Another Minneapolis event: December 5th

DECEMBER 5th EVENT: SPARKLING AND SUSHI!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

What : "Sushi & Champagne Tasting"
When : Wednesday December 5, 7-9pm
Price: $38
Where : Nami, Downtown Minneapolis at 241 1st Avenue North
(corner of 1st Ave North and 3rd Street)
Buy Tickets at tc-uncorked.org

Time once again for our annual "Sushi & Sparkling" event to get you into the holiday spirit! Swill a little sparkling wine and champagne and sample a bit of sushi and rolls from our good friends at Nami. We also hope to have a few sakis so you can try a sip of those as well. Join us and kick off the holiday season!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Cheers!
~ Pam, Toni, Tracie, Rachel, Tom, Lana, Kelly, Mark and Jonathan

Sake tasting dinner at Spill the Wine in Minneapolis

This should be fun!

Sake Dinner
Presented by VinoSource, who will be sharing tasting notes on the wine for the evening and our Chef who will be discussing the food.
November 29th, 2007 | 7pm
$69/person (includes tax and gratuity)

Course One
Mango Crab Salad with Cucumber, Lime and Mint
tozai living jewel, kyoto

Course Two
Miso Tofu Soup
with Fish Stock and Green Onion
rihaku wandering poet, shimane

Course Three
Ribeye Carpacio
Thai Style, Green Papaya Red Curry
tentaka hawk in the heavens, tochigi

Course Four
Tuna Tataki
Black pepper and Pickled Ginger Rice
mukane root of innocence, osaka

Course Five
Green Tea Panacata
tozai snow maiden, kyoto

Go here to find out more about Spill the Wine and to register.

Oldtime saké rituals

I was cataloguing a book today by a member of the Circumnavigators Club and I found an interesting description of saké drinking at a mid-1920s Geisha-Dinner Party. I like to think of all the men getting a little rambunctious and smashing sake cups into their heads! Here is the description:

The only wine consumed during the dinner was saké, and a few words regarding this are necessary.

In color, saké looks much like weak tea, and is always served hot in small shallow cups which hold about three table-spoonfuls. In taste it resembles hot sherry, and it is probable that its content of alcohol is about the same. All through the dinner saké was constantly being brought in and served to the guests. The customs surrounding its consumption are somewhat curious, and in brief are as follows:--

The first cup of wine is drunk by the guest of the evening. The host selects a cup, names the guest and says, “Dozo saké ippai onomu nasai” (Graciously condescend to imbibe a cupful of wine), at the same time touching the cup to his forehead and bowing toward the guest. The latter bows to his host, accepts the cup, touches it to his own forehead and holds it forward on the palm of his hand for the maid to fill, at the same time replying, “Arigato gozaimasu, itadakimasho,” (Thank you, I sure will). He drains the cup, rinses it out in a tureen of water which stands beside him, touches it to his forehead and returns it to his host with the request that he have one himself. Formalities satisfied, everyone else begs the privilege of a cup with the guest, and after him whomsoever he may fancy. To the uninitiated a word of caution: ‘Ware the cup that cheers in Japan, for the custom above outlined is easily capable of being carried beyond the realms of a joke, and in his desire to be polite one may learn that hot saké in sufficient quantities, and taken in small doses, “biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.” Furthermore, saké does not behave well in mixed company.

JOHNSON, GEORGE A. The log of a circumnavigator being a series of informal narratives descriptive of a trip around the world. Boston: The Stratford Co. , 1927.