soupnancy

The decline of food journalism True. Driven by social media and the short attention spans of gen Y, it’s a new brutal reality of abundance of clips and n’importe quoi to wade through. I sometimes long for a simpler time of quality over quantity, when credentials and years of experience mattered more than marketing. I however, have pity for the ‘real’ journalists and I find it sad that there are fewer of them. Same goes for chefs and restaurants. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-vetri/how-food-journalism-got-a_b_6551682.html

Ethical foie gras  I have tasted a similar Que product and I loved the natural, less fatty, more meaty aspect of it, but it’s not what the clientele expects/wants when they treat themselves to foie gras.. I don’t even think said artisan survived because it’s great but not foie gras as we know it with less fat and more liver taste, your seared foie gras is more like a deluxe blond liver sauté, the makings for a rich terrine for sure, expensive though for that, so not attractive to most chefs and consumers, anyone who isn’t in it for the principles.. I’m all for this product, even prefer it, but customers aren’t there yet. And anyway in the meantime, traditional foie gras the way it is mostly produced in Quebec is not so bad or ‘unethical’ especially given that it is a treat, a micro blip in the market line of less ethical industrial food people consume without a thought on a daily basis at the cafeteria, supermarket, neighbourhood bistro or fast-food chain.. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/18/the-farmer-who-makes-ethical-foie-gras?

Essential oils to replace antibiotics in factory farming? Wow, there's hope. We could start with just feeding them the nutritional plants, but for sure essential oils provide natural medicine, many antibiotics, I'm all for it. At worst your chicken will taste like oregano?! http://grist.org/food/why-essential-oils-could-change-factory-farming/

MSG and the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome a whole lot of fluff that endures.. I thought this was over, with numerous studies and the notion of umami mainstream.. But no, we need Harold McGee to chime in again.. http://luckypeach.com/on-msg-and-chinese-restaurant-syndrome/

A French resume of what the English think will be hot food trends haha - like more kale and bugs, bitter things like grapefruit and brussel sprouts, kolache, and an African fruit baobab, birch sap.. http://m.slate.fr/story/96747/tendance-alimentation-2015

David McMillan talks Montreal food, always interesting and true http://www.afar.com/magazine/montreals-food-scene-is-better-than-your-citys

Broth is hot! No kidding. I kind of like this trend though, if only to see people waking up to the good things in life, not about me feeling trendy as a duck/rabbit/partridge broth fiend.. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/dining/bone-broth-evolves-from-prehistoric-food-to-paleo-drink.html

Foie gras ban is lifted in California http://four-magazine.com/articles/2453/fournews-foie-gras-back-on-the-menu-in-california?

Olive oil shortage will mean higher prices due to poor harvest in 2014 http://www.goodfoodrevolution.com/olive-oil-crisis/

Thieves take off with 300000$ of wine from French Laundry on X-mas day http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-french-stolen-wine-20141230-story.html#page=1

Bravo! Normand Laprise, chef owner of Toque, is named to Order of Canada for his contribution to Quebec  gastronomy http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15922&lan=eng