10,000 Euros coming our way?

One of the first things a business needs is a good business plan and we drew ours up when we launched last summer. We always knew that we would have to follow it to the letter if we wanted to be a success and now it turns out that the business plan itself could be bringing in a nice wad of cash! We are down to the last 3 in the prestigious Bolton Trust award that is taking place this Thursday infront of Venture capitalists, assembled media and business leaders. I had to do a photoshoot for the awards this morning which sadly meant I had to put my list of best food countires on hold for a couple of days! The good news is that we could win 10,000 but the bad news is that I have to make the presentation infront of 100 people! I'll be nervous but there could be one hell of a party Thursday night!

World's Best Food Country (3rd Place)

3rd Place
America

This is a selection that I know before writing is going to cause a lot of debate especially from people who have not travelled to the USA before! America is one of the most stereotyped countries in the world and that doesn't change when it comes to food with most people probably thinking about burgers, chips and hot dogs as they read this! The reality I am happy to report is totally different with some of the world's best food coming from the states these days. Yes you will find burger joints and junk food easily but you will also find these in the other countries on the list. America is like a huge melting pot of cultures and what that produces is some of the most unique and diverse culinary treats that you are ever likly to find.

Forget the burgers! When i think of America I think of the great diversity of New York and it's 1000s of restaurants, or the clean and vibrant cooking happening in Los Angles, or the rich and souful food of the south, or quality Tex Mex at it's best, or the trendy food in Miami etc etc. See America is like 10 countries rolled into one with lots of different flavours mingling together to create a huge variety and choice of dishes. If you add to that mix some of the world's best produced ingredients along with some very highly trained chefs you have the perfect mix for a country to make it in at number 3 on this list! I just know a lot of people are going to disagree with this and have a preconcieved idea of American food all being served in Hooters but I also know that the people who are thinking that are the people probably have never been to the country to sample it's delights!

Food Network Slip up

I remember being in the states watching this live and I still think it is one of the funniest freudian slips I have ever seen on TV! The best part is that she just tries to keep a straight face and play it off! Priceless!

World's Best Food Country (4th Place)

4th Place

Spain

See 5th Placed country here

We are starting to get into the front runners now and this is one that could have featured higher but with the level of competition in this contest 4th is not a bad achievement. One of the main factors in choosing the ranking of the countries in this exclusive list is the amount of original dishes and ingredients the individual country has contributed over the years and Spain has certainly shone in that category! Wheter you are talking about chorizo, paella, tapas or saffron there is no doubt that the Spanish know what they are about when it comes to food!
Wheter you are enjoying late night tapas in "Las Ramblas" in Barcelona or deep in the basque country eating a hearty bean stew there is such a depth and variety to Spanish cooking that is just not apparent in other countries. The sort of food that is created in Spain doesn't just come about from a new recipe but instead has grown, been refined and matured over the centuries and the result is a country that is forging ahead in the culinary stakes. Not only do they have what is probably regaded as the world's best restuarant in El Bulli but what appeals to me even more is the wide range of cheap streetside cafe and tapas bars the stretch the length and bredth of the country. God writing this is making me crave for a cold beer and a few plates of tapas!

Favorite things: Brut Rosé

Chatting with winemaker Eileen Crane is almost as delightful as a glass of sparkling wine. In fact, Eileen is a bit like the sparkling wine she makes--bright, sophisticated, elegant but completely unpretentious and fits in just about anywhere. She's a great person to talk to about wine, because she's been making it at European style wineries in California for ages. She's been a winemaker at noted sparkling wine producers Gloria Ferrer and Domaine Chandon, in addition to Domaine Carneros in Napa Valley, where she's been for the last twenty years.

I talked to Eileen because I wanted to get to the bottom of why I am so crazy about sparkling rosé, especially brut rosé. Now as we are heading in to Valentine's Day it seems like the perfect bubbly, but actually, it's the perfect bubbly all the time, as far as I'm concerned. Sure it has a festive color, and a rarity about it, but there are so many more reasons to love it.

Perhaps most importantly, we talked about brut rosé being one of the of the more versatile wines around. Even Julia Child noted, "Rosés can be served with anything." Hamburgers? Seafood? Salad? Pork? Barbecue? Charcuterie? Turkey? Indian food? Pizza? Yes! In fact, it has become one of my favorite picks to go with a multi course tasting menu because there is hardly anything it doesn't complement. Eileen blends Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the color comes from Pinot, and it's the Pinot that gives sparkling rosé some backbone.

Just because it's pink, doesn't mean it's sweet, brut still means dry. The brut rosé from Domaine Carneros is particularly crisp and almost lemony with some just a hint of strawberry and melon or peach. Called Cuvée de la Pompadour, it's namesake is Madame de Pompadour who introduced Champagne to the court of King Louis XV and was known for her artistic eye and her seductive ways. It used to be available only at the winery, but now it has much wider distribution and sells for about $36 a bottle.

Eileen told me she opens a bottle of it and keeps it in the refrigerator. If it's sealed properly with a good champagne stopper, it actually holds its flavor better than many other wines, not to mention the bubbles. At 12% alcohol it is also an easier drinking wine that I can enjoy a splash more of, something I can't say about too many wines these days.

When it comes to lesser sparkling wines, Eileen recommends making cocktails out of them and I couldn't agree more. Any berry or fruit flavored simple syrup will turn bubbly into a blushing refresher. But if you find a brut rosé you like, I suggest you enjoy how special it is without any adulteration. And by all means, don't just drink it on Valentine's Day!

Irish Event Company Launched

Ireland's premium event company has just been launched called minted and guess who set it up? Yes us! What is minted.ie? It high end event company that is going to bring all the glitz and glamour of places like St Tropez, Miami and Monaco right to your doorstep here in Ireland! We will be throwing the biggest and most decadent parties whilst organising fairytale weddings and spectacular launch events! So check out the menus on the website, tell your friends and shout it from the rooftops; The party is starting right now in Ireland with minted.ie!

World's Best Food Country

5th Place
South Africa

I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world tasting amazing food and am often asked what the best I have ever tasted is so the only way to answer is to list the top 5 based on flavour, consistancy and local produce. This will run over the next few days with the big winner being announced on Friday!

This might come as surprise to a lot of people as this country is probably better known for it's wine than it's culinary ability but believe me for those of you who havn't been lucky wnough to visit this gem of a country yet there is a beautiful range of gastronomic treats awaiting you if you do make it there! The country not only has huge Oceans surrounding it packed with incredible fish but has vast acres of incredibly fertile land that is not only perfect for growing wine but also everything thing from osterich to warthog! I must say that the cuisine does lean towards meat quite heavily but there are always plenty of seafood options.


The other best thing about SA is that it is like a huge melting pot of cultures with African food sitting alongside the best of Indian, Chinese and Western cooking. What has happened over the years is that there is natural fusion cooking that has developped rather than just some random chef throwing wasabi on parsnips and calling it fusion! The fusion element actually works really well here to the extent that some of the best curries I have ever had were in Durban and I think it must have a lot to do with the quality of ingredients the chefs are workig with.

The best thing about SA is that it is a country well and truly on the rise from a culinary perspective as they have had bigger battles to fight over the last century. Now that there are a new crop of chefs coming through and torism is booming the quality will only rise along with their ranking on this list in the future.

See Position 4 tomorrow!