Many Americans like to shake hot sauce on their food. But what about hot spices?

In addition to black pepper and chile flakes, there’s shichimi togarashi (she-CHEE-me toe-gah-RAH-she—photo #1).

Known simply as shichimi in Japan, it’s a seven-ingredient spice blend (shichi is “seven” in Japanese, togarashi is red pepper).
The spice blend dates at least to the 17th century, when it was produced by herb dealers in Edo (modern Tokyo).

How trending is it? McCormick sells it in U.S. supermarkets, as Japanese Seven Spice (photo #3).

Blends vary by producer, but the blends aim for a combination of hot, citrus, sea and nutty flavors. Unlike hot sauces, which can deliver tongue-tingling heat, the aim of shichimi is to deliver a medium-hot, complex heat that elevates the flavor profile of a dish.

Typical ingredients include:

 
Other ingredients may be used, including rapeseed for the seeds, and shiso for the seaweed.
 
 
HOW TO USE IT

Shichimi is traditionally sprinkled on:

 
It is incorporated into products such as rice cakes, roasted rice crackers and crunchy snacks.

You can use shichimi togarashi in American fare: anywhere you’d like to add some heat. How about:

 
You can also use it in and on sweets:

 
For beverages, consider using the spice as a glass rimmer for a Bloody Mary, shaken with, or sprinkled over a cocktail as a garnish. Má Pêche restaurant in Manhattan infuses shichimi into high-alcohol saké.

As is often noted, the only limit is your imagination.

[2] American spice shops are mixing their own blends. This one is from Oaktown Spice Shop in Oakland, California.

[3] Worldwide spice giant McCormick sells Japanese Seven Spice, subtitled Shichimi Togarashi Seasoning (photo McCormick).

[4] Spicy-sweet shichimi popcorn. Here’s the recipe from Turntable Kitchen.

You can buy the spice, or make your own blend with 2 tablespoons sansho or 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 1 tablespoon dried orange peel, 1 tablespoon ground red chile pepper, 2 teaspoons flaked nori, 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons white poppy seeds and 2 teaspoons nori flakes.

Crack the peppercorns with a mallet, and blend all ingredients. Keep in a tightly-sealed jar.
 
 
RECIPES

We love this recipe for Tofu Fritters with shichimi.

Check out these recipes from Oaktown Spice Shop, for:

[2] Find a cartoon kilt online and print out copies for your cookies (photo courtesy Getty Images).

It’s the birthday of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). Family and friends gather for Burns Night, an evening of good food and company.

A traditional Burns’ Supper (Scottish supper) can consist of beef pie, cock-a-leekie soup, colcannon, haggis, nettles and tatties, smoked haddock and more.

But instead of the dinner, this year we’re celebrating with a Scotch tasting and these fun cookies, made with a gingerbread man cookie cutter and outfitted in paper kilts.

We’ll also read a poem or two; Burns’ most famous is Auld Lang Syne.

 
MAKE THE COOKIES

What you need:

 
Cookie Recipes

To turn gingerbread men into “Burns men,” you can use any type of rolled cookie recipe (also called cutout cookies—(the different types of cookies).

Rolled cookies are those that are made from a stiffer dough that is chilled, rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Gingerbread and shortbread are two examples. Some recipes:

1. FIND a cartoon kilt image (like these). Copy and paste as many as you need onto a Microsoft Word (or similar) page; then print and cut out.

2. BAKE the cookies. Cool and use icing to make the face.

3. AFFIX the kilt to the cookie with a bit of icing or decorator gel.
  

Recently we attended a tasting of Texas wines from 14 wineries, held in New York City.

If you’re not familiar with Texas wines, it’s because the residents of Texas buy up much of the production, leaving little to distribute elsewhere (check on Wine.com and other online etailers). Production from this relatively new wine area has not yet amped up to keep pace with demand.

But based on the success of the wines over the last decade—Texas wineries win more than 150 medals annually at prestigious competitions in California and the Finger Lakes—there is more planting. In a few years, this will result in more bottles to go around.

Currently, the wines—red, white and rosé—are very well priced, most at $10 to $20 a bottle. That’s half the cost of a Napa Valley wine, much owing to the large amount of land available in Texas, which keeps the cost of buying acreage down.

How popular are Texas wines? The number of visitors on the main Texas wine trail (Texas Hill Country) now make it the second most popular wine route in the U.S.

So in the not-so-distant future, the appellations of Texas Hill Country and Texas High Plains—which are AVAs, American Viticultural Areas, an official designation*—may become as familiar as California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley.
 
 
TEXAS WINE HISTORY

Today, there are more than 200 wineries in Texas. It is the fourth-largest wine producing state in the nation, after California, New York and Washington.

The classic Bordeaux grapes are planted, along with Rhone grapes, some Italian varietals, and lots of tempranillo, the primary grape of the Rioja region of Spain.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the most planted wines in the state, followed by Merlot, Syrah, and Muscat Canelli.

Texan vintners also plant Zinfandel, Sangiovese and Viognier. The Texas Department of Agriculture lists 21 varietals grown in the state.

As in other wine regions around the world, different AVAs have terroirs that favor some varieties over others. As vintners evaluate the quality of wines produced from their land, varietals like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are planted less, while Syrah and Muscat Canelli have increased.

Great success with the wines has increased plantings of grape varietals that flourish in Italy, dolcetto and vermentino; Spain’s tempranillo; and France’s Rhone Valley’s viognier, roussanne and mourvedre.

[2] There are 8 wine-growing regions (AVAs*) in Texas, but the two largest are Texas Hill Country, an hour west of Austin, and Texas High Plains, in the northwest (image courtesy WineWeb).

[3] Texas produces red whites, white wines (including sparkling and sweet wines), and rosés (photo Amazon).

The first vineyard in North America was established in Texas by Franciscan priests, around 1662 [source].

As mission outposts expanded, European settlers followed, bringing more grapevine cuttings. Vineyard plantings further developed through the 1800s.

With the burgeoning popularity of California wines in the 1970s, Texans renewed their interest in viticulture. The Bell Mountain AVA, designated in 1986, was the first established AVA in Texas.

Today, Texas has over 4,000 acres of vineyards under cultivation…and based on projections, many more to come.
 
 
WINE TOURISM IN THE TEXAS AVAs

If you’re headed near any of Texas’ American Viticultural Areas (AVAs, designated grape-growing regions), stop by the wineries and avail yourself of the pleasures of Texas Wines.

 
[source]
 
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE TEXAS WINE & GRAPE GROWERS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE.

Also check out the Texas Wine Trail programs, for which you can buy tickets.
________________

*An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the U.S., with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Here’s more about it.

These designations allow a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic to characterize wines made from grapes grown in a particular AVA. California AVAs, including Napa Valley, Sonoma County and Mendocino, among others, are well-understood for the differing characteristics of their wines.

As of 2016, there were 238 recognized AVAs in the U.S.; 8 of them in Texas.

[2] A cheese melter, used in restaurants and in homes of enthusiasts (available at Raclette Corner).

[3] A home raclette grill from Swissmar, available on Amazon and elsewhere.

[4] Pouring cheese from a Swissmar grill pan (photo courtesy Swissmar).

[5] A wheel of raclette (photo courtesy The Swiss Bakery Online).

Many people like melted cheese. If you’re one of them, dish up some raclette.

Raclette (rah-KLETT) is a Swiss mountain cheese (see below), and also the name of a melted cheese dish made with it. The dish is an Alpine cousin to Welsh rabbit (not rarebit), and a reverse of the technique of that used for fondue.

With Welsh rabbit and fondue, other ingredients are mixed in with the cheese (wine or beer, seasonings). Raclette is pure melted cheese, poured over a plate of crusty bread and other accompaniments.

Originally, the wheel of Raclette cheese was heated by the fire, then scraped onto crusty, dark bread on the diners’ plates. The name derives from racler, the French word for “to scrape off.”

In modern times, restaurants have created devices that hold the wheel in position under a heat lamp, so that the cut surface melts (photo #2).

The melted cheese is then scraped from the wheel, onto a plate laden with bread, small boiled potatoes, cornichons, pickled onions, and dried meats like jambon cru (dried cured ham) and salami (photo #1).

The popularity of the dish generated home grills that make it festive to serve raclette (photo #3).

In another evolution of the dish, vegetables, shrimp, sausage, whatever, can be grilled on the top of the grill, as individual pans (coupelles) of cheese melt underneath. The grilled food is then plated, and the pan of melted cheese is then poured over it (photo #4).
 
 
DO YOU NEED A SPECIAL DEVICE?

The devices provide ambience, but of course you can simply melt the cheese in a double boiler (ideal) or a pot over low heat, whisking regularly.

 
 
ABOUT RACLETTE CHEESE

Raclette is a Swiss mountain cheese, most commonly used for melting. It is made from raw cow’s milk and fashioned into relatively small wheels, about 10 inches in diameter and 13 to 17 pounds (some mountain cheese wheels can be as large as 80 pounds.

Wheels are aged from 4 months up to a year.

The milk comes from two different breeds of cows, Ehringer and Fribourgeois, combined to add a more distinctive flavor to the cheese.

The washed rinds are rough, hard and dark beige in color (photo #5). The paste is pale yellow; the flavor is fruity, creamy and “melt-in-your mouth,” which is why it is such a good melting cheese.

As a washed rind cheese, the aroma of the cheese is pungent when heated.

Trivia: There are actually four cheeses known as Raclette cheeses: Bagnes, Conches, Gomser and Orsières. The different names refer to the locations of the cheesemaking dairies. The name of the village is molded into the cheese’s rind. All four cheeses have the A.O.C. designation.
 
 
RACLETTE HISTORY

Raclette, the cheese, is mentioned in medieval writings in texts from Swiss-German convents dating from as early as 1291 [source].

Served melted with black bread, it was originally fare for peasants in the mountainous Alpine regions of Valais, Switzerland and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. In the German-speaking part of Switzerland, it was called Bratchäs, roasted cheese.

Traditionally, cow herders carried the cheese with them as they were moving the cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains. In the evening, the cheese would be placed next to a campfire for softening and scraping onto bread.

As the dish evolved to an indoor dinner, the bread was joined by small boiled potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meats such as jambon cru (like prosciutto) and salami.

Accompanying drinks included Kirsch (the fruit brandy also used to make fondue), herbal tea or other warm beverage, or Fendant, a local white wine.

In addition to local white wines, Riesling and Pinot Gris from the Alsace region of France have become popular pairings. A local tradition (myth) cautions that drinking water will cause the cheese to harden in the stomach, leading to indigestion (no doubt an excuse to drink more wine).
 
 
WHAT IS A MOUNTAIN CHEESE?

Also called Alpine cheeses, the term “mountain cheeses” refers to large, firm wheels made in the Swiss and French Alps.

The wheels are well-aged and full-flavored, often sprinkled with eyes (holes) ranging from small to large.
Appenzeller, Emmental, Gruyère, Hoch Ybrig, Raclette, Sbrinz, Stanser Fladä, Tête de Moine and Vacherin Fribourgeois are examples of Swiss mountain cheeses. They are semi-hard cow’s milk cheeses.

According to Caseus Montanus, an international association of mountain cheese producers, a mountain cheese is one produced and aged above 800 meters (approximately 2500 feet altitude).

Mountain cheeses are not restricted to Switzerland, but in any mountains.

Most mountain cheeses are made in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, but any mountainous level works. In the U.S., mountain cheeses are made in Colorado and Vermont.

According to ArtisanalCheese.com, scientific studies on the flavor profile of mountain cheeses have found as many as 100,000 micro-organisms in the flora of the high altitude mountains, as compared to fewer than 10,000 microorganisms in lower prairie altitudes. This intensity of micro-organisms is responsible for the deep and complex flavors of mountain cheeses.
  

Why wait for next fall, when caramel apples are a well-deserved winter comfort food?

We love caramel apples, so we didn’t hesitate to adapt this recipe (photo #1) from Produce For Kids, switching the pears for crunchy apples and using warm caramel.

There are two ways to enjoy this recipe: our way, with warm, drippy caramel; and Produce For Kids’ neater technique, which hardens the caramel before serving the snack/dessert to kids.

No sticks required!
 
RECIPE: CARAMEL APPLES, CARAMEL PEARS

Ingredients Per Serving

 
Preparation #1: Quick Prep

With warm, drippy caramel, this variation is messier to eat…but perhaps more fun.

1. MICROWAVE the jar of caramel sauce for 45 seconds. Check consistency and microwave for another few seconds to liquefy as desired.

2a. PLACE on a plate with the fruit wedges and a ramekin of chopped nuts. Dip a wedge in the caramel, then in the nuts. Eat and repeat. Or…

2b. Place the wedges on a plate and pour the caramel over them, then sprinkle the nuts. You may want to spear them with a fork; and keep a supply of napkins near.
 
Preparation #2: Ready To Eat

[2] Here’s a recipe for homemade caramel sauce, from She Knows.

2. FREEZE for at least 30 minutes to harden the caramel. Bring the plate to the table.