Love Affairs with Gourmet Magazine

[Pontormo]

...i think it's pretty and I think it's good the Gourmet is looking into Latin food after mostly ignoring it but why are all the articles except one about Latin food in the US? I'd rather know what was going on in the actual countries... The first recipe I looked at was for the tamales. It calls out for masa harina, which is fine, but why does it specify tortilla masa rather than tamal masa?

I know I sound nit-picky but the information is out there so why get it wrong?

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I agree, Steve, that recipes are unfortunate when the ingredients are not traditional, though I wonder if masa harina is used in parts of the country where tamal masa is not accessible. I really don't know. I just had my first tamale lesson thanks to someone in need of the lard I just rendered--and it was because she had just come back from a trip to Southern California where she picked up the fresh masa. (Cf. the recipe for pozole and note the elaborate array of ingredients that go into a broth that Bayless makes simply w pork, water & salt.)

I also welcome more attention to the foods of Latin American countries. Gourmet once featured cooking tutorials in serial form back in the 80s, such as one on China written by Nina Simonds and it would be great were that practice revived, especially for the sake of exploring lesser known culinary traditions or ones whose richness is overlooked in local restaurants.

The spine of the magazine nonetheless announces the theme of the issue: Latino America.

Once I got over my Northeast Blonde reaction to the exoticism of the cover and photographs and started to read, the liberal raised on Italian-American streets took over and found the focus on the culinary diaspora just as fascinating and even more original. After all, Taco Bell is to Mexican food what Pizza Hut is to Italian and the history of transformation makes a good read. Now that there are large communities from other Latin American countries established in the U.S., it makes sense to explore how their bellies deal w hunger, nostalgia and identity. Ruth Reichl's editorial letter sets up the issue effectively.

Gourmet used to operate as a world apart from the everyday when housewives cooked from cans, but subscribers opened tins. It's still escapist and filled w ads for luxury goods. It targets the same demographics that might pick up other Condé Nast publications; we've noticed "product-placement" before in the Vogue models, the travel pieces and nods to the set who brood about fossil fuel foodprints and read David Foster Wallace elsewhere.

Since Reichl joined the staff, more attention has been paid to the role of food in contempory life and current events. While I was somewhat disappointed by the article on the Salvadorian food scene since the focus on food was delayed until the final paragraphs, I didn't mind since the perspective and information were new to me. (The hip professor-persona was a bit irritating, but only a bit since it was lively and articulate.)

Hiring Coleman Andrews was supposed to lead to the kinds of articles and features that had made Saveur more appealing. Perhaps his influence registers in these pages, too. In any respect, it's nice to see Gourmet pay more attention to countries south of the United States and I look forward to future issues which visit those countries individually.

ETA: Title of the issue as typed here in bold letters, I assume, refers to the America that Rita Moreno sang about in "West Side Story". Whether it is cluelessly imperialistic when equating The United States with America or as sly and subversive as Anita and the lyricist, you got me. At any rate, the text's complexity speaks volumes.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[Carrot Top]

I agree, Steve, that recipes are unfortunate when the ingredients are not traditional, though I wonder if masa harina is used in parts of the country where tamal masa is not accessible.

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I'm not sure those recipes are "unfortunate". They are new and adaptive to the environment they are living in.

Clifford Wright posted a link to his updated site in the "food on the internet" forum and in his introductory post he wrote

Cuisine does not spring from nowhere and it does not spring from restaurants. Cuisine is a cultural phenomenon that evolves from real people in kitchens cooking to provide food for their families guided by culture, history, agricultural, and need and wants.

Now he may have been speaking of traditional or historic regionally based foods when he wrote this (and I thought it a beautifully phrased thought) but it seems to me that it can be applied as equally to the foods that immigrants make in the places they emigrate to. These foods are not lesser, they are new, different, adaptive, and make home feel like home in a strange place, and they are as wonderfully mixed-breed as most of us are.

Many places do not have tamal masa available and do have masa harina available. Our cuisines spring from availability, as they should.

Once I got over my Northeast Blonde reaction to the exoticism of the cover and photographs

Oh I dunno, Pontormo. I don't think the cover quite entirely played only to hearts and flowers drawn in Bic pen on the edge of a blue-lined geography test study sheet. I daresay a Latina might have had the same reaction of enjoyment.

Now that there are large communities from other Latin American countries established in the U.S., it makes sense to explore how their bellies deal w hunger, nostalgia and identity.  Ruth Reichl's editorial letter sets up the issue effectively. 

I enjoyed the mix of there-come-here-to-live-and-eat. It's real.

I think it would be fantastic to see more of this. Italian-American perhaps, the home foods of Italian immigrants to the U.S where there still are differences shown? Regional Chinese or other Asian-American other than what we see in restaurants?

What is interesting is that the cookery(s) that this issue covers is restaurant-based as well as being home cooking-based. I'm not sure in this moment that I can think of any other supposedly cogent cookery that includes this sort of regional variations that display themselves as well and solidly as these have in the restaurants of the United States. Curious, too, to wonder why.

[rancho_gordo]

I agree, Steve, that recipes are unfortunate when the ingredients are not traditional, though I wonder if masa harina is used in parts of the country where tamal masa is not accessible.

←

I'm not sure those recipes are "unfortunate". They are new and adaptive to the environment they are living in.

Clifford Wright posted a link to his updated site in the "food on the internet" forum and in his introductory post he wrote

Cuisine does not spring from nowhere and it does not spring from restaurants. Cuisine is a cultural phenomenon that evolves from real people in kitchens cooking to provide food for their families guided by culture, history, agricultural, and need and wants.

Now he may have been speaking of traditional or historic regionally based foods when he wrote this (and I thought it a beautifully phrased thought) but it seems to me that it can be applied as equally to the foods that immigrants make in the places they emigrate to. These foods are not lesser, they are new, different, adaptive, and make home feel like home in a strange place, and they are as wonderfully mixed-breed as most of us are.

Many places do not have tamal masa available and do have masa harina available. Our cuisines spring from availability, as they should.

The author is specifying tortilla masa to make tamales. If they had said something like "Use the tortilla version if the tamal version is not available", I can understand that. Otherwise, they just look silly. It's not a new tradition or an immigrant adapting by using local ingredients, it's sloppy magazine writing.

Can someone confirm the availability of tortilla vs tamal masa harina in the average store? I live in Calif so I'm not so limited. What's it like in places without a large Mexican population? I'd imagine you have both or none.

I enjoyed the mix of there-come-here-to-live-and-eat. It's real.

I think it would be fantastic to see more of this. Italian-American perhaps, the home foods of Italian immigrants to the U.S where there still are differences shown? Regional Chinese or other Asian-American other than what we see in restaurants?

I guess it's a matter of choice. I'd rather go to the source.

[Carrot Top]

The author is specifying tortilla masa to make tamales. If they had said something like "Use the tortilla version if the tamal version is not available", I can understand that. Otherwise, they just look silly. It's not a new tradition or an immigrant adapting by using local ingredients, it's sloppy magazine writing.

←

My own feeling on this is that Reichl and her crew are both culturally knowledgeable and editorially savvy. So I would not be surprised if the question had been raised and the decision made to write it as it was written, based on studied assessment of their audience.

Can someone confirm the availability of tortilla vs tamal masa harina in the average store? I live in Calif so I'm not so limited. What's it like in places without a large Mexican population? I'd imagine you have both or none.

I've rarely seen tamal masa harina in the average grocery store in any of the places I've lived all over the Northeast and Southeast yet tortilla masa harina is very common.

I enjoyed the mix of there-come-here-to-live-and-eat. It's real.

I think it would be fantastic to see more of this. Italian-American perhaps, the home foods of Italian immigrants to the U.S where there still are differences shown? Regional Chinese or other Asian-American other than what we see in restaurants?

I guess it's a matter of choice. I'd rather go to the source.

It is of course a matter of choice and I would have to agree with you that the source offers authenticity in a certain sense, though even that authenticity has not been in many cases exactly stable over time, as there is no Ur recipe that was born with the world that I am aware of, but moreso recipes develop and change over shorter or longer periods of time due to outside influences affecting the specific region.

Personally, I would rather start by knowing the source and enjoying that, then watching what happens when people travel in their quests for different lives in different places. I have no greater respect for anyone than I have for the adaptive immigrant.

There are many people who do not have the income to go to the source even though they might like it, though. Travel in search of the authentic is for the most part an upper-middle class pleasure and privilege.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Pontormo]

... though I wonder if masa harina is used in parts of the country where tamal masa is not accessible.  I really don't know.  I just had my first tamale lesson thanks to someone in need of the lard I just rendered--and it was because she had just come back from a trip to Southern California where she picked up the fresh masa. 

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To explain further, home is on the east coast where my lesson took place. She was thrilled to bring fresh tamal masa back from a recent trip because she cannot get it here and misses things taken for granted in Southern California. She has visited a place nearby in Maryland where someone who moved to the US from Mexico began a small tortilla business years ago; he missed the product made from fresh ingredients. However, he does not sell tamal masa.

The author is specifying tortilla masa to make tamales. If they had said something like "Use the tortilla version if the tamal version is not available", I can understand that. Otherwise, they just look silly. It's not a new tradition or an immigrant adapting by using local ingredients, it's sloppy magazine writing.

Can someone confirm the availability of tortilla vs tamal masa harina in the average store? I live in Calif so I'm not so limited. What's it like in places without a large Mexican population? I'd imagine you have both or none.

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See elaboration of my earlier post above. At least in the large urban area where I live, tamal masa is not available as far as I know. We have a large Latino/a population, however, Mexico is not as widely represented as other countries.

Cf. the article in the issue of Gourmet concerning Mexican Chicago. Rick Bayless has resources that most of the country lacks. Folk from Texas and other parts with large Mexican populations might provide fuller information.

[rancho_gordo]

The author is specifying tortilla masa to make tamales. If they had said something like "Use the tortilla version if the tamal version is not available", I can understand that. Otherwise, they just look silly. It's not a new tradition or an immigrant adapting by using local ingredients, it's sloppy magazine writing.

My own feeling on this is that Reichl and her crew are both culturally knowledgeable and editorially savvy. So I would not be surprised if the question had been raised and the decision made to write it as it was written, based on studied assessment of their audience.

I don't want to be nit-picky but why would you not just say masa harina? Why specify the tortilla? Why not mention that tamal dough is different but use this instead? Do they think their audience is stupid? I don't think so. i think it's a clear mistake.

I'll have to take you at your word but anyone who would go to the trouble of making tamales (they are a pain in the ass) could source the correct masa harina. It's really odd that the same store that had the corn husks wouldn't have masa harina para tamales, but I don't live there, so it must be true.

It is of course a matter of choice and I would have to agree with you that the source offers authenticity in a certain sense, though even that authenticity has not been in many cases exactly stable over time, as there is no Ur recipe that was born with the world that I am aware of, but moreso recipes develop and change over shorter or longer periods of time due to outside influences affecting the specific region.

Personally, I would rather start by knowing the source and enjoying that, then watching what happens when people travel in their quests for different lives in different places. I have no greater respect for anyone than I have for the adaptive immigrant.

There are many people who do not have the income to go to the source even though they might like it, though. Travel in search of the authentic is for the most part an upper-middle class pleasure and privilege.

I'm not talking about authenticity. And Gourmet isn't geared towards people who can't afford to source the right ingredients. But the right information is out there, it's not hard to find and the ingredients aren't exotic.

Gourmet has ignored Latin food, Mexican in particular. I would just think with their resources they could have done a better job and maybe emailed Diana Kennedy, Susana Trilling or even spent an afternoon reading eG's threads on Mexican food. I think it's just sloppy work.

Edited August 28, 2007 by rancho_gordo (log)

[Carrot Top]

Could be. I tend to hope for the best. It's true that I'm often proved wrong.

It's a Full Moon tonight, Rancho Gordo. I can't stay here right now and argue for I must go out and merrily howl at it. No authentic tamales for me tonight but rather terribly unauthentic Italian American Stuffed Shells for supper. (Per the munchkins request. )

[Jaymes]

There are many people who do not have the income to go to the source even though they might like it, though. Travel in search of the authentic is for the most part an upper-middle class pleasure and privilege.

I'm not talking about authenticity. And Gourmet isn't geared towards people who can't afford to source the right ingredients. But the right information is out there, it's not hard to find and the ingredients aren't exotic.

Gourmet has ignored Latin food, Mexican in particular. I would just think with their resources they could have done a better job and maybe emailed Diana Kennedy, Susana Trilling or even spent an afternoon reading eG's threads on Mexican food. I think it's just sloppy work.

I tend to agree with Rancho on this one. As Carrot says, there indeed are "many people who do not have the income to go to the source," but said folks are not Gourmet's target readership. Gourmet isn't Taste of Home, you know, with hundreds of recipes featuring Jello and Cream of Mushroom Soup. Gourmet certainly gives the appearance, anyway, of aiming for a higher market in terms of income, sophistication, travel, education, and a desire to improve themselves in all of these areas.

I think the writer just took the easy way out. Deadlines and all, you know.

Or maybe it's a case of the writer knowing less than he/she thinks he/she does.

[Carrot Top]

I guess if it really mattered to me (the answer to this) I'd probably look through other current issues of Gourmet to see how often it happens that "ideal" or "authentic" ingredients are suggested with notes for substitutions if that ingredient is not available in the area, as opposed to how often it happens that the more common ingredient available nation-wide in most grocery stores is simply featured with no footnotes. If it is standard practice in most instances, then this definitely could have been an "error" in fact or knowledge base.

In the spirit of the tone of the issue though, which is that of people who move somewhere new who continue to prepare their foods from the countries they left behind but in a new place where all the "authentic" ingredients are not always available in all locations they may move to, I would think the spirit of the issue and the spirit of the actuality (of having to make do with what does exist in terms of ingredients) of being an immigrant in a new land is being followed.

Is the purpose of the recipe and the stories attached to these recipes (or really, it's the other way: the stories with the recipes attached! ) to show the truth of the native recipe as it stood "then and there"?

Or is the purpose of the stories with the recipes attached to show the truth of the recipes as they stand "now and here"?

This matters, I think.

I don't particularly care about being "right" because of the "authenticity" of this food or that, or because I really give a hoot about how perfect the editors or writers of Gourmet perform their important tasks, but do care in a way about being right because of the importance I attach to the truth of an immigrants' experience. The immigrant experience is being spotlit here. The people come first. The food follows them, and adapts (as they do in many other ways) to the place.

..............................................

I also believe that the target group of Gourmet readers may be different than it was some years ago (though how many would take a bit more focus for me to figure out, and I don't really care all that much, so . . . ). The Gourmet that used to be primarily a higher-income journal is now more broad-based. Let's put it this way: we used to live in a culture where we had some "gourmets". Not a lot, just some. Now we live in a culture where everyone and his neighbor is a "foodie". We are a land populated by foodies. Foodies exist in all of our economic groups, but exist en masse in our aspirational middle-class. The aspirational middle-class is the one that is striving in manners and matters of social knowledge to reach the upper middle-class but has not done so in economic terms yet. It seems to me that Gourmet has expanded its focal readership en masse to this group. It would have been silly of them not to - it just seems to make sense. And being aspirational does not equal being in the place where the aspirations are leading to - it means taking on manners and ways of things not yet really affordable or managable, yet where the "look" is important.

Edited August 29, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[srhcb]

In the spirit of the tone of the issue though, which is that of people who move somewhere new who continue to prepare their foods from the countries they left behind but in a new place where all the "authentic" ingredients are not always available in all locations they may move to, I would think the spirit of the issue and the spirit of the actuality (of having to make do with what does exist in terms of ingredients) of being an immigrant in a new land is being followed.

..............................................

I also believe that the target group of Gourmet readers may be different than it was some years ago (though how many would take a bit more focus for me to figure out, and I don't really care all that much, so . . .  ). The Gourmet that used to be primarily a higher-income journal is now more broad-based. Let's put it this way: we used to live in a culture where we had some "gourmets". Not a lot, just some. Now we live in a culture where everyone and his neighbor is a "foodie". We are a land populated by foodies. Foodies exist in all of our economic groups, but exist en masse in our aspirational middle-class. The aspirational middle-class is the one that is striving in manners and matters of social knowledge to reach the upper middle-class but has not done so in economic terms yet. It seems to me that Gourmet has expanded its focal readership en masse to this group. It would have been silly of them not to - it just seems to make sense. And being aspirational does not equal being in the place where the aspirations are leading to - it means taking on manners and ways of things not yet really affordable or managable, yet where the "look" is important.

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In other words, Gourmet magazine has, in effect, "immigrated" in time, and is adapting to a new culture while trying to remain faithful to its heritage?

SB (might pick up a copy )

[Jaymes]

...but do care in a way about being right because of the importance I attach to the truth of an immigrants' experience. The immigrant experience is being spotlit here. The people come first. The food follows them, and adapts (as they do in many other ways) to the place.

Yes, which in my view makes it particularly important to 'get it right.' The immigrants certainly know the difference between the two products. Gourmet should have explained it correctly to the rest of us.

[Carrot Top]

...but do care in a way about being right because of the importance I attach to the truth of an immigrants' experience. The immigrant experience is being spotlit here. The people come first. The food follows them, and adapts (as they do in many other ways) to the place.

Yes, which in my view makes it particularly important to 'get it right.' The immigrants certainly know the difference between the two products. Gourmet should have explained it correctly to the rest of us.

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Mmm. Fair enough, Jaymes. You are asking for a higher level of care shown than I've seen performed in most professional arenas except perhaps in that of the scholar (so in that way I don't expect to see it), but it's a good quest to be sure.

Then of course we can get into those areas of who is the right source to look to for true authenticity in some cases. Earlier when Rancho Gordo wrote this:

Gourmet has ignored Latin food, Mexican in particular. I would just think with their resources they could have done a better job and maybe emailed Diana Kennedy, Susana Trilling or even spent an afternoon reading eG's threads on Mexican food. I think it's just sloppy work.

a memory came to mind of a post in an internet forum where authors of regional cookbooks were being discussed and a native Mexican came out swinging against Diana Kennedy saying that she often got it wrong.

I also thought that Rachel Lauden might be someone who could be included in the list above of authors/scholars who might be contacted for formal and knowledgeable information about regional Mexican food.

Edited August 29, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Carrot Top]

It's all very interesting. A huge drama of life.

All boiled down to one ingredient in a recipe.

Fantastic.

(Edited for excess verbiage signifing nothing much but a tumble of words. )

Edited August 29, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Pontormo]

I tend to agree with Rancho on this one.  As Carrot says, there indeed are "many people who do not have the income to go to the source," but said folks are not Gourmet's target readership.  Gourmet isn't Taste of Home, you know, with hundreds of recipes featuring Jello and Cream of Mushroom Soup.  Gourmet certainly gives the appearance, anyway, of aiming for a higher market in terms of income, sophistication, travel, education, and a desire to improve themselves in all of these areas.

I think the writer just took the easy way out.  Deadlines and all, you know.

Or maybe it's a case of the writer knowing less than he/she thinks he/she does.

←

Yes, which in my view makes it particularly important to 'get it right.'  The immigrants certainly know the difference between the two products.  Gourmet should have explained it correctly to the rest of us.

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I quote from the introductory paragraph of the recipe:

Tamales--meat or vegetable fillings surrounded by masa dough and steamed in softened corn-husk packets--are a Latin American staple, and this rendition cleverly showcases corn in three distinct forms.  Kernels of fresh sweet corn brighten up a dough from corn tortilla flour.  (Adding cornmeal to store-bought masa flour helps mimic the texture of fresh tamale dough, a trick we picked up from Magda Bogin at the Cocinar Mexicano cooking school in the town of Tepoztlan.)...

--"Maize of Glory" in Gourmet, 67 (September 2007): 95.

The recipe appears in the section of the magazine devoted to recipes entitled "The Seasonal Kitchen" as opposed to one of the many articles credited to authors selected because of their expertise in a featured culture and/or city in the country with relevant demographics.

Since I've never worked on a culinary magazine before, I can only assume that the recipes reflect a collaborative process. The Executive Food Editor, however, is Kemp M. Minifie; Miraglia Eriquez is one of five other food editors listed on page 20 of the issue. Recipe editors are Hobby Coudert and Shannon R. Fox.

Given the introduction to the recipe and the readership of the magazine, I am also guessing that exemplary professionalism was behind the decision to substitute the authentic masa dough that is not yet available to most home cooks in the United States no matter what their income level or background might be or whether they view Gourmet as Food Porn or cook from the recipes. I hope Rancho Gordo doesn't mind that I mention a friendly exchange of PM's in which he wrote, yet again, that he wasn't aware of what was not readily available in other parts of the U.S. where home cooks can't count on their families to prepare fresh tortillas for them.

I recommend looking at this issue of the magazine and reading the many articles related to the recipes that feature corn and the way it factors both in diverse Latin American culinary traditions and in contemporary life in the U.S.

Availability of Mexican ingredients is touched upon in David Tamarkin's article, "Chicago Mexicano" where the author admits his city is unusually blessed. He cites a number of experts in Mexican cooking, though I don't recall if he refers to one of the recognized authorities in academia, Jeffrey Pilcher. There's also an article on the ubiquity of taco trucks across the nation.

I realize it's usually best to be silent. Yet, there are so many negative comments made about the magazine under discussion that I want to strike a balance and underscore how good and interesting I find this particular issue to be. I have to think it is an attempt to catch the eye of folk at newsstands who don't usually read the publication. Let's hope there are trends in the kinds of contributors who identified with their subject matter as well as expansions on the different culinary traditions some merely introduced.

[rancho_gordo]

You've put a lot more thought into it than they have.

I still think they simply screwed up the recipe and they have trouble putting this food in context outside of the NY publishing world.

That's all from me!

Edited to add: I should have quoted Carrot Top's "excess verbiage" because that's what I was responding to. I missed Pontormo's post altogether.

And I'm happy to stand corrected re the masa harina and fresh corn trick. I hope someone tries it and reports back.

And the main thing, is if this inspires one to cook, then something good has been done.

Edited August 29, 2007 by rancho_gordo (log)

[Carrot Top]

You've put a lot more thought into it than they have.

I still think they simply screwed up the recipe and they have trouble putting this food in context outside of the NY publishing world.

That's all from me!

Edited to add: I should have quoted Carrot Top's "excess verbiage" because that's what I was responding to. I missed Pontormo's post altogether.

And I'm happy to stand corrected re the masa harina and fresh corn trick. I hope someone tries it and reports back.

And the main thing, is if this inspires one to cook, then something good has been done.

←

Mmm. I decided to stay away from identity politics and food in that moment, Rancho Gordo.

Could be I'll give you some more excess verbiage to respond to with time.

Actually I might just find what I removed and add it back on. Yeah, that's it.

[Carrot Top]

Briefly: Cultural identity and therefore the foods one chooses to cook and eat can be affected by the social styles of the times one lives in. There have been times when the general trend has been to meld into what was called "the melting pot". And there have been times when the trend has been not to.

That was my basic thought. The only reason I removed it from the post was that (as I had it written) it had too many words with too many syllables to be easy to read, and it was not really all that important to say.

(Actually I decided to remove it right after I read one of those quote things they put on the homepage I log into. It said: "Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon." )

Glad it made you think that I put more thought into it than they have, Rancho Gordo. Personally I doubt it. I think the editors and writers of Gourmet think just fine, quite thoroughly, and probably with more clarity than I often can summon.

So I will agree to disagree.

.......................................................

Reichl lived in LA for some number of years, before she became part of the NY publishing world, didn't she?

And I would assume that Miraglia Eriquez put some thought into what went into that issue too.

Edited August 30, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Carrot Top]

Ruth Reichl in an article posted today to Reuters on this subject.

Edited August 30, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Carrot Top]

I quote from the introductory paragraph of the recipe:

Tamales--meat or vegetable fillings surrounded by masa dough and steamed in softened corn-husk packets--are a Latin American staple, and this rendition cleverly showcases corn in three distinct forms.  Kernels of fresh sweet corn brighten up a dough from corn tortilla flour.  (Adding cornmeal to store-bought masa flour helps mimic the texture of fresh tamale dough, a trick we picked up from Magda Bogin at the Cocinar Mexicano cooking school in the town of Tepoztlan.)...

--"Maize of Glory" in Gourmet, 67 (September 2007): 95.

The recipe appears in the section of the magazine devoted to recipes entitled "The Seasonal Kitchen" as opposed to one of the many articles credited to authors selected because of their expertise in a featured culture and/or city in the country with relevant demographics.

←

A lot of knowledge and thought was put into that recipe, based on the fruits of your most valuable and excellent scholarly research talents, Pontormo.

Ruth mentions other specific ingredients used in this issue of Gourmet in this NPR clip in the Arts and Culture section. Aside from the notes on tamale dough above, she speaks of lard, banana leaves, and non-tradtional tacos.

If you're up for more, she is again featured back in 2004 in another NPR piece.

Ruth Reichl and Francisco Goldman

Gourmet editor-in-chief and regular guest Ruth Reichl is back for her regular food series. Today, she’s joined by Guatemalan-American writer Francisco Goldman; they look beyond Taco Bell to discuss the influence of Latin American cuisine.

Oh. If I haven't said it lately, let me do so now.

You rock, Pontormo.

[MarketStEl]

Ruth Reichl in an article posted today to Reuters on this subject.

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Q: What reaction did you got from readers?

A: "We got widely different responses, with people saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you', this is the best issue you've ever done, to other people saying this is disgusting, we never eat these kinds of food', or isn't gourmet a French word?' So clearly there is racism in food as there is in everything else."

Oh, my.

Oh, my, my.

Oh, my, my, my.

I thought that the editors of Gourmet had done their part on the high end -- Calvin Trillin did the job on the low end -- to disabuse people of this notion.

Perhaps this reader was like France's Bourbon dynasty: He (or she) learned nothing and forgot nothing.

Still, I love Reichl's summation. It further cements my high opinion of the magazine today.