Carrot Top

Mmm. New? Well, maybe. Depends on the time frame being considered and the definitions included in the term "food-writing" perhaps. Is it the category of food "journalism" that is catching the ethical bug and taking their ethical turn on the dance floor at this moment in time? This, from Molly O'Neill in her introduction to the newly released "American Food Writing" (an anthology covering 250 years of American writings on food): But you did use the term "contemporary" which would seem to infer that the time frame would be the post-MFK Fisher era. After discussing MKFK a bit, Molly has this to say: .................................................. A question: Did Upton Sinclair start "The Jungle" as a journalistic piece for a newspaper? For some reason, I have it in my mind that he did, though I could be wrong. And, would you consider "The Jungle" to be in this category of "food writing" that is being discussed? Or would it be in the genre of food writing at all? I'm curious as to what people think about this question.

Who would'a thunk it. You too, can cook like Homer. (Scroll down page a bit to see links to recipes.)

Welsh Rabbit. Yes, the taste of the beer *can* matter, but of course this recipe is something often put together quickly for families or children, so . . . maybe we can excuse a bit of imperfection in using one sort of beer rather than another with finesse. I used to make beer and honey glazed ribs with sage and chili. Country-style ribs. Simmer beer, honey, fresh sage, chili powder, mustard, a dash of Worcestershire, S & P together to blend. Cool and use as marinade and glaze. While searching to see if that recipe was on-line, I came across this one: Homer Simpson's Duff Beer Marinade.

So I could have a drink cooler on my right and a drink warmer on my left. All I need now is a small blender to make pina coladas in the middle of it all and I'll be set. Slow-scrambled eggs are the best, it is true, but someone would have to invent some sort of thing to cook them in for easy clean up. Maybe plastic wrap-scrambled eggs/sous vide? Just lay the notebook upside down, put the plastic wrapped eggs on top and poke at them now and then with your fingers to scramble them nicely till done. Fascinating site. And I think Google translations needs to win a humor award of some sort. Yes, in practical terms it does seem a bit nutty if one actually stops to think about it. But who would want to do that? P.S. Besides the travel oven that works in a car, I've also come across (by the same line of manufacturer) refrigerators and slow-cookers.

The other day I happened to come across some photographs of wagashi which I've been totally mesmerized by. They are simply too beautiful to not share. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Or more like chilled drinks to barbecue. USB Beverage Chiller USB-Powered BBQ ( ) Have you heard of any other USB-powered cooking devices?

"One hell of a cook" says many things, Jeff. And each thing that it says is good. Put together in a sentence, or in a person, what exists in those words is a natural stature of self in some way. And to be "one hell of a cook" to my mind, there must be great love offered in the food cooked. This is no small matter, and is something to be rightly impressed by when it happens, for it is not just technique. I seem to remember that you started a fund for a culinary scholarship in Philip's name. This is no small matter either, for within this offering someone can learn and grow and go to school who otherwise might not have that opportunity for one reason or another. The opposite of "oversell" is to give. And the opposite of things that are not easy, such as culinary careers, is the magic of people who care to be kind. And that, makes the pudding of any culinary school, proofed, and a fine thing indeed, for the one who has that chance to carry it all forward.

Oooh. I've been thinking of buying The Goomba Diet for some time now. Thanks for reminding me. Not that I'm aiming to be large, but goombas are wonderful things.

Well, you know, Pontormo. It wasn't from saved knowledge in my little head. There's not a whole lot there that makes much sense. My finding of the treasure began with a book. It was sitting on my shelf and I pulled it out and looked at it. I've always found that to be a useful method. Besides being greatly enjoyable and a fantastic way to waste hours and hours of otherwise useful time.

Answer to 24. " The Feast of the Monkeys" by Jean-Baptiste Oudry. Scroll down for further info. And here's 27. Titled "Mother". More on Yasumasa Morimura.

There's one really interesting and great thing about becoming a chef (which means "chief" of course, top dog, head honcho, lead banana, or fall guy take your pick) as opposed to becoming the same thing in many other fields. Aside from the plain old "I love food and I love to cook and I am doing something wonderful for the world" part of it all heh heh. In many places, many kitchens, you do not *need* a degree to become this thing. As a matter of fact, many "top chefs" do not have degrees in "the culinary arts". What you do need is to be able to cook. Well. Better than the other guys, or if there are other guys who can do some things better then you have to have superior knowledge of some *other* ways of doing it that they don't know. You need to know your business. You need to be able to perform well under all sorts of pressures and in various situations, some having to do with food, some having to do with people. All things best learned in the kitchen, some of them only learned in the kitchen, not in a classroom. What you do not need, in many cases, in many places, is a degree, to do this. Unlike in many other businesses or careers. The door to the kitchen is still cracked open in this way. And isn't it wonderful, really. This may be changing in some places. But not all places. I'd really hate to see the culture of the professional kitchen become as formally-educationally-credentialized as most of the rest of our culture. That would really suck, to my mind. What a loss.

Those are creamy jobs, Live It Up. .......................................... If anyone has not read the original Times piece, here's a link.

Looks enough like me to pretend it is, Gregg. Less a couple of years. To be slightly serious again for just a moment again, I think it depends on the school. Cooking as a profession is "in" now, so abuses of potential student's trust might be expected to occur in some cases, some places. Maybe part of any first week at a cooking school should include field trips to several kitchens of various sorts of restaurants in the area(s) - unanticipated visits, mid-dinner time. That would be educational, certainly. ............................................................ I hate to see people this age (assuming we are talking about a first career and not the career-changers of later years) go out into the world with massive debt already on their shoulders *before* even having started their economic lives. Particularly considering the average salary of many who work in kitchens and the fact that standard medical benefits are often lacking as part of an employment "package". It's just plain scary and worrisome. I would be pretty sure that most schools do not paint an accurate picture of this to their potential students. If I were them, I would not really want to if I wanted to continue to attract students to the field.

Looking for something else, I just came across something on lamb and farmer's markets that you might enjoy reading on this blog named "Cheese by Hand". The title of the post is called "Lost Lambs".

There are probably lots of people who would be made *very* happy to hear that, if they did post it, based on commentary about Rachel one can read. I'm not sure anyone would want to turn down her bank account if it were offered them, though. P.S. Did Rachel go to "cooking school"? Does anyone know? And if she did, did what they taught her or did the credentials she carried away from it make her who she is in terms of her success? Interesting thought. I always did wonder if universities were set up to create job opportunities for teachers. But then I decided that really, they were rather, set up to create job opportunities for football players.

Most likely yes, based on anecdotal evidence. But of course an alter argument could be made. Long term, the schools as they are being structured are edging the work of cooking towards being a profession rather than a trade. The financial payoff that a profession offers has not seemed to follow as quickly or surely as the aspirations, though. That's for each individual to answer. Sometimes financial rewards are desired or neccesary. Sometimes either they are not, or they are not the primary goal. It's always good to hear all sides of any situation, as much as possible, don't you think? I think that there are no guarantees for anything in life. A degree in any field, from any school, is not an assurance of employment. When I was exec chef for Goldman Sachs I had one dishwasher with a Ph.D in psychology. Another dishwasher with an advanced engineering degree. Three cooks out of ten with M.A.'s, two cooks who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, one more with a culinary degree from some technical school in Brooklyn. One of the CIA guys was "let go" within several months. The other I promoted to exec chef when I became a corporate drone in the form of VP for all foodservices. The next best guy in line for the exec chef position, in my assessment, was the guy with the tech ed culinary degree. So there were people in that kitchen with degrees in their fields who, for just some reason, did not or could not get jobs in their field of study - regardless of their educational credentials. There were two people in that kitchen who each had expensive culinary educations, who came out on totally opposite ends of the performance spectrum. Then there was the guy with the inexpensive culinary tech education who was a very close runner up to the guy who I did promote to exec chef, and the only reason I didn't choose him was not due to education or skill level but maturity level (which I assume in later years, he found). And then there's me with no education beyond one year of high school. So what I think is that it's a gamble to spend a lot of money on an expensive education with the idea that it will guarantee a certain life-style or a certain job. Bottom-line, though, any education is great if you can stand it, if you enjoy it, and if you can afford it, without screaming or having panic attacks about the future when it might or might not "pay off" in ways "expected" or implied.

Here is an article dated yesterday, May 17, where Carlo speaks of his recent visit to America.

Maybe these additonal clues will make it too easy but so what. Pay attention to the words in the additional clues. 1700's. Christies 2000. ← And monkeys do love to feast. My mother says to eat my veggies.

My most recent food dream was where I met Tony Soprano on the fourth floor of A&S on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. They had made a cafe out of the part where you came off the escalator, small round tables, hanging lamps, bustling, pretty. Tony was waiting for me. I sat down and ordered something and he said "You know, Karen, you make the *best* sauce with ribs in it that I've ever had." He didn't say it, he bellowed it out, laughing, happy, leaning his chair back then hitting the table with his palm. The scene then shifted to some house where apparently I lived. Tony's guys were driving me home, and when I got out of the car, two of them got out with me and wandered over to the old lady neighbor who was weeding in her yard and said "She makes the best sauce. You know that?!" and the old lady just shook her head at it all. I walked into my house, feeling famous and important. Though confused. ................................................ Nice when a dream sets itself up to stoke your ego, huh?

I think that would have been as strong a hint as the triangle. It would have been a spark to intellect rather than to visual memory, perhaps. Usually, with me, my visual memory is stronger. I wonder if intellectual memory is stronger than visual memory in most people, or not. That would be interesting to know in terms of how to best phrase the clues. There have been two ways I've found the answers to the ones I managed to guess. Either the image was in my brain (as Judy Chicago's piece was) or there was enough of a hint as to the genre or time so that some ideas as to who it *might have been* that did it, could lead to other artists if the initial guess was wrong. And that just takes lots of sorting through stuff. I'm happy no matter if the clue is easy or difficult, though, for (oh god how banal) "it's the process that matters". It's just fun to see *all* this stuff.

Yep. Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party". Wiki on Judy. The writing of clues is difficult , isn't it.

The closest I can come is eleven men in foppish collars and big hats. And though it is proclaimed a feast, there is no food being shown except for what looks like some cucumber slices and dried-out bread. The guy on the bottom right is holding his tummy as if it hurts. Maybe they already ate and it wasn't too good.

Nope, that's not it. I'll be back later to check if anything else is posted. Have to go get my hair cut and hope that I do not end up like this artwork, though. Wow. Fukuda is very cool!

You think that's bad, not being able to link? Hah. I just posted a long answer to this and it landed on another thread entirely. Anyway. Better keep it short and sweet before something else wierd happens. Now you have earned yet another meal, insomniac. You have a photographic memory, don't you.

Nice piece, Russ. I think the perfection of a real berry can only be momentary. Hours, even, can make a difference. This having to deal with the imperfection of time as it works against things is a PITA, isn't it.