Best Food Writing: February 2009

National/International

Is Food the New Sex?
Mary Eberstadt — Policy Review
God I wish I had written this article. Anyone who even casually writes about food should aspire to this level of incisiveness. Even that august sage George F. Will was impressed. A must read.

Is Foie Gras Torture?
Sarah DiGregorio — The Village Voice
A reasonable and measured investigation of the production of foie gras. In the case it is certainly no worse, and possibly better, than most industrial meat and poultry production.

Rock Star, Meet Teetotaler
Sacha Z. Scoblic — The New York Times
Amazing the amount of high-quality "food" writing that comes out of The New York Times' Proof blog about alcohol and American life.

Houston Local

Depart From Me! I Never Knew You, Eaters of Bacon
Katharine Shilcutt — Eating...Our Words blog at Houstonpress.com
Why did Joel Osteen choose to preach about food? No, it's not about the Bible. Just read Is Food the New Sex? article above.

The Iceman Cometh and Eateth Hamburgers and Proclaimeth
Epicurus — Food In Houston blog
Nice post here about a food blogger getting back into the swing of things, including a multi-paragraph rant about portobello 'shrooms at a burger joint. Or were those creminis?

Sticking it to the French
Misha — tasty bits blog
Our friend Misha debunks the claim that French food is "all that" by proclaiming that the food at a humble Houston taco truck trumps the cuisine of a hauty French brasserie.

If you know of any sources of great food writing, post a comment and let me know. It can be national, international, or local. I'd really like to find individualistic food blogs that reflect the personality and experiences of the blog writer.

Link Feast: 2.20.09

The slow death of Slow Food UK - I've always found the Slow Food movement to be a bit eccentric — not elitist mind you, just quirky and disorganized. I much prefer the term "local food" which is too often associated with Slow Food, to its detriment in my opinion.

Cooking Without Shopping - I've always suspected that the typical American household is over-provisioned foodwise. This project will take what you have in your fridge/pantry right now and cook that over the next week without restocking.

Burger Bound, From Corner to Shack - Houston food critics' obsession with burgers has been well noted. Now it seems like the siren song of the great American dish has arrived in New York City — Frank Bruni gives his take on 2 of NYC's most revered burger joints. Stunningly, Mr. Bruni allows that this was his first visit to Corner Bistro.

Obama Sushi - Is there no end to all things Obama and food? You must admit that this sushi creation is remarkable.

Is Foie Gras Torture? - Once you get past the PETA propaganda and actually do some investigation, you may find that the production of foie gras is not all that bad.

Link Feast: 2.13.09

The Maggots in Your Mushrooms - Food safety isn't perfect. Occasionally you're going to have a little extra protein in that salad in the form of a critter. The amazing thing is the FDA has an elaborate specification for how much critter protein is acceptable. The FDA decided!

Put Effin' Swearing Back In - Gordo's potty mouth gets bleeped in the US, but when the show gets aired in the UK, they put the bad words back in! Ah cultures. Page 3 girls, what page 3 girls?

Please, no love on the menu - The obligatory Valentine's Day link, on a subject that has gotten quite a bit of attention lately — restaurant marriage proposals.

Nutty for Nutella: spreadable joy - Nutella slathered on a freshly baked croissant with a double espresso on the side — daddy likey.

If I Made a Commercial for Trader Joe's - When will H-town get a Trader Joe's?

Link Feast: 2.6.09

Getting the City to Eat More Vegetables - NYC considering tax and zoning incentives for farmers markets and community gardens, restrictions for fast food restaurants.

Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France - Why does George Bush want to prevent me from eating Roquefort cheese? Good God man!

Fine-dining establishments put the recession on their menus - There's good news and bad news for foodies: the good news is some of the best restaurants are offering incredible discounts. The bad news is some of them may not be open much longer. More here.

Running on empty: the pros and cons of fasting - For an overfed and overweight foodie this is the nuclear option. Admit it — you've thought about it, right?

Schnitzel off the menu as Germans are told to cut down on eating meat - Something tells me this "strong advisory" isnt going to work. At least they can say they tried.

Best Food Writing: January 2009

National/International

Besotted — Etymologically, That Is
Iain Gately — The New York Times
The English language has the richest vocabulary to describe the effects of drunkenness on human behavior. I wonder why?

The Fab Four: off the top of our heads
Jon Wilde and Simon Lewis — Daily Mail
It's not "writing" per se — more of an interview really — but a rollicking and revelatory discussion with 3 of the world's best chefs.

I'm not pregnant. I'm fat
Lucy Cavendish — The Observer
A surprisingly personal and revealing account of a food writer's struggle with weight gain.

the perfect complement
Shannalee T'Koy — Food Loves Writing blog
Sometimes with food, as in life, the most important things and people are not the ones basking in the spotlight.

Houston Local

A few global food trends Part 1 and Part 2
anonymouseater — Food In Houston blog
A great use of personal travel experiences to explore global food trends related to sustainability and healthy diets.

An Intervention About Food with Myself
Food Princess — Food Princess Reports blog
An interesting parallel to the Lucy Cavendish piece listed above, both authors writing about the same subject with personal intensity, on virtually the same day, but oceans apart.

Houston's Own Artisanal Gelato
Katharine Shilcutt — Eating...Our Words blog
An in-depth look at why Houston has one of the most diverse culinary scenes in America — if you have the passion and ambition, Houston will supply the opportunity.

If you know of any sources of great food writing, post a comment and let me know. It can be national, international, or local. I'd really like to find individualistic food blogs that reflect the personality and experiences of the blog writer.

Link Feast: 1.23.09

Goodbye Old Devil Moon - This is the restaurant where I ate with my friends the night before I drove out of NYC for good. RIP.

Invite Science to the Party - Some really interesting techniques for cooking a quick, gourmet-style meal. DIY sous-vide gets bonus points.

Dallas Morning News Gets a New Restaurant Critic - Nice gig if you can get it. But seriously, looks like she has heavyweight credentials. Considering some major dailies are laying off their restaurant critics, this may be a good sign.

First MacArthur "genius grant," now calls from Obama team - There's no one more cynical than I am when it comes to politicians, but when I see reports like this, I'm encouraged that Obama may develop a healthy, practical, and common sense food policy.

How to make your own haggis - God I'd love to see Rachel Ray make haggis on 30 Minute Meals. And the associated article.

Link Feast: 1.16.09

Why Gordon's so camera shy - Gordo refuses to take pictures with female fans. If only I had such a problem...

5600 Cupcake Installation of Obama and Lincoln - Obama and cupcakes. Cupcakes and Obama. 'Nuff said.

Chewing the Fat: Batali and Bourdain on Sex - Food and sex should be separated like church and state? Anthony Bourdain decided. WTF Bourdain?

This Is Goodbye to Gourmet, Maybe - Oh.How.The.Mighty.Have.Fallen.

How to Catch a Critic - NY restaurant PR firm selling a facebook (no, not that Facebook, a photo album rather) of prominent food critics. Anybody who has worked at a NY restaurant knows exactly what's posted on the bulletin board back of house.

Link Feast: 1.9.09

Not on the List? The Truth about Impulse Purchases - We all know why the milk is located in the farthest reaches of our local supermarket (so you'll buy more stuff on the way). This study questions that assumption.

Per Se (New York, NY) - One foodie's photo essay of a dinner at Per Se. Nice pics and writeup.

Saving a Squirrel by Eating One - It's impossible to butcher, funkily flavored, and difficult to eat. And yet squirrel is the hottest dish in Britain.

Corrigan's Mayfair: Wine List - Reading and collecting wine lists are well-known passions for many foodies and oenophiles. Here's one of the more creative wine lists available on the Internet. From one of the chi-chi-est restaurants in London.

3rd Rock From The Sun - Dick tips - Every waiters nightmare! Full video below:

Best Food Writing: December 2008

National/International

Africa's hungry tribe: The Masai's struggle to subsist
Alex Renton — The Guardian Observer
Just a reminder that not all food writing is about amuse bouches and sea urchin foam. A must read.

Journeys - Le Tour du Chocolat
Amy Thomas — The New York Times
Talk about "painting a picture" with words. This is what vicarious food/travel writing is all about.

Corrigan's review
Giles Coren — Times Online
Reading a Giles Coren restaurant review is like going out with that one totally crazy friend you have. You're pretty much just along for the ride and you have no idea where things will end up.

Helene Darroze at the Connaught
Jay Rayner — The Guardian Observer
An otherwise run of the mill restaurant review, I liked this write-up for two reasons: 1) he used the word "oleaginous." Ooohhh...that's a good word. I had to look it up. It means ingratiating. It also means "oily." Oily waiters? Hahahaha!, and 2) He compares his experience in this Michelin-starred chef's restaurant to being leg-humped by a sex-starved dog. C'mon Jay, tell us how you really feel!

Houston Local

Oyster Moments Slideshow
Robb Walsh— robbwalsh.com website
Robb Walsh's new book, Sex, Death and Oysters, is out and it's all about our favorite edible shellfish. His website has a great photo album of his world travels in pursuit of everything oyster. Purchase a copy of the book on Amazon or head over to Brazos Bookstore.

Banquette Etiquette: 3 simple rules for close-quarters dining
Alison Cook — Cook's Tour blog
My closest experience to a religious experience with a food blog, mainly due to my exhortations of "Amen sister!" while reading it.

new @ rainbow lodge
neverfull — i'm never full blog
A luxurious photo essay and comprehensive write-up of a recent Houston restaurant visit.

Port for the Holidays
Jay Francis — Eating...Our Words blog at Houstonpress.com
Everything you always wanted to know about the fortified wine known as Port but were afraid to ask.

Merry Christmas! Love, She Eats
K — she eats. blog
No food writing here, but this blog post is EPIC.

If you know of any sources of great food writing, post a comment and let me know. It can be national, international, or local. I'd really like to find individualistic food blogs that reflect the personality and experiences of the blog writer.

Link Feast: 12.26.08

Sun to set on P & G Cafe, at least for now - I used to live a few buildings down from this place and spent many hours of my misspent youth here sipping from a glass of Bass or Guinness on tap. It may live on, but can never be the same.

Food Photography for Bloggers - Everything the food blogger always wanted to know about photography but was afraid to ask. In other words, how to create high-quality food porn.

Obama Foodarama - If it has anything to do with 1) Obama and 2) food, then you'll find it here. An unexpectedly fascinating read. Kudos to you sir!

Dozens sickened at county health department's Christmas party - This can't be good for business.

American women are catching up with men in their alcohol consumption - This can only be good news for guys like me. I decided. Also, the part where the writer states "Fortunately, I didn't spend my entire sex work career in a champagne club" caught my eye and added a whole new spin to the article.

Link Feast: 12.19.08 (Cheese bail-out edition)

Bail-out fever has crossed the pond. If the price of a Parmesan wheel is so low, why am I still paying $20/pound at Central Market?

Hard Times for Parmigiano Makers - The Parmesan cheese industry is not too big to fail, it's too important to fail.

Italy's "king of cheese" in crisis plea on prices - Interesting economic analysis. Costs ~$6/pound to produce? And retail price is $20/pound? And they still can't make money? Where's all that money going?

Rules for making Parmesan cheese - The Italian government decided. Those are some happy cows!

An Italian cheese war has broken out - The Times of London frames it as another example in a long-running north-south Italian feud.

Il governo acquista parmigiano e grana - The original report (in Italiano).

My Houston Press Blog Posts

November 2009

Ceviche at El Sinaloense

October 2009

Mojarra Frita at Cocina de Colima

Beef Cheeks at Gerardo's Drive-in

Lamb Shank at Niko Niko's

Food Photography Workshop with Penny De Los Santos

Pumpkin Pie Blizzard at Dairy Queen

Landowner's Challenge at West Alabama Ice House

Top 5 Cheesiest Soft Drink Commercials

Checking in at Stanton's City Bites

The Tavern Declares War on Limp Dick (Pizza)

Top 5 Creepiest Halloween Candy

Chef Rick Bayless: Reluctant Rock Star

Roasted Pig Snout

September 2009

Outstanding in the Field Dinner at Jolie Vue Farms

Hubcap Grill Opens New Location

Top 5 Fast Foods That'll Do in a Pinch

Natto from Nippan Daido

Top 5 Most Bizarre Food Movies

Juan Mon's International Sandwiches

Chocolat du Monde in Rice Village

Lunch at Le Mistral

Bento Box at Nippon Japanese Restaurant

New Chef at The Tasting Room at Uptown Park

August 2009

Cafe Zol Gets a Makeover

Texas BBQ Day Tripping

Tex Chick Puerto Rican Restaurant Lives On

Nutella® vs. Gianduia vs. Kroger Hazelnut Spread

Gyro Sandwich at Al's Quick Stop

Lunch at Tiny Boxwood's Cafe

A Return to Falafel Frenzy...err...Factory

Restaurant Bill Padding: How Often Does It Happen?

BBQ Crab at Floyd's in Webster

July 2009

Forno a Legna Pizza in Italy

Cafe Montrose Reborn?

Menu Flashback: Don's Seafood 1972

New Burgers at Hubcap Grill

3-6-9 Oriental Bistro

Dessert Gallery's New Digs

Community Bar Food

Do-It-Yourself Taco Burgers

June 2009

Iranian Cuisine at Darband Shish Kabob

The Foie Gras Problem

Boudin Balls with a Gooey Surprise

Tintos Stakes a Claim to Inner Loop Tapas

The Acadian Bakers in Montrose

Goat Brains Masala at Indika

Felix's Queso Makes a Comeback

Building the Perfect Pizza

Stingaree Music Festival and Texas Crab Festival in Crystal Beach, Texas

May 2009

Stuckey's: The Travel Center That Time Forgot

Oaxaca Meat Market in Dickinson

Kiko's Mexican Cafe

Let's Spread the Restaurant Wealth

From Sea to Shining Seafood Platter

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Menudo

April 2009

Stingaree Rising

The Thing About Frito Pies

Molecular Madness at Max's Wine Dive

March 2009

You've Got Crabs! Of the Soft-Shell Variety

Houston's Best Recipe for Success

Carnivores Behaving Frugally

More Sex! Less Food! The Eggheads Proclaimeth

February 2009

Chicken-Fried Steak With a Side of Kiss My Grits

Culinary Schadenfreude Comes to Houston

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Darwin!

Wine Trends for 2009: Quality and Value

January 2009

Alcohol-Free Wine: Poorly Conceived Dreck

How to Cook a Corn Dog

A Foray into Locally-Grown, Grass-Fed Beef

Japanese-Brazilian Fusion the Next Big Thing?

"Chili When It's Chilly" Chili Cook-off

Traditional Sunday Roast at Feast

Food & Foreign Policy

Beware the Mongol Invasion! (of BBQ)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Redux

December 2008

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo at Al-T's

Football Star Sausage Smackdown!

Will Blog for (Free) Food?

Coming Soon: Juan Mon's International Sandwiches

Link Feast: 12.12.08

More great writing from the Guardian, and then a couple of random links.

Helene Darroze at the Connaught - When a critic compares a meal in your restaurant to being leg humped by a sex-starved terrier for three hours, um...that's a bad review.

Africa's hungry tribe - Not all great food writing is about truffles and fois gras. Nor should it be.

Dinner party? Don't make me laugh ... - Two of my favorite subjects — food and Ricky Gervais.

Lunchbox Auction by Gourmet - Groovy celebrity lunch boxes by the likes of Mario Batali and the Beastie Boys.

Le Tour du Chocolat - Both the content and style of this article make it a pleasure to read.

Link Feast: 12.5.08

Just a grab bag o' links this week.

Gordon is using me...so I will use him - Gordo can have any woman in the world to screw around with and he picks this??? Oy vey.

A slow food tour of Turin - I really, really want to go on a foodie tour of Europe. So much food, so many places, so little time.

Home dinner clubs build friendships through food - There are foodies everywhere in Houston.

Wurstküche, downtown L.A.'s new sausage-and-beer kitchen - What a freakin' brilliant idea. Beer. Sausage. 'Nuff said.

The Ultimate Reservation - Students spend their whole young lives working to get an acceptance letter from an Ivy League school. Foodies spend their lives waiting for an acceptance letter for a reservation at El Bulli.

Link Feast: 11.28.08

Gordo has been making waves (more than usual) across the pond this past week. Anyone surprised by this?

Gordon Ramsay's sly trysts - The newspaper exposé that started it all. Gordo hearts Rupert. More from Rupert.

There are three people in this marriage - Detailed account of Gordo's intertwined family and business dealings.

The repercussions of Gordon Ramsay’s alleged affair - Will Gordo's domestic shortcomings effect his business? No! I decided.

Affairs don’t have to mean the end - While every other Brit media outlet is in a tizzy over the possible downfall of the Gordo's biz empire, the Liverpool Echo has the audacity to consider Gordo's marriage and family. Quaint.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings - Nice website.

Link Feast: 11.21.08

Foodies Make Me Sick - Few blog posts have ever stirred more controversy in the foodiesphere. Don't be hatin' on foodies!

Chicken McNuggets turn 25 - Become a Nuggnut!

Yorkshire pudding must be 4 inches tall, chemists rule - They ruled decided.

What does the menu for a $1500, 20-course dinner look like? (PDF) - You'd have to work a few hours overtime and run a couple extra laps to pay this one off. Some background here.

A Interview with Alain Ducasse - Amazing how some of the best chefs in the world never actually cook anymore.

Just when you thought it was safe... - To eat pancakes.

Link Feast: 11.14.08

The High Price of Cheap Food - Ironically, high food prices makes Americans fat, not skinny.

Chocolate-covered Bacon - 'nuff said.

Chocolate in the Boondocks - This has foodie road-trip written all over it.

Best Seafood Restaurant: Reef - So says Bon Appetit. They decided. And an excellent decision it was.

Houston-area Restaurants Tightening Their Belts - Pun intended?

Stealthy Shrinking of Containers Keeps Prices from Rising - Just confirms what many of us suspected already.

Grotesquely Overpriced Bunny-food Emporium - Hilarious, Brit-style send-up of Whole Foods.

Link Feast: 11.7.08

Eat and Tell - Lengthy article about Yelp but nothing we didn't already know.

Regis Philbin as Gordon Ramsay? - One of the more bizarre foodie videos you will ever see. Hey Reg, you could at least use a British accent!

A waiter's tips to New York - Some things never change: Scarfing down a Bistro burger after a late night waiting tables in NY.

Presidential Polling Through Food and Drink - Rumor has it that these polls were more accurate than Fox News polls! Ha!

Campaign Cuisine: See Obama And McCain Eat... A Lot - Can you look presidential while eating porkchop-on-a-stick?