Friday Faves No. 162

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Watch as 10 Swedish children ages 3-9 taste test oysters to find out what they really think.

Swedish kids are no strangers to seafood. They even have fish paste in tubes! But how do you get kids to embrace the oyster? Brasserie Lipp thinks they have it figured out; you give it to them for free! (Seafood Source)

OK....now what? What will the Brexit mean for UK food? (Eater)

Questions over the sustainability of wild harvested seaweeds lead to cancellation of the Maine Seaweed Festival. Some of the organizers say a 'Gold Rush mentality' as the product gains popularity threatens the industry's future, but harvesters disagree. Thoughts? (Portland Press Herald)

Chewing Over Our New Idea Of 'Better' Food At The Fancy Food Show This past week we were at the Fancy Food Show in NYC and so was the iconic Clark Wolf. Here is a small taste of his take on the state of specialty foods: "It's a history lesson, a geopolitical reflection and a mouthwatering decent into a foo coma of bounty."  (Forbes) 

Normally eggshells can be disposed of in the garden, crushed up and scattered on flower beds or just thrown into the compost bin, but what do you do when you are a Scotch egg manufacturer facing the problem of how to get rid of 1.5m eggshells a week? You partner with your local university to create a sustainable and cost-effective way to use the shells. (Guardian)

At the first Refugee Food Festival in Paris, chefs in exile show off their skills: From Refugee Chefs, a Taste of Home “Immigrants here are seen in a negative light, as pulling the country down, as having nothing to offer, but in fact they offer a chance to exchange cultures, to bring something positive: The cuisine of a place gives pleasure.” (New York Times)

From noodles to poodles The tastes of China’s consumers are rapidly changing "Brands that promise healthy lifestyles are also thriving. In a recent survey, the top complaint by Chinese consumers was poor food safety and the next biggest grouse was shoddy health care. These attitudes have helped restaurants and supermarkets with names like 'Element Fresh' and 'Pure and Whole' spread like organic mushrooms across the land." (Economist)

As Chinese, Iranian and Indonesian As Apple Pie A great look at the diverse origins of our favorite foods, but this quote is too fun to not call out: "By the turn of the 20th century, pie had become 'the American synonym for prosperity,' as The New York Times proclaimed in a 1902 editorial. 'Pie is the food of the heroic. No pie-eating people can ever be permanently vanquished.'" (NPR, The Salt)

Even Vogue is talking about shrimp: Should We Really Be Eating Shrimp? A simple dinner-party question—should one eat shrimp?—sets off on an ethical and gastronomic journey. (Vogue)

Kellogg’s Is Opening Its First-Ever Permanent Café Dedicated Entirely to Cereal in Times Square Get in line for "cereal innovation and delicious experimentation," otherwise known as cereal from the box with fancified toppings like thyme, white chocolate and matcha (not all in the same bowl). (Laughing Squid)

Friday Faves No. 161

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Would make a great fitness class: High Speed Mochi (link to video) (Laughing Sqiud)

Buy some vegetables already. For some growers, farmers markets just aren’t what they used to be. "The decline in sales is, arguably, one result of the contemporary farmers market, which has evolved to meet the needs of a new generation of shoppers who view these outdoor markets as more a lifestyle choice than an opportunity to support local agriculture." More sophisticating marketing can help: "But market managers say farmers must also help themselves if they want to survive and thrive in this new era. It’s not enough to simply show up at a market and expect consumers to buy all your gorgeous, freshly harvested stone fruits and greens. Farmers must be attuned to consumer demand and be better marketers and shopkeepers, even at their makeshift outdoor stands." (Washington Post)

There is always room for compassion, and another bakery: Syria’s Beloved Sweet Shops Follow Its Refugees Into Exile "Civil war has scattered Syria’s bakers, pastry chefs, and restaurateurs. For the foodies—and children—in their new communities, it’s a tasty turn of events." (National Geographic)

We're not generally fond of "food as medicine" headlines, but we do love our seaweed. Seaweed Could Help Fight Food Allergies (Food & Wine)

The New York Times is barely dipping its toe in here, but the further we get from the "farmed = bad, wild = good" trap the better. Farming for Fish As leading chefs are turning away from the sea and toward sustainable hatcheries, it seems we’ve just begun to skim the surface of aquaculture (New York Times)

A great new food site for the breakfast obsessed — Extra Crispy with some really fine personal essays like: Soup is the Breakfast of Kings 

The future is in the works, with both rising interest in sustainable food and domestic production in China: International hotel chain starts serving 'low carbon' Chinese salmon (Seafood Source)

Friday Faves No. 126

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

A new way to wear your dinner (above). "Hatanaka, a Japanese manufacturer specializing in highly realistic plastic food replicas for restaurants, recently entered the fashion business with their line of food replica jewelry and accessories on their website." (Laughing Squid)

Further confusing consumables and wearables, a new fabric has been created using Harris Tweed that will permanently give off the smell of whisky. (BBC)

If your meal was good, but your server stinks, this restaurant in LA will let you tip just the cooks. (Food & Wine)

Budget Problems? Kentuckyand Elsewhere Find Answer in Bottle “'A key factor is the growing interest in American whiskey,” said Frank Coleman, a spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council. 'Then obviously you have all these ancillary economic impacts,' he said, such as sales of bottles, corn used to make bourbon, and tourism." (New York Times)

Made in China, the boutique version. "The conventional wisdom—or cliché—is that China can reproduce Western manufacturing or technology overnight, but European artisanal culinary delicacies that have evolved over generations are all but impossible to replicate. And yet, even apart from wine, there are dozens of small producers in China who are now attempting to do just that, with surprising success. Truffles, burrata cheese, prosciutto, feta, Roquefort, baguettes, foie gras—almost every Western gourmet item has been tackled by Chinese entrepreneurs for a new audience of adventurous diners." (WSJ via Punch)

SciShow Explains the Chemistry Behind What Makes Spicy Things Taste ‘Hot’ and Minty Things Taste ‘Cool’  (via Laughing Squid)

To the theme of what's (really) old is new again: Mead  (Food & Wine)

Friday Faves No. 113

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Fast Love: You wanna super-size that? In Hong Kong, McDonald's is now a wedding venue. They will even make you a dress out of either red or white balloons. Other optional swag includes a crystal McDonald's replica. A quick Google search reveals that this is actually a thing that goes beyond Hong Kong.

In a major quality of life step, a French Hospital Opens a Wine Bar for Dying Patients (Jezebel)

Beyond basic wine pairing, Krug Champagne called on artists to pair songs with their wines.  (Luxury Daily)

Please don't market your food products like this China, peaches and underwear go horribly wrong... (Jezebel)

In other fast food news, McDonald’s Canada expands seafood offerings to include an Asian Crispy Shrimp Signature McWrap. Why not an Asian Carp McWrap that would help clean out our Midwestern waterways? The chain is legend for getting people to eat "underutilized protein sources." Just look inside a chicken nugget if you doubt that. (Seafood Source)

From Boulder, Colorado to Ho Chi Minh city, the revolution will be brewed “There’s the potential in that part of the world to introduce them to craft beer. We go over there and we’re not just selling our brand, we have to sell an entire style of beer. There will be a lot of focus on education, promoting craft beer in general, the use of higher-quality ingredients and traditional processes.” (Drinks Business)

Raising Sustainable, Grass-Fed Beef? There Is, Of Course, Even An App For That (Fast Company)

All parents want to instill good values in their children. Some are even concerned about their future lives as gourmandes. Writes Maurice Dimarino on his wine blog: "I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I did, getting drunk from Coors and Mickey’s Big Mouth. I want them to have class and drink something they will enjoy and not get wasted. Parenting is difficult and I must commend myself for being forward thinking and watching out for the things most parents don’t think about or try to ignore." It's never too early to start talking to your kids about Riesling.
 

Friday Faves No. 109

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Peruvian food (like the excellent doughnuts at right) is on the rise in Hong Kong "When Hong Kong does eventually catch up, it may come as a surprise just how much local and Japanese influence there is on that far away country's cuisine." (South China Morning Post)

Bring on the Haggis! Scotland to petition US to bring back haggis UK environment secretary to ask opposite number to end decades-old ban and import meat dish once again Maybe haggis should come with video instruction for the intimidated. (Guardian)

Ritz-Carlton Thailand is creating how-to, interactive cooking videos tutorials for guest to use in their home kitchens as a way to continue the guest experience and build brand loyalty.
 (Luxury Daily)

The big guys go small as some mega-retailers try out the small grocery store model  (Seafood Source)

A Museum Devoted to Roast Duck Opens in Beijing Discover the culinary history of roast duck through sculptures and imitation dinners at the newly-opened  (First We Feast)

Prince Charles wants to turn fisheries into investment opportunities New report from prince's sustainability unit says investment in fisheries could be an effective way of saving the world's oceans "It is now time to explore a new approach to investing in the transition, an approach which involves all types of financial capital – from philanthropic to public to private. Each can play an important role and through coordination and integration, different types of capital can work together to finance the transition to self- sustaining fishery systems.” (Guardian)

Baijiu is coming to America, but will the popular Chinese liquor go down smooth? Some people consider it a drink. Some people consider it a form of hazing. "Broadly speaking, Chinese baijiu is a type of super-strong booze distilled usually from sorghum, but other grains as well. It might be medicinal, or not." (The World /PRI)

Whisky, on the other hand, is so popular that fraud is costing the industry. Whisky detective hunts and exposes sham drams  “Water that falls in the Cairngorms is different from water that falls in the Lowlands, and water that falls in Islay is different to water that falls in Orkney. And we can measure the difference. We’ve mapped out the isotopic fingerprint of all the fresh water in Scotland – we call it the isoscape.” (Scotsman)

Friday Faves No. 107

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Lobster Rolls Take London As all New Englanders know, the lobster roll is the best thing to happen to summer since ice cream. How did this possibly take so long to jump the pond? (Guardian)

We told you beer was good for you, and so is the waste from brewing: Spanish scientists have developed a new biomaterial from waste discarded after beer brewing which can be used to regenerate human bones.  (Drinks Business)

How could we not have a world cup story? Pass the ketchup: World Cup 2014 players dip into favourite foods England has tomato sauce to hand while pasta is Italy's preferred fuel before matches, says their team nutritionist (Guardian)

Walmart China Is Substantially Upping Its Food Safety Game In light of rampant food fraud in China, the multinational giant is throwing $48.2 million at the problem. Says a Walmart rep: “We see this as our future home market." (First We Feast)

Yes, you will have to get your own idea if you wan to be different. Craft-beer: One strategy won’t fit all shows why you shouldn't only look at your competitors when you need brand inspiration (Drinks Business)

Goats In The City? Making A Case For Detroit's Munching Mowers (NPR)

This story was everywhere last week, but just in case you missed it: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK It's a situation you really should know about. "I thought I was going to die," said Vuthy, a former monk from Cambodia who was sold from captain to captain. "They kept me chained up, they didn't care about me or give me any food … They sold us like animals, but we are not animals – we are human beings." (Guardian)

Friday Faves No. 105

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Discerning pollinators in Toronto will now be residing at the “Bee Hotel” on the roof of the Fairmont Royal York. “We’re certainly hoping to positively sustain and support the bee species, but we’re also doing this to drive awareness and education, so this issue comes to the surface and hopefully others will take action.” The hotel uses its restaurant to showcase the project by featuring herbs from their garden (which the bees have pollinated) and honey that they make. (Luxury Daily)

How Atomic Particles Helped Solve A Wine Fraud Mystery Those of you who've read The Billionaires Vinegar will be familiar with this story and how detecting atomic activity can help detect wine fraud. If not, you can get the quickie version in this Kitchen Sisters radio spot. (NPR)

Spreading the Nutella wealth: Italy's sweet success at 50  We still remember our first tastes of Nutella, hand-carried over from France before you could buy it in the US. It came with the realization that there were places in the world where everything tasted amazing and people were eating chocolate for breakfast. (Guardian)

What does meat taste of? When we describe meat dishes we rely on unhelpful words such as lamby or beefy. Why is it so hard to explain what meat tastes like, and what are its distinctive flavours made up of? This is your nerdy read of the week, including the fascinating fast fact that some Southeast Asian tribes allocate specific names to smells, just as we do colors. (Guardian)

When the real estate business use community gardens to sell: Gentrification and the Urban Garden “Our work wasn’t the cause of gentrification, but our programs and our aesthetics were being used to sell land and help displace people.” (New Yorker)

Will we all be drinking Chinese wine someday? It might take a while, but some think it's coming. The first sparkling wine made in China will be issued under the Chandon label this year. "China will rock our wine world – we just have to wait a little longer." (Wine Searcher)

If you felt like the Google and Facebook ads that pop up on your screen know too much about you, this will really freak you out: The Reverse Yelp: Restaurants Can Now Review Customers, Too (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Friday Faves No. 101

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

The San Francisco blog The Bold Italic has a series based on taking four-year-olds to fancy restaurants and getting their views on the food, like this little girl (above) who went to Plum. Unless chicken nuggets are in fact your favorite food, it's not super-informative, but they sure are funny. (Bold Italic)

Bodega Snacks & Wine Pairings: The Definitive Guide Now you know what to drink with wasabi peas & Swedish Fish. (Epicurious)

Bittman tackles talking about "organic" and "GMO" in Leave 'Organic' Out of It "Maybe all I’m saying here is this: There are two important struggles in food: One is for sustainable agriculture and all that it implies — more respect for the earth and those who live on it (including workers), more care in the use of natural resources in general, more consideration for future generations. The other is for healthier eating: a limit to outright lies in marketing “food” to children, a limit on the sales of foodlike substances, a general encouragement for the eating of real food." (New York Times)

It's about time: Seafood Suppliers Get Bullish on Brands “The marketplace has a lot of choices, so you need to position a strong brand, particularly with seafood...if we don’t position ourselves we can’t go to market.”  (Seafood Source)

Per-Anders Jörgensen photographs staff meals at top restaurants  "The family meal has evolved to become an extension of why people work in restaurants in the first place. Now more than ever it is fundamental to their success, and symbolic of what makes a good restaurant great." (Financial Times)

Airpocalypse Now: Jing-A’s New Double IPA Is Inspired by Beijing’s Notoriously Bad Smog
At the launch party, a sliding-scale beer discount was tied to the Air Quality Index.  (First We Feast)

Friday Faves No. 96

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Need more milk from your cows? Dig out all your old weepy break-up music. “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. Inspires Dairy Cows to Produce More Milk A University of Leicester study proves that slow tunes make cows produce up to 3% more milk. (First We Feast via Culture)

Stick it to The Man and eat the whole apple. Why throw away $13.2 billion? "The core is a product of society, man"  (Atlantic)

This past week we lost a great performer of songs about food when Shirley Temple Black died. We've added Animal Crackers in My Soup and On the Good Ship Lollypop to our Sing Along Snacks collection. In addition to her singing and dancing, millions of children have grown up with her namesake cocktail. You can make one at home. It's just ginger ale, grenadine and a maraschino cherry — parasols are optional.

Shanghai Warms Up To A New Cuisine: Chinese Food, American-Style Said one Chinese patron when trying a fortune cookie: 'Hmmm. This is like glutinous rice....It also tastes like a street-side pancake. I've never been to America, so I'm not quite clear about this thing.' Another thing at Fortune Cookie that intrigues people here are the white cardboard takeout boxes with wire handles and red pagodas on the side. Ubiquitous in America, they are known to Chinese only through scenes in Hollywood movies. When the restaurant staff saw them for the first time, they were so excited, they took photos." (NPR)

Friday Faves No. 94

Happy Chinese New Year! A look at some amazing sugar artistry with dragons on a stick in the video above.

Here's why some Peruvians are giving up jobs as lawyers and accountants to become chefs: "Julio Hevia, a psychologist, says Peruvians embracing their cuisine is about more than just the food, or even cultural diversity. 'It's a way of compensating, of escaping, of disconnecting,” Hevia says, “of inhabiting something like the Matrix — a parallel reality. I've always felt that in our culture we have a sense of a parallel reality.'"(PRI / The World)

Startup Brings Fresh Food to Chicago, One Vending Machine at a Time (Modern Farmer)

Seaweed is such a hip ingredient that it's now hitting the mainstream food press destined for middle America. (Bon Appetit)

RIP Pete Seeger. He was always an inspiration and will be missed. In keeping with his support of folk ways, here he is singing about making maple syrup.

Friday Faves No. 91

Meat Atlas Shows Latin America Has Become a Soy Bean Empire (Guardian)

The home brewing trend has left cooks with a new ingredient. Spent But Not Worthless: How to Cook with Spent Grain (Food52)

3D-printed pasta – the shapes of things to come? Italian food giant and Dutch researchers working on technology for rapid production of custom-designed pasta shapes.  (Guardian)

Spain Tightens Rules for Bottled Olive Oil attempting to use compulsory labeling as a way to boost the country's image as a producer. “It now also gives Spain a chance to ensure every visitor goes home with a clearer appreciation of our oil."  (New York Times)

Food truck clusters making quickie urban development: SoMa StrEat Food Park in S.F. "We've created an oasis in a food desert." (SF Gate / San Francisco Chronicle)

Although from a few weeks ago, this issue came across our desk again this week. China's ban on Pacific Northwest shellfish that's left an industry stranded is an important reminder to not put all your export "eggs" in one basket. (Olympian)

And this one was too awesome to not run: there's a small but growing trend for subdivisions with a working farm at their center. There are more than 200 of them across the country. (NPR)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 84

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• Guerilla Wi-Fry: Burger King left giant, eight-foot-long fries lying on the streets of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago (above), along with free wi-fi in the area, to promote its new crinkle-cut fries. (Design Taxi)

• China buys 5 percent of Ukraine's total land — about 9 percent of its farmland — to feed its growing population."China eats about one-fifth of the world’s food supplies, but holds just 9 percent of the world’s farmland after rapid industrialization. The country has already purchased farmland in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, but the deal with Ukraine represents its biggest investment in foreign farmland to date. (UPI)

• Spotting opportunity from above, airline pilot launches rooftop farming startup in Hawaii where most food is imported and costs are high. (Seedstock)
  

• Korean exporters are looking to make sojus the next "it" liquor, capitalizing on the growing hip-ness of all things Korean, from kimchi to K-Pop,  Gangnum Style to ingredients round-ups in Food & Wine. (NPR)

• We've posted about independent Scottish brewery Brew Dog before because we love their irreverent style. Now US consumers are going to get to know them better through a show on the new Esquire network (see video previews) where they travel around the country making new beers and evangelizing for craft brewing. Audio clip on the show from The World. (PRI/The World & Esquire)

• Global chocolate prices are up due to surging demand. "People are going back to an impulse buy....Chocolate was resilient but not recession-proof...The very high-end products got the brunt of consumption declines during the recession." (WSJ)

•  October 2 is National Kale Day, with a whole supporting web site celebrating all things kale (actually way more about kale than you would have thought possible).

• Can Processed Food Be Healthy? This radio segment explore whether industrial food science can be harnessed for good, from fake meat to seaweed chips. (On Point)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 82

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• In her ongoing series “Les Temps Modernes” (“Modern Times”), French artist Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard creates elaborate dioramas of everyday life that are populated by human-like figures with fish heads (like above). This one reminds us of Lucy and Ethel in the choclate factory. (Laughing Squid)

• Could QR codes revolutionise transparency in food supply chains? Honestly, probably not. They're too high-maintenance to scale, but they are pretty cool. (Guardian)

• The New York Times is running a series of articles called Leaving the Land: Picking Death Over Eviction. The series looks at how "China’s government-driven effort to push the population to towns and cities is reshaping a nation that for millenniums has been defined by its rural life." (New York Times)

• 2014 has been declaered the International Year of Family Farming by the United Nations. "Supporting the success of family farms—and increasing the incomes of family farmers—will significantly raise the overall standard of living. Research from Oxfam shows that investing in small farmers also creates a ‘multiplier’ effect that extends beyond the farming sector — farmers spend a big share of their income in other sectors, including construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing."(Dawn)

• Not just for hipsters anymore, the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain is showcasing its culinary talent through the "Taste Truck" which will be making stops throughout California, as well as Scottsdale, Arizona and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Food-related events have been found to drive traffic to the properties. This food truck promotion follow series of pop-up cooking classes the hotel chain has offered. (Luxury Daily)

• An exploration on whether we all, at least people living in rural areas, should take a look at eating roadkill as an ethical meet. "If the roadkill is fresh, perhaps hit on a cold day and ideally a large animal, it is as safe as any game. Plus, not eating roadkill is intensely wasteful: last year, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company estimated that some 1,232,000 deer were hit by cars in the United States. Now imagine that only a third of that meat could be salvaged. That’d be about 20 million pounds of free-range venison, perhaps not much compared to the 23 billion pounds of beef produced in the U.S. in 2011 but significant.^" (Modern Farmer)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 76

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Estonia barley bread and Latvian midsummer cheese, from Clouds

• From what started as a trickle of enthusiasm a decade ago, Scandinavian food is now getting its own festival, North — The Nordic Food Festival in New York City this October. (Honest Cooking)

• We find there's a lot to love from the countries up against the North Sea and the Baltic — fresh summer berries, earthy grains, tangy dairy, lots of cake. This week we wandered through some gorgeous Lithuania food blogs (some days the internet is magic like that) and found Clouds, a composite magazine with an English edition.

• How much sense do boycotts really make? Sometimes, not much. Bars across the U.S. and around the world are boycotting Russian products—particularly Stolichnaya vodka—to protest the Russian government’s passage of laws discriminating against gay citizens and rights advocates. But as Stoli points out: a company is not a government, and doesn't necessarily have much sway. The company has also publicly supported gay rights. (Forbes)

• Vineyard growth plan for 'Bordeaux of China' raises concerns for animal habitats and livelihoods of villagers who switch to grapes "Pandas are squished into the last little upland refuge that hasn't been converted into agriculture....A species that has lost so much habitat can't afford to lose more." (Guardian)

• In the struggles of farm and food labor, this week, fast food workers went on strike across America to demand higher wages. "'These companies aren’t magically going to make our lives better,” said Terrance Wise, who earns $9.30 an hour after working for eight years at a Burger King in Kansas City, plus $7.40 an hour at his second job at Pizza Hut. “We can sit back and stay silent and continue to live in poverty or, on the other hand, we can step out and say something and let it be known that we need help.'” (New York Times)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 75

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

• Draught and flood-resistant gorilla beans (above) are helping fight malnutrition in central Africa. "Protein-rich gorilla beans have been bred to target malnutrition in DRC's North and South Kivu provinces. They contain up to double the iron and 70% more zinc than regular beans, and are often used as a meat substitute. Much of the scientific research into the purple and white kidney-shaped pulses, which have been produced without genetic modification, has been conducted by African research institutions" (The Guardian)

• Rising temperatures are throwing food production in jeopardy, especially in the western US, and we're not doing enough to adapt, says an OpEd on Our Coming Food Crisis. "Last year some farmers made more from insurance payments than from selling their products, meaning we are dangerously close to subsidizing farmers for not adapting to changing climate conditions." Maybe we should be looking at Gorilla Beans too. (New York Times)

• The Distraction of Data: How Brand Research Misses the Real Reasons Why People Buy "The evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller believes that humans display brands like proud peacocks exhibit their tail feathers, as “fitness indicators” that advertise their potential as mates....Humans also advertise their “fitness” to our fellow kind. The brands we choose are symbols that signify traits that mark our success and worth in the pecking order." (Fast Company)

• Happy hour in motion: animated gifs of some favorite indie beers (Laughing Squid)

• Hangovers: The Driving Force Behind Our Favorite Foods For the gifts of the Bloody Mary and Eggs Benedict, we are truly grateful. (Smithsonian)
  

• We love collective action: A new seafood industry coalition for sustainability has formed called Sea Pact, made up of member companies Albion Fisheries, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Ipswich Shellfish Group, Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood and Seattle Fish Co. "The coalition will pool resources to promote fisheries and aquaculture improvements, in an effort to support more environmentally-friendly fishing and seafood farming." (Seafood Source)

• A slide show of the 50 Best Things to Eat and Drink Right Now in America, from brisket tacos in Brooklyn to beet homefries in Austin. "We're living in a golden age of stuffing our pieholes." (GQ)

• The latests in fake food in China — salt. Authorities busted a fake salt operation worth
  $3.23 million (China Daily)

• In the shadow of the world's tallest building, Dubai has a farmers market. "A whopping 4000 people attended the first market. 'People were unbelievably grateful...Local produce just was not available to the common man.'” (Modern Farmer)

• Looking for food poisoning? There's an app for that. Actually is for swapping leftovers with strangers, which probably amounts to the same thing. (Daily Meal)

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 65

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• Discover global cuisine through the kitchens of grandmothers with this excellent photojournalism project Delicatessen with love by Gabriele Galimberti. Each photo features a  grandmother with her signature dish as both ingredients and finished product. At right, grandmothers from Egypt, Haiti and Latvia.

• The GM food debate gets even uglier as Monsanto threatens to sue the state of Vermont. "Lawmakers in Vermont are looking to regulate food labels so customers can know which products are made from genetically modified crops, but agricultural giants Monsanto say they will sue if the state follows through."

• Looking to unload a châteaux? Christie’s is capitalising on the thirst for wealthy Chinese consumers to buy wineries by opening the world’s first estate agency for would-be vineyard buyers.

• Luxury food producers take note and come up with ways that you can take advantage of this style. Jaeger-LeCoultre tempts female consumers with emotional marketing, and they do a great job of it. “'Jaeger-LeCoultre’s strategy behind this campaign is connecting with their target market’s emotions on various events and occurrences that happen throughout their life, and focusing on the positive perspective that they can continuously reinvent themselves,' Ms. Strum said." Notice that nothing is said about watches in the full two minutes.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 54

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Here come the Snakes!

Sunday, February 10 is Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Snake.

• A big part of Chinese New Year is the food. In Shanghai, you can Eat your way through the culinary back streets.

• If you want to take the New Year literally, don't let us stop you. Meet Hong Kong's snake soup kings (with crazy/awesome photos, including the one above)

• You can do it at home: 8 steps to cook a snake

• And you can forage them yourself: Survival tips on choosing and cooking snake in the wild

• And what pairs with snake? China is set to become the sixth largest wine producer in the world by 2016. 

 Happy New Year & Bon Appétit!

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 44

weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• As we have noted to ourselves many times while making our way through through a refrigerated warehouse in the early morning hours, fish and glamour rarely go together — until we saw the Fishwives Club range of wines from South African (right).

• We can never resist a happy cow story: Where Cows Are Happy and Food Is Healthy fits the bill with video of all the big noses and long eyelashes you could want.

• What do you give to the person who has everything? Sea cucumebers are the answer in China. "Much of the demand is driven by the gift trade. One of Bo’s customers, Lin Xiaojian, founder-owner of a welding company, explained he was buying two RMB 590 (US$93) 1-kilogram portions. 'People are spending a lot more on health these days,' explained Lin, before adding that the sea cucumbers were in fact gifts for local officials he’s hoping will give contracts to his firm. 'I used to buy expensive rice wine but these days the fashion is for sea cucumbers … few ordinary people buy them to eat, it’s for gifting to government and army officials to keep good relations with them.'”

• In Bristol, UK "a community-led "fish allotment" scheme to farm fresh fish and vegetables in the city is being trialled in Bristol."

• US Presidential election time is coming soon. The candidates give a taste of their views on food issues, and will have more to say on September 25 when both candidates will be addressing the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 24

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

• Snack as an art form (above) with the Mona Lisa in plum.

• Food styling bolsters its design cred as the trend for pantone cooking continues to a lovely cabbage soup, Pantone 268 C.

• Camel milk chocolates and lattes — a traditional food finds new opportunities in modern tastes in Dubai with video of dairy camels (you saw it here first).

• Is it possible for bacon to jump the shark? A new bacon reality show just might do it. And Burger King has debuted a bacon sundae.

• It's time to talk about the Farm Bill again. "The second half of April could determine whether or not we’ll have government support for sustainable farm and food programs for the next five years."

• Chinese consumers are spreading their love of wine to regions around the world and could help boost new tastes. "Crucially, they are adventurous consumers open to wines from various countries and regions with new styles and flavours"

• From the land of gadgets comes a new Japanese creation, SushiBots — that's robots that make sushi.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 22

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• Too pretty to eat, pantone tarts by Emilie Guelpa.

• Mountain-city-saliva-chicken anyone? There's a new campaign in China to make menu translations less literal (and less gross).

• Pesticides and the fate of the honey bee: Three new studies link bee decline to Bayer Pesticide. Their products are used on corn, soy and more.

• Those crazy cephalopods, one minute you see them, the next minute they've turned into something else... rare footage of the mimic octopus.

• An Atlantic vintage? A Pacific vintage? "You can think of the world’s oceans as a kind of rich broth. They’re full of salt, of course, but they also contain other ingredients, many of them vital to marine life and to the processes that control the Earth’s climate." Not strictly a food story, but we appreciated the metaphor.

• One more story from the deep: Unlocking Seaweed’s Next-Gen Crude — Sugar (although intended more for cars and fertilizer than doughnuts).

• Feeling nostalgic for one of our favorite culinary innovators, we happened on this Swedish Chef collection. Bork! Bork! Bork!

• Usually, we go looking for the bizarre. Occasionally, it shows up in our mailbox, like this promotion for a bacon coffin. "We think that your final resting place deserves the eternal glory that is bacon." And Penelope the Pork Fairy says, "Amen."