Events: Foodies' fest serves up distinctive Texas flavor 
04:08 PM CST on Friday, February 25, 2005 

By IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News 

Distillers, vintners and chefs -- local stars and national celebrities -- showed off at Savor Dallas last weekend at the Wyndham Anatole.

The weekend was filled with chef demonstrations and tastings. The event's high point was the International Grand Tasting, in which wines, spirits and food kept hundreds milling around, tasting everything from 7-Eleven sandwiches to a lobster BLT from Central Market's chefs.

Here, some highlights of the weekend:

New, nice: Among the new products available for sampling was Navan, a vanilla-flavored cognac from Grand Marnier that debuted in the Dallas area last month. A 750-ml bottle sells for about $40 at select liquor stores.

Rice guy: After headlining a sold-out lunch event, Food Network's Tyler Florence filled Trinity Hall with the smells of Spain as he cooked up Barcelona-style paella. He said the recipe for the rice-based dish appears in his newest book, scheduled to hit stores this April.

A tip from Mr. Florence: Don't use long-grain rice if you're going to have it cooking for a while. Shorter grains will soak up liquid more slowly, keeping it from getting gummy or overcooked.

Big plans: Dallas restaurateur Stephan Pyles dropped hints about a restaurant he's planning to open later this year, as he put a Southwestern twist on risotto, using jalapenos, corn and red bell pepper, and then stuffing it into roasted poblano chiles. And how do you make your chile rellenos look restaurant-perfect? Drop them into hot oil to blister the skin, then oven-roast the stuffed chiles.

The focus, though, was a triple-caramelized dessert, banana-butterscotch-creme brulee tostada. Mr. Pyles stacked layers of cinnamon-sugared tortilla chips with a vanilla custard and sauteed bananas, topping the tower with a drizzle of cajeta.

Texas wine, Texas cheese: An exploration of Lone Star State offerings brought Mozzarella Company proprietor Paula Lambert together with Texas winemakers Susan Auler and Kim McPherson. They led guests through an explanation of each of six cheeses and six wines, then let the class play with pairings with two other cheeses: a soft, creamy crescenza, and Blanca Bianca, an aged raw-milk cheese that's bathed with white wine as it matures.

Ms. Auler, of Fall Creek Vineyards in Tow, Texas, said cheeses offer a good base for learning about wine and food combinations: "If you can pair them with cheeses, then you can pair them with food."

Ms. Lambert and Ms. Auler take their class on the road next month, hitting Central Markets across the state. They'll be at the Dallas cooking school March 11 and in Fort Worth on March 10. Visit www.centralmarket.com for information about the $60 class.

Good news from Mexico: Gary Sehnert, a representative of several Mexican wineries, showcased wines from two Baja California valleys.

In the years that he's been following the Mexican industry, Mr. Sehnert said, most of its wines have improved from "7-Up couldn't save them" poor to the higher quality found today. Some of those included in the tasting -- from the Santo Tomas and Chateau Camou wineries -- are appearing more in local stores and restaurants.

"There's so much fine Mexican dining, these people want wines from Mexico," Mr. Sehnert said. "The best thing about these wines is that they're Mexican -- they're so surprising."