"cognac" news and stories

Happy National Cognac Day!

Taking its name from the region southwest of Paris in which it's produced, cognac is considered the finest of brandies, usually aged at least three years in Limousin oak. (Ironically though, cognac producers are forbidden to claim aging beyond seven years on the bottle, as authorities can't certifiably verify aging beyond seven years.)

Created with white wine, cognac is categorized into one of four groupings according to its age and production:

1. AC: aged in wood for two years;
2. VS: aged in wood for three years, often called "three star;"
3. VSOP: ("Very Special Old Pale") aged in wood for five years, called "five star;"
4. XO: aged for six-plus years.

Brandies are usually imbibed as digestifs, served at room temperature after meals. For popular Cognac cocktail recipes, check out DrinkMixer.com.

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The dark side of cantaloupe. Photo: oskay, Flickr

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Risotto, like polenta and grits, is one of those dishes to which the maxim "patience is a virtue" is frequently applied. And this photo, taken by Elise at Simply Recipes, beautifully illustrates why. A bowl of creamy, nutty grains of perfectly cooked rice, crowned with mushrooms that have been sautéed and cooked in cognac and cream, is glorious payoff for the constant care that risotto requires. While the idea adding cup after cup of stock to a pot of slowly cooking rice may not be everyone's idea of fun, results such as this one prove -- to borrow yet another maxim -- that good things do indeed come to those who wait.

[Via Simply Recipes]

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I was going to mention that today is National Eggnog Day, but we've already talked about it being National Eggnog Month and I didn't want to overnog readers. So I won't even mention that today is National Eggnog Day.

Here's a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding Eggnog from Food & Wine. It's a little twist on the traditional egg nog recipe. As cook Eben Freeman explains, it's both a drink and a dessert, because it's rather thick (as was traditional eggnog back in the day). This might be good to make for tomorrow. Your family and friends might be surprised at the caramel taste mixed in with the Cognac, dark rum, and cream.