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Breaking the rules
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Feb. 24, 2000 | And yet there are times in the history of a country's eating and drinking when the level of culinary skill and creativity takes its borrowed base and produces something so different that it is clearly indigenous to the nation. That is exactly what is happening right now in California's Napa Valley, where it will almost certainly continue happening well into the 21st century. Show us the money There are a number of things that produce top quality restaurant cooking in an area, cooking that can evolve into a distinct culinary tradition. First is money. If people will not pay for top ingredients and talented chefs, not much is going to happen.
The second is a local agricultural tradition. And that can be for any element -- cheese, wine, beef, olive oil -- but the more top-quality products that come out of the area, the better the chances for great cooking. In France, Burgundy and the area around Bordeaux are two examples. In Italy, the best districts of this kind form a "T" that runs from Pisa in the west to Venice in the east and down into Tuscany. New York has some of the best restaurants in the world, but there is very little gastronomic tradition in New York restaurants beyond steak houses, delicatessens and something based on the food of southern Italy. The only thing New York grows is money, and it's used to bring in great ingredients and great chefs. But the chefs are primarily interested in their own style rather than something that reflects the city.
Napa Valley, on the other hand, appears to be developing a distinct cuisine that may well become a truly American style. The area has attracted people of considerable wealth, and for the past 150 years it has been producing cattle, stone fruit, cheese, olive oil and recently some of the best wines in the world. From Mass to meals The first winemakers in California were Catholic missionaries who brought vines from Spain so they could make wine for their religious ceremonies. Today there are only nine Catholic churches in Napa Valley, but more than 240 wineries. It has become the most densely concentrated wine-producing region in the world, with winery after winery set next to each other along a strip of road that runs down the center of the valley for 30 miles. For the first hundred years, Napa's wine was generally considered better for Mass than meals, but that period came to an official end in 1976. A group of California winemakers held a comparative tasting of California reds and whites against French cabernets and chardonnays. The tasting was held in France and the judges were French winemakers and French wine journalists. To the astonishment of many, the Napa Valley wines beat the French in both categories -- and the world's perception of California wine was totally altered.
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