Burt Wolf Marathon

Tuesday, March 11, 2008, beginning at 8 pm.

Travel with Burt Wolf to San Francisco and the Wine Country as he showcases the best of Northern California gastronomy during our special Burt Wolf Marathon.

Travel Like Burt Wolf
Throughout the marathon, NJN viewers will hear from Burt about an exclusive opportunity to travel on the “Burt Sent Me” tour to San Francisco and Napa Valley. Learn more about this "Burt Sent Me" Tour.

Episodes featured in the Marathon:

Burt Wolf: Local Flavors in San Francisco

In 1849, 25,000 guys showed up to find gold. As soon as they found some, they started spending it on the best food and wine. San Francisco is still one of America's great cities for eating and drinking. Burt takes us on a tour of Chinatown, shows us how fresh pasta is made at a famous North Beach restaurant, demonstrates the proper technique for preparing sushi, and presents the original recipe for perfect Irish coffee. Excellent recipes and tips on cooking equipment are featured.

Burt Wolf: What We Eat: Milk’s Leap Toward Immortality – The Story of Cheese

The first cows in the Western Hemisphere were brought to the Caribbean by Columbus during his second voyage and were soon producing milk which the colonists turned into cheese. This program traces the history of cheese with a close look at what has happened in California – the largest dairying state in the United States. We’ll find out how cheese is made, visit a few women who make some of the finest cheeses in the world, and find out how cheese is used in Hispanic cooking.

Burt Wolf: What We Eat: Here’s Looking At You Kid – The Story of Wine in the Americas

Soon after the Spanish colonists arrived in the Americas, they tried to grow grapes so they could make wine. It was the beverage of choice and essential for communion in the Catholic Church. But wine grapes could not survive the dry heat of the Caribbean. The priests who had come to the Americas with the Spanish colonists became concerned that they had entered a world that had been created by a devil that had no use for wine and its relationship to Christ. Five hundred years later, the Americas have become a winemaker’s heaven. This program looks at the history, folklore and culture of winemaking in America from the earliest plantings, through prohibition and up to our present vintages, which are considered to be some of the best in the world.