soupnancy

Bits and Bites November (and end of October) 2007

Over the top: A 208 000$ truffle and a 25 000$ dessert !

The truffle, ok maybe. But the dessert? Cooking with the Guiness book of world records in mind just seems twisted to me.. Oh well, I guess it makes for a good story.

The truffle: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/world/asia/15briefs-truffle.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin

White truffle prices go through the roof. I say big deal; there is so much else out there to cook with. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071121.wtruffles07/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20071121.wtruffles07

The dessert: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0753679220071107

Oops! That dessert had but a brief moment of fame.  A rat in the kitchen did it in..  http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1531592620071115

Wine and music pairing. In the quest for the sublime, matching food and wine is not enough. Now, how about the music. Talk about adding more subjective layers to the ultimate in wine or food or life. Then again, we already do match food and wine to mood in the first place and music is a big part of mood, so.. Sounds like a fun thing to experiment with in any case.

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/11/music-and-wine.html?mbid=rss_epilog

It’s guide book season, and everyone is scrapping over the results

In NYC : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/dining/10guid.html?_r=2&ex=1349755200&en=8f0b80402942e5a6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Only Keller nabs the top score in the San Fran Bay area http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/02/BAG93LGQUP21.DTL

And no three-stars for LA, only Joel Robluchon in Las Vegas . http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a8dbvj9bTMTw&refer=muse

An overview: ‘Who’s haute and who’s not’ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071121.wxlmichelin21/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20071121.wxlmichelin21

Puzzled in LA - ‘Its Amateur hour at Michelin’

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-dish21nov21,1,2209879.story?coll=la-headlines-food&ctrack=3&cset=true

In a witty article about non-local local cooking , Jon Fasman urges would-be smart American restaurants to offer more in the way of local cooking, and less of the Franco-Italian-Asian-accented stuff that you can find in almost every city of the developed world ... I have always been puzzled myself by the phenomenon of this one style of haute cuisine even if I do it to a certain extent. Most every high end place does the Franco-Italian-Asian thing while sourcing local ingredients, or at least pretending they do. I equally dislike the new preciousness of the locavore mantra, especially when it is superficial and marketing oriented as opposed to simply doing it.
D eracinated in DC: http://moreintelligentlife.com/node/445

Fergus Henderson on the mend. The guy known for cooking brains and strange things is now getting his brain fried as a part of his treatment for Parkinson’s. He good naturedly talks about the ordeal and how good food is helping..

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL075802020071108?pageNumber=3

Bad service backlash: From a diner’s rights manifesto in the LA times to Frank Bruni’s whining about waiterspeak in his New York column and blog, the blogosphere heats up with other grumpy voices, and many defenders of the person behind the waitron.

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-rights24oct24,1,3334428.story?coll=la-headlines-food&ctrack=2&cset=true

Frank Bruni’s column: Tonight, Patronizing Language. Enjoy http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/dining/07note.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

His blog: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/serving-in-tongues/

Cuisine Canada annual cookbook awards

Vij Vikram wins best Canadian English cookbook with his book of recipes from his popular restaurant in Vancouver , Carol Off wins for Bitter Chocolate bringing a bit of activism to the foodie world, and Martin Picard’s Album du Pied de Cochon takes the Canadian Culture prize in French. Cuisine Canada is a national alliance of Canadian culinary professionals who share a common desire to encourage the development, use and recognition of fine Canadian food and beverages. The University of Guelph has for more than 140 years contributed to Canadian cuisine in its programs in agriculture, food science, hospitality and tourism management and is the home of one of Canada’s best cookbook collections. For more information about the awards visit: www.lib.uoguelph.ca/resources/archives/culinary/cuisine_canada/index.html

Heritage turkeys: one guy who’s mission is to save the precious breeds

Despite the fact that eating turkey is a part of our tradition, we’ve somehow neglected turkey to the point of almost losing it.. The line of turkeys we now eat have been manipulated to the point that they are no longer able to mate, and we no longer know how to raise or cook a real turkey, let alone what one tastes like – a very sad story. Thankfully, a few dedicated people are doing something about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/dining/07turk.html?ref=dining

Cooking heritage turkeys http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/11/heritage-turkey.html?mbid=rss_epilog

Dan Barber on turkey

http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/2007/11/21/thanksgiving_dan_barber/

Rob Feenie splits with Lumière http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071107.wlfeenie07/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/home

The Future of Food: A Popular Science feature on the latest kitchen gadgetry

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/cc94d7f2faa85110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Foodie voyeurism: If you’re the type to walk into someone’s house and open the fridge, this quirky site is for you..

http://www.fridgewatcher.com/

What’s new with Heston Blumenthal..

An ipod at the table, a new book and TV series, an upcoming menu featuring ancient British dishes – never a dull moment with England’s most cutting edge chef..

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071017.wlheston17/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/home

A conversation with Michael Pollan on Grist about the impact of Omnivore’s Dilemna, his new book and more – interesting as usual.

http://grist.org/feature/2007/10/12/pollan/index.html

Durs à cuire – a film documenting the lives of Quebec chefs Normand Laprise and Martin Picard opened October 19th

http://www.radio-canada.ca/arts-spectacles/cinema/2007/10/11/001-durs-festival.asp?ref=rss

Rare – an all female kitchen team in Vancouver

http://www.vanmag.com/foodanddrink/07oct/Food.shtml

Top chefs gather in Chigaco to celebrate Charlie Trotter’s 20^th

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1669463,00.html?xid=rss-nation&CFID=2383368&CFTOKEN=92376794

A movie about Zen in cooking

How to cook your life http://www.cookyourlifemovie.com/home.html

A review on epi-log http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/10/how-to-cook-you.html?mbid=rss_epilog

Organic is better More proof roles in every day as science catches up to what we already intuitively know, that pesticide/fungicide/gm free food made by people who care, is better for us!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7067100.stm

Beware of labels like Product of Canada ! Like the Acheté au Québec logo, none of these are true local products; it is totally misleading and the government must change this fraudulent endorsement, or at least we can not buy the stuff.

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/10/24/product_of_canada_eh/

Hey, here's what Jonathan Bloom has to say - smart guy.

Waste not, want not. http://www.culinate.com/read/articles/wasted_food

Something Cooking podcasts : You know those videos I have been doing of chefs cooking? Well, the first of them are out on itunes: David and Laurent at Duel, Patrice at Laloux, and me at Les Jardins.. Check it out, and don’t laugh too hard..

http://somethingcooking.com/ Click on itunes or subscribe.