jkonick

Last quarter I ran out of money on my food card about two weeks before the end of the quarter. Now, living about ten minutes from my parents' house, I had easy access to a lot of food (and probably money too), but for whatever reason I felt like seeing if I could last those two weeks with no money. The "convenience store" in my dorm gives away all the leftover pastries at the end of the night, which most of the time is bagels. I stocked up on these, about six a night, and stole packets of butter and cream cheese. This was more or less what I ate for those two weeks, stale bagels and stolen cream cheese. I also managed to scrounge up enough of my own money to buy some very cheap, past the pull date macaroni and cheese, made with water and the said stolen butter. If I was feeling luxurious, I'd add in some cream cheese. I also ate dinner every night with my friends who had not wasted all their money on Japanese candy (they have Pocky! It's hard not to...) and they usually gave me their leftovers out of pity. Normally I'd feel bad mooching but hey... I had no money. Somehow I made it through but a couple of times I started to feel dizzy from not eating. At the rate of spending I have this quarter, I'll probably be doing the same thing come March, and the convenience store has stoped giving away bagels...

As a worshipper of Japanese food, I love Tampopo. I still don't "get" those random scenes with the ganster and his girlfriend. Aside from that, great movie. God of Cookery - One of the weirdest food movies out there I think, but really cool and a lot of over the top martial arts style cooking.

What kind of mochi is in that? Is it the dried brick/disk kind, or is it fresh? If it was dried, does it get soft as it cooks? I've always wanted to try okonomiyaki with mochi but I'm afraid that I'll end up with a big chunk of hard mochi in it.

Are you just using regular sushi rice? Maybe try mixing in some sweet rice (mochigome) to make it stickier, or like you mentioned you were going to try, cook the rice in the sweet liquid so you don't have to add any extra liquid. Or maybe add in some gelatin or, if you want to stay on the Asian tip, add some kanten (agar), to firm up the pudding-like mixture.

There's one in San Francisco's Chinatown called Neverending Quail or something like that. It's truly bizarre - it's in the back of a long corridor, which starts out just looking like a seafood market from the front on the street. You go in, and past the buckets of live frogs and tanks of crabs is a little store front, and a giant window - literally, with never ending quails. There are just stacks and stacks of them in cages. I'm pretty sure they sell other sorts of birds than quails, but I couldn't tell. I think there may've also been rabbits for sale up front.

I loved Martin Yan's Chinatowns, but I don't think it's on anymore. At least in Seattle it isn't. I learned a lot of great Chinese cooking basics from that show. Caprial and John's kitchen, which is on PBS too. I think it's local, I'm not sure though.

Here's another take on okonomiyaki with kabocha, but made on a George Form grill, in my dorm room: http://goutbacon.blogspot.com/

I vote that this be served on the UW campus so I can buy it using my food plan God forbid I should have to spend any of my own money... I'lll second everything everyone else said. Thai and Teriyaki, though they may not be representative of native Seattle food, are definitely ubiquitious and occasionally good.

Salt bagels, which seem hard to find. My favorite are from Dunkin' Donuts. They taste like a cross between a bagel and a donut, covered in giant salt crystals... mmmmm. Likewise, their twisty cousin, the giant soft pretzel. As far as prepackaged snack foods, Combos are a favorite, especially the pizza flavored ones. It's a doubly salty combo of pretzel and processed cheese. I don't think it gets much better. I'm a big fan of sweet and salty too, so anything Reese's (cups or pieces) and Baby Ruths. In fact, I just finished off a Nutrageous.

BryanZ: I do go to a state school, but The Daily (our paper) is not really affiliated with the administration. Here's an excerpt from the new writer's guide: " The Daily is not a publication of the Department of Communication, nor is it produced by the ASUW. The nine-member Board of Student Publications oversees the newspaper, reviews finances, resolves disputes and selects the editor and ad manager of The Daily every quarter. The board is comprised of representatives from the administration, the Faculty Senate, the Department of Communication, ASUW, GPSS, a profesional pubication, and The Daily newsroom. The Daily is produced almost exclusively by students, with the exception of the Publisher, Office manager and the accountant." And as long as you're going to be surfing, you can check out some of my articles here: http://thedaily.washington.edu/intermission or by searching for my last name, Konick. The biggest thing I have coming up is an article about a big kosher dinner/fundraiser at the campus Jewish orginization with a local big-name chef coming in to cook. Nothing on par with Iron Chef, that sounds cool though. Aside from that, comfort food today, good on-campus food next week as well as an aphrodisiac article for the sex issue, plus hopefully the tracing of food article mentioned earlier in this thread. Also, if homework doesn't totally kill me this weekend, I'm going to set up (or rather, start using again, as it's been neglected) a food blog.

I'm planning on spending a year in France and a quarter in Japan. We'll see what else happens! Jamie/Russ: the truth will be discovered (for UW anyway) soon enough. I emailed my editor about doing a story on where our food comes from, and barring any unforseen complications it should be out in a few weeks.

jogoode: Great to know there are some eGullet success stories out there! Gives me some encouragement for sure. I can definitely relate with clueless writers. To give an example of our paper's food writing prior to mine, there was a restaurant review that called nigiri sushi "sashimi sushi." Now I can understand not knowing what nigiri is, but I've been to that restaurant and it's printed right there on the menu... Similarly, my editor is fine, but she doesn't really know much about food writing. In fact, in the article I did for our restaurant guide, the editor was just one of the news editors, and she made my article all choppy and weird sounding. For a front page news article it would've been great, but it ruined the flow of story. I've basically had the same experience: my editor lets me write about whatever I want, and as long as it's under about 700 words it goes into print. My articles are almost never edited, and I know I'm not that good. As for a specialty - funny you should mention Japanese. I'm sort of obsessed, and it shows in my articles I think because I tend to include something about Japanese food where ever I can. I'll have to look into that dishware...

That would be interesting. I think the UW gets their food from a lot of different places, at least as far as I can tell. The on-campus convenience stores have a lot of pre-made food that comes from sood of mall food court type places. A lot of it is total garbage. We also get some good stuff, like these sodas that apparently usually only go to restaurants, but Housing and Food Services somehow managed to snag some. I also know that everything they serve seems to have a lot of zucchini... I ought to find out where it's all coming from. As for food coming from smaller producers or organic farms, I'm not sure. I'm sure colleges like Evergreen in Olympia do that, but I don't know about UW. They do seem to have a lot of the same ingredients showing up in dishes all over campus, so regardless there's probably an interesting story behind where it all comes from.

BryanZ: So is your newspaper a student club then? What is it? That's pretty harsh either way, not getting money OR credit. At least you get clips. What school do you go to? And is your paper online? I'd be interested in reading your stories, seeing what kind of competition I'm up against Jamie: Those are all great tips, thanks. I really am lucky to live in the Seattle where there is an abundance of food (not to mention a relatively short drive to Vancouver or slightly longer road trip to somewhere like San Francisco). Your idea about tracing one food product from its source to the plate is really interesting. Most of my articles have to be related to the UW community in one way or another, so I'll have to see if any food comes from the UW... I know WSU in Eastern Washington makes their own cheese. Granted, that's in the middle of nowhere, and I doubt there are many dairy cows living in the U. District (though the UW has a pretty big campus so they could be hiding them somewhere).

Thanks, LaurieA-B for the invite to the NW board. I lurk pretty often but maybe I'll throw a post in there now and then. The culinary school argument is interesting. For now I'll stick with just "regular" college, as that's all that time and money permit, but if the chance arises I would definitely do it, if for no other reason than to sharpen my own cooking abilities. It's something I've been thinking about doing for a while.

One time my mom and I were having a conversation in the car, with my grandpa, who is a little hard of hearing, in the backseat. We were talking about an article my mom had read about the dangers of plastics, to which my grandpa responded, "well, I do have the occasional ravioli." Apparently he thought we were talking about the dangers of PASTAS. And though my mom will deny this, she once ordered a "Mr. Dildo Bar" at Dairy Queen.

BryanZ: I do get paid, however I don't get credit. You probably do, which is why you don't get paid. That doesn't mean we can't start a union though to get both money AND credit. Fat Guy: You're definitely right! I don't post too much on here but I read constantly (it's a great procrastination tool) and pick up all sorts of info. Well, this thread is a great example of that. The internet can definitely be a great thing in terms of networking and meeting people via message boards like this.

Thanks BouchonIntern for the advice, but I think I'll stay in school for now anyway. If nothing else, I'm pretty sure my parents would have a fit if all their money went down the drain (regardless of whether you think it may be going there already). Ideally I will be able to get some of that real world experience and go to school at the same time. My school schedule is not so crazy that I don't have time for extracurricular culinary and travel forays. I will definitely also follow the advice of looking to write for local papers/doing internships. I am actually getting paid right now to write for my school's paper, which is pretty cool. And, being a freshman, unless something comes up, I'll be able to keep this gig for at least another four years. Of course, writing for a publication that has a wider distribution would be really cool, but as for now I'm at least getting a lot of clips which will hopefully lead to later jobs. Also, for those of you who did internships out of college, tell me more about that. Did you just do an internship for a paper and hang around with the food writer? What about internships for food magazines? Or other food publications, websites, etc. Do many food news outlets have interns? Thanks again for all the great advice!

Thanks for the answers everyone. BryanZ, I definitely know what you're talking about. The UW is surrounded by a LOT of Asian restaurants, and also has a big Asian population, so in the context of having to write about food specifically in the area, Asian food is pretty predominant. Japanese food also happens to be somewhat of an obsession of mine (I have with me, in the dorms, seven Japanese cookbooks). My next few articles are much less Asian-oriented (no pun intended). As far as eating, writing and travelling, I've been doing a lot of that. Last summer my family went on a three week road trip through California and the Southwest, and I kept a journal of restaurants we went to that ended up being about 20 pages. I'm heading to San Francisco next weekend and my first stop after I get off the plane is Y. Ben House for dim sum, which I've been craving since I last ate there in July. I try to write pretty often about food just in my own spare time, and I definitely read a lot as well. I'm currently working on Best Food Writing of 2005 and The Art of Eating between Faulkner and French homework. Cooking is a passion too, and despite living in the dorms, I've still managed to do a lot of it. My parents, though I love them, are not great cooks, and acknowledge that, so I get to make dinner pretty often at home. I try to read cookbooks and test out new recipes or techniques I haven't tried before. As far as culinary school goes, I'd love to do it, but definitely can't afford that and UW tuition at the same time. I do have a food handler's permit however, so I suppose I could just try to get a job at a restaurant this summer. I did work at Subway a few years ago... Spanish is a good idea too. I picked up a little at Disneyland this summer because everything there is in English and Spanish. Don't think "please watch your children" will help me in any restaurant kitchens though. The advice for non-fiction English classes is good too. I think my writing is OK, but I haven't really taken many writing classes so I could definitely benefit from some actual instruction. Likewise with journalism - food writing may not be "hard news" but I should probably know the basics. Thanks for all your advice!

I am currently in college, and an aspring food writer. I am sort of confused however, as to how these two things are related, and how the former will ultimately help me in the future with a career in the latter. After doing some searching on this site, I've seen a lot of different backgrounds (a lot of lawyers, though I don't think I'll try the food writer via law school route), so I'm wondering what areas you've studied in, and if they have anything to do with your current profession. My current plan is to study French and comparative literature - will these help me? I don't know. I do know that they interest me, and more importantly they are not math or science. I also plan on studying abroad in France, where I will undoubtedly eat a lot of good food, and hopefully get some good experience. I've also been doing more or less weekly food stories for my school's (University of Washington) paper (www.thedaily.washington.edu), which, prior to me, had nothing except an online guide to teriyaki, pizza and thai restaurants around campus. I look forward to hearing your replies and maybe advice as to which classes I should take next quarter!

I picked up the wine Kit Kat a few weeks ago. It didn't have a super wine-y taste, it was more fruity; it tasted mostly like strawberry. You definitely had to strain your taste buds to pick out a wine flavor, but it was there. Unfortunately I didn't try the noir, as I couldn't really justify spending almost ten dollars on Kit Kats.

I go to the University of Washington, which has a pretty big percentage of Japanese students, so we get a lot of Japanese candies in the "convenience stores" on campus. We just got the soy bean and black sesame pockys a few days ago, and they're really good! I haven't even seen them at Uwajimaya, which is a pretty big Japanese grocery store here in Seattle, so that's saying something. One of my favorite things we have here are these little Cheeto shaped chocolate puffs, half dipped in chocolate. They taste just like... well, chocolate Cheetos. But in a good way.

I second the Tofu Banh Mi from Saigon Deli, although I'm referring to the Saigon Deli on Rainier and Jackson. I haven't been to the other one, I'll have to check it out. A perfect lunch for me is a Tofu Banh Mi, some of those deep fried, bean paste filled sesame balls and a lychee drink. Mmmm. I think my favorite vegetarian sandwich (vegan, actually) would have to be the Tofustrami from Hillside Quickies in the U. District. They marinate the tofu themselves and it has a great smoky flavor that is the antithesis of the stereotype of tofu being bland. The vegan potato salad that the put on the sandwiches is great too, and I don't even like potato salad. Being a student at the UW, it's tough to resist buying one on the way to class every day... unfortunately, on my student budget, that's not exactly feasible. However, Banh Mi ARE pretty cheap, and there are a few places to get them around the U. District, though I haven't tried any yet. I should get on that...

Thanks hzrt8w! I'm gonna have to try that little trick with the shao-hsing wine, looks like fun! Not to mention it looks tasty too

I just moved into the dorms two weeks ago, and I must say I'm suffering from kitchen withdrawl. The food here is hit and miss, but overall it's pretty bad. Tonight the vegetarian option at "five spice wok" (the UW's Asian themed restaurant in my dorm) was stir fried vegetables, rice and a rice cracker (like this: http://www.quakeroats.com/qfb_OurBrands/Br...cfm?BrandID=12) covered in teriyaki sauce I have managed to get pretty creative with my rice cooker though. I made chazuke by cooking rice, then combining it with chazuke mix and pouring water that was heated in the rice cooker over it. I also made rice pudding by cooking rice, then adding in milk and sugar (sugar stolen from the cafeteria) and stirring it until it was more or less warm. I also have a George Forman grill, which I've used to grill cold deli sandwiches, bagels and sausages. I'm thinking about trying to make pancakes on it from some pancake mix I brought with me. There is also a kitchen on each floor, but there are no pots or pans, and no work space at all. I'm not even thinking about touching the microwave, from which a nuclear/burnt cheese smell emenates I guess the upside is that I will hopefully be able to contribute to the UW Daily's currently dismal food writing (which hardly exists anyway).