Western Europe

Spain: Two Sides of the Coin

Yet Another Cooking Show: The American Baking Competition Heads to CBS This Summer

Over the last several years, cooking shows have popped up on a variety of networks, rather than the mother ship of all food and cooking shows, the Food Network. If Cupcake Wars and re-runs of Top Chef Just Desserts doesn't do it for you, this summer CBS will air a summer baking competition on May 29 ... More >>

Five Songs You Should Be Evicted for Playing

Here's a news story you may have missed recently: a man in the UK was so utterly obsessed with the Spice Girls song "Viva Forever" that he played it over and over and over again, until he pissed off his neighbors and landlord so much that they kicked him out of his apartment. I've heard of people lo ... More >>

Is Wine as American as Apple Pie?

The enoblogosphere is reeling today in the wake of a French researcher's report published this week (and circulated today on the Internets). According to the survey (conducted by FranceAgriMer, an independent agricultural industry observer), the French are now more likely to drink fruit juice than w ... More >>

SXSW Releases First Batch of 2013 Performers

Here go hell come, SXSW has just released the first batch of names for the 2013 festival. I know, only a week after Fun Fun Fun Fest and a month since ACL. Did you see the FPSF blog from earlier today? Yeah, time is moving too fast. The big names on the list so far include the Zombies, Alt-J, Akro ... More >>

Terminal Confusion: Why Are These the UK's Most Popular Funeral Songs?

Recently, a survey conducted in the UK revealed the most popular songs played at funerals. The big news everyone seems to be talking about is that Adele's "Someone Like You -- a song all about how replaceable a person is -- made it to No. 22. But we here at Rocks Off find the Top 5 equally confoundi ... More >>

The $20 Master Chef Prix-Fixe Lunch at Philippe

The prix-fixe, or set menu, is a time-honored tradition that originated in France. Pronounced pree-fiks, it's usually a three-course menu with appetizer, entree, and dessert, and the great thing about it is that you can usually get an unbelievable value for the price paid. That's what I discovered w ... More >>

How To Survive A Plague

David France's stirring history of ACT UP.

Chef Chat, Part 1: Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys Food Truck, on Selling Food out of His Dorm Room in Military School and Landing an Internship at The Fat Duck

Matt Marcus Eatsie Boys Food Truck 845-430-8479 www.eatsieboys.com This is Part 1 of a three-part chef chat series. Parts 2 and 3 will run in this same space on Thursday and Friday. The Eatsie Boys have one of the most popular food trucks in Houston right now. Known for their pork snuggies, fanc ... More >>

David France on the Plague Years

The history and survival of ACT UP.

New York Vacation

Julie Delpy brings the Paris gang to the city.

Dear Olympics: More Nudity And/Or Violence, Please

"We live in a cynical world, a cynical, cynical world..." said a very smart man once. Maybe it was Nietzsche, or Elmer Fudd. Artifacts like the Olympics -- both the summer and winter variety -- have grown boring and stale. TV giant NBC is getting torn to shreds for including haircut Ryan Seacrest ... More >>

Summer Olympics Weather Will Feel More Like Autumn for Many

Jolly ol' England with its fish and chips and beefeaters and shrimp on the barbie...wait, OK, not that last one, is hosting the Summer Olympic Games this year as everyone who isn't living in a cave probably knows (they might know as well). They've gone all out over the last ten years' building facil ... More >>

Euro 2012 Final: Houstonians Love Fútbol

According to UEFA predictions, approximately 250 million soccer fans tuned in to watch the Euro 2012 final match on Sunday evening. Compare that to the 111 million that watched this year's Super Bowl, and you get an idea as to the impact and significance of this event. The game pitted reigning champ ... More >>

10 Best Modern Political Speeches

We'll be hearing a lot of great speeches this election season, but lets take a second to remember the true giants of political rhetoric. 10. Martin Luther King: I've Been to the Mountaintop King delivered this speech in Memphis, Tennessee the day before he was assassinated. After talking for a whi ... More >>

Mediterranean Film Festival

''Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado''

What's the Deal With "Old" Wine?

So, what's the deal with old wine anyway? Wednesday's post on What are "Tannins" in Wine? got me thinking about the widely divergent ways Europeans and Americans perceive and approach the consumption of "old wine." Tannins and "tannic structure," after all, are part of what gives wine its longevity ... More >>

The Food Lover's Guide to Paris has Gone High Tech: There's an App for That

The indispensable guidebook to Paris by French food authority Patricia Wells is The Food Lover's Guide to Paris. Wells knows exactly where to find the flakiest croissants, the essential bistros, the most knowledgeable wine merchants, the richest, darkest chocolates, the most sublime cheeses, the ear ... More >>

Digging a German Red Quaffer from Pfalz

Generally, when wine nerds like me think of fine wines from Germany, we think white: Mosel Riesling, with its enormous capacity for longevity and nuance, its bright acidity and vibrant minerality, is considered by many to be one of Europe's greatest wines. (Celebrity sommelier and winner of this yea ... More >>

The Rolling Stones, King Zog: 5 Famous Exiles, in Honor of Napoleon

This week marks the 198th anniversary of Napoleon being exiled to Elba, a move celebrated by palindrome fans everywhere. (Able was I ere I saw Elba," you know. Exiles have been around forever, people forced to leave their country of choice for one reason or another. Sometimes it's worked out well, ... More >>

Sonisphere UK Cancelled: Are Music Festivals in Trouble?

News emerged late last month that the U.K. date of Sonishphere, the traveling European hard-rock festival, has been canceled. It's a pretty big blow for music fans across the pond -- the headliners scheduled for the event included Queen with Adam Lambert, KISS and Faith No More, and reunited Swedish ... More >>

Band of Skulls

Chef Philippe Schmit Receives Prestigious Maîtres Cuisiniers de France Title

Photo by Nancy Kerschen​When he first moved to the United States from his home country of France in 1990, Philippe Schmit worked as a sous chef under famous chef Eric Ripert -- a fellow Frenchman -- in the New York kitchens of Le Bernadin, eventually moving on to become executive chef at La Go ... More >>

Taped Live Brit Plays Come to Sundance Houston in High Def

It's like a tour of the British theater scene on the cheap. Sundance Cinemas is bringing four taped performances of the National Theatre of London to downtown Houston starting in January and running through April. And even in a city like Houston with its extensive theater scene, Sundance Cinemas ex ... More >>

Top 5 Gifts for Wine Lovers

Photo by Jeremy Parzen.Decanters by Riedel take wine service to a higher level of aesthetic pleasure. ​If you're ever invited to dine in someone's home in France, please don't bring a bottle of wine. Nothing will spur a French host to recoil in abject dishonor and displeasure than the gift of ... More >>

This Just In: SXSW Announces First Round Of 2012 Showcasing Bands, Including Fat Tony and Something Fierce

Photo By Marco TorresFat Tony at a day show at SXSW '11​Sweet lord, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and South By Southwest is making us excited for March in Austin already. Today the industry festival announced a few bands coming to the capitol city next year, and a few Houston names and Rocks ... More >>

The 6 Worst Air-Show Disasters: A Video Collection, Just In Time For Wings Over Houston

Things can go wrong​Next time you go to an air show, take a look at the fine print on the ticket. Besides the usual stuff about acts of God and "Promoter not responsible if the frontman doesn't show due to injecting Drano into his balls," there's something else. It says they're really, really ... More >>

Brew Blog: New Belgium Lips of Faith Super Cru

I thought I was writing about this beer a while back. Sort of. Though I can't find what I did with it, I really did have a paragraph or two written about New Belgium. If I remember correctly, it waxed nostalgic about the first party I went to that featured beer. One of my former Bookstop managers (w ... More >>

Compañia Flamenca José Porcel: Gypsy Fire

6 Wrestling Finishing Moves That Would Suck at Stopping Riots (w/ Video)

Your riot-control specialist​I am admittedly not always the most up to speed on current events. I'm a generally selfish person. If it has nothing to do with my a) job, b) family, c) friends, d) bank account or e) need to satisfy hunger pangs, then whatever "it" may be gets thrown on the back b ... More >>

Wine of the Week: Orange Wine (Yes, Orange)

​White wine, rosé wine, red wine, orange wine... Orange wine? Qu'est-ce que c'est? No, it's not a wine concocted by Longhorn fans. (They call UT the orange tide? Call me Deacon Blue Nun). Orange wine is a loosely codified category of winemaking and winemakers who macerate the juice obtained ... More >>

Vive La France: 14 French Lessons From English Pop Songs

Shutterstock/faqs.org​Happy Bastille Day, everybody. Today France celebrates the day in 1789 when an angry mob stormed the eponymous (our new favorite word) prison in central Paris, freed all seven prisoners - they were really after the guns and ammunition, Clash-style - and touched off the Fr ... More >>

Wine of the Week: A Delicious Portuguese Quaffer

​This weekend found us at Canyon Lake where Tracie P's family (they're from Orange) takes their summer vacation every year. The menu at the lake varies very little and the fare is invariably lip-smackingly delicious. This year my favs were Tracie P's King Ranch Chicken and my mother-in-law Mrs ... More >>

Passport Spain Quiz: Answer Some Questions and Win Tickets to a Tasting with a Rockstar Winemaker

​Always wanted to meet and taste with rockstar and heartthrob winemaker Alvaro Palacios (right), one of the "50 most influential people in the wine world" according to Decanter? Well, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for. Houston Cooking School of Central Market's "Passport to Spa ... More >>

English Desserts for the Royal Wedding

Flickr user: Allerina & Glen MacLartyBanoffee Pie​Well, ladies, the jig is up. It's official; none of us will be the future queen of England. As the world waits with bated breath to see what Kate Middleton will wear, whether anyone will make a faux pas, and how much better Prince Harry will lo ... More >>

For 4/20: Hipgnosis' Greatest Bong Hits

​Rocks Off doesn't know if it's our Shot In the Dark photo show tomorrow or that batch of brownies someone sent us, but we've been in a really visual mood this week. We can't remember exactly what it is, but something told us today might be a good day to revisit the work of Hipgnosis. The gro ... More >>

Ash Wednesday

One Cocktail, Please, Heavy on the Garnish

Anvil. ​When I became interested in cocktails, especially rarer and more creative varieties of mixed drinks, I focused almost entirely on flavor, strength and composition. I judged cosmopolitans on their icy smoothness, sidecars on their subtle orange notes, and corpse revivers on that little ... More >>

Is All Hospital Food Bad?

A meal from Vall Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, Spain: consomme, vol-au-vent of shellfish with prawns and a filet with mushrooms and potatoes.​That's the question posed by a Tumblr page called merely "Hospital Food," where patients are invited to submit photos of their hospital meals from acros ... More >>

Party of One

travis(ty)​In a few weeks, I'm going to Spain by my lonesome. I've traveled solo before in Northern Ireland and India, but it's been a few years since I've spent a substantial amount of time touring, reading, and eating alone. In light of my upcoming trip, I've started thinking about dining ... More >>

Houston Symphony: Ravel’s Spain

Ingredient of the Week: Red Cabbage

​What is it? Red cabbage is exactly what it sounds like. While it isn't as exotic as a lychee or Chinese broccoli, it wasn't something I ever ate growing up in Southeast Texas, so it is exotic to me. Until later in life when I experienced some tart, sweet and savory red kraut at a German rest ... More >>

A French (Poodle) Street Wins the 3rd Annual Gingerbread Dog House Competition

Photos by GroovehouseSee more of the entries in the gingerbread dog house competition in our slideshow.​"I lived in Paris for two years; that's where I went to culinary school," explained pastry chef Rebecca Masson last night as she gestured to her entry in the 3rd annual Christmas Tail ginger ... More >>

Kings of Pastry Screens this Weekend

​If you've ever wondered what happens when you mix 16 French pastry chefs, three days of competition and a few cameramen, then today is your lucky day. And tomorrow. And Sunday. This weekend, the MFAH is screening Kings of Pastry, a documentary that follows three of the 16 pastry chefs as th ... More >>

Cage Match: Werewolf Of London Vs. Purple People Eater

​Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a while since we had a Cage Match. Our apologies, we couldn't find a band willing to take on Nickelback - really. Be that as it may, get yourselves ready for a special Halloween edition as two of the greatest monsters in song take on each other. You gotta ask ... More >>

"Rape Gaze": Worst Genre Name Ever? Not Quite...

myspace.com/wearecreep​Let's take a moment to think about labels and what they mean to us. Why do people feel the need to label things? The obvious answer is: It's the only way we know what stuff is. To anyone who automatically dismisses the very idea of labeling, just imagine what it would b ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Catherine Duwez of The Broken Spoke Cafe

​Eating Our Words ventured out to Belgian café The Broken Spoke (1809 Washington Avenue) to speak with owner/chef Catherine Duwez, formerly of Café Montrose. In addition to satisfying our stomachs with a plethora of delicious dishes, she also enlightened us on the differences between Belgian ... More >>

Odd Pair: Banana Nut Bread and Rose

​I have a sneaking suspicion that members of my household are no longer eating bananas because they know if enough get overly ripe, I will inevitably bake a banana nut bread. With walnuts. And chocolate chunks. And lush that I am, I will usually wash it down with a nice bottle of wine. I have ... More >>

Second-Line Parade Commemorates Katrina Anniversary

Mark Britain​Sunday evening about 500 people lined west Richmond Avenue to commemorate the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a New Orleans-style second line parade. The parade, hosted by Dave & Busters, was a reunion of sorts for Katrina refugees still living in Houston. Occasio ... More >>