To the extent that’s possible, try to find foods that are locally produced, seasonal, fresh and flavorful! If they are organically grown—that’s even better! If it’s not local, that’s okay. It’s a chance to celebrate the farmers from other regions or countries. If your having a potluck dinner, remember to ask your guests to do their best to find out about the origins of food they bring to share and how it was grown.
via Kristian Knutsen.
Cheese championships are hardly a spectator sport, but cheese-lovers will have a unique opportunity to observe the 2006 World Championship Cheese Contest right here in Madison. Free and open to the public, the contest is slated to take place at the Monona Terrace Convention Center on March 21-23.
While UW-Madison scientists don’t usually compete, they do influence the contest’s outcome. This year, for instance, Mark Johnson, a scientist at UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research will join an international panel of judges that will include cheese connoisseurs from France, Japan, the Netherlands and South Africa. Another judge on the 15-member panel will be a Puerto Rican, Leyda Ponce de Leon, who earned a doctoral degree in food science at UW-Madison in 1999.
Every three weeks, a FedEx flight departs Zaventem Airport on the edge of Brussels carrying Michel Boey’s products to the United States. Call it the chocolate bomber.
“It is exactly as in wine,” he said, receiving a visitor amid heavy aromas of dark chocolate. “Once, wine was wine. Now we appreciate smaller quantities, but the quality is better.”
Pasta and oysters and rich Gorgonzola,
Coffee and doughnuts and nutty granola,
Bluegill and pizza and hot chicken wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.It has been a pretty good year in the culinary trenches. Some good new restaurants have opened, a few have closed, and I didn’t get food poisoning once. Here are a few of my fonder memories:
Susan Spano passes along some tips for those traveling to Paris including a cooking supply store that Julie Child visited and a rather expensive hotel.
Love it or hate it, cabbage is getting plenty of press for its potential to fight illness ranging from cancer to bird flu. It all began a few months ago when South Korean scientists noticed that feeding the spicy cabbage dish kimchee to roughly a dozen chickens infected with bird flu caused most of them to recover. Restaurants selling kimchee ran out quickly and the idea that cabbage cures started to spread.
In The New American Cooking, cookbook author Joan Nathan showcases some of the more unusual items that are turning up on America’s tables — plantains, pomegranates and other once-obscure ingredients.
A longtime food favorite in the southern United States, the delicious deep-fried turkey has quickly grown in popularity thanks to celebrity chefs such as Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse. While some people rave about this tasty creation, Underwriters Laboratories Inc.’s (UL) safety experts are concerned that backyard chefs may be sacrificing safety for good taste.
“We’re worried by the increasing reports of fires related with turkey fryer use,” says John Drengenberg, UL consumer affairs manager. “Based on our test findings, the fryers used to produce those great-tasting birds are not worth the risks. And, as a result of these tests, UL has decided not to certify any turkey fryers with our trusted UL Mark.”
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/seasonedgreetings/2005/11/the_morning_aft.html:
e were a group of seven, including two vegetarians and a 15 or 16-pound turkey. The veggies brought their first Tofurky, with some of the trimmings. Their report: Overall not bad, but it gets cold quickly, which makes it less palatable. They were hoping to get their hands on a Celebration Roast, but they were nowhere to be found.
I was home by eight, just in time for “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” The wind was howling that not even a blanket or a few glasses of red wine could warm me up.
The Madison Food & Wine Show was held this weekend at the Alliant Energy Center. A first time visitor, I found the event enjoyable. Unsurprisingly, there was no shortage of cheese. One of the more interesting offerings was Swiss Valley’s fondue. Whole Foods had an elaborate set of tastings, from Olives to cheeses. The surprise of the show? a knife sharpening service. Photos here. Gail Ambrosius (Dark Chocolate) was also a worthwhile stop. Website with links to vendor’s site.
