Paris

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 — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 61

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

What's old is new again — Fin de siècle theme edition!

  • You can pick an apple of a city tree! Seattle is building the country's first permaculture food forest. The city’s new park will be filled with edible plants, and everything from pears to herbs will be free for the taking. "People worried, ‘What if someone comes and takes all the blueberries?’ That could very well happen, but maybe someone needed those blueberries. We look at it this way—if we have none at the end of blueberry season, then it means we’re successful.”
  • Kids are eating food worth eating! Local seafood has started to move boat to school in Oregon. "Right now, Sobell said, grants are key to making more local food available to schools. But even if they run out, she said she hopes the schools will keep their relationships with producers and incorporate some local food purchases into their budgets. 'This kicks it off and gives people new connections," she said. "Portland schools can still serve local, natural beef even if it's only once in awhile.'"
  • Glamorous ladies of the evening ride lobster-driven stove chariots! Well, in our dreams and in the fabulous image above from Retronaut they do.
  • If you've ever wanted to own a piece of French hospitality history, now is your chance. Legendary Parisian Hôtel de Crillon to Auction 3,500 Items "So what might you pick up? How about a bar created by César in 1982 (valued up to €12,000 [$15,424]) or a Philippe Starck for Baccarat “Dark Super” console table from the restaurant Les Ambassadeurs  (€15,000)[$19,280]?  Trop cher? Then perhaps a Christofle mahogany and silver-plate dessert trolley (€3,000 to €4,000 [$3,856 to $5,141]), a molded crystal and silver plated Lalique light fixture (€3,000 to €4,000 [$3,856 to $5,141]) or a large wood veneer, gilt bronze and marquetry Louis XVI–style desk from the lobby (€300 to €400 [$386 to $514]) would be just the thing."
  • And the finale to our edition, the excellent Portlandia Season Two anthem, The Dreams of the 1890's Are alive in Portland (video).

 

Go forth, drink bitters and ferment something!