Cook Slow & Un-Wined

My life as PR and Marketer is one never-ending deadline. I can’t go 12 hours without checking emails unless I want to spend a whole day responding to a pile of unanswered requests. I use Hootsuite to keep up with clients’ social media accounts and stalk for Instagram followers all day long. I plow through headlines and the latest issues of luxury magazines with the morning espresso and track the Miami events scene, plus national and international news at night.

Comfort in Food

When I’ve had enough, I turn to food.

I’m in love with cooking slow. Not the electric pot you throw everything into and leave it for 8 hours. I mean researching the dish and its origin, going to the market to buy the best quality and if possible locally-sourced ingredients, washing, chopping, searing, reducing, simmering, stirring and waiting.

Yellow Green Farmers Market in Hollywood, Florida

I’m Not Original

I recently found out that there’s an international movement called Slow Food that originated in Italy. The organization’s predecessor Agricola formed in 1986 to protest the opening of a McDonalds in front of the Spanish Steps. (Funny, because two years ago, while I sat on the Spanish Steps I thought: behind me is so much history and in front of me is an American mall. Such a shame.)

Slow Food is so much more than my cooking fantasy, it’s a way of life. Check it out  here.

Wine Friday

I’m obsessed with food and wine pairings. While only at the infancy of wine knowledge, I count on #TheWineTherapist  for advice. Stefano doesn’t spare a lecture if I get the pairing wrong, but if you tell him your recipe ahead of time, the right wine will be at your door in no time. Tonight’s selection: Marcel Servin – Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2014.

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If you’re looking for me, I’ll be in Sicily: Tasca Conti d’Almerita Lunch

“First you must like the wine. Then, look at the back and then look forward,” says Corrado Maurigi, Brand Manager for Tenuta Regaleali, with whom I had the great fortune of sharing a wine tasting lunch.

Whether on my personal journey to discover art or now wine, Corrado’s statement embodies how I feel about learning. Our first response must be visceral. Forget about the market or what the critics say. Do you like it, hate it or love it? Then, investigate.

Corrado’s presentation was a journey to Sicily. As we tasted and learned some facts and history about each wine, preconceived (American) stereotypes of this region marred by The Godfather and bad wine samples offered at the supermarket, melted away. Stories about the land, people and culture tickled our cerebrum and palate.

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