GASTRONORMOUS

This arty (read: unintentionally underexposed) photo is attempting to capture the tawny Brooklyn dusk through the lens of a great glass of wine. When I went to Bonita a while back I consumed the pictured glass of wine, which totally knocked my socks off.

When the waitress was taking orders, I asked what sort of white wine they had, and she said they only had one, but that it was great. I assented to a glass and found she couldn’t have been more right. It was extraordinary. Pale in color, but bursting with flavor. Very dry, but with the most amazing nose of tropical fruits. Wine reviewers talk about tropical fruit flavors and aromas especially in white wines, and I usually roll my eyes as I read that because where they taste tropical fruit (or leather, or hay, or toe jam), I just taste wine that I happen to like or not like. But in this case, the wine truly smelled and tasted of guavas, papayas, and a touch of melon and pineapple, but was very dry (which kept it from tasting like a wine cooler). Never before have I had a glass of wine with such distinct and pronounced tropical fruit flavors.

When I was nearing the end of my glass, I asked the waitress what the name of it was, again? She disappeared and came back holding the bottle, saying, “It’s called Conclass. Here, there is just a bit left, I’ll empty the bottle for you.” And she did. And I was glad.

The wine is a 2007 Verdejo, hailing from the Rueda region of Spain. By the time the waitress brought the bottle out for me to see, it was too dark to photo, but this memorable a wine merited documentation. I highly recommend it. Amazingly, it retails for under $15, though I have not yet seen it in a New York wine store. If you see it in a local store, please do let me know.

This photo is of the 2005 vintage, but gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Postscript: I found the wine just this evening at Greene Grape in Fort Greene, Brooklyn [$13.00].

We are going through a little heat spell here in Brooklyn, with days on end of 90+ degree heat in our immediate past and future. Who wants to eat a big meal, let alone cook one, in the sweltering heat? Not me.

Last night I put some plump summer strawberries to work in a really delicious salad. Because it was a main course I added a little body in the form of cheese. But this is without question a light meal. If you have a big appetite, this of would work well as a side dish, or especially a post-main-course salad.

This is is a sort of a loose “recipe.” Please adjust proportions to your taste!

Summer Strawberry and Baby Arugula Salad

For the salad, wash and dry some baby arugula (it bruises easily, so be gentle); slice some strawberries (I used an egg slicer to make quick and beautifully uniform work of it); and slice some red onion as paper thin as you can possibly get it.

Now make a very simple vinaigrette of about half very good quality extra virgin olive oil and half white balsamic (the higher proportion of vinegar than in your typical vinaigrette works with the bitter arugula and sweet strawberries here), plus some salt, pepper, and fresh or dried basil (basil and strawberries go swimmingly together). Whisk it well and toss it with the arugua, strawberries, and onion.

After plating, shave some ricotta salata and sprinkle some toasted walnuts over the top of each serving. Drizzle a little more olive oil and/or vinegar over top, if desired. You can’t get simpler than that!

Note: I picked ricotta salata cheese because I thought the creaminess of it would go well with strawberries, which it did. You might want to go an even creamier, milkier route and choose a cheese like manouri. I also considered using parmigiano reggiano, as it tastes great with with arugula. Any of these cheeses would be great options.