08/07/2009
Of course, the concept of local and regional food is nothing new, it’s just getting a whole new starring role in the greater food picture these days. Folks in magnificently diverse agricultural areas have long had regular access to a bounty of local and regional foods (California and Florida, I’m looking at you), and those of us in more dramatically seasonal locations have our summer markets and ...
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07/28/2009
As you might already know, I’m a sucker for a good vanilla milkshake—and yes, I mean vanilla. I typically don’t go in for a lot of fancy singing and dancing when it comes to ice cream and its derivative products. Vanilla has long been my benchmark flavor for determining if a brand—or house-made—ice cream is worth spooning.
That’s not to say I don’t dabble. Flavors and types at the strange ...
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07/22/2009
Although it hasn’t happened very often, I have at times run across people who claim to have an all-encompassing knowledge of a given subject. After a quiet smile and nod, I typically would dig to determine how said individual stays up to date on their mastered topic. A satisfactory response to that line of inquiry—monitoring journals, conference papers, academic investigations, etc.—will likely ...
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07/14/2009
A concept that has long interested me is the seamless replication of cooking processes—caramelization, smoking, barbecuing, etc.—via astute flavor science. One process that hadn’t entered into my thoughts along those lines was blackening, something that combines both the right spice and a high-heat stovetop pan sear to provide spicy, uniquely smoky and caramelized notes in a food.
Well, yesterday ...
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07/07/2009
Eat raw, unpasteurized eggs? Indulge in tartare from time to time? Like to lick the cookie dough bowl and beaters?
If so, you’re playing a game of food-safety Russian roulette, and odds are that someday, if such unscrupulous activities continue unabated, you will hit that loaded chamber and come down with disease.
That last example above is the subject of much hemming and hawing of late ...
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