A Love For All Things Food and Drink

A few ideas on:

Meatpaper: I love that 'zine and feel like it's still early enough in its publication that maybe I could pitch a few ideas to those girls. I have actually had dreams of meating them (get it?) on the street and spewing off any number of meat-related article ideas to them. I am a die-hard meat eater. I love all things meat and almost always order my various meat dishes rare- "bloody," in fact. I also, however, am an animal-cruelty activist and have never been able to justify these two aspects of my personality. I tend to be an argumentative person (in a good, constructive, intellectual way) but have never been able to argue myself out of this conflict of interest. It intrigues me and I have even read philosophy books to try and find some way to justify my actions, but haven't found any resolution. I tried to cut the "less justifiable" things from my diet: foie gras; all things baby (lamb, veal); anything endangered; anything that is caught/farmed in ways that hurt marine life or the environment such as trawled rockfish or farmed salmon. But, I couldn't do it. Plain and simple. Lamb tastes too good. I've heard you should be able to kill anything that you eat. I don't believe that. But I do believe that there is this inherent struggle that people other than me find with being at the top of the food chain. An interesting topic, to me. And another idea for me to pitch to the Meat chicks (I keep making puns.)

CSAs: I LOVE the idea of them. I would feel cool as hell being "part" of a real, working farm. And I think that's part of the reason that the idea of it appeals to New Yorkers. We are starved for green and land and the idea of farming is so out of our everyday life that it's cool. We use our fire-escapes as lame-ass gardens with potted plants and buy hibachi grills for out there to feel like we aren't in the city. However, as far as we are from "the farm," we have more access to it than most people who live closer to the farm. In my neighborhood alone, I can go to three greenmarkets per week. So, I don't think that I would ever sign up for a CSA.

Home brewing: I just got back from Eugene, Oregon. Wild place- the home of the home brew, it seems. Everyone there brews his own beer. And what a difference. They serve it in small glasses, and it reminds you that you want to sip this beer. Not guzzle it down. Funny that I think I'm going right to the source when I bring my growler to Whole Foods :)

Burrata: As much as I LOVE Cacio e Pepe, I have to say, their burrata ain't nothing compared to that of DiPaolo's.

Cooking classes: I have never liked cooking classes. What can you learn about cooking in a few hours? I have taken many and always felt like they were a waste of time and money. The ones I felt were the most beneficial were the very, very specific classes- and even these, were a series of classes. I took a class series of seven classes on baking sourdough breads. So, not only was this 28 hours of class, but it was all about bread. And not only was it all about bread, it was all about sourdough bread. And I still left there feeling like, "Damn- I thought I'd know a whole lot more about sourdough bread after these classes were over." I think doing a generic class like, "The Essentials of Cooking" is silly. It's too broad. What knowledge do you come away with? I think these classes appeal to more of the young-couple-who-just-moved-in-together-and-think-it-might-be-cute-to-take-a-cooking-class-together crowd. It's mainstream and accessible and easily marketable. But, if I were a cooking classes, I'd stay away from that crowd and cater to people who have a deeper love and respect for the industry. And I know I'd have a bottom-line you need to think about, but I think there are ways to do that with cooking classes that don't water it down too much. Make them more targeted or offer a series of classes so that the take away is valuable. Do things around holidays: Have someone from Veniero's come before Easter and show how to make that kick-ass ricotta-cheesecake; do a class on how to assemble the perfect cheese plate with someone from Murray's; do an entire class on pulled pork. Or the other key may just be a different spin on the class- incorporating a little cooking into a food theory class. Have a class about The Cuisine of Morocco, which incorporates a few simple Moroccan recipes in there but is more of a history and educational class on the spices and the regional cuisine, traditions, cookware etc. Things like that.

The modern culinary world: The culinary world right now is exploding. Everyone and their mother has a food blog. The term "foodie" (which I despise!) is used about as often as the word "food." The Food Network, Iron Chef, Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, and the likes are some of the most popular things to watch on TV; it's no longer people in "the industry" that know who Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne are; the James Beard Awards are a coveted ticket; and half the books on the display tables at Barnes and Noble are food-related. Thus, anything in the "food-industry" is not a hard sell in this day and age. If people know about it, they will come. So, it's just getting people to know.

Urban chicken raising: I dig it! (Although illegal in Manhattan...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19yard.html?ex=1347940800&en=f845e9a338a72fb7&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink


Ash