Real men don't Twitter edition
This week's notable food events
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There are some who would argue that—aside from proficiency with a grill—being both an epicurean and an alpha male don’t always agree. A limiting stereotype, to be sure, but when it comes to the Texas Testosterone Festival, stereotypes are pretty much the selling points: Men enjoy watching other men beat the crap out of each other, ogling girls in bikinis, and drinking beer. While most macho foodies would probably rather stay home with their Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern reruns than subject themselves to the deep-fried fare at the Palmer Events Center, it’s that last grand unifier that may have them reconsidering. Not only does the TTF have an all-day cash bar, but it also features a mainstage demonstration from John “JB” Brack of Austin Homebrew Supply, who will teach novices how to get started making their own beer from scratch, and give would-be experts tips on how to perfect whatever they’ve currently got fermenting in their garage kegs. For wisdom like that, it’s worth putting up with a little pigeonholing.
Another pervasive stereotype: All the notable wine cultivated in North America comes from California or the Pacific Northwest—an obviously erroneous assumption, given the number of vineyards stretched across the Hill Country, and one that indispensable oenophile website DrinkLocalWine.com combats daily. The site holds its first-ever conference Saturday in Dallas at the Le Cordon Bleu Institute Of Culinary Arts, and while seminars like “What grapes work best in Texas?” and “Why don’t retailers and restaurants like regional wine?” may be too inside-baseball for most, the conference does offer the chance to hobnob with more than 20 wine reviewers from around the U.S., and even pretend to be one yourself with the Texas Twitter Taste-Off, where participants will taste more than 40 different wines and then Twitter about them. Sipping wine and then summing up its many subtle notes with only 140 characters or less? There’s something inherently bold—dare we say macho?—about that sort of undertaking.
Fatsometer: 7. Twittering doesn’t burn many calories, and all-day booze plus enabling drinking buddies equals shameless beer guts.
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