Two articles of note:
First, I Heard It on NPR –
The employees of Saveur magazine have listed their 100 favorite restaurants, food, drink, and, well, things. (The above URL has the link for the list, as well as the story from NPR, which is well worth a listen.) (As an added bonus, they include the recipe for perde pilavi, a Turkish wedding dish. If anyone tries it, let us know how it turns out.)
Second, Steak a la CBS –
The Early Show has an interesting story on choosing the right steak on a budget.
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24Jan
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23Aug
The results are in from the Washington Post’s Best Bets Readers’ Choice awards. Thousands of people from across the metropolitan area voted in such diverse categories as bakeries to romantic restaurants.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is decide of the voting populace is just on crack, or even go through the list and find a couple keen locations for yourself. -
28Jul
Today’s article for discussion:
Let them Eat Canned Tomatoes
“For the newer generation, a love for traditional fine cuisine is cast as fussy and snobbish, while spending lots of money is, curiously, considered egalitarian and wise. I object to this equation. Shopping is the province of the privileged; fine cooking is not. Indeed, great cuisine arose from privation.”
Julie Powell discusses the foods we eat, what they say about class and decency, and how that can be misread.
(Bonus mention of Brillat-Savarin!) -
20Apr
Clearly, the problem with America’s growing waistline was that the government’s guidelines were just too simple. Where’s the fun in that? In an effort to combat this thoughtcrime, Chef Big Brother presents the ominous-sounding Food Guidance System. And it turns out vertical is the new horizontal. And while our forebearers had to make do with a mere single pyramid, citizens can now choose between… twelve?
Confused yet? I didn’t even mention the colors and the symbols. We live in interesting times. Read some overviews at the Washington Post, or CBS. Or, if you are feeling brave, let the USDA take you inside the pyramid…
At this time, there has been no comment from the Puppet Formerly Known as Cookie Monster. -
08Apr
The word of the day is “superfood.” As reported by CBS News, these are foods which are out to make you healthier. According to a survey taken by the Food Marketing Institute, the majority of shoppers choose their food based on health or nutritional claims. But, uh, looking around on the Metro, I’m not entirely convinced.
Can this be the new movement that will turn our society away from our wicked ways of fast food and preservatives? The piece of mistletoe that pierces the heart of the Burger King? Or is this all more smoke and mirrors dreamed up by some shadowy marketing department, miles away from the American heartland, rolling in their bank vaults full of money? -
06Apr
Remember when how food tasted relied mainly on, well, how the food actually tasted? So last century!
The latest bombshell in the flavor-enhancement industry is Senomyx. Today’s New York Times article talks up high hopes for its upcoming salt substitute.
From the official website, Senomyx is “a biotechnology company using proprietary taste receptor-based assays and screening technologies to discover and develop novel flavors and flavor enhancers for the packaged food and beverage industry.”
Well, I don’t care what they say, they just don’t make proprietary taste receptor-based assays like my grandmother used to make.
