(As one NIBBLE staffer commented, “I not only spit it out, I also had to scrape my tongue.”) Generally at the Fancy Food Show, it never gets this bad; even in the supermarket, it doesn’t.

But as we were picking up a few supermarket items this week, we found a contender for the worst thing tasted this year.

The market was out of the organic brand of tomato juice we usually buy. As our eyes scanned the shelves, they noticed Clamato juice, a brand owned by Cadbury-Schweppes that we haven’t had in more than 20 years.

Hmm, we thought, healthy tomato juice and healthy clam juice combined. We’re in!

Ladies and gentlemen: Read the labels before buying, even on what you think is a simple bottle of juice!

Too much sugar in our savory foods!

Because when we got home and poured ourselves what we thought would be a healthy, tasty glass of it, we couldn’t believe our taste buds. Think tomato juice with tablespoons of sugar mixed in—only it was high fructose corn syrup. When we went back to the store, shell-shocked (note pun), we compared the ingredients in the Tomato Clam Juice Cocktail from White Rose. Same sad story. Same vile taste.

Why, oh why, does Big Manufacturing have to throw sweetener into every savory product from bagels to soup to tomato juice?

Not only does it taste horrific (to the refined palate, anyway—obviously somebody is buying it). It adds sugar calories where they aren’t needed or wanted, contributes to the obesity epidemic and warps the palates of the majority of Americans who don’t know better and think that this is what food is supposed to taste like.

We’re so spooked by this, we’re going to start reading labels on milk and egg cartons.

Sunnybay Mediterranean Marinade

This marinade is made from extra virgin olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar and a proprietary blend of herbs and spices. You don’t have to look hard to see the mustard seed: the jar is 3/4 chunky bits of seasoning topped off with the oil (shake jar to blend). If you like garlic and mustard seed, this elegant marinade has lots of both—neither overpowering. http://www.sunnybayinc.com.

Carolina Gold Classic Sauce

While we used them on chicken, they are versatile for just about anything.

Since Elizabethan times at least, restaurants provided extra-large napkins—not only because people ate with their hands, but they used them to wrap up and take home any leftovers. Paper bags did come around in time, but in 1949, Al Meister, owner of a Chicago-based packaging company called Bagcraft Papercon, developed a coated paper bag that was grease-resistant. He is credited with inventing the “doggie bag”—and the take-out bag, for that matter. Grease-resistant soon evolved into foil-coated bags with quirky drawings of Fido, with the blaring headline, “Doggie bag.” No wonder people of good breeding didn’t want to be seen carrying them!

But the lesson here, boys and girls, is no matter how casual or fine the restaurant, no matter how large or small the amount of leftover food: You’ll be sorry you didn’t take it home. You’ve paid for it, it’s yours, and management doesn’t like to see good food thrown out. They’re flattered that you like it so much, you want to take it home.

By the way, while New Yorkers previously could not remove wine from restaurants, the State Liquor Authority informs us as of September 9, 2004, that rule was changed, enabling you to benefit financially from a “Wine Doggie Bag” as well. We quote:

“Legislation has been enacted which provides a procedure under which a restaurant licensee may permit a patron, following the patron’s consumption of a full course meal, to remove one partially consumed bottle of wine from the restaurant. The limitations, conditions, and procedures regarding a restaurant patron’s removal of one partially consumed bottle of wine from the restaurant are discussed in Bulletin No. 588. To view this bulletin click on the following link: SLA Bulletin No. 588”

Salient points from the pdf:

“At the conclusion of the meal, the restaurant patron must be provided with a dated receipt which indicates both the purchase of a full course meal and the purchase of the wine. A receipt which is undated does not satisfy the requirements of the statute. A receipt which fails to indicate that the wine was purchased in connection with a full course meal is insufficient, because the statute requires that the wine be purchased in connection with a full course meal. Before a restaurant licensee may permit a partially consumed bottle of wine to leave the restaurant, the restaurant licensee or an agent of the restaurant licensee must:

• securely reseal the bottle of wine;
• place the resealed bottle in a one-time-use tamper-proof transparent bag, and
• securely seal the bag.

The one-time-use tamper-proof transparent bag must insure that the patron cannot gain access to the bottle while in transit after the bag is sealed.”

What this means is, you can’t open the bottle to drink until you get home—no drinking and driving. The bag is transparent so that you can’t hide the goods from any law official stopping you in transit. Regulations for wine will vary according to each state’s rules.

Food fit for the gods: Greek Gods Grourmet
Yogurt with probiotics.

While yogurt has always been a principal ingredient in Greek, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants, mainstream chefs have jumped onto the bandwagon, too.

– See the article in Nation’s Restaurant News.
– See reviews of our favorite yogurts and yogurt recipes.
– Learn about probiotics.

This week’s cheese recommendation is from guest blogger Dana Romero, proprietor of La Fromagerie D’Acadiana in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Morbier (more-bee-YAY) is one of France’s best-known cheeses. It is a semi-soft, aromatic and surprisingly mild French cow’s milk cheese, defined by the dark vein of vegetable ash streaking through its middle.

Today, the ash is purely decorative, a nod to the method by which Morbier was once produced in the small village of Morbier in eastern central France, bordering Switzerland. It has a rind that is yellowish, moist and leathery. The cheese is aged for at least 60 days and up to four months. It has an assertive scent, but a mild, sweet, buttery taste and a nutty aftertaste.

Morbier cheese is easily recognizable by the layer of ash in the middle. Photo courtesy MurraysCheese.com.

Morbier is a byproduct of Gruyère. Way back when the cheesemakers in France’s Franche-Comté region of France were concentrating on producing Gruyère de Comté, they often had leftover curds at the end of the day. However, they didn’t have enough to make a full Gruyère de Comté, so the cheesemakers would make a smaller cheese. After packing the leftover curds into a mold, they would blacken their hands by rubbing them on the exterior of the copper pot used for cooking cheese curd. The resulting ash was smeared on top of the evening curd to keep it from drying out overnight.

The next day, there would be more excess curd from the morning cheesemaking session, and that would be laid on top of the ash. The Morbiers of Jura and Doubs (départments—think counties—within the province) both benefit from an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) designation, although other non-AOC Morbiers exist.

Do not confuse Morbier with the American Mobay cheese, a Wisconsin semisoft cheese made of one layer of goat’s milk and one of sheep’s milk. In appearance, it is similar to Morbier, with ash separating the two layers. The taste, however, has nothing in common since the milk is not the same.

Morbier is excellent served with Gewurztraminer or Pinor Noir.

Find more of our favorite cheeses.