I like to think that I generally have good taste. I try to avoid wearing stripes with plaids, am careful to pair robust red wines with my Big Macs, and only eat Sweet Tarts on days that end in "y." That having been said, I must admit that I have a few weaknesses, the most egregious of which revolve around sweetened pork products. To put it bluntly, I can't resist them.
For a long time, I was able to hide this predilection. Basically, it only came out around Thanksgiving, when I would bake a huge Virginia ham, slather it in brown sugar and orange juice, and cook it on high heat until it was sheathed in a crunchy candy coating. Resisting the urge to hoard all the sugary goodness, I would thinly slice the ham and serve it up to my family, only snagging a few pieces with the lame excuse that I just had to test the flavor.
Ultimately, I blame my wife, who introduced me to what she euphemistically called "pig candy." Basically thick-sliced bacon that has been rolled in brown sugar and baked until crispy, the sugary tidbits are sweet, salty, and only slightly less addictive than crack. Luckily, the shame of munching on grease, sugar, and salty pork is a pretty big deterrent, and I've been able to resist my pig candy urges. Still, late at night, I sometimes dream...
At any rate, I was recently reminded of the addictive wonder of pig candy when I came across this review of Voodoo Donuts' bacon-maple bar. Basically a buttermilk long-john, it apparently combines all the delight of maple sugar with the salty smokiness of bacon in one delightful, fatty package. I immediately forwarded the review to my wife, who used to live in the Pacific Northwest. Needless to say, she'd already been there, tried that, and found it to be everything that I could imagine.
At the end of the day, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one in sugared pork rehab!
Imagine that on your lunch break you purchase gourmet food from the window of a 1962 Airstream trailer. In Seattle, the chefs from Skillet are making this possible. Skillet goes to different street corners every day concocting meals depending on what's available locally and seasonally. They've become famous for their Kobe-style burger served on brioche with bacon jam, blue cheese and arugula. Besides tasting delicious, the food is also reasonably priced, between $6 and $10.
According to an article from Forbes, Skillet sells about 200 lunches daily. Chef Danny Sizemore states that he opened up Skillet, with his partner Joshua Henderson, in order to fill a void in Seattle: high-end street food. The Forbes article points out that the concept is not entirely unique. In Minneapolis, there's Chef Shack that sells bison burgers topped with homemade condiments. And, in Marfa, Texas, Food Shark offers homemade hummus and falafel with crisp romaine lettuce from a truck.
To find out where Skillet's Airstream trailer is going to be and what they're going to serve visit their site.
From September 5th to the 14th, people in Wisconsin are encouraged to participate in the Eat Local Wisconsin Challenge. Participating involves spending at least 10 percent of your food budget on local foods. For the challenge, "local" does not simply mean that the food has to be from the U.S. Rather, it must come from Wisconsin or within 100 miles of your home.
If you're not sure where to begin, the website for the challenge offers a site where you can find sources for local food. The challenge is incredibly educational. It not only offers ways to incorporate local foods into your diet, but it also explains why that's important in the first place. Buying local is a good way to support community sustainability, local farmers, and your local economy.
An article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states that the Eat Local Wisconsin Challenge is about reducing our carbon footprint and simply eating better tasting food that's also healthier. What interests me about this challenge is that it's all inclusive. By targeting wealthy urban consumers, many local food challenges seem elitist. On the contrary, the Eat Local Wisconsin Challenge makes it seem affordable for everyone. If you know of similar challenges, let me know. I'd be curious to see how they compare.
There are numerous reasons why I enjoy going to restaurants that serve local food. When traveling it's an exciting way to discover the foods that different places have to offer. Atlantica in Camden, Maine is an excellent restaurant that incorporates local ingredients.
I started off dinner with salad of organic red and yellow beets and Jasper Hill blue cheese. Then, came the masterpiece of the meal: the salmon. The salmon was so tender that it seemed to slowly dissolve on my palate. It's surprising how many restaurants cook salmon to the point that it's completely dry and all you taste is the sauce on it. The fish at Atlantica was superb.
The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team: Ken and Del Paquin. Ken graduated from the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park New York. He strives to make use of the finest and highest quality ingredients, both organic and sustainable. He searches for the best local purveyors. So, it's no surprise that it was at Atlantica that I discovered Maine's many cheeeses. Atlantica is also an excellent place to enjoy Maine's incredible lobster. Be sure to order their hard-shell steamed lobster.
Yesterday I posted the Omnivore's Hundred, a list of 100 "must-try" foods written by a British food blogger. I thought it was so interesting I had to try making my own, American-style. My ground rules were this: I didn't include any drinks, and I only listed foods that can be found in more than just one location (so "Krispy Kreme donut" is OK, but "cheese slice from Joe's Pizza in NYC" is not). I also tried to avoid foods that are American in origin but ubiquitous in the rest of the world (so no McDonald's french fries, much as I love them).
So here it is: Emily's 100 American Foods You Really Ought to Try Sometime Before You Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil. And by all means, tell me what you think is missing!
A couple of years ago, one of my friends suggested that I try Atlantic Mist, a creamy cow's milk cheese with a bloomy rind from Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton, NY. I finally tried it and was amazed at how similar it tastes to the raw milk Camemberts that I've eaten in France.
Most Camemberts that are imported into the U.S. are pasteurized and lack the sharp barnyard flavor and sweet fudge-like paste of a traditional raw milk Camembert. It's incredible that Atlantic Mist, a local cheese from the Hamptons, comes closer to the original than its pasteurized French counterparts. Atlantic Mist has an irresistible meaty aroma and a stunning gooey sweet taste.
Visit Mecox Bay Dairy! If you're making a trip to the Hamptons, be sure to visit the dairy farm. Art and Stacy Ludlow and their sons Peter and John started to handcraft cheeses in 2003 from the milk of their small herd of Jersey cows. Atlantic Mist is aged for a minimum of 61 days and it's made in small batches. You can contact Mecox Bay Dairy at 631-537-0335 or you can email Art at art@mecoxbaydairy.com. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Until recently, I did not realize how ignorant I was about the vast array of delicious creamy cheeses from Maine. I was aware of the many different cheese producers in Vermont, like Jasper Hill Farm and the Cobb Hill cooperative. So, a few nights ago, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a soft handmade goat's milk cheese from Seal Cove Farm, a small goat dairy in Lamoine, Maine.
The flavors are exquisitely pristine with absolutely no sourness. The light fluffy texture slowly crumbles and melts on the palate. It's the perfect final course to be served at the end of a long meal. Alternatively, you can incorporate the cheese in various dishes to be served prior to your dessert, such as salads.
Visit Seal Cove Farm! This is the first American cheese that I've written about for Cheese Course. And, it's the beginning of a long list of unique local cheeses we can purchase on our own soil. I highly suggest visiting these dairies to learn about how these labor-intensive artisanal products are crafted. Seal Cove Farm is located north of Acadia National Park in Lamoine, Maine. Before visiting give them a call at 207-667-7127. Recommendations on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Last fall, in the beginning of my first year in New York, I discovered the Vendy awards. Sponsored by the Urban Justice Center, the awards honor the city's best street vendors. I was particularly interested because of Mohammed Rahman, proprietor of the Kwik Meal cart on 45th Street and Sixth Avenue.
On some days, when I had a little extra cash, I'd grab my lunch at Mohammed's stand. While his menu was, ostensibly, the same as most other halal vendors, Mohammed had previously worked at the Russian Tea Room, and his classical background showed through. His genius lay in the little details, like the green papaya marinade that he used for his lamb, the basmati rice that he served it on, and the intricate spicing that made it truly unique. Although the 2007 Vendy ultimately went to Thiru "Dosa Man" Kumar, Mohammed still reigns high in my personal vendor pantheon. After all, he introduced me to the world of gourmet street food.
When I was ten or eleven, I read an article in National Geographic World about foraging for food, and it immediately caught my attention. For several months, I made violet syrup, dandelion root "coffee," acorn muffins, and a wide variety of other bizarre concoctions from ingredients that I found in my own backyard. Some of these foods were good and others were horrific, but they taught me a few things about how to survive in the wild, not to mention the underappreciated joys of maple syrup.
In the years since, I've tried cattails and wild walnuts, ramps and rose petals, burdock, sassafras, and a wide variety of other delightful produce. In addition to saving me a small amount on my food budget, they've also continued to bring me close to nature. Now that I live in the city, however, my days of foraging are largely over. While I love the Bronx, I don't know what they're putting on the lawn in Poe Park and have no desire to find out the hard way!
Unfortunately, just as I've settled down in my new urban home, my friend Jen introduced me to Prodigal Gardens, a site that offers numerous recipes for wild produce and herbs, as well as workshops in foodlore and natural medicine. If you happen to be a resident of the upper Midwest, you might want to drop in at one of their classes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, or ask them to set one up for you!
Warning: this post may offend people who like cute little furry guinea pigs.
A few days ago, I wrote a post about chicha morada, the amazing Peruvian blue corn drink. Thinking on it further, I am becoming increasingly convinced that Peru produces some of the best dishes in the world; with that in mind, I plan on writing a fair bit more about the wonders of lomo saltado, papas a la huancaina, and other treats. However, in the interests of total honesty, I also have to acknowledge the dark side of Peruvian cuisine, the surreal side, the side that dresses up guinea pigs in colorful costumes then roasts them with cheese.
The twisted tale of the Peruvian Guinea Pig Festival begins in a cute, whimsical way. In the small city of Huacho, located north of Lima, somebody came up with the bright idea of holding a regional carnival to honor the cuy, or guinea pig. Now in its third year, the event features contests for fattest, quickest, and best dressed cuy. People from the surrounding communities primp and preen their top animals, preparing them for the race and dressing them in the height of rodent fashion. It is not uncommon to see the animals dressed in bright silks and taffetas, sporting little hats and crowns, and generally looking like a cross between a fur mitten and the infant of Prague.
While the winners of the fastest and best dressed contests are spared from the final competition, the remainder of the cuy become fodder for the greatest test of all, a battle royale that pits woman against woman, village against village, and cuy against cuy: the fight for tastiest guinea pig. Amidst an orgy of stuffing, roasting, skewering and smoking, the women of Peru demonstrate their skill with one of the country's traditional delicacies.
Soft-serve gets a makeover at upscale ice cream joints. Think spiced cantaloupe topping, balsalmic cherries, a "creamsicle" of white nectarine granita and jasmine tea soft-serve.
The Slow Food movement plans a Labor Day Slow Food Nation festival, to be the "Woodstock" of food festivals. Hope they bring more porta-potties than the original.
The Rutgers Tomato Project brings back the Jersey tomato.
The Minimalist does a no-bake summer cheesecake with blueberries.
New trend alert, courtesy of the New York Times: the "lazy locavore."
In some cities, freelance farmers will plant and tend organic vegetable gardens in your yard, so you can have nice heirloom tomatoes and sun-warmed lettuce without getting your fingernails dirty. San Francisco resident Trevor Paque will plant an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the veggies for you and put them in a box by the door. Don't have space for a garden? Other services will deliver organic, sustainably-grown local fruits and veggies directly to your office cubicle. But what if preparing and cooking these organic delights is too much work? Other services will cook stews of organic local vegetables and pork, ladle them into glass jars (recycled, I hope) and deliver them to your house.
Up next: A service that sends someone to your home to wipe your mouth with an organic, locally-harvested hemp fiber napkin?
A jar of honey can become a sticky mess. Next time you're adding honey to another dish or a mug of tea, use a honey dipper to prevent a thick gooey layer from spreading.
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Last fall, in the beginning of my first year in New York, I discovered the 
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When I was ten or eleven, I read an article in National Geographic World about foraging for food, and it immediately caught my attention. For several months, I made violet syrup, dandelion root "coffee," acorn muffins, and a wide variety of other bizarre concoctions from ingredients that I found in my own backyard. Some of these foods were good and others were horrific, but they taught me a few things about how to survive in the wild, not to mention the underappreciated joys of maple syrup. 
Warning: this post may offend people who like cute little furry guinea pigs.
Can't make it to the Olympics this year? Go for some authentic 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
