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October 25-31, 2007
buzz@boulderweekly.com
Cider yard rules
Boulder residents harvest tradition
by Erica Grossman
Vying for Vietnamese
Chez Thuy uses their noodles
by Clay Fong
Food Bites
Food happenings around town
Cider yard rules
Boulder residents harvest tradition
by Erica Grossman
As our world becomes increasingly pre-packaged, a new phase of DIY (that’s do-it-yourself) is helping people get back to basics. Small bands can help spread their music without signing a label by posting songs on MySpace. Urban gardens are giving city dwellers a chance to grow their own food. Even knitting has become cool again. And all for a chance to feel connected to the products we consume and the communities in which we live. It’s with this sentiment that a few local residents have hopped on the DIY bandwagon to create a refreshing, time-honored drink made from the branches of Boulder’s trees — hard apple cider.
Harvesting alcoholic apple cider is a tradition embedded in America’s history. In Colonial times, European settlers brought apple seeds to the New World with the intention of establishing orchards in their new homeland. The result was row after row of apple trees — and a cheap and effective way to produce a crisp, alcoholic beverage. In the 1600s, hard cider was often used as an alternative to poor drinking water and consumed on a daily basis by adults and children alike. Its popularity was more widespread than beer, whiskey or any other American spirit.
Though that popularity has waned in recent times, it can still be found in taverns across the country. Brands like England’s Strongbow and Vermont’s Woodchuck Cider stand alongside bottles of beer at the liquor store, though they are often criticized as “too sweet” and loaded with extra sugar. So where’s a person to go for some decent cider these days?
Start with the backyard.
That’s what Boulder resident Forest Roy does. Roy is one of the purveyors of homemade cider, similar to that made centuries ago in America’s early days. During the fall season, he treks through Boulder’s various neighborhoods in search of apples. He gathers them from yards and from the wild and carries them home on his back. By next spring, those apples will have fermented into a large batch of cider.
Roy got his cider-making start in Kirkland, Wash., where he worked at Mountain Homebrew & Wine Supply Company, a business dedicated to DIY brewing and harvesting. While there, Roy was an apprentice under the company’s owner, Jon Mendrick, and manager, Joel Engel. Mendrick and Engel taught Roy the methods for safely creating alcohol, including the basics of fermentation, ingredients and air traps. When Roy moved to Colorado, he decided to pursue the endeavor on his own.
“I read a couple of books [on cider] and developed a palate,” he says. “Making your own cider is better than anything you can buy at the store.”
One of the draws to harvesting cider over other alcohols, such as beer or wine, is the abundance of free apples, explains Roy.
“Apples are everywhere,” he says. “You just have to knock on people’s doors and ask if you can pick what’s in their yard. Many people see the apples as a hassle, since they are messy and attract birds, so they typically don’t mind if you take them.”
This year, Roy, along with his friend Dan Richelson, gathered 800 pounds of apples from across Boulder County. This is Richelson’s first year creating cider — he was initially commissioned by Roy to help build a press that would help speed up the grinding process.
“He asked me to make a cider press since I’m a carpenter,” Richelson says. “And then I became interested in the rest of the process.”
And that process can be a strenuous one. After the apples are gathered, they must be thoroughly washed of all twigs, dirt and leaves. Once clean, they are ready to be pressed for pulp and juice. For Roy and Richelson, this means operating the wooden hydraulic press they crafted for the season. The press is a hydraulic alternative to hand-pressing, and combines basic physics principles with skilled carpentry.
While Roy and Richelson pressed apples in Roy’s front yard this past September, people passing by took notice. Neighbors stopped by to ogle, inquire and even help out.
“It’s fun to see people’s reaction,” says Roy, “They stop by and help out for half an hour, and the yard becomes a small community for the day.”
But why do people want to give up a Saturday afternoon to offer up free labor?
“It’s a feel-good thing,” Roy notes. “It’s nostalgic for a lot of people, especially those from the East Coast.”
The juice now sits in large glass jugs in Roy’s home. The jugs are kept in light-sensitive conditions and stopped with bubble air traps to help keep out insects, bacteria and oxygen during the fermentation process. They will be left untouched until May, when Roy and Richelson will be able to taste the first sips of their 24 gallons of cider. The finished product will taste slightly acidic, with sharp and complex flavors — very different from the sugary cider in the stores.
“I want my cider to taste like the trees I harvested,” Roy says. “Otherwise, I might as well just go buy some Strongbow.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Richelson.
“Good hard cider is really difficult to find,” he explains. “If I brewed my own beer, I couldn’t compete with the best breweries that are in the liquor store. But the hard ciders on the market don’t even really seem like cider. What we can make is much better than anything we could purchase.”
While the taste of Roy and Richelson’s homebrewed cider will be savored this upcoming spring, so will the steps that yielded it. Creating your own beverage translates to a more personalized flavor, but it also allows for a connection to the land and the local community. It is the implementation of an autumn tradition in place of a trip to the store, and a look at the history of American harvesting. It’s DIY for those weary of feeling bombarded by generic, packaged goods.
“Community wasn’t my initial intention,” Roy says of the harvest, “but it came along, and it’s great. Everyone comes together for the process. People like to make use of the things in their environment, and cider is a great way to do that.”
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Vying for Vietnamese
Chez Thuy uses their noodles
by Clay Fong
Nowadays, the smart money holds that Vietnamese food might just be the next big culinary thing. Restaurants like San Francisco’s trendy and pricey Slanted Door lead the way in promoting this fare among the fashionable. But at a much more reasonable price, Boulder’s Chez Thuy also provides ample evidence of this cuisine’s emerging ascendancy. In operation since 1993, this restaurant serves up a dizzying array of Asian options including Thai and Chinese specialties such as Pad Thai and lo mein. A recent visit also revealed the presence of pungent Korean influences, as some meals came sided with kim chee, the spicy napa cabbage pickle that packs a garlic-laden punch and is reputed to be a cure for avian flu.
Recently remodeled, Chez Thuy still retains a retro-lounge vibe with deep red banquettes and a flagstone wall at one end of the restaurant. Most of my visits to this establishment are during lunchtime, and I typically order one of their noodle bowls with salad greens and a choice of meat, frequently the subtly salty and garlic-marinated lamb. These noodle bowls, which come with a cup of house soup, are a terrific value, and they often provide enough nourishment for two meals.
For a change of pace, I recently paid a dinner visit on a recent rainy evening. Accompanied by my friends Joey and Randy, I surveyed the packed tables as the very efficient waitstaff hoisted tempting dishes of aromatic duck and platters bustling with colorful stacks of perfectly crisp vegetables.
We started the meal with a $14.95 house appetizer sampler of stuffed chicken wings, soft shell crab and an omelet-like cake of minced shrimp, cooked up with egg. Condiments included a nuoc mam, or fish sauce, dip, leafy cilantro and cool cucumber slices. Lettuce leaves and a pile of rice noodles rounded out this starter plate and also provided a vehicle to wrap up the poultry and seafood as one would a spring roll.
Each appetizer had its own distinct charm. The crab was crisp and greaseless on the outside, and tender and fresh-tasting on the inside. Chicken wings came stuffed with ground pork, peanuts and a touch of pepper to comprise a savory and substantial appetizer. Lastly, the sweet taste of the shrimp pleasantly complimented the flavor of the creamy egg.
For his main course, Randy adopted a do-it-yourself approach by ordering the $11.95 grilled chicken appetizer. The usually loquacious Randy was uncharacteristically silent as he dunked rice paper discs into a bowl of hot water to create the tortilla-like wrap for his poultry. With great precision, he placed the bite-sized morsels of tender grilled chicken into the wrapper along with cucumber, greens, cilantro and a sprinkling of fish sauce. The final product was a wondrous study in contrast as the savory, warm chicken played off the crispy vegetables and silky smooth rice paper.
Joey selected a $14.95 lemongrass stir fry consisting of shrimp and scallops in a coconut sauce. Lighter than a typical Thai curry, this sweet and sour preparation still allowed the freshness and firm texture of the seafood to shine through. A generous medley of delectable vegetables, including mushrooms, squash, carrots and peapods, added welcome crispness and a foil to the creamy spice of the sauce.
Departing from my usual practice of ordering the tender lamb chops, which closely resemble a classic French rack of lamb, I selected the $14.95 quail with a red wine-based sauce. This small bird was expertly prepared, boasting both moist meat and a rich flavor closer to duck than say, bland chicken. The sauce was a perfect compliment. This dish also came with an appealing side of vegetables, and the generous portion rendered it unnecessary to dip into the pot of rice that accompanied our meals.
While Chez Thuy eschews the trendy nature of nationally recognized Vietnamese restaurants, it still offers memorable food at a fraction of the cost of its better known counterparts. Offering something for the lover of seafood, meat, poultry or vegetables (there are a multitude of tofu choices as well as eggless and meatless fried rice), this 28th Street standby provides a menu that is as voluminous as it is reliable. In all the years that I’ve dined there, I’ve never had cause for disappointment.
Chez Thuy
2655 28th St.,
Boulder, 303-442-1700
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Food Bites
Food happenings around town
The insider cheese
Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy, 5239 Niwot Rd., Niwot, 720-494-8714.
For 15 years, the Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy has succeeded in providing Boulder County with the freshest goat cheese around. On Oct. 30, Haystack will host nationally known cheese expert and author Laura Werlin at its Niwot farm. Werlin recently published Laura Werlin’s Cheese Essentials: An Insider’s Guide to Buying and Serving Cheese, and will be signing copies at the dairy farm. In addition to visiting with Werlin and the Haystack goats, the public is invited to a cheese tasting provided by the farm and additional California artisinal cheesemakers. The event begins at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.haystackgoatcheese.com.
Coffee cupping
The Cup Espresso Café, 1521 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-449-5173.
The Cup Espresso Café, a hotspot for some of the best Pearl Street java concoctions, is busting out the mugs for another monthly java celebration. This month, The Cup will host “Discovering Ethiopian Coffees” on Oct. 27. The event will allow customers to sit back and enjoy an array of Ethiopian roasts and expand their knowledge of these African beans. The cupping will begin at 9 a.m. and is open to the public. For more information, call 303-449-5173.
A farmer’s farewell
Boulder Farmers’ Market, 13th Street between Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, 303-910-2236.
The Boulder Farmers’ Market is coming to a seasonal close. This means that there are only a handful of days left to browse the stands of Boulder County’s finest farms, and stock up on fresh, organic produce. The BFM will end its season on Nov. 3, but will be open the Wednesday and Saturday prior. This is not only a great opportunity to get your goods for the next couple of weeks, but to purchase items for canning as well. Canning Farmers’ Market fare is a great way to enjoy the fruits and veggies of our season throughout the winter months. The BFM will re-open next April for a new harvest. For more information, visit www.boulderfarmers.org.
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