A medium-rare steak is a medium-rare steak is a medium-rare steak. But how much salt does it take for it to be seasoned “perfectly.” You know it when you taste it, but what does your friend think? The person at the next table who binged on potato chips earlier that day? The smoker? And that’s just one dimension of seasoning.
Cooking and eating play on the very thin line between objective execution and wildly speculative matters of personal taste. Wine, nearly independent from matters of nutrition, even more so. Which is why I’m so excited about SOMM, the upcoming documentary about the exhaustive training, exclusive tasting, and grueling testing required to become one of the world’s few Master Sommeliers.
Source: The Huffington Post
Southern Foodways Alliance
I’m blown away: the SFA has put together an amazing collection of oral histories, videos, interactive maps, and more detailing the past and present of southern food. What’s more, they spell out guidelines and tips for contributing your own interviews to the project.
Whether you want to know the history of boudin, curious about what’s new in Southern artisanal cheese, or are planning a real-deal barbecue tour, this is the place to start.
Modern Squash (via NYTimes.com)
1. Hang-It-All, Charles and Ray Eames, 1953. 2. PH 4/3 Lamp, Poul Henningsen, 1966. 3. T.W.A. Terminal, New York, Eero Saarinen, 1962. 4. Philip Johnson, 1906-2005. 5. La Chaise, Charles and Ray Eames, 1948. 6. Egg Chair, Arne Jacobsen, 1958. 7. Swan Chair, Arne Jacobsen, 1958.
We shuffled in line toward a machine that dispensed the tickets you handed to the chefs. There was a bewildering array of choices. Ansari, clad in his new brown suit, was the first to reach the front. “I’m scared,” he whispered. “Just close your eyes and push a button,” said Chang.
“Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
In case you need cooking suggestions this week, here’s a series of food-related interviews on Fresh Air….
Source: NPR
A whole series of Nintendo character butchering charts, over at ThatsLikeWHOA.com
Source: ilovecharts
A competitive person or one who feels chronically undervalued cherishes foods that the brain has coded as rewards. A loner finds no comfort in those foods the brain links with community. An abused person who lives in fear might hoard safety foods.
When we feel endangered, unsung and/or lonesome, we eat.
Infographic: Price X Nutrition of Junk Food and Real Food
It’s widely known that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be obese. The chart below jumps off of the obesity research of Adam Drewnowski who found that a single dollar could buy more calories of junk food rather than healthy food. He found that a dollar can get someone 1,200 calories of cookies or potato chips, but only 250 calories of carrots.
This is a really difficult point to get across. The associations of eating healthy are with small portions of lean ingredients sourced from expensive retailers like Whole Foods. However, a little education can go a long way to feed more people, better, and support local producers at the same time.
While teaching people how to cook for themselves is important, I think the most important food education we need in this country is how to shop. A family’s budget is more relateable, consequential, and telling than any nutritional statistic.
Source: The Huffington Post
