Archive for the Banter Category

I’m not sure where to write this post (the subject matter is something that fits well into the food scene, but it also borders on my other areas of interest, as well.)

Food blogger the Amateur Gourmet took issue with a recent column by Christopher Kimball, and it generated a number of comments.

To break-down the issues here, this is what I see:

• Kimball writes about the fall of Gourmet, and talks about his own job as publisher of his own food magazine.
• He seems to think that the passing of Gourmet is a bad thing, and points to the Internet as one of the causes of its demise.
• Roberts takes issue because he seems to be blaming the food blogs for this demise;
• Many commenters join in with horrahs!, saying Kimball’s magazine is boring and bad. Food blogs rule!

I have been a subscriber to Gourmet and to Cook’s Illustrated. In fact, I have all of the latest issues here at home now. I like reading about food. I like food blogs, but I also enjoy good cookbooks, books about food, and even shows about food (like TopChef).

I don’t think Kimball’s article was all that harsh. I think Adam’s post was more harsh, and then for an even more obscene read of everything, the comments took things to the next level.

The truth is, food blogs, food television, and food podcasts are popular sources of information and are tailored to the passions of people who love food. So are the magazines.

We only have so much time in the day to read, watch, and listen to content. That’s what’s the Internet is providing. There’s a great collection growing here in Richmond with food blogs. I don’t have time to read them all religiously. I check them when I have a need to: “I wonder what the trendy new restaurants are this month?”

Kimball’s right to a degree. Folks are replacing their limited time with materials of different quality. But I don’t think a lifetime’s experience necessarily always makes the best read or entertainment. Some food bloggers inspire me, and I’d follow their recipes. Some are just fun to read. Adam Roberts sometimes shares recipes, but I’d never eat them, his cooking looks messy and I don’t trust his palate. But that’s not to say he’s incapable of creating good food.

We thin-slice (to borrow a term from Malcolm Gladwell) people and sources of information. I’m, for one, glad that we have such a variety of sources for information about food today. I’m sorry to see Gourmet pass, but in its void there is still an abundance of content. Over time, the food blogs that don’t inspire and don’t deliver the quality Kimball talks about will pass. Understandably, he may be upset that the economy for publishing has changed quickly. When everyone’s a media producer there’s an over-abundance of content.

These food blogs represent a welcome break from institutional food writing; they are fresher, brighter and more truthful than the kind of writing Kimball mourns—writing that must pass through board rooms, across copy desks, and into editorial meetings before it’s ok-ed and printed.

I’m not sure this comment from Adam Roberts fits (for me) either the writing in Gourmet or the writing in Cook’s Illustrated. I don’t see only one medium being the winner. Roberts says that Kimball’s ship is sinking. I hope not. There’s a lot of to be said for the time it takes to produce work of quality. We live in a world today of quickness, of things that are almost all-okay, almost-accurate, and almost-perfect.

When the entry-cost is free (i.e., food blogs that people start and maintain to share their passion), where’s the incentive for the quality only the dedication of time can bring?

Interesting advice from New York Magazine:

As conventional wisdom goes, there are three golden rules that are fundamental to being a Regular.

1. Go to the restaurant a lot.
2. Don’t be a pain in the ass: Show up on time, say please and thank-you, respect the house and its rules (such as dress code).
3. Always tip 20 percent on the total bill, and tip in cash.

Plus, 5 more tips if it really matters to you.

This article details how to maintain a fresh loaf of bread throughout the week… by mixing up a master recipe that’s kept in the refrigerator. An interesting read.

It was a week ago last Sunday that I watched a program on television, CBS Sunday Morning, that featured a story on Going Cold Turkey from Meat.

The basic idea was this: a fire station’s crew went vegetarian to stay fit and healthy. I like vegetables and salads. Would going vegetarian be a challenge? Would it improve the way I feel?

After enjoying a Sunday celebratory dinner with pork baby-back ribs, we began Monday with no meat in sight, at least for a week. Come Friday, we were being challenged by not feeling very full all the time (a late afternoon snack fit the bill), but then it ended early. I was invited to a luncheon I felt I had to attend and eat, where roasted chicken was being served.

I ate the chicken.

Then we went back on the veggie wagon, ending tonight, with our second helping of homemade minestrone soup.

We didn’t go vegan: we still ate milk, dairy, and eggs. We never once really craved meat. My gastrointestinal issues still (to this moment) torment me, so I can’t say it was any easier on the bowels or the pipes. I am not sure I lost any weight, because to make up for the hunger issues, I made up for it with vegetable-based carbs.

Yet going vegetarian was a challenge. Restaurants cater to meat eaters. My whole thinking of meals centers around a protein (such as beef, fish, chicken) and without the said protein, your culinary point of view is handicapped. We ate salads and soups, and even a homemade tofu dish with mushroom-flavored soy sauce and edamame beans. Noodles with vegetables (instead of meatballs) were delicious, as was my beforementioned minestrone.

So, after a week of no meat, where do I stand? “Are you going vegetarian full time?” a friend asked. Probably not, I wager, simply because I don’t have ethical concerns with eating meat. Perhaps going a month is a better test for any health benefits, but for now, I do have a plan inspired by this experience.

First, I plan to eat less meat. I plan to treat the eating of meat more as a privilege than as an American right. Second, I want to try and succeed at eating fish once a week. Meat may take on a role in only two meals each week. For my own health, I also plan on reducing portions. And as a struggling diabetic over the past three years, I plan to adopt new technology in my life to help better manage my disease.

Still on my list: I have a lot more to learn about eating without meat. I plan to learn more recipes I deem “gourmet.” Vegetables can be delicious on their own and there’s no shame in that. Living as a week-long vegetarian has shown me the struggles other vegetarians encounter, at least when starting out.

Living more healthy might start with cutting more out than just meat. That’s my next challenge.

I so loved this book when it came out. I’ll be seeing this movie.