C1 AHEAD OF THE HERD

the roast was quite tender and tasty. It’s a value-for-money choice for an everyday roast, when you don’t want to spend for a prime rib roast.

During dinner we drank Pillitteri Estates Winery Cabernet Merlot, a mediumbodied wine with balanced tannins and acidity, and the flavors of plums and red berries. Pillitteri Estates Winery’s export manager, explained that a red wine with good tannins and acidity is the best match for a nicely marbled steak because the tannins bond with the salivary proteins in your mouth and the fat from the steak. The chemical reaction smooths out the tannins, making them less astringent and mouth-puckering, while the balance of acidity is a counterpoint for the fat in the steak.

Pillitteri is well known around the world for its ice wine—a dessert wine that I equate with nectar of gods because of its concentrated essence of grape and honeyed sweetness beautifully balanced with refreshing hint of acidity. Ice wine is made by harvesting grapes in mid-winter when they are frozen and the temperature is

Jared Goerz,

roughly -12C. When the hard-as-marbles grapes are pressed (using 200 times more pressure than is used to press regular grapes), only a few drops of highly concentrated sweet essence are extracted from each grape because the water content is frozen solid and only the sugars can be squeezed out. I used to beg relatives to bring me ice wine from Canada, so I’m happy that I can now purchase it in the Philippines.

Canadian beef doesn’t yet have the same brand awareness for premium quality as beef from other countries, but it has good qualities and a strong support system that may soon change that. In fact, to quote CanadianAmbassador

Canada harvests its cattle at a younger age, ensuring tenderness and better overall eating quality— and that nice white fat!

John T. Holmes,

“…we are that Canadian beef is ahead of the herd.” Email me at cbj2005@gmail.com.

Canadian Beef is available in all Rustan’s, Marketplace, and Shopwise branches.

Pillitteri Estates Wines are distributed by Global Noble International Corporation and are available in Unimart, Landmark, Landers, and www.gurkka. com. Call 027140299 for more information.

For great recipes and tips on cooking Canadian Beef go to www.canadabeef.ca