Seeking an Alt Route to Choucroute
Joyce Lin gives a traditional and beloved Taiwanese dish an umlaut twist and a fresh French pairing.
Joyce Lin gives a traditional and beloved Taiwanese dish an umlaut twist and a fresh French pairing.
Born and raised in Taiwan, now based in NYC, Joyce Lin is a sommelier, writer, educator, and wine consultant, holding both CMS and WSET 3 certifications. Joyce’s interests in food and wine led her to create 酒意思Sip with Joyce, an omnichannel platform providing wine pairing ideas with daily meals, specializing in Asian cuisines. Joyce believes that through food and wine, people of diverse backgrounds can be unified and share the joy of life with each other.
I felt lonely on the Internet the day I started researching the origins of Wurstsalat. I looked in far-flung corners of the web for sausage scholars who might have dedicated time to writing about the rules and methods of this intriguing dish. When I hit a wall, I did what any well-trained millennial would do and typed #wurstsalat into Instagram’s search bar. The things I saw there were either appetite-inducing or frightening, sometimes both at once. Lying in the cascade of pictures amidst German cowboys, balsamic glaze swirls, wedding celebrations, crinkle-cut fries, and loads of curly parsley was a possible answer: Wurstsalat is…...
A baker falls in love with hiking, cake and wine in the Italian wine region of Südtirol-Aldo Adige and returns home to recreate the textures and flavors.
In Alsace, Grand Cru usually means one thing: Riesling. But on Zotzenberg — a low, east-facing slope between Barr and Mittelbergheim — the often overlooked Sylvaner holds an unusual place of privilege. Zotzenberg remains the only Grand Cru vineyard in Alsace for which Sylvaner is officially recognized on the label. It’s a rare exception that shows how a site can reshape a grape’s reputation and, perhaps, its future. Six Centuries on a Quiet Hill in Alsace Zotzenberg was first documented as “Zoczenberg” over 600 years ago. Its quality was noted early on: in 1541, Mittelbergheim’s village records mention the hill…...
If you ask a person from Taiwan to choose the 10 dishes that best represent his or her cuisine, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup is inevitably on the list. More than a beloved national dish, the soup has become something of an obsession — like pizza to New Yorkers. Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup was created by soldiers who retreated with the Nationalist government from mainland China to Taiwan in the 1950s. For political reasons, they were banned from returning to their hometowns. Missing both family and familiar cuisine, the soldiers used local ingredients to create a dish that evoked the flavors…...
There is no fish soup in the Pfalz. Sad, but true. Like most of Germany’s winegrowing regions, the Pfalz is simply too far removed from the sea for fish to feature prominently in its traditional cuisine. By extension, Pfalz fish soup is practically a culinary contradiction. A delicious deception. A seafood swindle. A Pfalz cookbook is a celebration of rustic comfort: Leberknödel (liver dumplings), Kartoffelsuppe mit Speck (potato soup with bacon, often in unlikely combination with plum cake), and, of course, Saumagen (stuffed pig’s stomach). Arguably the region’s culinary signature dish, this is a hearty, sausage-y mix of pork, potato,…...
Earth and sky. Airborne and grounded. The power and pleasure of reimagined wine and cheese from Cantina Tramin and Eggemoa Dairy.
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