DIGEST: Boston Globe Food Section

[alacarte]

Note: Below you will find the collection of digests in chronological order. For the latest digest go to the end.

Boston Globe – March 12, 2003

Much to my surprise, a book review of “The Amazing World of Rice” turned out to be the best read of today’s food section.

Mussels and cockles and more: The Irish offer their famous hospitality (Alison Arnett)

--Feature story about the slew of Irish pubs in the Boston area, ranging from the traditional to more offbeat Irish-owned restaurants and bars offering Spanish tapas, Cuban sandwiches, risotto or other fare atypical to Irish pubs. “What it is about the Irish that makes them such natural restaurateurs?”

Mussels and cockles and more

It's easy to make souffles rise and shine (Andrea Pyenson)

--Interesting & practical article about the art, science, and history of soufflés.

“Golden brown and puffed up over their collars, souffles emerge from the oven like miniature chefs' hats. ..

Yet for all the accolades they draw, souffles are somewhat misunderstood. They are admired by diners as the epitome of culinary elegance, but many home cooks are afraid of them, thinking they're too fragile to attempt. That's one reason souffles have been popular on restaurant menus.”

Souffles

BOOK REVIEW: Not all rice is Asian, not all Asian cuisines use rice (T. Susan Chang)

An extremely well-written review of “The Amazing World of Rice” by Marie Simmons. Chang is alternately self-deprecating and fun to read. She confesses that she hadn’t realized that not all Asian cooking uses rice (a fact I had not realized either). Clearly she spent a good deal of time cooking from this cookbook – something surprisingly few cookbook critics do, at least not this thoroughly. I wish more did. I especially enjoy her account of trying to cook tempura from the book: “Late that evening, covered in batter, I finally sampled my first homemade tempura -- crisp, light, delicately dipped in the gingered sauce -- and practically swooned, one happy cook in need of a shower.”

Not all rice is Asian

Also two columns about wine – personally I’m not a fan of wine or wine writing, but here are the links for those who may be:

ON WINE: The buzz on Bordeaux is value (Stephen Meuse)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/071/food...is_value+.shtml

THE GRAPEVINE: BU seminars offer European perspectives (Stephen Meuse)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/071/food...pectives+.shtml

[Steve Klc]

alacarte--do you know the paper and the Boston scene well enough to give us a brief rundown of the editor and writers for this section--who they are, how long you've been reading them--and what distinctions are made between "staff," "correspondent" and/or freelancer?

Thank you for the nice annotations.

(By the way, the only souffle misunderstanding this diner has is why they are on any menu except for French restaurants that time forgot.)

[alacarte]

Steve,

Thank you for the feedback. I'll be honest & admit that no, I do not know the Globe well enough to give a run-down on all the editors/writers. I'm a frequent traveller to Boston & an avid Globe reader -- avid enough to know that "Correspondent" is a euphemism for free-lance contributor -- but that's about it.

Can anyone out there provide more information?

"alacarte"

[Steve Klc]

But even that's helpful--thanks alacarte!

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – March 19, 2003

OK, this is where I get to editorialize:

1. The best article in Boston Globe this week is on raising chickens. Caught me by surprise. It’s only tangentially about the cooking & eating of said chickens, but it’s still a fun read.

2. What intrigued me most was not an article but an ad for ‘Edible Art 2003.’ I’ve read about these in the Chicago area too. I’ve meant to write an article about Art as Food (as opposed to the usual --Food as Art) for some time now….Would love to hear from anyone who’s ever attended one of these exhibits? http://www.lesley.edu/aib/edibleart/index.html

Here chickie, chickie, chickie ... Pull off a coup by raising your own chickens (B.J. Roche)

A surprisingly delightful read on the dangers of living in a chickencentric universe. An excerpt:

‘We had ordered six chicks from the hatchery, but seven birds, including a free bonus ''Mystery Bird,'' arrived in the mail late last spring. They all looked the same at first. But soon our Mystery Bird emerged as a silver-spangled Hamburg rooster, a jaunty little fellow with black and white tailfeathers, who looked like something you'd see painted on a plate in a Williams-Sonoma catalog.

We named him Oddball, and all was right with the world. That was, until another chick - this one a slightly aggressive Buff Orpington - doubled in size (seemingly overnight), and began to crow. Now we had two roosters.

We started getting up very early. My friend and chicken guru Pat Leuchtman, who lives in Heath, had three words for me when I told her about our dilemma. ''Coq au vin.''’

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...chickie_+.shtml

A bit of what Oscar brings to the table (Beverly Levitt)

“In the movies food is never just food.” Article dissecting the use of food in 2002 movies including Chicago, The Pianist, Adaptation, etc. Anyone remember Babette’s Feast? Includes a recipe for “Pozole verde” (a reference to Frida Kahlo).

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...he_table+.shtml

STIRRINGS: The battle of the buttercream rose (T. Susan Chang)

About the writer’s infatuation with, and struggle to create buttercream roses. Also kind of a roundabout review of the “Cupcake Café Cookbook.”

"One night I dreamed of buttercream..."

Other articles:

The ever-dependable pot roast: Homey meal suits all tastes (Sarah Hearn)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...l_tastes+.shtml

Spring is around the corner, and accordingly, the Boston Globe is dedicating space to health & fitness:

Getting Fit: Spring is just around the corner (Alison Arnett)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...e_corner+.shtml

Spa cooking can streamline your diet (Lisa Zwirn)

“Welcome to spa cuisine, where prune puree replaces sugar, egg whites stand in for yolks or whole eggs, and vegetable purees (along with minuscule portions of monounsaturated fats) pretend they're butter.”

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...our_diet+.shtml

The best diets will kick your metabolism into high gear (Bev Bennett)

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...igh_gear+.shtml

Glass Notes: Pinot Grigios are all over the map

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food..._the_map+.shtml

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/food...to_start+.shtml

Edited July 30, 2003 by Fat Guy (log)

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – March 26, 2003

Highlights:

Pour it on! (T. Susan Chang)

About the rising organic maple syrup tapping movement in New England According to John Cleary of the Northeast Organic Farming Association in Vermont, organic applications on the part of maple producers doubled this year.

Hmmm, wasn’t there a recent e-Gullet discussion string on maple sugaring season?

BEANTOWN CLICK: organic maple syrup

Dried fruits keep the chilly season sunny (Lisa Zwirn)

A bounty of regal recipes uses apricots, dates, and raisins

Everything you wanted to know about dried fruit but were afraid to ask. Focuses on the use of dried fruit in the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa. Recipes include Lamb tagine with prunes and Persian chicken with orange.

Keep the chilly season sunny

Natural pesticides in wine keep fruit healthy (Stephen Meuse)

The polyphenol abundant in red wine that is believed to play a key role in delaying the onset of coronary heart disease -- is also effective in preventing post-harvest rot in grapes and other fruits.

Highlight: Sean Shesgreen, professor of English at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., has gone public with his ruminations. His article, ''Wet Dogs and Gushing Oranges: Winespeak for a New Millennium,'' published in the March 7 ''Chronicle of Higher Education,'' is causing a bemused stir.

Author’s endnote: “As a writer, we found Shesgreen unpretentious but decidedly pungent, with an incisively wry edge and hints of fresh-cut irony.”

Unpretentious but pungent

Also:

COUNTER INTELLIGENCE: With Zoo Sticks, a rhino is perfect for sushi rice [/color](T. Susan Chang)

Quickie about a toy maker that has created chopsticks with molded plastic animal shapes at the top – giraffe, rhinoceros, lion, monkey. Personally, I’m dying for a pair!!!

Rhino sticks click

Chefs take the stage at 'Banned in Boston' benefit (Alison Arnett)

''Banned in Boston 2003,'' a benefit for the violence prevention program Urban Improv, will feature chefs in acting roles. Oh dear…

Chefs take the stage

Granola maker has recipe for success (Denise Dube)

Profile of the Milford-based maker of Goddess Granola.

Granola maker has recipe

In this kitchen, inches count: Small details make these cooks happy (By Andrea Pyenson)

“Tthe first in a series on renovated home kitchens designed for people who really cook.”

ZZZZZZZZ…….

In this kitchen, inches count

Edited July 30, 2003 by Fat Guy (log)

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – April 2, 2003

Best of Boston:

First daughter Claudine gets married, and now this…

His life in the kitchen Jacques Pepin cooks, paints, teaches, writes, and reminisces

(By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff)

PEPIN'S RECIPES:

Maman's cheese souffle

Roast leg of lamb Provencale

A birthday cake like grandma used to makeBy Gabriella Gershenson, Globe Correspondent

“When my mother brought me home from Memorial Hospital, a fresh krendel, baked by Babulinka, was waiting for us.

The cake isn't what an American child might imagine for a birthday cake. After all, it has no frosting, no layers, and no candles. Krendel (pronounced kryen-dzel) is low and yeasty with a streusel topping, more like coffee cake or a babka than a Duncan-Hinesian creation.”

CAKE RECIPE: Gurevich family krendel

Officer does justice to gourmet cooking: John Sisco has made his home into a restaurant

By Deniece Washington, Globe Correspondent

“He is stirring big pots of food on the stove, rushing them to the table, and serving friends, family, and colleagues. Sisco runs a restaurant at his home in Hyde Park that has little in common with ordinary restaurants: There is no charge.”

Also:

With self-checkout, it's life in the fast lane

Shopping against the clock

Chef to show wine-seafood pairings

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

McDonald's hopes fruit, pasta options boost health,sales

By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent

[Steve Klc]

Thanks much alacarte--remind me--"correspondents" are freelancers and not staff writers or reporters?

[alacarte]

That's correct -- "Correspondent" indicates freelance, and "Globe Staff" indicates a staff writer. So this section takes quite a bit of free-lance writing.

Hmm, is anyone from the "I wanna be a food writer" thread reading this???

[Suzanne F]

Yes.

Thanks for the info (all of it)

[alacarte]

My pleasure.

By the way, Suzanne F, I checked out the Weebl & Bob site. It made me laugh & then it made me want some pie!

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – April 9, 2003

Deliciously buttery

Lakota Bakery's cookies make everyone happy. By Galen Moore

“…For almost 20 years Barbara Weniger has been using all her ingenuity as a baker to produce cookies that contain as much butter as possible. To develop one recipe for chocolate wafers, Weniger began with a decent recipe, then just kept going. As she explains it, 'halve the sugar and double the butter and see what happens. Then I just started adding more and more chocolate.'”

What a wonderful concept! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Asking for a little respect, please A chef's wife does all the work and sees no glory

Descriptive profile of Courtney Febbroriello, author of ''Wife of the Chef: The True Story of a Restaurant and a Romance.'' Includes recipe for Potato-chive gnocchi.

Tamil New Year is a time of ritual and repast

Tamils are a people from the deep south of India. This article is a personal essay that reflects on childhood memories of the holiday, and the sumptuous lunch that includes delicacies such as a sweet, hot rice called paal payasam and mor kozhambu, a hot buttermilk gravy, with tomato rasam, tomatoes cooked with tamarind. Includes recipes for tomato rasam and mor kozhambu.

The hottest, hippest spot: Once run-down, Park Square is now a thriving restaurant row

Restaurants mentioned include Todd English’s Bonfire, Davio’s, and Via Matta.

Also:

An Easter bunny worth believing in

THE VEGETARIAN COOK: Passover cookbook makes it easy to pass on meat

Kosher wines aren't different from all other wines

In granola, Matzo rises to the occasion

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – April 16, 2003

Brookline-based Beacon Common Press, which publishes Cook's Illustrated magazine, took away two prizes at the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference.

Full list of The 2003 International Association of Culinary Professionals award winners.

Market growth: Once a farm stand, Russo's has become a full-service store

“Tonight, Passover begins with its traditional Seder, calling on parsley, horseradish, and the mixture of fresh and dried fruit called charoset. Next Sunday's Easter celebration means asparagus, potatoes, spinach, and strawberries.For some, like Michael A. ''Tony'' and Olgo A. Russo Jr., Easter means bitter greens.The brothers own A. Russo & Sons, a third-generation company and one of New England's top produce and specialty foods purveyors.”

Wine, dine with Rosenblum Cellars CEO

Hosting a Passover week food marathon, from Seders to leftovers

Company’s coming: Roast whole leg of lamb over potatoes and onions

The Vegetarian Cook: Pasta with springtime sauce

Book Review: Once Upon A Tart

Includes a recipe for Baked lemon tart

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – April 23, 2003

Home, Sweet Home

In these uncertain times, staying in to cook and entertain is gaining popularity.

(how many times has this story been written during the last two years?) Includes some suitably homey recipes:

Macaroni & cheese

Roast striped bass with tomatoes and olives

Wild mushroom risotto with hazelnuts

Thai red curry with tofu and mango

So dark, so rich, so totally divine (By Lisa Yockelson) “A chocolate batter that bakes into tender, flavorful layers is first the result of juggling a medley of ingredients, and second, a matter of technique.”

The recipe: Deluxe chocolate layer cake -- “inspired by a buttermilk chocolate layer cake my late mother contributed to grade-school bake sales.”

Lamb helps make the leap into spring :At Evoo, tender braised meat marks the new season

Balsamic-braised lamb shoulder

And...

It's hard for a girl to ignore a chocolate bar, but one that has ''It's not for girls'' emblazoned across its wrapper is just screaming out for a female to gobble it down.

Nestle UK's Yorkie bar has been marketed specifically to men since 1976, and last year the company took its chocolate-for-men campaign to a new level.

Yorkie bars

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – April 30, 2003

Denmark’s answer to the doughnut

Aebleskiver -- literally ''apple slice'' -- is a pancake puffball that rarely contains the apple tidbit originally tucked into its center as a sweet surprise.

Recipe: Aebleskivers

Working together for a perfect brew

After a hiatus of nine years, George Howell, who sold Coffee Connection to Starbucks in 1994, is back in business. This time, the celebrated fanatic is really on a mission: excellence in the cup and fair prices for growers.

“The Melting Pot Cooks”

About a local access show hosted by two Boston-area cooks. The show is filmed in one host’s home kitchen, and features Cuban cooking (though not exclusively).

Good pots and pans come in all shapes and sizes

Recipe: Lentil soup with sausage

[weinoo]

Aren't these the things that I remember eating some 25 years ago when I lived in Santa Barbara and used to go over the hill to Solvang, in the Santa Ynez Valley?

[LaurieA-B]

Oh, yes, they are. You can get aebleskivers all around Solvang. You buy them at a window and eat them on the sidewalk, three to a serving, I think, served with raspberry jam and powdered sugar. My dad grew up in Lompoc, near Solvang, and he used to make aebleskivers for weekend breakfast when I was growing up in Portland. Turning them to get a sphere is a bit tricky. Dad uses a wooden skewer. We always ate them with butter and pancake syrup. I don't imagine that very many of the Globe's readers have aebleskiver pans. I've never noticed them at an Asian market; I'll have to look next time at Uwajimaya. A friend took me to the pancake lady--on Mott Street, maybe?--in NY Chinatown a couple of years ago, and her cakes reminded me a bit of aebleskivers (though aebleskivers are separate from each other, not attached).

[TPO]

I used to live in a small rural Danish town in Minnesota and learned how to make aebleskivers there. Aebleskivers dinners are popular there, and the local restaurant serves aebleskivers once a week.

Every year I worked at their festival, where we made aebleskivers in these giant cast iron griddles that handled about 100 at a time. And every year, people who had been to Solvang talked about the terrific aebleskivers during Danish Days.

I still make them often (though not by the hundreds), serving them like they did, with chokecherry syrup and powdered sugar. Some parts of New England do have a number of Danish-Americans, and cast-iron aebleskiver pans are around. Sometimes, instead of a cast iron pan, I use my electric donut hole maker.

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – May 7, 2003

What is it about the taste that makes so many students reach for Coke instead of coffee first thing in the morning?

The kitchen the Gradys built

The second in a series on renovated home kitchens designed for people who really cook.

Boston’s scene adjusts to the new smoking ban.

Green warrior urges buying locally.

Article focuses on nutritionist Joan Dye Gussow, who advocates eating locally produced food.

According to Gussow, items found in your average meal travel 1,500 miles from farm to table, devouring the world's fuel resources in the process. She often cites the example of the 5-calorie strawberry, which consumes 435 fossil-fuel calories over its flight from New York to California.

Whole Foods Recipe: Grilled Andouille sausage and sweet potato salad

Profile of the Bread & Butter Baking Company

They are currants, actually, not raisins, explains Krystin Rubin, as she slides a blackened baker's paddle almost twice her height into the tall Bongard bread oven. It comes out bearing a raft of currant and walnut danishes, browned and puffed up, huge and flaky.

Go online to explore a world of exotic food

The Vegetarian Chef: Escarole and lemon risotto

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – May 14, 2003

Reinventing the marshmallow

Recipe: Marshmallows!

Making it legal: After 15 years, a new Legal Sea Foods cookbook is on the shelves

Recipe: Sole with lemons and capers

Legal Sea Foods president and CEO Roger Berkowitz says he hates cookbooks. They're too much of a pain to follow, he says.

Marketing strategy: At Montreal's Atwater food market, selling is serious business

These butchers, along with the produce sellers, coffee roasters, and noodle makers, are savvy, old-fashioned merchants who conduct business in French. They're not working here until a better job comes along -- this is what they do and what they're experts in. They're all part of Montreal's local color.

It’s a charmingly descriptive article, and the greenmarket graphic is enough to make me drool. But ummm….why is this in a Boston newspaper again?

Confidence in the kitchen: Cooking coach Alyson Zildjian is at the head of the class

Delicious artichokes are a pleasure to savor

Review of new book on French wine: “The New France” by Mitchell Beazley

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Boston Globe – May 21, 2003

It must be almost summertime – the first of the BBQ articles has arrived, albeit with a New England bent.

Smoking Success: A barbecue chef goes beyond the basics on the grill, adding flavor without the flames

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Recipe: clambake on the grill

New England really doesn't have the smoking and barbecuing lore of other parts of the country, Fahey says. But what is native is the clambake, and Fahey is enthusiastic about adapting the shore tradition - where shellfish might be buried in seaweed and cooked in a pit over a wood fire - to the backyard. His bake is ''more of a memory than an actual recipe.'' Fahey likes to find a gunnysack - an old rice sack with no dyes on it is a good choice, he says. In it, he'll layer parboiled potatoes and corn on the cob, then clams, then mussels. Sliced Portuguese sausage, or linguica, goes over that; the salt from the sausage will season all the ingredients.

Hunters and gatherers: On the trail of the Morel

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

California festival's cookbook stalks some wild asparagus recipes

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

“The Asparagus Festival Cookbook” receives a mixed review.

Recipe: Pan-fried asparagus with new season morels

Recipe: Light and fresh asparagus soup

Heaven Sent (A treatise on Angel Food Cake)

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Recipe: Flo’s Angel Food Cake

Recipe: Lemon Angel Food Cake

On Wine: An American finds success in Burgundy

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

[jmcgrath]

Jim Fahey did a special dinner for the New England Barbecue Society at B.B. Wolf's in January. We review it in the May issue of National Barbecue News. If I can find a soft copy of it I will post it here.

Jim

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – May 28, 2003

Here's the lowdown on the Boston Globe. An abbrevated version, as I have one foot out the door -- heading up to Boston (surprise, surprise).

Ciao, Peru! Chef Jose Duarte brings Peruvian flair to Italian food at Taranta

By Ann Cortissoz, Globe Staff

He has been hesitant to tell his customers where the extra zing in some of their favorite dishes comes from. ''This is the North End, after all,'' Duarte says. Diners expect Italian. But the response to the dishes has been so positive that now Duarte is ready to confess.

Some may have recognized the calzoncini fritti stuffed with leeks, mozzarella, and peruvian botija olives, or ground meat and onions as empanadas by another name. The spectacular seared tuna served over braised leeks and topped with bomba calabrese (a pepper sauce) gets its kick from Peruvian rocoto-pepper paste. A grilled octopus dish, polpo olivo, is served with black botija, or Alfonso, olives. The menu coyly refers to the luscious sauce on the shrimp and scallop ravioli as ''pesto di Taranta.'' Few would guess that the main ingredient in the lovely, slightly tangy spring-green sauce is a paste made from a flowery herb called huacatay, or Peruvian black mint. And for dessert, a spectacularly rich hazelnut mousse is topped with the Latin caramel sauce known as dulce de leche.

It all began because several members of the kitchen staff at Duarte's inviting, brick-walled restaurant are also Peruvian, and they would reminisce about Peru and the dishes they missed.

Milking the market

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

She's written the recipes for romance

By Devra First, Globe Staff

…on Amanda Hesser, the NYT food babe so many of us love to hate, and her new book.

Hood's snacksize treats full of flavor, but not guilt

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – June 4, 2003

Fenway Food gets an assist from chef Michael Gueiss

By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff

Gueiss, 39, is responsible for every bite of food consumed at Fenway Park, from the greasiest cheese steak sub gobbled down on the street to the most elegant slice of sashimi nibbled in an exclusive skybox.

It's two hours before game time, and the atmosphere around the ballpark is crackling with excited tension. Police officers stand in a cluster reviewing copies of the city's antiscalping policy, the grills are fired up, and the Red Sox are warming up out on the green.

When Aramark took over the premium catering at Fenway last year, Gueiss brought his reputation for fine-tuning American regional cuisine to Boston. Since his arrival, he's experimented with Cuban sandwiches, cod cakes, Caesar salads, and a wall of rotisserie chicken grills capable of slow-cooking 18 chickens at once.

Tasting Shanghai

Bitter greens are gaining fans

Authentic tacos are full of possibility

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – June 11, 2003

Hot dogs are nothing without it By Letitia Baldwin, Globe Correspondent

J. W. Raye & Co. is one of the world's last working stone mustard mills, producing a line of 16 gourmet mustards varying in flavor and texture from a smooth maple horseradish to a grainy brown ginger. Raye's Down East Schooner Mustard, a classic yellow, and Seadog Beer Mustard, good for dipping pretzels, have won gold medals at the annual Napa Valley Mustard Festival in Calistoga, Calif. The Maine-made condiments have also taken home ribbons from the Texas Fiery Foods Show and other competitions.

Mustard recipes!

A skillet for all seasons By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff

Cookbook review: ''The Gift of Southern Cooking.''

Luscious and sweet, mangoes are India's summer passion By Jehangir Pocha, Globe Correspondent

When Dad's at the stove

Pop's culture reigns in quite a few kitchens <GROAN...>

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent