The Tasting Cultures Group is a new organization dedicated to “developing multi-platform educational programs and events in collaboration with culinary, agricultural, sustainability experts, artists, educators, chefs, scientists, and filmmakers.” And generally based around some really delicious recipes. The group sponsors cooking classes, lectures, exhibits, and artist collaborations throughout the USA. We are particularly excited about the TCG’s exhibit: “Tasting Cultures: The Art of African/American Foodways” opening soon in Charleston, SC. The Eaters will be in South Carolina next month doing some in-depth barbecue research, so we will definitely stop by.
Category Archives: Links
36 Hours in Philadelphia
Philly is one of our favorite foodie spots so we are happy to see it getting some love in the NYTimes Travel section. Naturally, food features prominently on the list, including our favorites the Italian Market and Silk City. If you’re thinking about going to Philly (and you should) you should check it out!
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Recipe Attribution
Hmmm, this is a tricky one, and very appropos. How should you porperly cite a recipe on a food blog? David wrote an insightful post on the Food Blog Alliance about just this problem, andif you think about it – it’s not black and white at all! For example – how much does a recipe have to change from a cookbook to be ‘your own’? Some rules of thumb: when in doubt – always give attribution and link to cookbooks and websites you get your links from. Better safe than sorry.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Links: Hello, Goodbye
Goodbye: One of our favorite Madison Restaurant, Restaurant Magnus is changing its menu from Brazilian/Pan-Latin to Norwegian! It seems the Brazilian chef has left, and that since the owners and sous-chef are all Norwegian they thought they would make a go of a new Scandinavian menu. While we’re sure Norwegian food will appease some, we are not pleased. The new menu starts on June 1, so try to get some chimichurri while you still can.
Hello: However, we are heartened to hear that Chicago’s reigning king of the Mole, Geno Bahena is going to be opening a new restaurant on Monday called Los Moles, specializing in nothing but mole! The restaurant is located at 3140 N. Lincoln Ave.
Filed under A New Place, Links
Friday Foodie Link: Indian restaurant decoder
Wow – here’s something that’s fun and pretty useful: Evil Mad Scientist’s Indian restaurant menu pocket decoder! We’ve been to a lot of Indian restaurants, but sometimes we still get a little lost if there are no descriptions under some more unusual dishes. Enter the decoder! Granted it’s not comprehensive (but what guide could be?), but it’s coming with us on our next trip to an Indian Restaurant.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Feasting on Art
Art and food have always been interrelated. Perhaps its not a coincidence that the first still life for many painters-in-training is of a bowl of fruit. Feasting on Art takes this connection to a whole new level. A piece of artwork which features food is selected, and a recipe inspired by the artwork is also posted. Recent posts have included Pico de Gallo inspired by Frida Kahlo and Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce inspired by Manet. The photographs alone are worth a visit. Beautiful!
[Painting by Henri Fantin-Latour]
Filed under Design and Photography, Links
Friday Foodie Link: Noodle Oracle
In honor of the end of a long week, here’s a fun link to enjoy: the Noodle Oracle. This simple, clever site suggests a random permutation of noodles for you to make (or simply ponder). I was just suggested Rice vermicelli in coconut-curry broth with chili oil; topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg, bamboo shoots and toasted sesame. Sounds pretty good.
Filed under Links
Georgia: Bread N Bowl
I was driving west along Dempster today, a neck of the woods I rarely visit. En route, I finally passed by Bread N Bowl, a Georgian restaurant with an authentic brick oven toné stove. I’ve been interested in visiting since I saw a video from the Reader’s Mike Sula of the breadmaking process. Now that I know where it is there’s no excuse not to go.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Great Depression Cooking
[Via Craft] 93 year old Clara Cannucciari lived through the Great Depression, and now, courtesy of her grandson, also has a cooking show on YouTube. Great Depression Cooking with Clara is a fun and charming show, that is unfortunately especially relevant today. Clara was a 1st generation American, whose parents immigrated to Chicago from Sicily. She reminds me a lot of my (L) own grandma, who pretty much shares the same story!
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Eco-Pasta?
Apparently, according to the New York Times testers (and Lidia Bastianich), you can get just as good of results by using less water than recommenced to boil pasta. I think I do this already – 4 quarts seems like so much!
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Links: Chicago Restaurant Week
Chicago Restaurant Week is coming the 20-27th. Some Chicago favorites like Cafe Spiaggia, Naha and Frontera Grill are offering $22 3-course lunches and $32 3-course dinners. Menu Pages Chicago and the Time Out Chicago blog break down some best bets. Don’t forget to make reservations!
The Salinas (salt marshes) of Portugal
The New York Times has a fascinating article on how salt is made the traditional way in Portugal. Artisinal salt makers using salt marshes called salinas are reviving centuries-old traditions, as most salt-making goes large-scale and commercial.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Obama Food-o-Rama
We’re not going to lie – we love Obama food news – so we were overjoyed when we found Obama Foodorama, a site dedicated to everything Obama-foodie related. Being from Chicago, we are doubly excited, since Obama seems to be maintaining his Chicago foodie roots – especially given that he recently brought the chef from Chicago restaurants Avec and Blackbird, Sam Kass, to Washington.
Filed under Links
Happy Lunar New Year
January 26th marked the ushering in of the year of the Ox. As with any holiday worth celebrating, there is some awesome food involved in Chinese New Year celebrations. In honor of the new year here are some fun and delicious links.
- The BBC highlights a range of traditional regional Chinese New Years dishes.
- Epicurious takes on a transnational Lunar New Years menu.
- Philly chef Susanna Foo shares a story and some tasty recipes at Global Gourmet.
- And for the cheapskate – how to make some freestyle dumplings for less than 8 bucks.
Friday Foodie Links: One and Two Food Blogs
We’ve encountered a number of good food blogs recently that have the structure of linking two foods – sometimes expected combos (Chocolate and Vanilla) and sometimes not (Chocolate and Zucchini?). We thought we’d share some of our favorites.
- Vanille & Chocolate – A London-based blog full of delicious recipes and travel stories.
- Cannelle Et Vanille – Blog from a Basque expat, filled with lovely desserts.
- Canela y Comino – Delicious dispatches from M’s favorite culinary country – Peru!
- Chocolate and Zucchini – A rather famous blog detailing culinary adventures in Paris.
- Rice and Noodles – A minimalist blog with gorgeous food photos.
Friday Foodie Links: Best of 2008
Towards the end of the year, it’s no surprise there are a slew of “best of” lists. So here’s a rundown of some of the best of the “Best Ofs.”
- The Kitchn compiles the Best Food Stories of 2008. How could we forget Cindy McCain’s Recipegate or the Salmonella scare?
- Leite’s Culinaria rounds up the best food books of 2008: including A Day at el Bulli by Ferran Adrià and Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin.
- Time Out Chicago has a list of the 100 Best Things they ate in 2008 – and there’s even a PDF Print-Out so you can see how many you ate as well. This gives us some ideas for 2009.
- Food & Wine goes nationwide with their best restaurant dishes of 2008, including entries from Chicago’s own L20 and Takashi.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Mole Mania
Chicago Life magazine has a nice feature on Mole, and locations around Chicago with their special takes on the iconic sauce. “Mole” simply means “sauce” but is commonly used to describe a particular subset of sauces known as ”mole poblano”, that contain chocolate, dried chili peppers, ground nuts and a myriad of other spices.
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Obama on Check Please
[Via Gapers Block] Check Please! is something of a Chicago institution. Airing on Chicago’s PBS channel, WTTW, the show rounds up 3 Chicagoans who recommend and review eachothers’ favorite restaurants. Back in 2001, then State Senator Barack Obama appeared on the show to recommend his favorite restaurant – Hyde Park’s Dixie Kitchen. The Obama episode will re-air Friday, January 16th at 8 PM, just in time for inauguration. Centerstage Chicago also has a list of Obama’s other favorite restaurants in the city, including Topolobampo, Spiaggia, and Fiesta Pizza. At the right are Barack and Michelle visting Spiaggia for their anniversary.
Filed under Links
Getting Ready for the New Year: How to say “cheers” in every language
Though it’s not quite New Years (2009?!)I thought the following link would be appropriate – how to say ‘cheers’ in many different languages. This is the most comprehensive list I’ve found so far – and some of these are pretty interesting! I like one of those listed for Sweden: Helan går (Everything goes) and Bolivia: Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo (Health and love and time for fun).
Filed under Links
Friday Foodie Link: Macarons on Michigan Avenue
Macarons are perhaps one of my favorite cookies – mostly because they come in a million different flavors and are so darn photogenic! So I’m a latecomer to this news, but I have just been informed that there is a temporary Macaron store in the Park Hyatt (800 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago). The temporary story is the brainchild of Andrés Lara, the pastry chef at NoMi, in the Park Hyatt. The store is called “La Boule de Noël” (round Christmas Tree Ornament) and is open 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, until Dec. 31. Each Macaron is $2, in a range of flavors from traditional to exotic. I’m there!
Flickr Credit: Yuichi.sakuraba’s macarons from Pierre Hermé, Tokyo.
Filed under Links
Eating The World 