A few weeks ago, we received a pitch promoting particular wines for International Châteauneuf du Pape day, held on the third Friday in September (today). It inspired us to write about the wine, one of our favorite reds.

In France, wines are named after their communes (think village or county), departments (think state) or regions.

The village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies in the Southern Rhone, north of the city of Avignon.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape (pronounced pop) isn’t a wine common to American wine lists these days. It’s pretty pricey, with top bottles going for $100 more at retail, before the restaurant mark-up.

But in our youth, when even the best wines were more or less affordable, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a staple at top steakhouses. If you could afford the steak, you could afford the wine.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the largest and most important wine appellation in the southern Rhône. Ninety-five percent of the wines are red, with rich red-fruit aromas, strong fruit flavors and plenty of spice and high alcohol (14%).

The best wines may also exhibit notes of garrigue, a term for the herby aroma of the Proveçal underbrush.

A small amount of white wine is produced, but it is typically consumed locally. Regulations do not allow the production of rosé wine [source].
 
 
IS IT NAMED FOR A CASTLE (CHÂTEAU)?

There’s a 14th-century medieval castle in ruins at the top of the hill, but the town isn’t named for the castle.

Rather, the first mention of the village is in a Latin document from 1094 that uses the name Castro Novo, referring to a new village. At that time castro, or château in French, was used to denote a fortified village, rather than the mansion it later came to denote.

In 1309s, Pope Clement V, the “pape” in Châteauneuf du Pape, moved the papacy to Avignon. A total of seven popes resided for the next 67 years.

He and subsequent popes loved the local wine, and encouraged more viticultural in the area. As a result, almost all of the cultivable land is planted with grape vines.

By the 16th century, the village was officially called Châteauneuf du Pape.
 
 
THE WINES OF CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation is an A.O.C.* (appelation origine contrôlée), meaning that by law it can only be produced locally, from specific grapes grown in the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in portions of four adjoining communes.

Almost all wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is no different.

Grenache is the most widely planted grape, but by law 18 grapes† are allowed in the blend. Winemakers use different grape selections and percentages based on what they are trying to achieve.

Grenache is followed by Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. And yes, some vintners use all 18 grapes, and a few use 100% grenache.

A popular blending template is known as GSM: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

 
Even the glass bottles distinguish themselves, with a textured crest on the top half of the bottle (photos #1 and #2; some vintners forgo the expense and use conventional bottles).
 
 
WHAT TO BUY

Consult with your wine store clerk about the options at hand, and their peak drinking times (some are ready to drink now, some aren’t).

What you need to be aware of is that there are three tiers of price/quality:

 
Treat yourself to a bottle, and share it with your favorite red wine lovers.

—Kris Prasad

[1] Château de Beaucastel, a world-renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine (photo courtesy Lipman Events).

[2] The crest of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, used by many of the wine producers (photo © Joe Fisher | Flickr. All rights reserved.

[3] Château La Nerthe, priced in the middle range (photo courtesy Snooth).

[4] Château Mont-Redon, another mid-tier wine (photo courtesy The Local Drop).

[5] Another of the greats, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe (photo courtesy Benchmark Wine Group).

*A.O.C., an abbreviation of appellation d’origine contrôlée, is a legal designation that places rigid standards on how and where a French product can be produced. This ensures consistent quality and preserves its reputation, and distinguishes an authentic product (e.g., Parmigiano Reggiano) from a generic one (e.g. parmesan cheese).

†The grapes, in order of use are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarese, Picpoul Picardan, and Terret Noir. Very recently, additional varieties have been added by law for a total of 18 varieties.

[1] Extra cheese, please! (photo © Mountain Mike’s Pizza | Newport Beach, California).

[2] Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the U.S. (photo © Polina Tankilevitch | Pexels).

[3] Handmade pepperoni (photo © DeLallo).

[4] Got pepperoni? Use the extra to garnish a Bloody Mary (here with blue cheese cubes at Murray’s Cheese Bar).

[5] As with any meat, there are OK, good, and great qualities of pepperoni. Check out some of our favorites below (photo © DeLallo).

[6] Quality pepperoni makes a big difference (photo © DiBruno Bros).

September 20th is National Pepperoni Pizza Day, and we have a surprise for you:

Pepperoni is a cured dry sausage from…not from Italy!

While there are a number of spicy, dry sausages from different regions of Italy, there is no such thing as pepperoni.

For the authentic Italian sausages that inspired it, take a look at soppressata, from Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria; and salsiccia Napoletana piccante, from Naples.

More than a few foods we think of as authentic Italian are actually Italian-American, such as:

 
TIP #1: Freeze a stick of pepperoni slightly, then grate onto pasta, pizza, salads, burgers, sandwiches, etc.

TIP #2: Treat yourself to some super-premium pepperoni. Check out the producers below.

> The year’s 16 pizza holidays.

> The year’s 16 sausage holidays.

> The history of pizza.

> Different types of pizza: 40 ways to eat your slice.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PEPPERONI

Although we can’t point to its origin, pepperoni seems to first appear in the U.S. the early 1900s, when Italian-American butcher shops made a variety of sausages.

The first known print reference appears in 1919 [source].

If you see the word peperoni in Italian (with a single “p”), it’s actually the word for bell peppers.

Perhaps the name for the the red-hued, paprika-spiced sausage was inspired by red bell peppers; we just don’t know.

We do know that in Italian, there is no word related to peperoni that indicates anything but those peppers.
 
 
Pepperoni Is American!

The pepperoni sausage that we eat in America (with two “p’s”) is an American creation.

Traditionally made from a combination of finely-ground pork and beef, it’s a cured meat variation of salami that is made by combining finely-ground pork and beef, seasoned with cayenne, garlic, fennel, mustard seeds and/or paprika, and stuffed into a casing.

(Halal/kosher pepperoni is all beef, and there is also turkey “pepperoni.”)

Pepperoni was created by Italian-American butchers about a century. No one can pinpoint when and where, but it was available at the beginning of the 1900.

“Pepperoni” was first mentioned in print in the U.S. Government’s Yearbook of Agriculture in 1894, called “a dry sausage.”

It was not until the World War I that the word came into common use for a sausage†, within Italian-American communities. The first known use of the word in print in New York City is in 1919 [source].

Different producers use different levels of spices, that can include fennel seeds, garlic, hot chiles or cayenne, mustard seeds and/or paprika.

The sausages are then air-dried (cured). The result: a lightly smoky, sausage, relatively soft and reddish.

The red color is provided by the paprika and any other type of chile (e.g. cayenne), plus the sodium nitrite used as a curing agent.
 
 
WHAT ABOUT PEPPERONI PIZZA?

Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the U.S.: More than 35% of all pizzas ordered are topped with it* (source).

However, pepperoni pizza as we know it is almost never served in Italy, except, perhaps in tourist areas [source].

Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of the pizza oven, called “cupping” in the business. The thicker the slices, the more the edges curl. Under the heat of the oven, the slices give off slicks of orange grease.

Pepperoni sausages are commonly sold in two sizes: an inch in diameter for pizza and two to three inches in diameter for sandwiches. You can buy whole “sticks,” slices, even chopped.
 
 
“GOURMET” PEPPERONI

If your palate seeks something beyond supermarket pepperoni, check out:

 
They’re nice gifts for a pepperoni lover.
 
 
________________

*The “Top 10” pizza toppings, in order: pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage, bacon, extra cheese, black olives, green peppers, pineapple spinach [source].

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Chef Jamie Oliver calls the recipe below (photo #1) a picnic pie, because it’s so easy to transport and serve at picnics or other outdoor events.

Picnic season may be just past, but this recipe uses ingredients that are available year-round.

With the popularity of chicken pot pie in the U.S.,
 
MEAT PIE HISTORY

Meat “pie” has been made since man first used a wrapper to keep in the juices of cooking meat. Evidence dates back to the Neolithic Period, around 9500 B.C.E., but it’s not a pie we would recognize today.

Pastry was perfected by the ancient Egyptians. Their pies were savory pastry: a dough of flour and water paste to wrap around meat and soak up the juices as it cooked (here’s a brief history of pastry).

While our focus today is on vegetables, it’s fun to look at the ancestor of pot pies.

In the days of the Roman Empire, large pot pies served to the wealthy sometimes had live birds under the crust that would burst out flying when the crust was cut [source]. You can see this happen in a banquet scene in Fellini Satyricon.

How the birds remained live under a baked pie crust, and why people would want live birds atop their food, we can only imagine (for the former, we’re guessing that a crust was baked separately and the birds and crust added at the last minute).

While you’d think this decadence would have ended with the Roman Empire, one recipe author in 16th-century England advised how “to make pies that the birds may be alive and fly out when it is cut up….”

But most pies were simpler affairs, involving a pastry crust, meat and gravy. When there was no meat, vegetables were used.

What happened to the meat pie beyond Egypt?

Some sources explain that the ancient Greeks placed cook meats in open pastry shells, and that the Romans added the top crust.

In America, the cookbook American Cookery, published in 1796, included recipes for chicken pot pie, beef pot pie, and “Sea Pie,” which used pigeons, turkey, veal and mutton. The recipe was originally developed aboard ships, which used whatever preserved meats were available [source].

The term “pot pie” is an English term, simply describing how it was made: by molding pastry along the bottom of of pot [source]. Metal pie pans did not appear until the 16th century, and the poor could not afford them.
 
 
RECIPE: VEGETABLE PIE

This recipe (photo #1) was adopted from one by Jamie Oliver. Unlike a vegetable pot pie, it is solid layered vegetables, not chopped vegetables in a sauce.

He suggests serving chutney as a condiment, with a chilled rosé to drink.

If you don’t like a particular ingredient, substitute mushrooms or other vegetable. Serve the pie as a main course or a first course.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of oil. Roast on the top rack for 25 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and rosemary after 20 minutes.

2. PLACE the bell peppers on a second baking sheet and place on the lower oven rack for 35 minutes, or until blackened. Place them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes. Then peel, remove the seeds and slice into large pieces (thick rings are fine). Season them and drain in a colander.

3. HEAT 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium heat and sweat the onions for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just caramelized. Stir in the balsamic and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. PLACE a griddle or large pan over a medium-high heat. In batches, brush the eggplant and zucchini slices with oil and place on the hot griddle for 5 minutes, until soft and lightly charred. Halfway through, turn and season. When cooked, transfer to a plate and set aside.

5. BOIL a kettle of water. Put the spinach in a colander and pour over the boiling water to wilt it. Let it cool, then squeeze it dry, chop it and place it in a bowl. Add the ricotta to the spinach, the lemon zest and half the parmesan. Season, stir to combine and set aside.

6. REDUCE the oven temperature to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

7. ROLL out 2/3 of the pastry on a floured surface, so it fits the base and sides of the springform. Press it into place, leaving a little overhang; trim off any excess. Sprinkle half the basil and half of the remaining Parmesan over the pastry base, then layer the vegetables.

8. BEGIN with the zucchini and eggplant, followed by a layer of bell peppers, then the spinach. Add over the squash and onions, then dots of the goat cheese. Scatter on the rest of the basil and parmesan.

[2] Vegetable pies are popular in the U.K. Here’s another version from Delicious Magazine.

[3] We spotted this mushroom pie on the Facebook page of Hope Foods.

[4] Don’t want a pie? How about a tart? Here’s the recipe from Tasting Table.

[5] Perhaps a vegetable strudel? Here’s the recipe from The Pool.

[6] The recipe uses year-round bounty from the fields (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

10. BAKE the pie for 45 minutes or until golden. If the crust becomes too dark, cover it with foil for the last 10 minutes. Let cool in the springform pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan to cool completely. Serve hot, room temperature or cold.

[2] Garlic olive oil with crushed red pepper and tri-color peppercorns (photo courtesy Style Craze).

[3] Use olive oil and herbs as pasta sauce. Here, garlic, crushed red pepper do the trick. See the recipe from Real Simple.

[4] Mashed potatoes with truffle oil and truffle bits. You can use portobello bits or omit entirely (photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma).

If you’re a good cook, you probably own more than one flavored or infused olive oil. We own basil, chile, citrus (blood orange, lemon, lime), garlic, rosemary and truffle oil. We’re either a very good cook or an impulsive shopper.

There’s a difference between flavored and infused, although not many people know it. The front label of the bottle may not tell you, but a look at the ingredients label might.

 
Check out the different types of olive oil in our Olive Oil Glossary.
 
 
USING FLAVORED / INFUSED OILS

We love flavored/infused oils, and tend to buy too many different flavors, that stand shoulder to shoulder in the pantry.

Open* bottles of olive oil have a particular shelf life, depending on olive variety and storage conditions. Flavored oils have an even shorter time before freshness fades. Try to use them within six months, and certainly within a year.

That’s why we look for opportunities to use them on a daily basis.

Note that just as wines pair to specific foods, so do olive oil flavors. Those flavors that are good for meats, such as chile or garlic, may be too strong for delicate fish. For the latter, use oils with citrus or green herbs.

Note that quality olive oils are not meant to be cooked at higher temperatures or for longer times.

 
And now, 20 ways to use flavored/infused oils:

 
Experiment with your favorite foods. We’re partial to a bit of basil or rosemary oil on vanilla or chocolate ice cream, and some chile oil lemon sorbet.

*Over time, even oil an unopened bottle begins to degrade. Again, it depends on variety and storage conditions (in the warehouse, at the store, in your kitchen).

September 18th is National Cheeseburger Day. That typically means a slice of supermarket American, cheddar or Swiss cheese: The same old, same old.

How about some better cheese, for a change?

Murray’s, a New York City cheese and specialty food store, has a separate restaurant that has fine cheeses in every course. If this is your idea of paradise, be sure to visit Murray’s Cheese Bar on Bleecker Street.

Of course there are cheeseburgers on the menu, using the great cheeses from the store. While the options change, the recipes from one recent menu are below.

You’ll note that some of these cheeses are not “melters.” Who says that the cheese on a burger has to melt?

The reason melty American cheese is the most widely used is tradition: The cheeseburger started at a sandwich shop where American cheese was the a popular ingredient.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE CHEESEBURGER

Adding cheese to hamburgers first became popular in the late-1920s. While there are several claims as to who created the first cheeseburger, Lionel Sternberger of Pasadena, California is largely given credit.

In 1926 at the age of 16, he was working as a fry cook at his father’s sandwich shop, The Rite Spot. The creative lad placed a slice of American cheese to a burger sizzling on the grill, to see what the combination might taste like. We all know the answer.

The next step: A 1928 menu for O’Dell’s restaurant in Los Angeles shows a cheeseburger “smothered” with chili.

Other claimants to cheeseburger history:

 
Since local news didn’t travel in those days, we might credit the claims to the concept of multiple discovery, a.k.a. simultaneous invention. The hypothesis is that scientific discoveries and inventions can be made independently and more or less simultaneously by different scientists and inventors.

Have you ever heard of a steamed cheeseburger? It’s the cooking technique used at Ted’s Restaurant in Meriden, Connecticut. They developed the steam box and trays used to cook the “World Famous Steamed Burgers.”

While Ted’s didn’t open until 1959, Wikipedia credits a restaurant called Jack’s Lunch in Middletown, Connecticut, with the creation, in the 1930s.

TRIVIA: McDonald’s opened both kosher and non-kosher restaurants in Israel. A kosher cheeseburger can be created with vegan cheese (made from soy or nut milk).
 
 
“GOURMET” CHEESEBURGER TOPPINGS

The way to make the best cheeseburger is to use the best ingredients: not just the meat and the roll, but the cheese.

Some of the cheeses used at Murray’s Cheese Bar follow. You may not be able to get these specific brands, but go to the best cheese shop in town and ask for something similar.

You don’t even have to follow these recipes. Our goal is simply to expand your cheeseburger horizons.

BACON BURGER

 
GOAT GOUDA BURGER

 
SPICY BBQ BLUES BURGER

 
FRENCH ONION SOUP BURGER

 
THE HOT MESS

[1] Pimiento cheese cheeseburger (photo courtesy Gardenia Restaurant | NYC).

[2] The blue cheese-bacon cheeseburger, almost a classic, at The Cheesecake Factory.

[3] How about a mac ‘n’ cheese burger, at Glory Days Grill?

[4] A bacon-wrapped jalapeño burger at ViewHouse Eatery | Denver.

[5] Apple, bacon and Brie burger. Here’s the recipe from Olivia’s Cuisine.