A Timeless Match: Urban Farms and Fermented Treats

  |  July 15, 2015
Radishes No Wine

On a weekly basis since the local harvest began, we’ve been procuring delicious, Kingston-grown produce from the fine folks over at The Kingston YMCA Farm Project and South Pine Street City Farm. The offerings have been diverse and without question inspired our creative kitchen minds.

Spicy mustard greens, squash blossoms, radishes and all sorts of dirt candy have been chopped, sautéed, fried, braised, and served raw. Without question there have been some failures, but mostly smiling faces have graced our table, and our guests have departed with full bellies.

Naturally, since we are in the business of wine, cider and communing with our people—all of these resources have coalesced into a beautiful amalgamation. Fermented treats alongside food is all about context. Each making the other more scrumptious and meaningful.

Take for example a bottle of rosé, buttered radishes, sea salt and bread—nothing revelatory….man has likely combined these elements since drawings were being made inside the Caves of Lascaux. Nonetheless, it’s a timeless combination full of pleasure.

Rose-Pic

Wine Pairing: Any  dry rosé should work, but we can’t help but drool over a perfectly made southern French pink like this one. The 2014 Chateau de Trinquevidel Rosé  from Tavel, France is the prefect match. Dry, impactful, and loaded with a lot of ‘there there.’

Serve cold, maybe in the park and with good people.

RADISH SANDWICH

1 baguette
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature preferred
2 bunches radishes, washed, trimmed and sliced
1 handful arugula or mustard greens
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garden herbs, whatever is in your garden or at the farm. We like a combination of dill and parsley.
salt and white pepper to taste

Slice the baguette lengthwise and then crosswise, creating four quarters. Spread butter on the tops and bottoms of each quarter and sprinkle with salt and maybe a dash of white pepper. Place sliced radishes onto the bottoms. Pile the greens of choice on top of them and sprinkle with the herbs.

About Michael Drapkin

Michael Drapkin and his wife Theresa are Kingston residents and owners of the recently opened Kingston Wine Co. After an externship on a farm in southern France, as well as almost a decade of wine experience in Washington, DC and New York city, including time at Vestry Wines in Tribeca and Balthazar Restaurant in Soho, Michael enjoys educating others about the time-honored approach to making agricultural products by hand and the pleasures of the table. Michael is a diploma candidate at the Wine Spirits and Education Trust while also enrolled in the Court of Sommeliers courses.

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