On the CBC tomorrow · Friday December 14, 2007 by colin newell
Listen for us on CBC’s North by Northwest Saturday morning December 15, 2007 just after the 7:00AM (PST) News.
Head over to cbc.ca
and pick your Radio One audio stream – lower right column on the cbc.ca website or…
For the radio-one stream click here
Lisa's Biscotti · Wednesday December 12, 2007 by colin newell
Interestingly, I get e-mail.
Lately more from my blog… which surprises me. Anyway – I recently got a request for more Biscotti recipes. Not sure why, but here is my favorite. From Lisa. My younger sister.
3/4 Cup Whole Almonds
1/2 Cup Almond Paste
3 Eggs
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Teaspoons Grated Lemon Zest
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1 2/3 Cup Flour
1/3 Cup Corn Starch
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 (F) oven for 8 to 10 minutes – or until golden brown. Let cool.
In a mixing bowl beat almond paste with a wire whisk until creamy.
Beat in eggs. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add lemon zest and almond extract.
In a bowl combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt.
Add to the egg mixture, mixing until blended.
Cut nuts into halves or thirds and fold in. With a spatula spread the soft dough on a greased and floured baking sheet, forming 2 strips about 14 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
Bake in the middle of a preheated 350 (F) Oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a drying rack. Let cool 5 minutes.
Place on a cutting board. With a sharp serrated knife slice diagonally at 45 degrees – about 1/2 inch thick. Lay the slices on a baking sheet and return to a 325 (F) oven for about 10 minutes, turning them once to dry slightly.
Makes about 4 dozen mandible stressing biscotti
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Starbucks in decline · Sunday November 18, 2007 by colin newell
Walking through downtown Vancouver on a rainy November day, I cannot help but think that the precipitation has a familiar flavor to it…
Coffee. Yes, coffee.
Is it possible? Well, if one particular North American city has coffee on the mind (and in the air), it is most certainly Vancouver, British Columbia.
And if you walk as briskly as I do, it is entirely possible to pass 7 Starbucks locations in less than 3 minutes – more of them if you are creative – i.e. in a panic or running from a failed bank robbery or something.
But how busy are the Starbucks these days? Especially considering that Vancouver is now the hub of specialty coffee central in North America. Like London, England in the 16th Century, Vancouver has cafes for business people, for geeks like me, for artists, for construction workers, people on the move, people at rest… heck there are cafes in hospitals and bookstores… everywhere it seems.
What the numbers are indicating is – Starbucks is in a modest decline. A 1 percent drop in traffic at stores open at least 13 months marked the first time the company has seen such a decline.
In a recent earnings report it was revealed that Starbucks shares fell more than 9 percent, or $2.25, to $21.90 (U.S.). Amazing?
Maybe not. It is possible that Starbucks international may have mis-read consumers desire to have the one-brand experience where-ever they go.
Here is some classic Howard Shultz – C.E.O. of Starbucks:
Chairman Howard Schultz said coffee drinkers who try out cheaper competitors will upgrade to Starbucks.
“Those consumers over time are going to trade up. They’re going to trade up because they are not going to be satisfied with the commoditized experience or the flavor,” he said.
Commoditized experience, Howard?
Let’s let our readers sort out the utter irony of this statement!
Comment [2]
Life on the 49th Parallel · Thursday November 15, 2007 by colin newell
Life for Mike Piccolo, of 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters in Vancouver must seem idyllic. Having been a chef for over 20 years in the Vancouver food community, his departure from that World into the World of specialty coffee must have come with some surprises.
Food World, it would appear, is all about the hours. A short day in Chef-land is about 10 to 14 hours… a day… sometimes everyday… for weeks. Heck, I have a hard enough time focusing for 7 hours on anything. I did write for 7 hours once… but not in a row.
Mike Piccolo, on the other hand, is a study of youth and patience. In a business that seems to gain more energy everyday – it’s a wonder that he can find solace in this choice of career. But he does.
Specialty coffee is the rising star in North America right now – as it has been for the last 10 years or more. The kind of energy that fuels the likes of 49th Parallel Coffee roasters, Ethical Bean in Vancouver, Hines Coffee (and others) knows no bounds. And yet family run companies like Murchie’s fail to harness this phenomenon – and ultimately fail.
So what does Mike Piccolo and his family have that the others do not? Simple; Generosity, family values and a scalpel sharp business acumen to boot.
Mike is part of a family circle that includes Vincent Piccolo, the elder brother and Sammy Piccolo, the younger. They are the creators of Cafe Artigiano – a family success story. And although these Boys are all different and talented in their own special way, their assorted gifts compliment each other in such a way as to give them the Midas touch.
Mike Piccolo’s day job is attending to the coffee roasting facility. At the heart of this operation is a coffee roaster that can roast about 160 pounds of coffee at a time – in a rough measure, that is a burlap bag of green coffee every 25 minutes or so. The facility is a blend of the old and the new. A conveyor system loads the roasters hopper in about 6 minutes or so. The load of coffee can be manually or automatically dropped into the roaster by a proprietary computer system. The roasted coffee is quickly cooled and collected through a column of air through a device called a de-stoner. Believe it or not, despite the rigorous inspections that green coffee goes through, there still is the odd rock, twig or bottle cap that gets in the mix – and you do not want to run a bottle cap through your burr grinder, trust me!
The roaster is gas fired – which in itself is a fairly clean process. But roast coffee is a very aromatic thing and even small amounts of the smoke can carry in the wind a long way. As a result, 49th Parallel run an afterburner that incinerates a lot of the particulates in the exhaust gas that would, well, make the neighborhood smell like coffee – all of the time. It is also more eco-friendly to do this – and it contributes greatly to the overall cost of the product.
But that is what you do when you want to be the best.
So, Mike Piccolo takes all this in his stride. One gets the impression walking around the facility that this is a totally family oriented operation. Everyone seems happy and busy.
For Mike Piccolo, his World begins after 7 in the morning and he may start to wind down later in the afternoon. A far cry from the World of Chef-land by a long shot. He has a young family to think about and life is more about Dolce Vita that making a killing overnight.
I think his brothers might agree. I sampled several coffee at the 49th Parallel Cafe on West 4th in Vancouver while Vince Piccolo looked on. If it is possible for Vince to be interested in something other than his satisfied customers, it could well be his staff and the environment in which he works.
The staff at 49th Parallel represent the ideal in coffee World. Beyond the basics of good pay and some benefits (oh yeah, and a great work environment) they are the messengers of the specialty coffee medium. They are fully engaged, informed and 100% dedicated to customer satisfaction and customer education.
As I sipped their single origin espresso, an Australian called Mountain-Top, I could not help but be somewhat skeptical and sardonic. I reminded Vince Piccolo that Australia is not the ideal growing environment for coffee. Needless to say he was quick to shut me down – and rightfully so. Open up your mind Colin, he was saying symbolically… Open up your mind.
In over 30 years of playing with and writing about specialty coffee, I think what I do know could fill an 8 ounce Euro Cappuccino cup at the 49th Parallel Cafe… and what I do not know could fill a 70kg Bag roaster.
But this is what the Piccolo family are all about – Customer Satisfaction and Education.
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