please tune us in this evening from 7:30pm t0 8:30pm, at: BlogTalkRadio/kosherscene. We have a very interesting program, geared to Shavuos (which is next week, starting Tuesday eve and continuing through Thursday night, the evening of the 7th through the 9th of June). We’ll be waiting for you!

CS

Our Internet Radio Shows for this Week

Last week week Pastry Chef Paula Shoyer – author of The Kosher Baker – was our guest, based on emails we received after it aired, there is no question her charm, her knowledge, won the audience’s heart. If you missed it, you can hear it here.

This week, we will have two special shows. Tomorrow Wednesday, April 6 2011, we will a two hour show starting at 6:30. We will be transmitting live from NYC’s biggest Pre-Passover Wine Tasting. This event will take place at: West Side Institutional, 120 West 76 Street, New York, NY 10023. There is a Private VIP tasting which starts at 6:00pm and goes on until 7:00pm. General admission starts at 7:00pm. There are over 300 wines to sample, including new ones, classic vintages and many from Costas Mouzouras’ private collection.

Some of the hundreds of bottles consumed at last year's Gotham Wines' Show

Costas is Gotham Wines ans Liquors (2517 Broadway; New York, NY 10025; Telephone: 212.932.0990), kosher brands manager. His grandfather had a small winery, in Cyprus, where Costas used to help out during his summers as a teenager. We will talk to various distributors, we will taste wines and suggest pairings with cheese and other foods.

Brigitte Mizrahi, Anderson International Foods CEO, will share her expertise on wine and cheese during the broadcast and finally at 8:00pm – 8:30pm we will speak her about her company’s products. This promises to be a very exciting show, so please listen in at: Kosherscene, tomorrow – April 6, 2011 – from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

The next show of the week will be broadcast on Thursday the 7th, and will be pre-taped at tonight’s 20th Anniversary Puah Dinner. Puah is an organization that helps infertile couples within the halachic parameters. The show will, feature interviews with the various inspirational speakers on Puah‘s very important mission. As a child of Holocaust survivors I can attest to the importance of Puah‘s work as the only effective revenge on those who would obliterate us. This show will air on Thursday at 8:00-9:00pm. Please, give us a listen.

CS