Tour de France Prologue--Food and Wine Pairing

It's the day before the Tour begins and I'm so excited I want to stop traffic in front of my house and use my yellow "Hope Rides Again" Livestrong chalk to write "Vive le Tour" all over the tarmac.

But Silver Lake Blvd. is really a busy street, so instead, I will post a recipe for a typical Monegasque (which means from Monaco) appetizer. This is a savory pastry called the Barbagiuan, which is filled with pumpkin or spinach, and leeks, cheese, and other yummy things.

Here's link to the recipe, and a video on how to make it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12528876/from/RSS/

And with this, because it's summer and hot, no champagne--Rose', folks! Chateau d'Aqueria Tavel is not your mom's white Zinfandel, thank goodness. It's a dry but fruity gem from the South of France. Don't be afraid of real Provencal rose'. It's lovely. Or do be afraid, because it's always so reasonable here, and I'd love it to stay that way.

Will I be up at 6:30 to watch the prologue of the Tour live? You betcha. Hangover or no, I'll be there! So fire up the wisdom, Bobke, and flex those gestures. Paul and Phil, warm up those metaphors. Johan, get your game face on. Lance and Levi, make me some cool early morning videos. George and Cav, slip on those Oakleys. Jens, look fierce. I'm ready! Vive le Tour, Ladies and Gentlemen! Vive le Tour!

Oh, and I hear that the 4th of July is also an important holiday here in the States, so enjoy that, too, everyone!

Le Tour Toujours!

Monaco

One of the things I love about the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France is that each stage passes through small towns where they make their own unique artisanal cheeses and wines and foods. Biking, as a rule, is a passtime that lends itself to countryside rather than city. Except for Paris, or Milano, or Firenze. In Europe there are very few places that in any way, in my mind, resemble Vegas.

I am not a huge fan of Vegas. I don't like the prefab stuff built (badly) yesterday, the focus on gambling, which in itself, seems to be powered by a kind of magical thinking gone terribly wrong. And it just seems boring. "Pocket aces, blah-blah-blah, and blah blah, so I went all in, and blah blah blah..." Sorry, gambling fans, I just don't get it, and I've tried.

I also think Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is an incredibly boring place to shop. Aside from the ridiculous pricetags, you might as well be in the Short Hills Mall in Jersey, where I'm from. What are Fendi, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent but global chains with no local character not unlike McDonalds? I love the artistry of the runway, but when it comes to shopping, since I can't afford even to get it dry cleaned let alone to buy it, what is the point?

Which brings me back to Monaco, and why I'm having trouble getting excited about the prologue of the Tour de France, in terms of food and wine pairings.

A little more than a hundred years ago, the Grimaldi family, which ruled Monaco, which is a principality still today, were very much in the poorhouse, and came upon a brilliant idea. They would turn what must have been, at the time, a charming old seaside town, into a gambler's paradise and a resort. It took time, but they did it. The famous casino has a lovely Belle Epoque elegance, and the streets around it are squeaky clean and full of the same shops you'd find on the Champs Elysees. Except I'd rather be there because I could find myself a lovely cheap and cheerful meal there with flavors I probably have never experienced, accompanied by a reasonable but sublime bottle of wine. In Monaco, I think I might be S.O.L. when looking for cheap and cheerful. Someone prove me wrong. I'm happy to find out I'm wrong. But studded with exclusive slips full of massive yachts, why do I think Monaco isn't such a place?

The best thing I can tell you about Monaco is that when I took the Sea Dream II in 2003, beginning my cruise around the Tyrrhenian sea along the west coast of Italy, this is where the cruise began. So I can tell you that the Casino looks particularly gorgeous, when you are sailing away from it toward Portofino, Italy.

So in terms of pairings, we might be stuck with Dom Perignon and filet mignon. Yawn, is all I can say.