Kaktus Brewing Company – Bernalillo, New Mexico

Most of us have known a wine snob or two. You know the type. They refer to themselves as oenophiles, a fancy way of saying “connoisseur or lover of wines.” They believe themselves to possess refined palates and won’t drink a wine that isn’t as cultured as they are. Even then, they first have to check the color and opacity of the wine. Then they twirl their glass for ten minutes or so before sticking their nose into the glass (like anteaters at an ant hole) and sniffing the wine noisily. They then proudly proclaim the wine has notes of oak, berries or butter. Their next step is to gargle with the wine, sloshing it between their cheeks and gums before finally imbibing of its delicate flavors and proclaiming it worthy. In recent years, another adult beverage snob has arisen to give oenophiles some competition in the haughtiness department. They’re called “cerevisaphiles,” a term that refers to beer enthusiasts. Cerevisaphiles turn their nose up at Pabst Blue Ribbon and other “pedestrian swill.” As with their oenophile counterparts, the cerevisaphiles pride themselves on their discerning palates. They will drink no beer before or after its time and are careful to note…

Heidi’s Jam Factory – Albuquerque, New Mexico

How many of us have dreamt about a churning chocolate waterfall; a meadow full of candy;  a candy (Everlasting Gobstopper) that not only changes colors and flavors when sucked on, but also never gets any smaller or disappears; or a carbonated beverage (Fizzy Lifters) that give you flight?  Such were the dreams of children of all ages after the 1971 release of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory a movie that is more popular in syndication than it was after its release.  Albuquerque has its own version of a magical place where dreams are actually fulfilled.  It’s called Heidi’s Jam Factory. To New Mexicans, the terms “Heidi” and “jam” are inextricably tied.  Heidi’s Raspberry Farm in the village of Corrales has been producing incomparably fresh and wonderful jams since 2000.  The raspberries from which those jams are made are USDA Certified Organic, using a limited amount of sugar to let the berries speak for themselves.  Raspberry jams are ameliorated with such additional organic ingredients as crushed red chile, fresh ginger and dried culinary lavender.  In recent years, Heidi’s has also expanded beyond raspberries, adding strawberry jam, wild blueberry jam and apricot jam to a wonderful repertoire.  All of these jams…

M’TUCCI’S TWENTY-FIVE – Albuquerque, New Mexico

“The best ingredient I discovered in America was ‘freedom.’ The freedom to experiment in the kitchen and the freedom to be open to those experiments in the dining room.” ~Massimo Bottura, Osteria Francescana Chef and Owner Adesso basta!  I’ve had it with the haughty pedantry of my Air Force comrades-in-arms who were blessed to have been stationed in La Bele Paese and to have dined on its incomparable dishes. They’re oh-so-quick to vilify Italian-American cuisine, calling it an inauthentic parody of the madrepatria‘s sacrosanct and sublime cuisine.  They’re even quicker to criticize my devotion to such Italian-American restaurants as Joe’s Pasta House.   I know damn well that the Italian-American cuisine millions of us enjoy might not be recognized in all of Lo Stivale’s regions.  That doesn’t justify miei amici making it an object of mockery and derision. What my colleagues might not know or care to acknowledge is that Italian-American cuisine long ago stopped trying to be Italian.  Sure, when Italian immigrants first landed in the fruited plain, they tried to recreate the foods they enjoyed in the old country.  When many of the ingredients they needed weren’t available or weren’t of the quality they desired, they had to improvise…