Friday Faves No. 125

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Strong commentary brought to us as a collaboration between the Guardian newspaper and the Royal Court theatre-makers: Britain Isn't Eating. This micro-play satirizes the coalition government's approach to food banks and the 'feckless poor'.  Something to keep in mind as the holidays approach. (Guardian)

Everything old is new (or should be) again! Iconic chefs, such as  Ferran Adria, head to Brazil to talk about biodiversity and what it truly means to eat local. (NPR)

We are all now familiar with the tyranny of the pumpkin spiced everything, but Just What Is In Pumpkin Spice Flavor? (Hint: Not Pumpkin)  (NPR)

Pumpkins, manure, burning cars and riot police. There's nothing more French than a strike. "French farmers unions organized a nationwide day of protest yesterday, staging demonstrations in villages and cities across France. Thousands turned out, expressing their anger at collapsing prices (due in part to sanctions against Russia), increased environmental regulations, cheap imports, and high costs." (Atlantic)

Time to give Port a chance: Wine Spectator names a Port as Wine of the Year and you should probably be drinking more of it. (Food Republic)

Garifuna Settlement Day in Belize is November 19th so we are taking a quick look back into a October 2012 issue of Saveur Magazine's 'Cassava Nation' article. As the temperature drops dive into a dish of steamy banana leaf tamales, pumpkin bread, or a rich and hearty seafood soup. It makes us all warm inside just thinking about it! (Saveur)

Unilever (Hellmann's Mayonnaise) vs Hampton Creek (Mayo): who has the right to be called real "mayo"? It doesn't look like this will be resolved in time for your left over turkey this coming Thanksgiving. (New York Times)

Friday Faves No. 124

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Wine, women and television: Red Wine Is the Drink of Choice on ‘Scandal’ and ‘The Good Wife’ "The way wine is used as a character device in shows like these can tell us a lot about how wine is viewed in popular culture. As much as a small group of wine lovers would like to believe wine has gone mainstream, in fact its portrayal on television as a character prop suggests that many Americans still view it as somehow effete, foreign or, at least, no different than any other alcoholic beverage. (New York Times)

Boldly going where no cafe has gone before, a new science-inspired restaurant opens in MIT's backyard of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The restaurant, Cafe ArtScience has a sister incubator / exhibit space called Le Laboratoire. "Le Laboratoire also has been where Edwards incubates his many offshoot companies. Theres’s WikiFoods, a company that develops edible food skins that are looking to replace plastic packaging and the oPhone, a gadget that sends olfactory messages." (Wired)

Africa's Slow Food, in pictures: "This year Lavazza Coffee and Petrini collaborated on Lavazza’s annual Earth Defenders Calendar to celebrate the farmers of Africa’s Slow Food movement—individuals who safeguard the land, crops and resources in their local communities. The 2015 calendar, featuring photography by Steve McCurry, is a sumptuous visual treat that opens a window into a culture and livelihood most of us know very little about." Proceeds for all calendar sales will go to the “10,000 Food Gardens in Africa” project. (Forbes)

Guilty pleasure read: Jeremiah Tower — just the name is memory lane of 1970s and 80s California cuisine. Is he coming back on the scene? The writer John Birdsall on Tower: "as a know-nothing kid cooking in San Francisco in the late 1980s, I envied and feared Tower like nobody else I ever thought about. Jeremiah was the Jay Gatsby of my own longing for ascendancy, the distant idol of my ambitions, trailed by a rumor-fueled narrative of trouble that, to me, only made him more heroic." (Eater)

Friday Faves No. 123

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Happy Halloween!

Decoding The Food And Drink On A Day Of The Dead Altar "This day is a joyous occasion; it's a time to gather with everyone in your family, those alive and those dead," says Hayes Lavis, cultural arts curator for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. (NPR)

DIY destruction: Illegal foragers are stripping UK forests of fungi. “In rural areas, foraging is fine if you are picking for your own personal use. But the difference with Epping Forest is that it is on the doorstep of the millions of people in London and can even be reached by tube train. (Guardian)

How Benu’s Corey Lee Attained the ‘Unattainable’ Third Michelin Star On writing his upcoming cookbook and how that influenced him: "Writing the book and going through the process of writing that book was, I think, really important in the evolution of our restaurant. The moment you start to explain things or articulate ideas that just live in your head, you start to understand them a lot more and I think that's really focused the identity of the restaurant in the past year or two. That book was really a catalyst for the way our food has evolved and the kind of menu that we do now." (Eater)

The Digitized, Home-Delivered Future Of Our Food Supply Will going to the grocery store be history? How the online order and delivery business is reshaping our food economy. (On Point)

Shut Up and Eat : A foodie repents A thoughtful piece on the endless food chatter. "The first time I quit restaurant reviewing, in 1995, I remember thinking that the fascination with food was a bubble: we had reached Peak Food. I may never have been more wrong about anything." (New Yorker)

With candy, you know you're eating sugar. It shouldn't be sneaky. John Oliver, as usual, does a great job taking it to the sugar industry. Via Grist 


Friday Faves No. 122

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

We've been seeing glimpses of fish skin leather for years, but now the big kids of design are getting into it. Prada, Dior and Nike are finding a fashionable new purpose for fish skins. Fish leftovers are often turned into meal for animals, but top brands are turning fish skin into leather
 (Guardian)

21 Food Words & Phrases That We Should All Probably Quit Using  A list of food writing pet-peeves from the twee (sammy, delish) to the philosophical (sinful: "Eating is pleasure and sustenance, not sin. Don't mix the two.) Amen. (Kitchn)

So book trailers are a thing — and this pastry one is totally out there! Prepare for confusion. First there was Thug Kitchen now this for Brooks Headley's Fancy Desserts. Warning: Both are NSFW.

Whole Foods to Chobani: Please Leave Was it because they got too big, or because they're not green enough compared to other, smaller producers?  (Inc.)

Supreme court backs California's foie gras ban (Guardian)

A Peek Inside the Lunchbox Museum in Columbus Georgia, the largest collection of antique lunch boxes in the world, with all your childhood faves (1930-80's) from Hopalong Cassidy to Mork & Mindy.  (Honest Cooking)

Take note aspiring food business people: Our friends at Local Food Lab are taking their business training show on the road with one-day intensive workshops across the US. 

Friday Faves No. 121

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Bug Power: Cricket Flour and power bars (above): "With Millennials particularly adventurous when it comes to food and the protein trend still on the upswing, these products have a decent chance of gaining traction." (JW Intelligence)

I'm not a chef, but I play one on TV: why stars are lining up to play chefs? Bradley Cooper is in London playing a chef in a movie that follows a spate of documentaries starring some of gastronomy’s most esteemed avatars  (Guardian) 

Go ahead and blame your parents: Scientists say DNA determines coffee consumption.  (PBS Newshour)

A new restaurant concept allows New Yorkers to sample the fare of talented chefs from all over the country. (New York Times)

Jancis Robinson Swears by Milk Thistle Supplements, Says Mexican Wine Is the Future (Food & Wine)

Is Scotch Whisky the new liquid gold? A rare whisky index is compiling data.  (Telgraph)

If you're trying to be the happiest place on Earth, a little bubbly never hurts. Disney get's its own branded Champagne. (Drinks Business)

Friday Faves No. 120

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

The illustrated sound of frying food in other languages. In English, we say fried eggs "SIZZLE," but in China they go "ZIZI."  (First We Feast)

The Hard And Soft Rules Of Apple Cider Cider sure isn't new, but it's surge in the market is making news.  Check out this full hour radio segment. (On Point)

The gluten police are coming: a new portable device lets diners test foods for gluten. (Eater)

For the stylish bootlegger who like their household objects to multi-task: The Prohibition Kit comprises a fully-functioning cooking pot, fondue stove, fruit bowl and watering can that can be combined to brew alcohol at home. "Producing schnapps, liquor or alcohol is very restricted by the law in most countries," says Morackini. "The separated elements are legal but put together the objects become illegal. I wanted to explore the limit of legislation." (Dezeen)

Charles Spence: the food scientist changing the way we eat An Oxford professor’s research into what affects flavour, from who we eat with to background noise, has influenced food-industry giants and top chefs alike. Now his new book brings food science to the home cook, too. (Guardian)

New York, the World's Greatest Wine City: Swaggering sommeliers, intrepid importers, sophisticated consumers—why even French Champagne producers agree New York is the greatest town for grape. "In New York, wines are decontextualized," he said. In other words, everything has an equal shot—whether it is a bottle from Bordeaux, Rioja or the Priorat. There is no regional bias to overcome. As Mr. Little stated, "It's the most egalitarian city in the world." (WSJ)

Seattle Assesses Fine to Homeowners for Wasting Food "In an effort to encourage residents to stop wasting food, the city council passed an ordinance this last Monday that allows households to be fined $1 each time that garbage collectors find more than 10 percent of organic waste in their garbage bins."
(Triple Pundit)

Friday Faves No. 119

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Great things come in small packages with seafood too, especially at Tincan, a new London pop-up that serves only canned seafood. (Guardian)

The Vocabulary of Food — reading menus through politics and pretensions, and a cool-sounding new book, “The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu” (New York Times)

Ever wonder what the Waldorf Astoria was serving for dinner in 1917? The New York Public Library has made available a digital archive of menus through the years.  So far: 1,302,722 dishes transcribed from 17,376 menus

If we could get rid of all that pesky running, this is a marathon we could really get into: The Marathon du Médoc: a full marathon with 23 wine stops, costumes, oysters, steak, and ice-cream. (Guardian) 

Ralph Lauren has gotten into the coffee business to spiff up your breakfast. And there's a snazzy vintage truck and copy right out of a perfume ad: “The smell of freshly brewed coffee evokes so many memories for me, mostly of time spent with friends and family; the people I love.” (Luxury Daily)

After 25 Years, Food Arts Magazine Folds Who will fill the gap? (Eater)

Friday Faves No. 118

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

These 5 Crops (including the beautiful vanilla, above) Are Still Hand-Harvested, And It's Hard Work  (NPR)

Could Great Lakes Fisheries Be Revived Through Fish Farms? "The reality is that the native Great Lakes wild fishery is in a state of general collapse...If we're going to have locally available fish, it has to come from fish farms." The concerns trade on the assumption that's there's only one way to raise fish. (NPR)

The back of your fridge is a perfectly good babysitter for your starter, but for some, it's the new frontier in helicopter "parenting." (Guardian)

Downton Abby and The Sopranos have had their own cookbook. Now its Portlandia's turn.
Check out the guides below and do head over the cookbook's website to play with the incredible menu generator, spitting out brilliant dishes like "dehydrated wild roses salad of cabbage blossoms" and "communal veal with inverted asparagus and a charred yeast brew paste." (Eater)

Nomiku Sous-Vide Cooking Immersion Tool Adds a Larger Screen and Wi-Fi, available for home cooks. Awesome idea or food poisoning generator? (Laughing Squid)

Sing Along Snacks: Cookin' and Jammin

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

The characters of British animated series Rastamouse spend a lot of time in the kitchen. And, since the show has its own band in da Easy Crew, there must be singing and dancing.

Brace yourself for a serious dose of cuteness, and one of the most adorable ear worms around.

"Pots and pans are all a bangin'

Spoons and forks and knives are clangin'

All that time we be a spendin', spicin', whiskin', shakin', blendin'

Cookin' and jammin"

Friday Faves No. 117

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Plop, plop, Fizz, fizz — Champagne house Veuve Clicquot is investigating a hoax by a Russian marketing agency about the supposed release of Veuve-branded tablets.  (Drinks Business)

Russians React To Western Food Ban With Pride, Resignation "Take the Soviet times: Everything was Soviet, everyone ate Soviet, Russia didn't depend on the West — so there's nothing to worry about." No Champagne for them. (NPR)

We can now raise a lot of food, but how we consume it and continue to grow is critical: How Humans Deal With A Changing Natural Environment MacArthur “genius” Ruth DeFries looks at humanity’s long, deep integration with nature – and what comes next. (On Point)

For those who love a graphic, check out 40 maps that explain food in America from farming politics to plain goofy stuff.  (Vox)

Last week all the super cool kids were in Copenhagen for MAD4 Cool bit of news: Chefs Roy Choi of the L.A.-based Kogi and San Francisco-based chef Daniel Patterson of Coi to "supplant the fast-food chains and convenience stores that separate out youth from the taste of real food." The pair plan to open Loco’l — a high-quality, affordably priced fast-food chain — in the spring of 2015 on the West Coast, with the rest of the country to follow. We can't wait to check it out. (New York Times)

Sing Along Snacks: Are You Loving It?

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

Since it's 'back to school' time, here's one from the kids.

Oakland, California teens working with the local organization Muse Video created the music video Are You Loving It? that address the fast food oppression they feel in their neighborhoods.

Read more about the project and its creators.

Friday Faves No. 116

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Not just for extreme sports anymore, a GoPro camera films the poaching of an egg, above. (via Food Politic)

Five Ripple Effects from Russia's food ban. In Finland "Putin cheese" is flying off the shelves. (Modern Farmer)

Food politics go micro as Brittan rages over the Bakes Alaska Incident. Really, the only thing better than a baking smackdown is one that's televised, and then narrated by social media.  #GBBO (BuzzFeed)

Are Broccoli Stalks the Next Kale? If you're looking for tomorrow's hot ingredients—and today's top values—start with the compost bin. How different foods go from trash to treat to trite. On whether trends can have lasting impact: Of course, there is a limit to how long any ingredient can command the full glare of the spotlight. "Look at olive oil," Mr. Sax offered. "It probably peaked as a trend sometime in the late '90s, but extra-virgin olive oil is now the oil everyone has in the cupboard. The novelty has worn off, and it has become part of the culture." (Wall Street Journal)

Our default image of the new farmer should probably be a woman. The article 'Mother Nature’s Daughters' explores why almost everyone working in urban agriculture is female. (Seriously, almost everyone.) Some theorize that it's the lack of cash: “People don’t expect to be paid very much doing this work...It’s a labor of love to a certain extent. I don’t think we’ve come up with a hard and fast model to pay people exceedingly well for doing nonprofit urban-farming work.” (New York Times)

Glad someone is thinking seriously about how we're going to live in space: Ardbeg distillery anticipates zero gravity single malt's return to Earth to study the aging process. "This is one small step for man but one giant leap for whisky, and the team hope to uncover how flavours develop in different gravitational conditions - findings which could revolutionize the whisky-making process." (Guardian)

Back on Earth, diner chain Denny’s, staple of the American road trip, is opening its first restaurant in Manhattan, an "upscale" location featuring a $300 Champagne ‘Grand Slam’ (Laughing Squid)

Friday Faves No. 115

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Why Vegetables Get Freakish In The Land Of The Midnight Sun Those suckers would make some serious golabki, aka Polish cabbage rolls. (NPR)

We've been fans of Scotland for a while, so it's great to see the country's food scene getting some attention from US media. You can check out foodie Scotland in the 36 hrs in Glasgow  with video and a review of the Raeburn in Edinburgh and its "modern Scottish locavore cuisine."  (New York Times) And of course there was this great article, Haggis Redux, that argues that "a new generation of chefs is taking the stodge out of Scottish cuisine, while paying proper respect to tradition." (Food Arts)

US-produced camel milk is hitting the mainstream. It's now on sale at Whole Foods. "Camel milk advocates reference studies demonstrating that the anti-inflammatory beverage will soothe symptoms of Crohn’s disease, IBS and diabetes thanks to its low sugar content and high levels of protein and vitamin C."  (Modern Farmer)

As the value of the world’s top fine wines continues to decline, investors are increasingly turning to rare single malt Scotch and Japanese whisky instead. (Drinks Business)

Musical farming: As we approach the end of summer, even cattle like a free outdoor concert, like in this video of unconventional herding.
 

Friday Faves No. 114

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

When farmers are working so hard to grow vegetables, it's crazy that we would let any go to waste for superficial reasons like irregular looks. French supermarket Intermarché launched an ingenious campaign to get people eating more vegetables while reducing food waste. A two-minute video explain the project.  (JW Intelligence)

One of the strongest food reads this week is the OpEd Don’t Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers (and it's by a shellfish and seaweed farmer). And then some interesting letters to the editors get in on the topic. (New York Times)

Oh great, just what we needed: more corn. Shifting Climate Has North Dakota Farmers Swapping Wheat For Corn  (NPR)

Consumers are demanding antibiotic-free meat, and Big Food is starting to listen (even if our politicians are still mostly ignoring us) Alas, antibiotic free meat is still just about 5% of the total US supply. Sense of urgency please.... (PRI/The World)

The New Encyclopedia of Southern Food  "Twenty-six people, places, and ingredients are changing the way we eat right now" from Appalachian food to Moonshine Universtiy. (Garden & Gun)

Cashew Juice, the Apple of Pepsi’s Eye  "Pepsi is betting that the tangy, sweet juice from cashew apples can be the next coconut water or açaí juice....The demanding demographic group known as millennials, as well as new consumers among the world’s emerging middle class, have a restless appetite that is driving food companies to experiment on a grand scale with flavors and ingredients whose appeal until recently were largely local." (New York Times)

Sing Along Snacks: Foodie Songs

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

The word foodie — it's been around for a while now, but seems to be gaining in irritation and folly. The Simpsons' excellent Food Blog Rap is a great send-up, with lyrics like:

"I’ll Rhyme about radicchio, criticize Colicchio
Every pub is gastro, and all my beef carpaccio"

A pithier example, although NSFW, is the new song Foodie by rappers Jelly Donut, Ashkon, and Daveed Diggs chronicling the perils of the New York foodie scene. Yes, that is an image of a talking Cronut in the sky from the video. (Don't say we didn't warn you...)

Friday Faves No. 113

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Fast Love: You wanna super-size that? In Hong Kong, McDonald's is now a wedding venue. They will even make you a dress out of either red or white balloons. Other optional swag includes a crystal McDonald's replica. A quick Google search reveals that this is actually a thing that goes beyond Hong Kong.

In a major quality of life step, a French Hospital Opens a Wine Bar for Dying Patients (Jezebel)

Beyond basic wine pairing, Krug Champagne called on artists to pair songs with their wines.  (Luxury Daily)

Please don't market your food products like this China, peaches and underwear go horribly wrong... (Jezebel)

In other fast food news, McDonald’s Canada expands seafood offerings to include an Asian Crispy Shrimp Signature McWrap. Why not an Asian Carp McWrap that would help clean out our Midwestern waterways? The chain is legend for getting people to eat "underutilized protein sources." Just look inside a chicken nugget if you doubt that. (Seafood Source)

From Boulder, Colorado to Ho Chi Minh city, the revolution will be brewed “There’s the potential in that part of the world to introduce them to craft beer. We go over there and we’re not just selling our brand, we have to sell an entire style of beer. There will be a lot of focus on education, promoting craft beer in general, the use of higher-quality ingredients and traditional processes.” (Drinks Business)

Raising Sustainable, Grass-Fed Beef? There Is, Of Course, Even An App For That (Fast Company)

All parents want to instill good values in their children. Some are even concerned about their future lives as gourmandes. Writes Maurice Dimarino on his wine blog: "I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I did, getting drunk from Coors and Mickey’s Big Mouth. I want them to have class and drink something they will enjoy and not get wasted. Parenting is difficult and I must commend myself for being forward thinking and watching out for the things most parents don’t think about or try to ignore." It's never too early to start talking to your kids about Riesling.
 

Sing Along Snacks: Cold Beverage

It's never too early or too late for a snack, so crank up that volume on your computer.

G. Love & Special Sauce singing about Cold Beverages on a steamy day, now that we're in the dogs days of August.

"Dig me a hot coffee
Fill it up with ice
Watermelons like drink
Please fix me a large slice
Summertime is cool the heat is getting old
Yeah I'll have a beverage
Just make sure it's cold"

Friday Faves No. 112

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

We don't need much of an excuse to see a movie about food, but Helen Mirren certainly seals the deal. She's staring in the upcoming feature (trailer above) The Hundred-Foot Journey, about a young Indian chef in the south of France and his neighbor/rival French restaurateur. (Tasting Table)

Poland takes the bite out of Russian apple ban Prominent Poles post tongue-in-cheek photos on social media to endorse campaign against Russian ban on fruit imports (Guardian)

Another item in the category "Food is Politics" — South Korean activists launch 'Choco Pie' balloons Choco Pies – banned as a capitalist symbol by North Korea after being traded at inflated prices – carried in balloons across border  (Guardian)

Chefs Move Beyond New York The phrase "only in New York" may no longer apply for many great culinary experiences. A new awareness and engagement with food in cities across the country has given chefs more options — and the rest of the country better food. "What has changed significantly is the audience that greets chefs elsewhere.” (New York Times)

Finding the difference that a grain makes to whisky: A project to determine the perfect grain of barley for distilling whisky could pave the way for barley ‘vineyards’, viewed in much the same way as the world’s wine regions. "This project will analyse which compounds in barley contribute to desirable flavours in whisky, many of which come from the grain." (Drinks Business)

Agriculture is always at the mercy of the elements, sometimes to the point of complete destruction. After years of horrible storms, Burgundy winemakers trial anti-hail nets (Decanter)

If you can't grow bigger, grow better and smarter. What's a producer to do with global competition when their traditional grounds are hitting their max, Champagne makers are wondering. ''We have to increase the quality and increase the technical gap between Champagne and other regions.''  (Good Food)

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