Chardonnay and Chateaux
With a side of lemonade. Great local soy sauce. And a favorite Paris restaurant.
So many people have called in the past week to ask where they should eat when they’re in Europe this summer that I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the only one who is happily staying home. I love summer here in the Hudson Valley, and have no desire to be anywhere else.
Still… it made me think about one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. A bike trip through Provence in the mid-eighties. I wondered if it really was as good as I remembered. Then I read this old article, and realized it was even better.
But… true confession. Despite truly loving that trip, and despite what I say at the end of the article… I’ve never taken another two-wheeled trip. Perhaps the time has come.
How to Make Better Lemonade
“What’s in your refrigerator?”
That’s a question food writers are invariably asked. My first answer is always “lemons, lemons and more lemons.” I am never without them. My first cookbook has an entire chapter on lemons. Asked to name a seminal dish on Top Chef Masters, I chose lemon souffle. And on another season of the show I blurted out “I am the queen of lemons.” So you will not be surprised to learn that I have serious opinions about lemonade.
With its lovely color and tangy aroma, great lemonade is much more than refreshingly delicious; it is also extremely good for you. In addition to containing loads of infection-fighting vitamin C, lemon juice is an antioxidant and very effective in times of gastric distress. So please, when life gives you lemons, make a better lemonade.
The first thing to know is that the best flavor in a lemon is hiding in the peel, which contains all that wonderful lemon oil. If you’re going to take advantage of this, buy organic lemons or scrub conventional lemons very well.
But here’s the problem: just below the bright yellow zest is the evil white pith. The spongy white part beneath the peel is very bitter; crush it into your lemonade and within a few hours your wonderful drink will become quite unpleasant.
Simple syrup is another secret to great lemonade. Nothing more than sugar dissolved in water it allows the sugar to sweeten the lemon juice, rather than drifting down to sit glumly on the bottom of the glass. Infuse lemon zest into your syrup and you get all the complexity of the zest with none of the bitterness of the white. You also get a very sunny color.
Lemonade takes a lot of juice, so you don’t want to waste drop. A good juicy lemon will give you a quarter cup of liquid. But they are not all so succulent, and should you end up with unfortunate lemons you might need to squeeze as many as six to get a cup of juice. Increase your odds by rolling the lemons around on the counter beneath your palm. This will break down the cells inside the fruit and give you more juice. If your lemons still seem hard and unforgiving, microwave them for 20 seconds. This will shock them into relaxing, just a little.
Garnish each glass of lemonade with a sprig of mint. It looks lovely - and it adds a pleasant flavor note.
Recipe
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
4-6 lemons, enough to make a cup of lemon juice
2 cups water
2 sprigs mint (optional)
With a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemons, being careful to leave the white pith behind.
Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, toss in the lemon zest and allow to cool.
Squeeze the lemons until you have a cup of fresh juice.
Strain the sugar syrup; it should be a lovely yellow. Add half to the lemon juice, along with the water, and keep adding more until it is sweetened to your taste. (I prefer mine quite tart.) The strained syrup will keep almost indefinitely in the refrigerator.
Pour over ice cubes and serve, garnished with a sprig of mint or a slice of lemon.
Serves 2
I have so many different kinds of soy sauce that I’m running out of shelf space, and the last thing I need is yet another bottle. But when I saw locally-made Moromi Shoyu on the shelf at Talbott and Arding, I couldn’t resist.
I’m so glad I did. It has a different flavor profile than other soy sauces I’ve tried. Clean, not overly salted, much less funky than some of the older ones. I wouldn’t use it in cooking (it’s expensive), but as a finishing sauce - or in salads - it’s perfect. I can’t wait to try Moromi’s other products (I’m particularly intrigued by that sugar kelp soy. )
If you’re looking for an interesting gift to take along to a dinner party, this is a swell idea.
I opened with Paris and then referenced Japan, so it seems appropriate to close with my favorite meal on my last visit to the city (which was right before Covid closed everything down). Maison by Soto Atsumi - delicious French food from a fantastic Japanese chef in a serenely lovely room. As I mentioned last week, lunch is often a bargain in great restaurants and this one is no exception.
Dear Ruth:
This coming November, Santa Monica Press will be releasing George Geary’s "L.A.’s Landmark Restaurants: Celebrating the Legendary Locations Where Angelenos Have Dined for Generations." This title is the follow-up to Geary’s now classic and critically acclaimed book, "L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants," which featured a foreword by Barbara Fairchild and endorsements by such celebrity chefs and food writers as Chef Nobu, Curtis Stone, Colman Andrews, Russ Parsons, Suzanne Tracht, Jon Shook, and Vinny Dotolo. You can view the book here: https://amzn.to/38rISk2
I am reaching out to you to see if you would consider writing the foreword for "L.A.’s Landmark Restaurants." As a legendary food writer who spent many years in Los Angeles, it would be an incredible honor to have you contribute to this marvelous work.
Santa Monica Press has been recognized as a very high-quality independent press for over 25 years; we are distributed by PGW/Ingram and have had many, many well-known authors, celebrities, and influential individuals provide forewords or endorsements for our books over the years, from Tom Petty to David Lynch to Sandra Cisneros to Junot Diaz and dozens and dozens of others.
I appreciate your consideration, Ruth, and look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me at jgoldman@santamonicapress.com.
Thanks!
Jeffrey Goldman
Publisher
Santa Monica Press
Seriously. This Substack is FEEDING me and my “God I miss Gormet Magazine” joneses. Thank you Ruth.