Friday Faves No. 180

Our favorite finds from the front lines of food.

 

This summer will mark the 10th anniversary of one of the best (not just food) ads of all time. Created by director Juan Cabral, the 2007 idea was not popular but he ultimately prevailed.  "A brand needs to go to the heart and not to the brain. Gorilla is - in those 90 seconds- trying to take you somewhere".   How are you going to celebrate this landmark anniversary? (Guardian)

Algae here, algae there,  algae everywhere.....no it's not the latest Dr. Seuss crazy, its what's in your food!  It's already in baking mixes, cookies, milk, non-dairy creamer, vegan eggs, salad dressings, ice cream, smoothies and so on. Are you ready for the algae revolution? (Fast Company)

We heard a lot of support last week across social media channels for "A Day Without immigrants".  One of our absolute fave chefs, Jose Andres,  stepped up to close his restaurants to make this very important point.  But it was not just the top chefs or the mom & pop shops.  CNBC reported that some McDonald's closed for the day in support as well.  (Washington City Paper, CNBC)

What is your favorite ice cream?  Coppa, a retailer in Juneau, Alaska, has their answer - Candied Salmon Ice Cream. Yup....they walked away with the Symphony of Seafood top prize this last week. Other winners included a pool and spa clarifier, a leather clutch,  coho salmon bottarga, salmon chowder, salmon bites (for babies) and Orca Bay's albondigas and jjamppong soups.  What a list!  (SeafoodSource)

It looks like Mexico's sugar tax is starting to have an effect on consumption but the jury is still out on how much impact it might have on obesity. (Guardian) 

Friday Faves No. 155

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

For Rockfish, A Tale Of Recovery, Hidden On Menus The slipperiest part of fish is sometimes the name. We have to agree with John Rorapaugh: "And a little tableside education could quickly help consumers get over the unfamiliarity factor, adds John Rorapaugh, owner of a seafood wholesaler and distributor in Washington, D.C., called ProFish. "I think it's more interesting to use the real names," Rorapaugh says. "If you have thornyhead rockfish on the menu, it will start a conversation." (NPR)

Note to seafood producers — time to start upgrading your communication and storytelling “The biggest factors driving the use of farmed seafood in restaurants are pricing, consistency and availability...But chefs still need to be convinced that farming seafood is an ecologically sound practice.” says the report's author. "That data becomes even more interesting when combined with another finding from the survey: 44 percent of participating chefs said they preferred researching seafood sustainability online, versus 33 percent of chefs who preferred getting information from suppliers, vendors and visits to sources." (Seafood Source) 

Oaxaca’s Native Maize Embraced by Top Chefs in U.S. and Europe "In New York, Los Angeles and beyond, a taste for high-quality Mexican food and its earthy centerpiece, the handmade tortilla, has created a small but growing market for the native, or landrace, corn that is central to life in these plains and to Mexican identity." (New York Times)

Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast The company has won plaudits for its admission of forced labour in the Thai seafood industry but much of the supply chain remains hidden. (Guardian)

‘Forked’ Rates Restaurants On How They Treat Their Workers "One in 12 working Americans work in this industry, [and] 1 in 2 Americans have worked in [a restaurant] in their lifetime. But it has continued to be one of the absolute lowest paying employers in the U.S. For every year that the Department of Labor lists the 10 worst paid jobs, seven are, every year, restaurant jobs." (KQED)

FIACUI 2015: Aquaculture Forum in Guadalajara, Mexico

from Polly Legendre

I had the pleasure of attending the 10th annual Foro Internaciaonal de Acuicultura (FIACUI) earlier this month in Guadalajara, Mexico. This conference is organized every year by Panaorama Aquicuicola Magazine and provides a lively forum for discussion around issues related to aquaculture across Latin America, and more specifically Mexico.

This year the topic was principally focused on issues of sustainability — in production, practices and the marketplace.

The event kicked off with a live band at the opening reception, so right off the bat I knew that this conference would be special. Throughout the event, I was incredibly impressed with how the organizers could keep so many people engaged from early morning meetings through evening activities. They did this by alternating the important conference topics with dedicated “expo” sessions with the vendors. There was even a sponsored Mexican seafood lunch in the vendor area so that attendees could browse equipment, feeds, etc. without having to forage for food outside the conference. I mean, who would really be interested in leaving the expo area while grilled shrimp brochettes were on hand! To my amazement, on Thursday evening, when the panel discussion went over a full hour with sanding-room-only attendance, everyone stayed to the very end. After the long anticipated last question, the audience was finally rewarded with a full live mariachi band, dancers, margaritas and a seafood buffet, all in celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the FIACUI.

After the two full days of discussions, presentations and vendor expo, FAICUI goers had several options for field trips into the surrounding areas. Of course I chose the aquaculture tour. So, early Saturday morning a group of around 30 of us piled into a private charter bus, then headed southeast about two hours out of Guadalajara towards the small town of Tototlan. Throughout the day we visited catfish and tilapia farms, but what I didn’t expect was a visit to a frog farm!  

We stopped for lunch at a cool little roadside spot at La Barca called “Restaurant El Cortijo.” Here we feasted on whole fried fish, rice and beans and since it is the heart of Jalisco, a lunch time tequila. The family running the restaurant also operated the tilapia and frog farm. They were so proud of their product that they sent me back to the city with a couple of “ranas a la plancha”…yes grill frogs for dinner. This is REAL Mexican farm to table dining!

It was a wonderful trip and an informative conference — from the dynamic guys at SAGAPRA who found time to introduce me to a quick meal at Karne Garibaldi (self-proclaimed the fastest restaurant in the world), to innovative young farmers who want to learn more about branded seafood in Mexico and beyond. I look forward to keeping in touch with new friends and colleagues. There is a lot of potential here and I, for one, look forward to seeing the Mexican aquaculture community come into its own.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 85

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

• Singing the praises of masa, from pupusas (above, from a NYT slide show) to arepas and tortillas. "Without the tortilla, there is no taco. And, as the Mexican saying goes: Sin maíz, no hay país. Without corn, there is no country." (New York Times)

• Eau de Toast, a scent to bring bread back into fashion It sold out immediately, but you can always recreate it in your very own toaster. (Laughing Squid)

• Harvard wants to help you geek out over your food with a new free online course Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. Class starts October 8. (NPR)

•  An OpEd on how states can help Keep Farmland for Farmers by the founders of the National Young Farmers Coalition highlighted the difficulty faced by farmland turning into second homes for the wealthy. "Easements are intended to protect farmland, water, animal habitat, historic sites and scenic views, and so they are successful in keeping farms from becoming malls and subdivisions. But they don’t stop Wall Street bankers from turning them into private getaways, with price tags to match....one-quarter of the land trusts that oversee these conservation easements have seen protected land go out of production. Why? A nonfarmer had bought it." (New York Times)

• In Scotland two of our favorite industries are joining together to turn the byproduct of whisky into salmon feed. “Distillery effluent can be damaging, but also contains potentially valuable nutrients and micronutrients. The waste can also be used to produce a microbial biomass which has the potential to be a cheap and sustainable source of protein-rich feed." (Food Magazine)

• Marcella Hazan, teacher, cookbook author and guide to Italian cooking for scores of Americans, died this week at 89. Her New York Times obituary quoted her husband on her notoriously strident style: "'A lot of people had encounters with her because she knew in her mind, in her heart, exactly how things were supposed to be,” Mr. Hazan said on Sunday. “That is what made her cooking great. Marcella wasn’t easy, but she was true. She made no compromises with herself with her work or with her people.'” (New York Times)

• Home cooking site Food 52 did its own tribute to What Marcella Hazan Taught Us (Food 52)

• Ever want a taste of that cake you're bringing to a party later but can't think of a way to cover up where you snuck a taste? Of course you do. The solution to that dilemma has been found in the Nibble, a cake pan with a tiny sidecar for sampling. (Laughing Squid)

• A quick history of the rise and fall, and rise again of craft beer in America. "From 89 to 2,538 [breweries] in three decades might be more than a renaissance, however — we may be witnessing the second-coming of an American craft brewing boom." (Smithsonian)

• And if you've ever debated beer vs. coffee, this infographic explains it all to you. Basically, beer is good for making new ideas and coffee is good for acting on them. (Fast Company)