soupnancy

Bits and Bites December 2007

Two terrific quotes to inspire you in the new year..

“ Work is about daily meaning as well as daily bread. For recognition as well as cash; for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying... We have a right to ask of work that it include meaning, recognition, astonishment, and life.” - Studs Terkel

" The secret to longevity is to decide early on what one does well and then do it relentlessly, fanatically well, never wavering, never letting things slide, never allowing oneself to lose sight of one's original standards and intentions, and not falling victim to trends or unreasonable fears." Anthony Bourdain

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2007/12/workin-in-the-n.html

Food trends for 2008

Offal, small plates, dessert restaurants, ethical eating.. nothing all that new, just some of last years’ trends becoming more established.

From Hotels magazine : http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=u:711874309&start=1

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=81699-datamonitor-flavor-trends

Entrepreneur.com’s 2008 hot list:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22217181/

From Gremolata , Malcolm Jolly’s predictions for 2008:

http://gremolata.com/trends2008.htm

Top tens and trends of 2007

Lesley Chesterman’s fine dining top ten in Montreal..

I like her picks, although I have yet to make it to a couple of them..

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=229c7c36-d357-455a-8308-dadc4a089aab

The best and worst trends of 2007 from Epicurious

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/12/best-food-trend.html

Casual fine dining is where it’s at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/dining/26year.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

The food sections says that ‘2007 w as the year that cauliflower was cool , meatballs were the new black, the eat local movement got zeitgeisty, square tarts intrigued Parisian chefs, and brunch was big in South Korea.’ See more of their top food stories in 2007.. http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2007/12/2007-the-year-i.html

Articles that caused a stir:

Our decrepit food factories : Michael Pollan’s article on the consequences of unsustainable food production, sick bees and antibiotic resistant bacteria – a must read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16wwln-lede-t.html?_r=1&ref=magaz

Lessons from the oil patch, A related article from Grist

http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2007/12/20/?source=food

Is the entrée heading for extinction? How small plates have taken over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/dining/05entr.html

Frank Bruni defends the entrée

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/in-defense-of-the-entree/

More great articles :

We are rat obsessed. There was Ratatouille, and now stands up for the rat. Or at least brings the overblown fear of them near our food into focus..

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/opinion/16shaw.html?ex=1331697600&en=fafe448c82627ccd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

The right stuff and the right touch : For great food –which is more important, good ingredients or cooking skills? Both, obviously.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw12162007/2004063614_pacificptaste16.html

I refuse to tolerate food intolerances – Yes!!!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2007/11/i_refuse_to_tolerate_food_into.html

The rebuttal comments are just as good.

A whole other beast Inspired by Fergus Henderson or generations past, a reminder to be creative and not waste the nasty bits, be it with a pig or a head of brocoli..

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GourmetFoodEditors/~3/192407453/a-whole-other-b.html

Quote by Fergus Henderson (and added on to by the author):

This is a celebration on cuts of meat (parts of broccoli), innards, and extremities that are more often forgotten or discarded in today's kitchen; it would seem disingenuous to the animal (plant) not to take the most of the whole beast: there is a set of delights, textural and flavorsome, which lie beyond the fillet (floret).

Other bits of interest from December :

Blue fin blues In case you didn’t know, blue fin tuna is one of the least sustainable choices out there..

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2007/12/safinas-blue-fi.html

Faux foie gras – reminds me of tofu dogs and ChuChai, oh boy

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2007/12/step_forward_for_faux_gras.html

Jean Beaudin in Mtl. Trusted sommelier and wine teacher from the Laurentians, Jean recently opened a Montreal wine tasting workshop where he will give classes, his specialty being food and wine pairing.

http://www.voir.ca/publishing/article.aspx?zone=1&section=21&article=55690
http://francoischartier.typepad.com/laselectionchartier/2007/12/des-cours-de-dg.html

Bam! Emeril gets the axe . And I’ve never heard seen so many fans.. Foodies and restaurant industry people always loved to criticize poor Emeril and his show, but now that the food network has really gotten dumbed down, he no longer seems to be be such a clown. Afterall, he is a real chef unlike most of the others with big ratings now.. And now, he’s gone, the end of an era. http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/11/bam-emeril-gets.html?mbid=rss_epilog