Suzanne Podhaizer

Cloves. A restaurant in my town serves their cheese plate with dried apricots that have been reconstituted in a clove-inflected syrup. Gorgeous.

Thanks Mimi! I think it will be beneficial for me to cultivate that perspective...I know I'll need thicker skin to do this job. At the moment, my critics outweigh my credentials (at least in the eyes of the public, since I'm new at the job) but eventually, the equation will reverse, I hope!

I've been publishing as a food writer for some time, but just recently became the all-around food writer/newshound/critic for an artsy newsweekly. For the first couple of weeks things were kind of quiet -- I got one note that scolded me for writing positively about a foie gras experience -- but one of my recent articles really pissed some people off. As a very sensitive soul, this isn't easy for me. So food journalists of all varieties -- how do YOU deal with YOUR hate mail? Do you post it on your dartboard? Correct your critic's spelling? Forward it to your friends so they can console you? Make me laugh...I need it!

When you skip the wedding (paying to feed all those other people is so expensive!), take a trip instead, and make the whole journey into a culinary tour. When you view trips to visit friends and relatives across country as excuses for going to the best restaurants within 100 miles of their homes. When your partner/housemates books are in stacks on the living room floor because your cookbook collection has taken over all of the shelves. When you can't get out of a used bookstore without bringing 6 cookbooks with you, 5 of which you'll never cook from because they are novelty items like "The War-Time Edition Russian Cookbook for American Homes" from 1943 and the Campbell's "Cooking with Soup" cookbook from 1970 (horrifyingly great food photography).

My friends laugh at me because I'm a complete spreadsheet geek! Here are some of the culinary uses I've found for Excel: 1) Indexing my food magazines. I track article topics, all recipes by main ingredients, recommended restaurants and wines, etc. This takes forever!! 2) Creating a recipe database. When I take cookbooks out of the library or borrow them, I enter all of my favorite recipes. Each tab is for a different type of recipe. I have a separate sheet for my own recipes. 3) Keeping track of food costs. Self-explanatory! 4) Planning weekly menus. I get almost all of my food from farm shares, and each week I need to make sure that I use up all of the vegetables (in order from most perishable to least perishable), so this is how I do it. It's a wonder I have time for anything else!

My immediate family (mom, sister and brother) have never experienced a tasting menu, so this year, my husband and I are going to try to create the experience for them. Since there will only be five of us, I'm hoping that we won't go too crazy. We'll probably take breaks between courses to play games and finish up the next course. The recipes are from a combination of places--the French Laundry Cookbook, my own head, and Epicurious mostly, with one that is based on a dish I ate at No. 9 Park in Boston. Smoked Salmon with Sweet Red Onion Crème Fraîche on Toast Sweet Potato Soup with Orange Creme Fraiche Seared Foie Gras with Pickled Cherries on Mesclun Greens with walnut oil and cherry vinaigrette Chestnut Ravioli with Fontina and Celery Root Puree Seared Scallops with Brussels sprouts, Pancetta, and Browned Pear Butter Duck with Honey Glaze and Lavender Pomegranate and Orange Sorbet Cheese Course—Humboldt, Aged Gouda, Something sheepish with Fig and Anise Bread, Pears, Candied Hazelnuts, and Candied Kumquats Haven't figured out the dessert courses yet, but I'm thinking about a trio of Christmas-y ice creams (peppermint stick, eggnog, and maybe gingerbread, plum pudding or fruitcake flavored?) with some accompaniments, but I'm not sure yet.

I'm a bit of a tea purist since I used to work at a tearoom. My favorites are: Chinese Green-- Dian Lu E-Shan, Bi Lo Chun and Huang Shan Mao Feng Japanese Green-- Gyokuro and high-grade Tamaryokucha Chinese and Taiwanese Oolongs (most of my favorites are in this catagory) Tai Guan Yin Tung-Ting Huang Dan Cong and of course Pu-Er. When customers asked me to describe the flavor of Pu-er, my favorite answer is that it tastes like a basement, but in a good way. I also enjoy tisanes of Rooibus (btw--I think there may be different regional pronunciations for this word--a South African woman told us that it is pronounced Roo-boy) and I also like Mate--served in a gourd with a bombilla. The tearoom where I worked, which is located in Burlington, VT, also sells tea on-line--here's the URL Dobra Tearoom.

I've certainly had my best restaurant year ever--most of the offerings are in the San Francisco area cause I was there on my honeymoon...here's the list: 1) French Laundry (Napa) 2) Fleur de Lys (San Fran) 3) No. 9 Park (Boston)--not dinner though, this was a delightful 9 course lunch that I had all by my lonesome. It was my first time eating alone in a fancy restaurant. 4) Chez Panisse (Berkeley) 5) Quince (San Fran) 6) B&G Oysters and the Butcher's Shop (same night--Boston) I was on a Barbara Lynch tour during that trip to Boston 7) The Slanted Door (San Fran) 8) Cortez (San Fran) 9) L'Amante (Burlington, VT) 10) Smokejacks (Burlington, VT) I ate at Gary Danko too, but was disappointed by the meal and the service.

While it is true that artificial vanilla is made pretty much entirely of vanillin, which is the main chemical componant of real vanilla, the difference is mostly in what is absent...real vanilla contains between 250 and 300 chemical compounds which give it the complex flavor for which it is prized--artificial vanilla, with its one flavor compound, does taste different. In college I took a course in the Sensory Evaluation of Foods. In that course, we learned to identify chocolate and ice cream that used vanillin vs. vanilla--however, we were also trained to notice the difference, whereas most consumers are not. Also, some of the commercial vanillin making processes generate toxic waste (benzene among other things), while other more modern techniques are more environmentally friendly (they produce "more manageable" waste). Regardless of the way in which they are produced, most vanillin is made with industrial by-products, either of the wood pulp and paper industries or of the petrochemical industries. Both aesthetics and ethics may be a consideration for some people when making a decision about which vanilla products to use.

Even though we celebrate at my mom's house, I am in charge of Thanksgiving dinner (I think that started when I was in my early 20s). My mom does all the desserts, and I take care of everything else (with the help of my younger sister, and these days, my fabulous husband). I try to make sure that the menu is different every year, and I'm lucky because I come from a family of adventurous eaters. Here's the bill of fare this year: Breakfast: Sweet breads (not sweetbreads) made by my mother. Will probably include cranberry bread and some type of scone. Lunch: Smoked Trout and Horseradish Creme Fraiche (from Gastronomic Meditations) Smoky Deviled Eggs Onion and Bacon Tart Olives Honey and Chipotle Roasted Nuts Goat Cheese with Homemade Chutney (inspired by Recipe Gullet) Dinner: Brined, Free-Range Turkey--Roasted with Herbs Apple Cider Gravy (cheating and using homemade chicken stock instead of Turkey Stock) Roasted Chestnut, Sausage and Sage Stuffing--it's not Thanksgiving unless my sister and I have chestnut-peeling related injuries (burns and scratches). Yukon Gold Potato and Celery Root Gratin--made with Gruyere Shredded Brussels Sprouts cooked in Duck fat and served with Toasted Walnuts and Bayley-Hazen Blue Cheese Homemade Citrus and Spice Cranberry Jelly Sweet Potato and Apple Dish provided by my Mother-in-Law Dessert (after many board games): Blueberry Sour Cream Tart Pumpkin Cheesecake Pecan Pie I love holidays!!!

Although I haven't eaten at Per Se, I recently ate at the French Laundry, and the service was anything but snotty. Hopefully this information is still pertinent to the discussion... Although I do not make much money, I choose to spend a good portion of my income on food--whether this is at the grocery store or at restaurants. I always tip at least 20% (more on smaller bills) in average restaurants because I know that most servers are making less than minimum wage and don't have health insurance. Anything above the 20% I consider to be discretionary and based on service. This is my own rule and standard I've set for myself based on my knowledge of the industry and my system of ethics. When I'm saving up to go out to dinner (which I have to do because of my income), I factor in this extra amount. I've seen people, both older and younger than me, tip very poorly. Many (the older folks particularly) don't seem to understand how tough it is for waitstaff at most restaurants to make a decent living. Others (generally the younger folks) suggest that they don't make much money either, so they just can't manage to tip well. I recently ate at the French Laundry. It was my first experience with a waitstaff that was paid via a service charge...here's what I experienced: 1) We didn't order wine initially (my husband doesn't drink) and the level of service did not change at all. In other restaurants, I've had servers treat us "snottily" because we didn't order a bottle. 2) When we told the server it was a special occasion (our wedding night), he comped me 2 glasses of champagne (and sparkling cider for my husband) and the kitchen sent out two extra courses (on top of the 9 regular courses). Later I ordered a glass of gewurztraminer and a glass of port with dessert. However, the sommelier decided to send me a more expensive glass of sherry that he felt paired well with the "extra" dessert course...and they didn't charge me for the wine either. They also gave us 8 FL chocolate bars and two copies of the menu to take home. 3) There were 5 staff members who provided service to our table throughout the evening. Each one took the time to talk to us, answer questions, etc. 4) The people at the next table (a 4-top) clearly had more money than we do (judging by their attire, jewelry, and their conversation). However, they didn't seem to be "food lovers" as we are. For example, one of the women stated that the "oysters and pearls" tasted kind of like Kraft mac and cheese (which she really likes, by the way). These folks also had wine. My perception (and I could be wrong here) was that the waitstaff enjoyed talking to us because we loved the food, and because they weren't worried about their tips, they could take the time to do so rather than focusing on that 4-top. I feel like we got better service because of the arrangement. 4.5) I'd have been thrilled even if he'd just comped that champagne and given us the menus--it was above and beyond to send out 2 extra courses and the glasses of wine and sherry, and the chocolate bars. The only explanations I can imagine for this is a desire to provide good service and a once-in-a-lifetime experience (which one's wedding night ought to be), or to reward us as customers for being so obviously thrilled to be there--it is possible that they were hoping we'd leave extra money, but given that the folks at the next table over were a better bet for a bigger tip, I don't think this was the case. 5) When the bill (which for me represented more than a week's salary) came, I opted to tip on top of the 20% service charge because the service/experience was so wonderful. I don't know what exactly happened to that "tip," although I would be interested to know, but I was happy to leave it. 6) The service charge was a separate line item on the bill. It was 19% of the food and beverage costs, and was calculated before tax. Whether or not this system would work for the average restaurant I can't say, but I can attest that it is working at the FL (or at least it seemed to that night).

For some other thoughts on authenticity, you may want to take a look at the site for the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Authenticity was the symposium topic for 2005. On their website they have a "report on the proceedings" that includes some of the main points from a couple of key talks. They also have a listing of the proposals they received, although I haven't yet discovered a way to read the papers that were actually presented. Although I read their write-up a couple of weeks ago, some of the comments there struck me as very similar to what Paula said above.

Quoting R Washburn My comment below is slightly off the main topic, and I'm frightened to step into this particular debate for various reasons, but I want to note that in most cases, the prices of organic products are higher not because the farmers are making huge profits and laughing all the way to the bank, but because it costs more money to produce the same amount of milk/vegetables/meat using organic methodology. I live in Vermont where there are many conventional and organic dairy farmers, as well as many conventional and regular vegetable farmers. I have more experience with the organic vegetable farmers myself, but they are working just as hard as the conventional farmers (and perhaps sometimes harder, since they can't use some of the shortcut techniques available in conventional ag), and none of the ones I know have very much money. Many of these farmers give crops to the foodshelf, accept foodstamps at Farmer's Market, and particpate in Farm Share programs so that people can have access to their products at a lower cost. Most of the small organic farmers are choosing to raise their animals/crops the way they do because they believe it is the right thing to do, not because they are getting rich. It may be different in other parts of the country though, if there are bigger, more mechanized organic farms that end up charging the same amount for their products as do the small organic farms. Also, I wonder if the grocery stores contribute to price inflation on organic/local products... An effect of the higher cost of rgbh free milk (whether organic or not) is that even consumers who aren't comfortable with the growth hormone (who would like to see longer term studies on the effects, who don't want to support Monsanto's products for ethical reasons, or who would prefer to drink local milk because of other sustainability issues), might feel stuck purchasing said product.

Which came first: the wedding date decision or the French Laundry reservation? ← The French Laundry Reservation--(could you have guessed?) I couldn't leave that factor up to chance. I guess this is why so many people think my priorities are strange!

When I travel (which is sadly much too rare) my process for selecting restaurants goes like this: 1) Subscribe to Zagats.com, and make a list of the top 30 or so restaurants in the area, making sure to include representatives from lots of different cuisines. 2) Check out other websites that post in-depth reviews in order to weed out some of the restaurants that are inconsistent or just less exciting. 3) Go to the websites of the restaurants that are still in the running, and check out the menu--this ends up being the deciding factor. I've found this three-prong strategy to be wildly succesful so far--on my honeymoon/food tour of the Bay Area, we only ate at one place that we wouldn't want to go back to (Gary Danko--oddly enough). I found that looking at the menus on-line really helped me to get a sense of the chef's style, and allowed me to pick out the kinds of places that appeal to us the most. That said, I never paid much attention to the other trappings of the websites.

Because I consider myself a food historian as well as a cook, I find it extremely difficult to get rid of cookbooks--even the truly awful ones--because each one is representative of what cooking was like during a given time period. I think of them all as research material, which helps me justify the collection. That said, I'm pretty careful these days about which cookbooks I buy, and I buy almost everything used. I only pick up books that will enhance the collection in some way. For example, I recently purchased a cookbook printed in 1893--I will certainly never cook from it, but it is quite interesting to read! In the rare cases when I've gotten rid of a cookbook, I've typed any recipes that interested me into an excel database that I've created. That way, I don't feel as great a sense of loss!

Another food related Tomie dePaola book is Strega Nona, which features a magical pasta pot gone wild!

I've joked in the past that I can get into a conversation with anybody and have them talking about food within five minutes. As other people have suggested, it's one of the few topics that's completely universal. And most people (although not all) enjoy eating enough that they like talking about food, at least for a time. I find that knowing about what a person likes to eat gives a lot of insight into other aspects of his/her personality. When I'm at the grocery store, I always examine what people are buying and try to guess at what they are like. I know that this can create stereotypes, so I don't take myself too seriously, but it's a fun exercise. For the same reason, I love to ask people questions about their food preferences. In my experience, most Americans consider themselves to be novices in the realms of cooking and nutrition. Often when I'm walking home from farmer's market, strangers will ask me questions about what I intend to do with my vegetables. Once people (whether strangers or acquaintences) find out I'm a foodie, they seem to ask lots of questions, such as--how would you make pesto for someone who can't eat nuts, or, I saw a quince in the store the other day, what's a quince? Since my graduate studies revolve around a study of the American diet and American food culture, I consider all of this talking that I do to be schoolwork!

I am so caught up in the romance of food that when I wrote my wedding vows, the theme was how a couple's habits around food can be metaphorically linked to other aspects of the relationship. My husband and I didn't have a wedding, instead, we used our money to go on a food tour of Northern California, which included the French Laundry (on our wedding night), Chez Panisse, Fleur de Lys, and other exciting area restaurants. One thing that this trip made very clear is that for me, sharing food is the most romantic part of a romantic dinner. It is very important to me that we have the experience of the same foods, so that we can look back and talk about the items that we ate together. It would be sad, I think, if we ate at a wonderful restaurant but couldn't reminisce collectively about the aroma of the truffled gnocchi or the flavor of a particular caviar. And unlike some of the other people who have posted, I think that analyzing the food lends itself to the eroticism of an evening on the town. In my book, there's nothing as sexy as a partner who can explain in appropriately poetic terms how a flavor unfolds in his/her mouth. This level of sensuality and intensity around food suggests, to me, equal levels of sensuality and intensity in other aspects of life.

My husband and I have many more books than we know what to do with. Our cookbooks (and other food related books) make up the majority of our collection. Right now we have two tall, yet skinny bookshelves that hold only cookbooks. Any cookbooks that don't fit properly on the shelves are stacked on top of the shelves or squeezed in on top of the books that are on the shelves. I try to keep the shelves organized by theme (vegetarian books on one shelf, Asian cookbooks on another), but despite my best efforts, sometimes size becomes the most important factor. All of my food memoirs, history books, etc. are organized by catagory and stacked on the floor against one of the walls of our living room. The biggest book in the catagory is on the floor and the smallest is on top of the pile. It's not the most elegant method for storing books, but at least they're somewhat organized. My brother-in-law is building us some bookshelves as a wedding gift, so until they're done, this is how it will be. All of my cooking magazines are on another bookshelf...they take up the whole thing.

I am another lamb lover--in fact, one of my early childhood foodie memories revolves around lamb. When I was about seven, my parents took me to a fancy restaurant called "The Rabbit Hill Inn," which is in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The only thing I remember about that meal was that I had lamb and absolutely loved it. Also, every Easter we have a roasted leg of lamb for dinner. We prepare it by poking holes all over the leg, and stuffing each hole with a sliver of garlic and a shard of lemon zest (I believe this technique is called "lardooning.") We then slather the whole thing with olive oil and fresh herbs, and roast until rare. We pour the pan drippings over pasta (recently I've been doing homemade lemon pepper linguine) and feast! We often serve some type of asparagus dish on the side, and always, always finish off the meal with a lemon cheesecake. I am lucky enough to reside in Burlington, Vermont, where "eating local" is a way of life for many. This year I was able to purchase a share of organic lamb (30 lbs.) from a local farm--very exciting. Unlike others in this survey, I actually think that the fat of the lamb is the best part--lamb fat is sexy food!