MARCH 16, 2003
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Q&A: Kunio Sebata
The President and CEO of the $3.8-billion Hitachi Home and Life Solutions Inc tells BT Online about what it's like to operate independently in India, the company's past relationship with the Lalbhai Group in the air-conditioner market, its faith in joint ventures and its current plans for India.


Q&A: Eran Gartner
As Vice President (Operations), Bombardier Transportation, Eran Gartner, outlines what would make his company such a hot pick to build Bangalore's mass transit system. It isn't just about creating a network and vanishing, he claims, it's also about transferring modern technology to the local operations.

More Net Specials
Business Today,  March 2, 2003
 
 
Fill 'em Up Quick

I knew next to nothing about wine, nothing about cheese, but an encounter with Madame Daničle Raulet-Reynaud changed that. For good.

Mme. Daniele Raulet-Reynaud: Bringing culture to the table
SELECTION
Frequent Flyers

French, I can speak, after a fashion; escargot, I've actually tasted on a visit to Europe not too long ago; but wines, I draw the line at. Not that I have a problem with the liquid itself, believing, as all right thinking men and women do in the philosophy of buying by the gallon expressed in a famous Mike Bloomfield song titled, not curiously, Wine (...some buy in pints, and some buy in quarts... when you buy by the gallon, you are playing it smart, if memory serves me right). What I have a problem with is the rituals involved in either ordering wine, or drinking it. I can't tell a Shiraz from a Merlot, leave alone knowing what each goes with. While travelling abroad, I've survived by simply picking any red wine if I'm eating white meat and any white one if I'm eating red meat. This has attracted piercing looks from waiters with attitudes and probably contributed some to the Occident's view of India as a whisky (bad whisky) drinking country, but I have survived.

La Culture du Vin

I wouldn't have met Madame Danièle Raulet-Reynaud if one of my editors had not insisted I do. "Get some culture," he said. So, there I was sitting across the table-one laden with wine and cheese-from Raulet-Reynaud doing precisely that. The noisy vendors of coloured sugared water won't like it but the French gastronomic expert prefaced her conversation with the fact that she had banned colas in her immediate family, even among children. Let them drink wine, I could hear her saying, in the tradition of the most-quoted Frenchwoman in history. "The moderate sipping of wine is preferable to the colas that children lap up," says Raulet-Reynaud. My dear Madame, where were you when I was ten?

This is the first time the sommelier (yes, she's that, and one of the best in all France) is conducting a workshop on the appreciation of French wine and cheese in India, a week-long affair sponsored by France's food and beverage marketing board. Thanks to rising incomes, an increase in the number of Indians travelling abroad, easy availability of imported wines, and a desire to be part of the smart set, a growing number of Indians (fine, I confess, me included) would like to drink wine the right way. This segment throngs Raulet-Reynaud's sessions for tips on wine protocol. And on pronunciation. Boe-jo-lay, Bor-doe, Sha-blee, Long-dock-ru-see-yon...."No cut glasses." "You must be able to see, hear (that's what the lady says), and smell the wine...then sip it." I tried it-no Bloomfield, but there was suggestion of Vangelis to my Merlot.

Then there's the thing about matching food and wine. Mild wines go best with mild foods and strong wines with strong foods, says Madame simply. "This will ensure that the wine enhances the taste of the food." If you are going to serve kebabs and curry, Raulet-Reynaud recommends a Tavel Rosé (Rs 3,000 a bottle).

For those of us who have stuck around till the end, the lady has a bonus-a session on cheese. Soft cheese, hard cheese. Golden cheese. Orange cheese. Blue cheese. She introduces us to more cheese than I'd care to know. "The 400 varieties of cheese made in France means you could have a different cheese every day of the year," she chuckles. And then, directed at me, "Don't forget to eat the rind-that's where the flavour is concentrated." This, when I am choking over some fungus-like goat cheese. "You'll either love goat cheese or hate it," she says. "There is no middle path." She's right on that one-I hate it. I'll stick to the wine. Cheese, especially the strong smelly stuff with streaks of blue, is an acquired taste. Bon appétit.


CHEESE FACTS
A primer on the eight families of cheese (and what to drink with them).

Fresh cheese: This is soft, creamy, and comes with a subtle flavour. Goes best with light fruity wines

Soft cheese with edible white rind: Ripened for between four and six weeks in special cellars, this variety has a soft edible rind known as bloom. Goes well with rounded red wines

Soft cheese with washed edible rind: The shiny rind on this cheese varies in colour. It could be yellow, orange, even red. This is best eaten at the end of a spicy meal and is best complemented by full-bodied reds

Goat cheese: As the name suggests, this cheese is made from goat's milk and dusted with ash, herbs or seasonings. The flavour: goaty. Goes well with Côtes du Rhône, Chinon or Bourgeil

Blue cheese: Made in the mountain regions of France this cheese has fine blue veins. Among the most expensive cheese (it could cost over Rs 3,500 a kilogramme), this goes best with Graves, Saint-Emilion and Côtes du Rhône

Semi-hard cheese: This cheese has a hard crust, and a mild flavour. Wine recommendation: Beaujolais

Hard cheese: Just the kind you see in Tom & Jerry cartoons. Large, golden, with holes. Eat it with a crisp white or a dry red wine. The price could go up to Rs 8,000 per kg.

Processed cheese: The result of blending hard cheese with milk, butter or cream, flavouring it mildly, and, sometimes, packaging it. Usually accompanied by light reds and whites


'TIS ALL IN THE GRAPES, HONEY!
Grape varieties and their aromas and tastes:

Whites
Chardonnay: Fruity, cucumber, tobacco, lime
Riesling: Floral, fragrant perfumed
Colombard: herbaceous, grassy, citrus
Verdelho: Spicy, herbaceous, grassy
Sauvignon Blanc: vegetable, grassy, peas, capsicum
Semillon: flinty, lime, apple, pea-pod
Chenin Blanc: herbal grassy, floral
Gewurztraminer: Floral

Reds
Pinot Noir: Strawberry, raspberry, plum, blackcurrant
Merlot: herbaceous, fruity, spicy, cherry
Cabernet Sauvignon: Tomato leaf, Eucalyptus, licorice, black olive
Shiraz: herbs, mint, jammy, stewed plum, raisin
Grenache: spice, cherry, earthy, plum

TREADMILL
How Much Is Too Much?

Last fortnight I'd talked about how you shouldn't lose more than two pounds a week. That's less than a kilogramme. Everybody knows someone who's adopted a crash diet (read starved) to lose much more than that. Problem is that's not good for you. Because starving or drastically reducing the calories you consume is highly risky and can result in all manner of health problem. So how much should you consume if you plan to regulate your weight? Here's a simple calculator. Your body needs to store 3,500 calories more than it uses over a period of time in order for you to gain a pound or 450 gms. Similarly, if you expend 3,500 calories more than you consume, you will lose 450 gms. Now take a quick look at the table below, which gives the calories per pound (or 450 gms) that you need to maintain your current body weight.

My friend Shubho is 170 pounds and exercises in moderation (brisk walks three-days a week). To see how many calories he needs every day to keep weighing 170 pounds or 77 kgs, simply multiply his weight in pounds by 12 (that's the cal/lb for a moderate activity level). In this case you get 2,040. That's the number of calories Shubho will have to consume to stay at his portly 77 kg!

But weight control isn't just about numbers. Quality matters too. Like restricting fat intake to less than a third of your daily calorie intake and eating several small meals-to help speed up your metabolism-instead of a few big ones. Plus, it's very important-and what's the point of Muscles Mani writing this column if it isn't-that you exercise at least three days a week.

Cut to food again. Keeping fat from your diet is a cool thing to do but do you know what stuff you should be adding to it? In the next instalment, I'm going to talk about the Food Guide Pyramid and how you should choose your daily diet from it. Till then, watch your weight!

 

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