MetaFilter posts tagged with champagne

A Bottle of the Widow

the man of twists and turns — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:15:51 -0800

In 1799, at the age of 21, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin married Francois Clicquot, the son of a Reims wool merchant and vintner. After his untimely death in 1805, she was left, at 27, with a five year old daughter and became known as the Veuve Clicquot. Barbe-Nicole set about expanding her small, local champagne business into the internationally-regarded drink and brand it is now. She did this by revolutionizing Champagne production, developing the ‘method Champenoise’ as it is known today, and with her chef de caves Antoin Mueller, created the riddling rack. Hers was the first Champagne at the Czar’s court in Russia, after Napoleon’s blockade fell in 1811, cementing its place in history. The subject of the excellent book The Widow Clicquot, Barbe-Nicole later became known as La Grande Dame. Cliquot(YouTube, and you may want to turn down the sound) is known as ‘Yellow Label,’ due to it’s distinctive yellow-orange label, but this was not always so. Barbe-Nicole is also famous for her advice to a great-granddaughter:

The world is in perpetual motion and we must invent the things of tomorrow. One must go before others, be determined and exacting, and let your intelligence direct your life. Act with audacity.

In 2010, a shipwreck was found in the Baltic, with still-sealed bottles of ’The Widow’ inside. Previously on Metafilter Veuve Clicquot is a subsidiary of LVMH, which owns a few other Champagne houses. Previously on MetaFilter: The Night They Invented Champagne Finally, you can impress and scare your friends by opening a bottle of champagne with a sword, known as ‘sabreage.’ Previously on MetaFilter, from 2009, 2006, and 2001

You know what every kitchen needs? A Bloonderbooss or a Boomashootn, and Swedish Chef shows us why.

Blasdelb — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:30:56 -0800

The Swedish Chef (Muppet Wiki) is the incomprehensible preparer of foodstuffs for The Muppet Show. A rather literal variation of the Live-Hand Muppet concept, the Swedish Chef is a humanoid character, with human hands rather than gloves. An annotated list of every televised appearance of the Swedish Chef is after the fold... Børk! Børk! Børk! [Click here to view the thread translated fully into Mock Swedish] Encheferize your own text here ----- Pilot: ----- The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence| Sandwich In a three-a-pert sketch, zee Svedeesh Cheff mekes a sundveech, useeng muny unoosooel ingredeeents. Ifentooelly, zee sundveech spruoots veengs und fleees evey, boot zee cheff shuuts it doon veet a goon. (The name of his program is "Järnvägskorsning" or Railway Crossings in real Swedish) ---------- Season 1: ---------- Episode 2| Meatballs Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes meetbells, vheech buoonce-a vhee drupped. He-a zeen grebs a tennees recket und svets zee meetbell intu zee oodeeence-a. Stetler fulleys it beck veet a recket ooff hees oovn. "Feeffteee, lufe-a!" seys Veldurff. Episode 5| Flapjacks Zee Cheff preperes puncekes, vheech veend up stoock oon zee ceeeling. He-a zeen grebs a goon und shuuts zeem doon. Episode 11| Spaghetti Zee speghettee cumes tu leeffe-a und ettecks Zee Svedeesh Cheff. Episode 14| Doughnuts Zee Svedeesh Cheff uses a boomåshootn tu shuut a hule-a thruoogh un Ingleesh mooffffeen tu meke-a a duooghnoot. Episode 15| Spicy Sauce Zee Svedeesh Cheff's sooce-a is su speecy thet hees het fleees ooffff, geefing zee oodeeence-a a rere-a boot breeeff gleempse-a ooff vhet zee cheff luuks leeke-a veethuoot hees het. Episode 20| Japanese Cake Zee Cheff edds creem und frooeet tu a chuculete-a ceke-a, boot es he-a gues tu coot it, zee ceke-a luoodly oobjects...in Jepunese-a! Zee ceke-a is insteed deespetched by a cekenschmuuscher. ---------- Season 2: ---------- Episode 1| Fishie Chowder Zee Svedeesh Cheff ettempts tu meke-a feesh chooder useeng a leefe-a feesh. Episode 5| Salad, Brussells Sprouts, and Coconut In a tvu-pert sketch, Zee Svedeesh Cheff shuuts lettooce-a veet a goon, furst creeteeng a seled und zeen Broossells spruoots. Leter, he-a treees tu shuut a cucunoot, boot insteed shuuts a roobber cheeckee und gets heet by a cucunoot. Episode 8| Talking to Reporter Svedeesh Cheff tells iferytheeng he-a knoos tu a repurter, deestoorbing Kermeet Episode 9| Lobster Thermidor Zee Svedeesh Cheff treees tu bueel a loubster, boot is ettecked by a gruoop ooff lubster bundeetuse, vhu rescooe-a zeeur cumrede-a frum zee pute. Episode 12| Egg Bomb Zee Svedeesh Cheff vunts iggs fur hees deesh, boot hees cheeckee leys a bumb. Episode 14| Ping Pong Ball Eggs Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes "igg der cheff," boot hees cheeckee oonly leys der peeng pung bells. Zee Cheff becumes ungry und poorsooes zee hee veet a kleefer; thees becumes a leeterel roonneeng geg thruooghuoot zee rest ooff zee shoo. Episode 15| Frog Legs Seence-a Kermeet rooshes zee Svedeesh Cheff oonstege-a (vhee he-a's nut reedy), zee Cheff tekes Rubeen und treees tu prepere-a frug legs. Episode 16| Salad Zee Svedeesh Cheff mekes a seled vheele-a Cleu Leeene-a seengs "Yuoo're-a Joost in Lufe-a." Episode 17| Cow Zee Cheff peeents oon a reel leefe-a coo tu demercete-a zee deefffferent coots ooff beeff. Episode 18| Coconut Zee Cheff hemmers und sevs a cucunoot, tryeeng tu creck it. Vhee he-a feenelly gets it oopee, he-a deescufers a bumb inseede-a it. Episode 20| Chocolate Moose Meeckey Muuse-a helps zee Cheff meke-a "chuculete-a muuse-a". Kermeet interroopts thees pley oon vurds. Episode 21| Pressed Duck Zee Svedeesh Cheff treees tu use-a zee irun tu press Runeld Doock, vhu grebs it und zeen drups it oon heem und fleees evey. Episode 24| Popcorn Zee Svedeesh Peeg mekes pupcurn. ---------- Season 3: ---------- Episode 3| Living Dough Zee Svedeesh Cheff is ettecked by leefing duoogh, vheech heets heem veet hees oovn rulleeng peen. Thees is zee lest Svedeesh Cheff sketch tu teke-a plece-a in zee ooreeginel keetchee set. Episode 6| Jean Stapleton, Sam the Eagle, Swedish Chef Jeun refeels tu Sem zee Iegle-a thet zee Svedeesh Cheff duesn't speek reel Svedeesh, boot she-a cun understund heem, becoose-a she-a tuuk a currespundence-a cuoorse-a in muck Svedeesh. Sem inseests thet zee Cheff stert speekeeng hunestly, su frum noo oon he-a egrees tu speek in hees neteefe-a lungooege-a--muck Jepunese-a. Episode 9| Patient Swedish Chef Vhet sterts es a Svedeesh Cheff sketch feenishes veet Fetereeneriun's Huspeetel, es zee huspeetel steffff deescufer zee cheff hes a rere-a cese-a ooff in-groon cuffffee-a put. Episode 10| Onion Cake Zee Svedeesh Cheff shoos Gledys zee veddeeng ceke-a thet he-a's mede-a. Zee ceke-a is tupped veet feegoores ooff Kermeet und Peeggy es zee gruum und breede-a. Episode 11| Chicken in the Basket Zee Svedeesh Cheff throos a cheeckee thruoogh a besketbell huup. Episode 12| Banana Split Vheele-a prepereeng a bunanunanuna spleet, zee Svedeesh Cheff is cunteenoouoosly interroopted by Spuneesh duncers. Zee Cheff elsu speeks French iff yuoo cun cetch it Episode 16| The Chef and his Uncle Zee Svedeesh Cheff is jueened by hees uncle-a (pleyed by Dånny Kåye), und zeey meke-a a toorkey. Episode 17| Swedish Chef tells a joke Svedeesh Cheff tells a heeleriuoos juke-a thet zee oozeer moopets cunnut understund Episode 23| Swedish Chef Reciting Shakespeare Veelliem Shekespeere-a is celled upun by Sem zee Iegle-a tu prufeede-a cummentery fur zee shoo thet zee Mooppets ere-a pootteeng oon, Rubeen Huud. It duesn't metter thet zee femuoos pleyreeght ooff zee seme-a neme-a deedn't vreete-a zee femuoos feble-a, thees Shekespeere-a uses zee neme-a oonly es hees nums de-a ploom, und dues nut cleeem tu be-a zee mun vhu Sem beleeefes vrute-a Zee Suoond ooff Mooseec. Despeete-a thees, upun reqooest, he-a recrooeets zee Svedeesh Cheff tu receete-a a purtun ooff Hemlet, effter Sem hes beee inffurmed thet zee mun vhu vrute-a zee vurds is deed. ---------- Season 4: ---------- Episode 1| Squirrel Stew Zee Cheff is oooot in zee vuuds, tryeeng tu meke-a sqoourrel stoo. Episode 4| Hot Dogs Zee Cheff preperes hut dugs. Meess Peeggy, vhu is luukeeng fur Fuu Fuu, cumes oon-stege-a, eskeeng zee cheff iff he-a hes seee her dug. Zee Svedeesh Cheff, essoomeeng zee qooery is ebuoot zee veeeners, seys thet zee dug is in zee put, cooseeng Peeggy tu theenk thet zee cheff is cuukeeng Fuu Fuu. Meess Peeggy's kerete-a chup is elsu deffeeted Episode 5| Turtle Soup Cheff ettempts tu meke-a toortle-a suoop, boot zee toortle-a keeps poolleeng up intu hees shell vhee zee Cheff is ebuoot tu heck ooffff hees heed. Froostreted, zee Cheff threetens zee uneemel veet a bloonderbooss, oonly tu be-a met veet a duooble-a-berreled meenietoore-a cunun frum veethin zee toortle-a's shell. Episode 8| Home-Cooked Meal Zee Cheff pluns a hume-a-cuuked meel, boot zee toorkey reffooses tu be-a skooered, zee peeg boosts heem in zee fece-a, und zee "biff" stempedes oofer heem. Ifee zee fegeteble-a stoo is unsooccessffool. Ifentooelly, zee Cheff unfeeels hees deenner -- feetemin peells. Episode 12| No Bananas Zee Cheff seengs "Yes, Ve-a Hefe-a Nu Bununes" veet zee Seenging Fuud. Episode 13| Poisoned Food Fuzzeee-a soospects zee Cheff ooff pueesuning zee heleeboot eleebi vheele-a ecteeng es zee Beer oon Petrul. Episode 20| Milk Shake Sveedeesh Cheff preperes a Meelk Sheke-a fur Elun Erkeen et zee begeening ooff zee Shoo. Episode 23| Meat Loafers Zee cheff poots meet intu a shue-a. Zee oovner ooff zee shue-a, a peeg, demunds tu hefe-a hees shue-a beck, und poots it oon, despeete-a zee fect thet zeere-a is meet in it. He-a zeen gets chesed by dugs. ---------- Season 5: ---------- Episode 7| Eric the Parrot Ireec zee Perrut seengs und dunces tu Ceruleena in zee Murneeng vheele-a Zee Svedeesh Cheff treees tu cetch heem Episode 8| Swedish Lump Bread Puppetry Zee Svedeesh Cheff mekes a pooppet useeng hees hunds und sume-a breed duoogh es he-a seengs "Zeese-a Buuts Ere-a Mede-a fur Velkeen'" in hees neteefe-a tungooe-a. Episode 12| Spring Chickens Zee Cheff mekes spreeng cheeckens, vheech spreeng oooot ooff cuntrul. Thees is zee oonly Svedeesh Cheff sketch vhere-a Zee Unnuooncer intrudooces zee ect. Episode 14| Soup Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes suoop, boot gets interroopted by moolteeple-a Beekers. (Previously) Episode 22| Lighter than Air Soufflé Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes a leeghter thun eur suoophlé. Episode 23| Champagne Zee Cheff gues flyeeng vhee he-a pups a buttle-a ooff chempegne-a. ---------------------- The Jim Henson Hour: ---------------------- Episode 7| Cake Zee Svedeesh Cheff ettempts tu meke-a a ceke-a, boot is interroopted by Jeqooes Ruech, vhu ixpleeens thet rueches ere-a indestroocteble-a becoose-a ooff zeeur ieteeng hebeets. Thees is prufee vhee zee cheff unsooccessffoolly treees tu get reed ooff jeqooes by keetting heem, druppeeng a reffreedgeretur oon heem, und ifee bloo heem up. -------- Movies: -------- The Muppets at Walt Disney World| Tacos Zee Cheff preperes a tecu fur Boonsee und Beeker, vheech is su hut thet it bloos zee peeel thet hes beee stoock oon Beeker's heed cleer ooffff... und beck oon egeeen. Zee cluseeng fur hees oopeneeng sung is "Olé" insteed ooff zee usooel "Børk, børk, børk!" (Previously) A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa| Swedie Pizza Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes a "Svedeee-a Peezza" fur tvu gooys in un Iteleeun restroorunt. Zeey reeleeze-a zee Cheff is nut Iteleeun und yell et heem tu gu evey, und he-a roons ooffff ("Oooky!Oooky!Oooky!"). Oone-a ooff zee gooys remerks thet it duesn't luuk thet bed und thet meybe-a zeey shuoold try it. ------ Other: ------ Europe MTV Music Awards| Chef and Wyclef Jean perform on stage at the Europe MTV Music Awards on November 16, 2000 in Stockholm, Sweden. Muppet viral videos| Cårven Der Pümpkîn Zee Svedeesh Cheff ettempts tu meke-a jeck-oo-lunterns oooot ooff tvu telkeeng poompkeens fur Hellooeee. Zee poompkeens zeen sooggest thet he-a use-a meescelluneuoos items thet vuoold nut nurmelly be-a used (i.i. a bettle-a exe-a, a cheeensev, und a bezuuka). Effter he-a gets oooot zee bezuuka, zee poompkeens get blested intu tvu poompkeen peees, vheech zee Cheff teetles "der pümpkîn peee-a a la bezuukeee-a", reeght beffure-a pesseeng oooot frum zee ixpluseeun. Thees is zeen fullooed by a leettle-a heckleeng frum Stetler und Veldurff vhu hefe-a beee vetcheeng zee cleep oon zeeur cumpooter. Muppet viral videos| Pöpcørn Zee Svedeesh Cheff preperes pupcurn shreemp tu zee toone-a ooff Hut Bootter's "Pupcurn." Zee feedeu elsu prufeedes cepshuns, elthuoogh zee cepshun vreeter edmeets thet zeey hefe-a nu idea vhet zee cheff is seyeeng; zeey joost try tu vreete-a it phuneteecelly, vheech ifee zee vreeter cun't spell. (Previously) ----------------------- Chef's Musical Career: ----------------------- Ringing of the Bells Danny Boy Happy Birthday Habanera Bohemian Rhapsody Stars & Stripes FOREVER! Heavy Metal --------------------- Fan Made Homage: --------------------- Birthday Cake Pizza Goldfish Soup Fruit Dish Breakfast Bowl Turkey Stew Andy Samberg on SNL ------------- Comic Books ------------- Meet the Muppets| Because evryone is trying to cheer Kermit up, Robin tries to get the Chef to make Lily Pad Goulash. The Chef fails to understand him and thinks he wants Frogs' Legs Goulash, then takes Robin to make the dish. Onstage, Robin talks the Chef into stopping, and leaves. The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson| Because the Chef is making onion soup at the same time that a toast-hurdling contest is happening, toast flies out of the pot as soon as the recipe is complete. ------ Trivia: ------ -According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this tape that he used to play which was 'How to Speak Mock Swedish'. And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef". Jim Henson had previously explored the idea of a funny foreign chef at the US Food Fair that took place in Hamburg, Germany in 1961, where Sam and Friends character Omar prepared a flaming salad while speaking in some quite comprehensible mock German that Henson and Jerry Juhl had previously scribbled down in phonetics." -Cröonchy Stars was a breakfast cereal by Post Cereals of North America. The cereal was released in 1988, and discontinued about a year later, though it made a brief return in 1992. The box featured the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show, who described the cereal as "cinnamonnamony". The product's name is likely a pseudo-phonetic rendition of how the Chef would pronounce "crunchy." The back of the box featured ridiculous, and sometimes unsolvable, games and puzzles, including a memory-type card game on every box. -There was a Swedish Chef sketch that was taped but not broadcast, in which the Chef prepared ratatouille. -From the appearance of a ring, the Chef seems to have gotten married as early as 2006 -The Swedish Chef's song has been construed as a "scathing editorial" against former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report. -Opera Software once retaliated against the MSN intentionally breaking its website for Opera users by translating the fixed site into ChefSpeak

We are one Maryland, and all of us at the end of the day want the same thing for our children.

Faint of Butt — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:54:56 -0800

And the eighth state to make same-sex marriage legal is... Maryland. Governor Martin O'Malley signed the bill today, as he promised. The state's first same-sex marriage licenses will be granted on January 1, 2013. (Previously)

From France, With Love

LD Feral — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:14:49 -0800

Veuve Clicquot- oldest drinkable fizzy grape juice? A missing shipment of some fine French vino, that Luis XVI sent over to the Tsar of the Russias, may have been located, and are currently being confirmed by the home vintners.

Saberriffic

mathowie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:09:41 -0800

How to properly open a bottle of bubbly with a saber is an awesome entry from the French Culinary Institute's tech blog. Features a detailed video how-to with 1000 frames per second super slo-mo shots of proper saber technique. Impress your drunken friends at your next party with the ultimate sommelier trick!

Come in... Leave a comment and have some sham-pan-ya...

jonp72 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:33:38 -0800

The Continental was a short-lived TV show that debuted in 1951 on KNBH Los Angeles and aired nationally on ABC and CBS during the 1952-1953 TV season. Sponsored by Cameo Stockings, the show featured Italian actor Renzo Cesana (who got discovered when Robert Rossellini produced a play Cesana wrote when he was 16!) purring seductively into the camera, while offering "sham-pan-ya" to an offscreen lady friend. Best known for inspiring a series of Saturday Night Live sketches starring Christopher Walken, the show inspired parodies in its own era, such as this Popeye cartoon (where Bluto tries to seduce Olive Oyl by posing as "The International"), a Jerry Lewis skit on the Colgate Comedy Hour that imagines the Continental as played by Marlon Brando, and a Pepe Le Pew cartoon where our amorous skunk attempts to seduce the feline object of his affection in The Cat's Bah. Unfortunately, Internet footage of the real show appears to be nonexistent, although you can buy some love songs recorded by the Continental off EBay.

Blades and Booze

blahblahblah — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 12:11:19 -0800

"It can seem daunting when you are initially handed a sabre and a chilled bottle of Champagne with the expectation that you will sever the top of the bottle with the sword’s blade. Do not be downhearted!" Sabrage is the ancient art of opening champagne bottles by slicing them with a sabre. Learn how to combine swords and booze this New Year's Eve.

Happy New Year!

CunningLinguist — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 10:56:49 -0800

"Champagne" in a can. An offer you can refuse?

What a Racket

brookish — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:10:23 -0800

The average PC printer's ink costs more than 16 times as much as an equivalent amount of vintage 1985 Dom Perignon champagne.

The Night They Invented Champagne...

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 06:53:39 -0800

The Night They Invented Champagne... Tonight's the night for Champagne. Meaning French. No other is as appropriate or necessary. If you know nothing - or a lot - about this most pleasant and aphrodisiac of all wines, you should still get more serious about it. The Champagne Growers' Association has an excellent website where you can learn how to chill, open, serve and properly taste Champagne. They'll even send you four free, attractive little notebooks to keep in your cocktail cabinet. The green roll-down menus are all enlightening and to the point. But don't think the French have all the experts. There's this amazing American website, called IntoWine, put up by the M2 Communications Wine Education Center, which is just as wise and, typically, more complete and snobbish. Their Champagne section is faultless. Compare cultures by noting how they serve Champagne. Check out their full list of Champagne houses and related movies. Happy New Year, MetaFilter!

The dramatic way to open champagne.

mmarcos — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 10:22:18 -0800

The dramatic way to open champagne. Have you used or seen someone use a champagne saber? Amazing that the bottle neck doesn't shatter around the edges. I tried looking on Google for some lore and description but found nothing.