91727 Mon Oct 04 22:47:11 -0700 2004 2 5 Texas 0 504120 I've been meaning to mention this for a while... Imagine you have moved to Galveston after nearly a decade in the SF Bay Area, a year in the LA area and several years in NYC. You suddenly find yourself desperate for some kalamatas, maybe some good cheese, you ran out of sesame oil, are looking for some pignola, have a hankering for kim (that is, dried seaweed) with your 6 for a dollar ramen. The idea of running up to Houston for your fix at the Hong Kong Food Market or the Central Market is just too wearying. (yeah, yeah, the Kroger here is getting better but you want something more) The happy crowds at Whataburger, China Border and the fried seafood places are not your style. Downtown, on 25th just up from the post office, there is a very neat place called the Maceo's Spice Shop. If you are up on your Island history, you may recall that the name Maceo has some whiff of history/rum-running/gambling to it. Today, the very convivial Ronnie Maceo and his charming octogenarian father, whom I always call Mr. Maceo, have what you crave deep down in your chowhound souls, whatever country it may come from - buffalo milk mozzarella, baba ganoush, Manchego, panko, halvah, wrappers for Vietnamese spring rolls, Stilton, anchovies. panettone, olive oil from 8 countries, an "eggplant appetizer" thing from some eastern bloc country that I eat straight from the jar, any spice you want, etc. They are moving their wholesale biz down the street and expanding the retail shop, someday to possibly include wines etc. (BTW, Specs tells me and another friend that lambic beers cannot be sold in TX anymore d/t no alcoholic content on the label??!!??) Check it out. It puts me in a good mood everytime I stop by. Mon Oct 04 22:47:11 -0700 2004 0 Cathy 1 504121 Yeah, apparently Budweiser screwed them over by pointing out that the alcohol content on the label is different than what they (Bud) actually measured. However, according to the Spec's guy, Bud didn't take into account that the alcohol settles to the bottom (I think), so they were in fact wrong about the whole thing. But they still somehow managed to get lambics banned in TX, which totally sucks. I've been jonesing hard for some Lindemann's lately! Tue Oct 05 10:51:42 -0700 2004 504120 0 Grace 2 504136 From what I understand about the label dispute, it was an issue between Lindemanns and TABC. Since Lindemanns is (was) the only widely available lambic in the Harris/Galveston distribution area, it's just as if all lambics are now gone from our liquor stores. The issue, as I understood it, had nothing to do with AB and the vagaries of alcohol in solution and everything to do with TX archaic liquor 'code' (it's not law - it's made up by TABC to protect distributorships). Apparently, Lindemanns had the word 'ale' somewhere on the label, box, case, or some kind of packaging, when according to TABC code it should be called 'malt liquor' based on bottle size and alcohol content. Funny how TABC rules can trump the scientific reality of fermentation biology (lambic is actually an ale yeast, so lambic is actually a type of ale) I also thought that Glazers (the distributor), Lindemanns and TABC had reached some sort of agreement and that the return of the lambic was imminent, but I haven't yet seen it. I do know that TABC has gone after another brewery whose beer has been in stores for only a few weeks - Dogfishhead brewing arrived to much fanfare, and is now leaving just as quickly because although the bottle labels say 'Ale' (correct, according to TABC), the cases have the word 'beer' on them, which apparently refers only to the OK style 3.2 crap. We've been running a coop with our friends, buying cases of lambic in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and then splitting them with each other. Needless to say, I've had a well-stocked supply of Framboise and Peche even though the stores ran out months ago ;-) TABC totally sucks. The only options are to brew your own or start runnin' liquor (in this case, malt liquor) across state lines. Wed Oct 06 21:48:51 -0700 2004 504121 0 YTee