"agave" news and stories

• Gorgeous culinary discovery ideal for springtime: pasta fiocchi that look like daffodils.
• A writer's love of artichokes and her memories of ex-mother-in-laws.
• And you thought Hemingway was brief -- a British Columbia native is tweeting nothing but recipes.
  
• An interview with Paul Liebrandt, chef at Tribeca's Corton.
• Randall Grahm on his Bonny Doon Vineyard and on the importance of paring back: "What matters is that we make wines of originality that have a reason for being."
• The Minimalist finesses flatbread.
• A look at Jon Rosen, agent to the food stars.
• All about Mezcal -- like tequila, a liquid treat distilled from agave.
• Restaurant Girl hires lawyers to take down an imitator Twitterer.
• The ins and outs of the post-Passover bagel rush.
• 230 Fifth, a lounge near Madison Square Park, transports a palm tree to and from Florida every year.
  
• Reviews of theatrical new Japanese restaurant ResInakaya, the "steady, precise" cooking at La Fonda del Sol, and the Basque eats at Txikito (cheek-ee-toe).
• The Times heads down under to hotspots in Sydney, Australia and examines Uruguay's boutique wineries.

Tequila is probably the last thing you'd choose to drink after filling your stomach with fine dining. It'd be like getting dressed up in your best clothes--then spilling something on yourself right as you walk out the door. However, Agavero is a tequila-based liqueur that can be savored after any meal. As it first hits your tongue, it's rich and almost has hints of wood and coffee, then it smooths out into a lighter, almost herbal taste

Agavero is created by separately aging blue agave anejo and reposado tequilas in oak barrels. The two liquors are then blended with essence of Damiana flowers, which grow in the mountains of the Jalisco region where Agavero is made--some Indian tribes there believe that Damiana is an aphrodisiac. While mostly designed to be sipped on its own, Agavero can also be used in mixed drinks such as the Mexican Cosmopolitan or to spike a post-dinner coffee. The bottle is designed to look like the spiky flower of the blue agave plant, with embossed leaves creeping up the sides.

If you check out the labels on natural food products, you'll see agave syrup listed as an ingredient more and more often. Agave syrup - sometimes called agave nectar - is a natural sweetener that is marketed as a healthy alternative to processed sugars, as well as an alternative to honey, corn syrup and similar liquid sweeteners. The syrup is made from blue agave, a type of succulent, cactus-like plant that is also used in the production of tequila. The thick liquid comes in light and dark forms, the latter being unfiltered, and tastes similar to honey.

So what makes this syrup "healthier" than other sweeteners? It has a very low Glycemic Index (GI) value, so although it is noticeably sweeter than sugar, it doesn't cause the same type of "sugar rush" that other sweets do. Table sugar has a GI value of 68, on a scale from 1 to 100, while honey comes in at 55. Agave syrup has a value of around 15.

Agave syrup can be used in baked goods, with a reduction in the amount of liquid in the recipe to account for its presence. Starting with a recipe that already calls for honey and substituting it in is a good way to start, but as a general rule, you'll will need to spend some time playing around with your favorite recipes to get them to work, especially if you want to substitute it into a recipe that calls for crystallized sugars. The syrup will dissolve easily in liquids and is a good choice for sweetening iced tea or lemonade.