Devotay
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Posts posted by Devotay
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Hi all.
I'm going to be a delegate at Terra Madre in ocotber, so I'm looking for your recommendations for places to eat in Turin. I've been there before, but the only place I found in town that I liked was Da'Giovanni. Got any other suggestions?
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I really likeFork & Bottle
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Thanks for that note Alex, and for the article, well done. The Ark is indeed an important part of what Slow Food and Terra Madre are all about, and I was honored to be the host chef for the Slow Food Ark USA committee meeting held last September here in Iowa. We tasted, then boarded another 80 foods onto the Ark with the help of Iowa's gift to the food world, Seed Savers Exchange Exchange. included, for example, were the mulefoot hog, the gooeyduck, and the scarlet runner bean.
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Seeking out excellence should not be confused with elitism.
good fight, but his vision of "the future", cynical tho it may sound, rings frighteningly true.
Bless you for that. Arguing this point has often proven difficult for me, so I appreciate this arrow in my quiver. I know some folks won't be able to shake the idea, and I'll just have to live with that, but the misperception among many that we're an elitist club does have a detrimental effect on our mission.
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Loro dicono <<Slow Food>> aussi en France.
That's the point.
The response to fast food from the United States is embedded in the language chosen, yet, ironically (?), English is most practical (at the moment) to use for a movement desiring to shape an international community. Carlo Petrini's reaction to plans for the presence of McDonald's at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome is usually cited as the moment the founder of Slow Food found his calling.
That was the germination of the idea, yes, a protest they organized (Carlo and some fellow writers) against the Golden arches opening in the Piazza D'Espana, which they saw as a sin in par with opening a pork butchery in central Jerusalem.
That was 1986, but it took two more years before the movement grew from what started as a gourmet club. They discovered that the only way to protect the artisanal food they loved was to protect its sources from the homogenation offered by the fast food lifestyle. This led to the Ark, Presidia, and eventually the Foundation for biodiversity (all linked above).
A highly motivated few can influence a majority. (I forget the formal name of this priciple) Getting organiztion members from interested, to enlisted, to motivated, to activated is three big steps though.Three big steps indeed, but I would say that rthe list I provided demonstrates motivation and action. We built a bloody University! And 12,000 farmers, artisans, educators and chefs flown to Torino, fed and sheltered on our dime, all to create a network to help build a better food system?!?!? If there is a better way to make that happen, I'd like to know about it, and then hopefully we can do that too!
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Very magnanimous of you. Iwould argue that not only does Slow Food do no harm, it does a tremendous amount of good. Witness:
>The World's First University of Gastronomic Sciences
>The Foundation for Biodiversity
>Terra Madre World Gathering of Food Communities
Not to mention a user-friendly redesign of our own humble little forum.
And that's just a start. 100,000+ dues paying members in over 100 countries. Not bad for a little 501c3 with an educational mission.
And as for the name, perhaps a change would be helpful, but perhaps not. Calling fast food "quick service" didn't change or improve anything.
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And in response to a question about the slow food movement in 2002:
I think the slow food movement is a very positive thing. It's a positive force, even if people dont become adherents, and I'm wary of such people. Slow food is often expensive, like organic food. More often than not it's some rich bastard in an SUV driving off to the Green Market to get environmentally friendly vegetables at three times the going rate. But anything that makes us more aware of where food comes from, and what it takes to get it to the table, is a force for the good. So I can make an informed decision as to whether to eat swordfish for dinner. I know there aren't many left. I know there are certain foods that we're running out of, but tough shit.
Now THAT is MY Tony!
Well, that was three years ago, and he's obviously come around. In 2002 he was under the impression, as were many people (including some on this forum as I recall), that Slow Food was just a bunch of yuppies stuffieng their craws with foie gras and fancy food, and that idea is demonstrably false.
I'm a big Bourdain fan, and when he visited here in 2003 he was already talking about what a positeve force Slow Food was becoming.
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In an insightful interview with the San Jose Mercury-News, erstwhile chef and world galvanteer Anthony Bourdain laid out a pretty good argument for this humble little movement I'm always evangelizing about:
Q: Do you like the direction food is going in this country?A: In apocalyptic terms, it's a constant struggle between good and evil, with the hope that there are a few more of us good guys than there are of them. I like a lot of the direction. The Slow Food movement is a very positive one. Organics, artisanal cheeses, making things the old way -- that can only be good.
I'd like to see Mexicans break the glass ceiling and get their name on the menu of French, Italian or American restaurants. It's about time. And I think we shouldn't legislate fast-food. Children should just be shamed, bullied by their schoolmates into not eating it. If McDonald's targets kids, why shouldn't the good guys do some viral campaign to convince kids it's not cool to eat this stuff?
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I agree with you about the timing, but for a global conference, there really is no perfect time. It's always harvest somewhere, ya know? or planting, or holidays, or whatever. Glad you could go to the first one, and that you met some interesting people. My favorite people were a goat herder from the steppes of Khazakstan and a Bhuddist monk who made cheese from yak's milk (ever milk a yak?)
Obviously though I must disagree about the addition of the chefs (being one and all). Connecting growers and other food producers with chefs is a vital link int he food chain. It helps create markets and makes those chefs ambassadors for the cause as well. From this you'll see interesting and endangered products start to work their way onto menus all around the world. 1000 restaurants is a good start, and pretty soon their competition will take notice as well.
Your right that some of the workshops could have been done better. I felt that, like in college, the majority of the learning went on outside the classroom. The stories I heard about people's homestays on the farms surrounding Torino were amazing. Whole towns created festivals just for their foreign visitors. This kind of conviviality is incredibly rewarding.
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Following on the overwhelming success of Terra Madre 2004, Slow Food will once again convene a "World Gathering of Food Communities" in Torino this October 26-30. This year, in addition to 5000 farmers, fishers, brewers, winemakers, cheesemakers, beekeepers and all sorts of other food artisans from nearly 150 countries, Slow Food has invited 1000 chefs from around the world.
I was a delegate in 2004, and will be again this year (and I'll be blogging it here). Another chef present at the first one was Rick Bayless. I asked him his thoughts when he was interviewed over on the ChefTalk forum, and here's what he said about his experience.
It's important that the Terra Madre network include chefs, because they are the link between the producer and the consumer (although Slow Food prefers the term "co-producer" to consumer, because as Wendall Berry said, "eating is an agricultural act").
Terra Madre will continue to construct a global network of food communities with a vision of a better food system, one that produces food that is good, clean, and fair.
Contempraneously, Slow Food will also produce the Salone del Gusto - the largest food show on earth. Picture the NRA show but exclusively food (no EcoLab), and exclusively artisanal (no jalapeno poppers). In 5 days more than 150,000 people will attend the exhibition, sit in on taste panels and workshops, and learn what Slow Food truly is: Food that is raised with care, prepared with passion and served with love.
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I had a fantastic meal at Blackbird last month, and was wondering what the rest of you folks thought of it and Paul Kahan's other place next door, Avec.
We had:
Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut with rye bread, tuna tartare and spring onion coulis
Seared Maine diver scallop with bacon, sweet peas, sweet pea coulis and a quail egg
Duvall Sancerre 2004
Softshell crab with basmati and a hazelnut-lemon sauce
Fried morels with trout and trout roe
Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir 2004 (O, my Lord.)
Minnesota venison with hen o' the woods mushrooms, bing cherries and a parsnip puree
Quail with pancetta, ricotto gnocchi, and cavolo nero kale
An assortment of cheeses including a french blue that was new to me called persette (sp?)
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You're all of the track.
If there is such a thing as food that's better than sex, it's gotta have duck fat in it somewhere. Or better yet, smoked duck fat
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Guilty as I may be of whipping a dead horse, I came across this item today in re: what I said earlier about many people's fear of the unknown. Just had to share:
Do you have second thoughts when ordering a strange-sounding dish at an exotic restaurant? Afraid you'll get fricasseed eye of newt, or something even worse? If you do, it's because certain neurons in the brain are saying that the potential reward for the risk is unknown. These regions of the brain have now been pinpointed by experimental economists at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Iowa College of Medicine.In the December 9 issue of the journal Science, Caltech's Axline Professor of Business Economics Colin Camerer and his colleagues report on a series of experiments involving Caltech student volunteers and patients with specific types of brain damage at the University of Iowa. The object of the experiments was to see how the brain responded to degrees of economic uncertainty by having the test subjects make wagers while being scanned by a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI).
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It's sort of interesting to me (and if this gets into unacceptably political territory I'm sure I will soon be made aware of it) when a fairly lefty (anti-big-business, in any case) idea like slow food digs its heels so resolutely that it begins to sound so socially conservative. Yes, my grandmother spent loving hours stirring her pomegranate molasses, harvesting olives, raising ten children and a bunch of chickens on homemade breads but frankly that is a life I and most women are not willing to live anymore. I love to cook, make my own bread etc etc but I also enjoy having a job and getting out of the house once in a while. If that means eating out once in a while, even, god forbid, at a non-slow foods approved location then so be it. Have you considered that you are alienating your core audience with this kind of simplistic attitude? I'm sorry but the idea that someone who eats out occasionally because they don't feel like cooking that night somehow doesn't have the brains to withstand olive garden advertising is complete and utter condescending bullshit. Give this crowd a little more credit and maybe less people will be turned off by the message.
edit: kurt, we cross posted. I do get it, I really do, and my comments aren't directed at you specifically. I like forceful opinions as you can probably tell. It's just that after being in the midwest for a few years, I kind of also got a better sense of how the other half lives, and why. It will catch up, it is already starting but it needs time and patient nurturing.
The only exception I would take in regards to what you called "unacceptable political territory" is to characterize Slow Food as anti-big business. 2 reasons: 1st, we're not really "anti" anything. We harbor no grand illusion that we will someday put McDonalds or Monsanto out of business. We are simply so adamant in our support of sustainable cuisine and the tradition and culture of the table that we are desperate to mitigate the deliterious effects of the fast food culture.
2nd, nothing wrong with being big, there are actually several very large companies that produce products any Slow Food freak would be proud to consume and promote (Guiness and Tabasco leap to mind), but until the local Applebees performs a little closer to their motto of "eatin' good in the neighborhood" (poor grammar aside) by buying some fresh local food and/or actually preparing the meal on site, they're not gonna get my money.
Ron - my idea that the people have been "tricked" into going to Olive Garden the drive thru, etc. is admittedly a broad generalization and is not directed at any one person (especially not on this forum!
), but I believe there's a lot of truth to what was once said in a favorite movie:"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know that."
K, Men in Black
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My point is that the American public has been tricked, bamboozled, flimiflammed, sold a bill of goods that says that cooking is a chore, akin to laundry or wasing windows or taking out the trash - something to be avoided if possible then done grudgingly and apathetically when things you'd rather be doing are forced down the list of priorities.
But what's your answer to those of us who say we enjoy cooking very much but find it a chore at times? Do you think that's just not a reasonable standpoint?
Of course it's reasonable, I just think it's unfortunate.
Behemoth, I never called anyone ignorant. Stating my postion forcefully does not preclude other points of view, I'm just not going to equivocate.
And keep in mind, this is a restaurant owner who is saying that people should cook at home far more than they do.
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My point is that the American public has been tricked, bamboozled, flimiflammed, sold a bill of goods that says that cooking is a chore, akin to laundry or wasing windows or taking out the trash - something to be avoided if possible then done grudgingly and apathetically when things you'd rather be doing are forced down the list of priorities.
Not so! Approached with a positive mind set, cooking is an enriching, even deeply spiritual act, a way we show our love for our family and friends. Indeed it is the most important thing that distinguishes us from the rest of the living world - no other creature applies heat to its food. How did we let that get knocked down our list of important parts of our lives?
The fast food industry, and by extension the casual chains, bear much of the responsibilty for convincing people to mistake frenzied shortcuts for simple efficiency. Their marketing abilities are extremely powerful and effective, and that is why they are popular - people have become convinced that that is what's good because they've been told over and over not to cook, not to experiment, not to try new things.
The great teaching chef Marcella Hazan said it best - saying you have no time to cook is like saying you have no time to bathe.
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Having said that, why do so many chain dining rooms feel like giant feeding barns? I wish they would shrink the rooms downa little, make the service a little less frenzied.
They can't do that. They are all about what is refered to in the industry as "turn & burn;" that is, get'em in, get'em out, and raise that app, drink, and dessert total as much as possible (that's where the servers, and the restaurants as a whole make their money). More butts in the chairs, that's all that matters. (thus the comparison above to a feed barn. Not only are you what you eat, but you are also what what you eat eats.
See, it's not about the food, never has been about the food, it's about the finances. If you've got no good places to eat in town, go to the next town, or cook at home. Remember, cooking is NEVER a chore.
As for those above who've said they are after the consistent service, I swear to God if I ever hear "Hi, I'm Buffy and I'll be your server today can I interest you in a bubblegum margarita?" or some such thing again I'll be leaving the restaurant in the back of a squad car.
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Maybe the chains are beginning to catch on. Witness:
Death of the Food Court: It's time to declare the death of the food court, that convenient but gastronomically dubious Mecca of fast food. As a 'foodie culture' emerges here in the U.S., 2006 won't be about how quickly we can get a burger; it will be about food's richer role in our lives. "Food - how we buy it, prepare it, consume it - has an unmistakable cultural DNA to it," says Gunning. "We're starting to see a much deeper appreciation for the social aspects of dining, not to mention a great desire for more relaxing environments that highlight the freshness of the food and the drama of its preparation." Europeans and Asians have designed their dining environments around this concept for centuries; expect US developers to build more 'slow-food' environments in 2006.If the giant chains begin to make honest food, with fresh ingredients, Slow Food freaks like me won;t feel our ideas are threatened, will just raise a glass and say "welcome to the club, enjoy!"
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Thanks Bilrus, I'll look into those.
I just found out I'm staying at the Intercontinental at 5961 Isla Verde Avenue. What's that close to?
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On the other hand sometimes we little local fellows can win out in the end. Witness:
La dolce vita, no fries, coming upBy Desmond O'Grady in Rome
January 7, 2006
A BAKER who put a McDonald's out of business has become a hero of Italy's Slow Food movement, which champions the relaxed enjoyment of eating as a pillar of the country's way of life.
The McDonald's ran into big trouble when Luca DeGesu opened a bakery next door specialising in local products.
Altamura, in the heel of Italy's boot, is renowned throughout the country for its bread. It is yellow, made from durum wheat, and has a crunchy black crust. The DeGesu family has been baking it for five generations.
But Luca DeGesu did not plan to run McDonald's out of business when, five years ago, he opened an outlet next to the fast food business in Altamura's main square. He just wanted to earn a crust. As well as bread, he made pizza using local olive oil and baked with a particular kind of oak in the oven.
It was a David versus Goliath contest because McDonald's had 10 staff and Mr DeGesu, 35, was a one-man show.
But he won - and his success has been welcomed by the country's Slow Food movement, as well as the newer Slow City movement, which wants to preserve historic city centres by excluding traffic and conserving small shops.
Chalk one up for the good guys! Way to go, Sr. DeGesu!!!
Read the whole story @ The Melbourne Sunday Morning Herald
Also, Osnav, I'm with you on the "fear of the unknown" thing - it's a fundamental human trait that is only overcome by education and experience. I believe that one's upbringing has almost everything to do with that. If your parents raised you with a sense of adventure (especially in palate) then you are far more likely to taste something new.
As for me, I think there are plenty of much bigger things to fear in this world than food.
Ronnie - I agree that I won't patronize a place that's smokey or filthy, and if the food's no good then even if it's clean I won't go back, but I'd still cook at home or find some bread, cheese and wine over eating at Olive Garden any day.
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A LOT of people do that. I see them waiting outside the door of the Olive Garden in an Iowa winter to eat breadstix and salad that they think are free (which of course they are not).
I believe that the reason people do this is so that they don't have to think. They want it fast, hot & plenty of it (and will waith an hour to have it fast (?!?!?!), without having to worry about things like nourshment or tradition or having to actually learn something about food. It is simply about perceived convenience for them. Speed is the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.
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I have two fundamental problems with the chains.
First, and most importantly, what some of the posters here have called consistent, I call ordinary. Dull, boring, uninspired, been-there food. Eating there is the same as listening to neo-bubblegum pop music. It's contrived, manufactured, and tastes like well salted plastic.
Secondly, their corporate-driven, deep-pocketed, manufactured-interest marketing system is driving the small places with the interesting, fresh, innovative local cuisine out of business, just like Menard's & Home Depot has destroyed the local hardware stores. You may think a hammer is a hammer, but nearly everything I ever bought at Menard's is broken now, and the service always sucked.
There is local cuisine in places like NYC, Boston, New Orleans and San Fran because they had large population bases well before the industrial revolution. Here in the Heartland, cities like Columbus & Des Moines got big populations after industrialism took over agriculture, and soon cuisine.
These chains are the battleships of the Malling of America. Tradition, and culture, and flavor, are the targets.
Here endeth the rant.
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Howdy all,
Just learned that the folks at Bacardi are sending me on a junket to San Juan to taste some of their aged rums.
I've got 4 days & 3 nights (1/17-20) in the San Juan area. Where should I eat?I'm after genuine Puertoriqueno cuisine, but that can be fancy or simple street food. Authenticity is the key - no McIsland food.
Thanks for your input.
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Slow Food USA, the folks who got the heritage Turkey thing rolling back in 2001, has a list of sources from all over the country HERE
It includes folks in Ann Arbor and in Sidney Shelby County, OH (which is west-central).
Thanks for supporting local, sustainable farms!
The Omnivore's Dilemma
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
It's not as expensive or complicated as it seems. Produce at a farmers market is often cheaper than at the grocery store, and is always tastier, fresher more nutritious (produce loses nutrients the longer it sits).
For simplicity, consider a CSA, in which you put your money up front, like a magazine subscription, and receive fresh, seasonal produce throughout the year.
And remember that the total at the end of the receipt is not the only thing to consider, because it's not the only thing you pay. There are real, and serious, costs to cheap food. They come in the form of Ag subsidies, healthcare costs related to diabetes, obesity and other diet-related disorders, and the environmental impact of all that procewssing, packaging and shipping. You think you don't pay for all of that? You pay, believe me.
Here's a good example of the positive impact buying locvally could potentially have. My home county, (Johnson, IA), has about 45,000 households. if each of those households were to redirect just $10 of their weekly food budget to buying locally - from a farmers market, CSA, whatever - that would keep nearly $24,000,000 in our local economy. Think what that could mean for our infrastructure! For our schools! For our quality of life! no translate that to your own community. Imagine what that same idea would mean in a city the size of Philly? Or New York or Boston or LA? Serous money to drive the local economy to new heights.