Sara Remington © 2011 Sara Remington © 2011

Yet another study came out this week touting the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet rooted in whole grains — and like every other such study, the news was greeted with a collective “meh.” Every time I hear that this diet is good for me, I use it as an excuse to drink red wine and eat dark chocolate — and change very little else.

Maybe this is why Cambridge’s Maria Speck is such a good ambassador for the Mediterranean way of eating — she doesn’t care about the health benefits. Speck, the author of Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, eats whole grains simply because they’re delicious. When she talks about grains, she rhapsodizes about the nuttiness of buckwheat, the bite of quinoa, the warmth of amaranth — but the word “fiber” never once comes out of her mouth.

Even though this February has been absurdly mild, New Englanders still face another couple of months of long, dark nights and grey-tinged days. At this time of the year, a bowl of warm grains is a comforting thing. Because of this — and in anticipation of her upcoming lecture at Boston University, which is open to the public — we spoke to her about weeknight cooking, easy baking, and good German bread. Plus — a recipe! Continue reading →

Sam Treadway of Backbar (Photo: Susanna Bolle)

It takes a lot to lure someone away from a tropical paradise. For Sam Treadway, it took a bar, specifically. Meaning, the prospect of founding and running his own craft cocktail bar and essentially starting from scratch.

This time last year, Treadway was living in Hawaii, dreaming the dream and minding the bar at a new hotel. Then he got a call from the people behind the Journeyman restaurant in Union Square. It seemed they wanted to start a bar in the space behind their restaurant and needed someone to run it. A friend had recommended Treadway, a veteran of both Eastern Standard and Drink.

“I got really excited, when I talked to them, because I realized that I’d have a place to pretty much do whatever I wanted, and it’s in my hometown — I couldn’t say no. It was pretty much the only way that you could get me to move back from Hawaii,” he says with a laugh.

The bar that he created in concert with Journeyman is Backbar. With it’s cool, somewhat idiosyncratic industrial design (and happily notable lack of TVs), low-outside speakeasy-style profile, it doesn’t look or feel much like any other bar in the city. Continue reading →

Photo: The Ewan/Flickr

LOCAL BITES

The Unsung Bean
On Point tackled the topic of protein in its second hour of broadcast today. Protein for a crowded planet, that is. Enter, legumes, in all their glory! Host Tom Ashbrook spoke with Crescent Dragonwagon, blogger at www.deepfeast.com and James Beard award-winning author of Bean By Bean. Listen online or download the podcast.

Reminder: Raw Milk TONIGHT
Harvard Law School is holding a debate about raw milk tonight, 7:15-8:45 in Langdell South. The public is welcome; admission is free. The event will also be live- streamed. More info at HLS Food Law Society.

Fun(d) Party at OM
On Monday evening, Feb. 20, Chef Patricia Yeo and Louisa Kasdon of Let’s Talk About Food (LTAF) invite you to a fund party at OM to raise funds for LTAF’s first full year of programming as an independent organization. Great food, signature drinks, Chef’s demo and great buzz. Tickets available online.

And the Fastest Burrito Roller this side of 495 Is….
On Wed., Feb. 29, Anna’s Taqueria will host a competition at its Harvard Street, Brookline, location. Which employee and which fan can roll the best burrito? Winners will receive the Golden Spoon trophy and eternal glory (amen). All participants walk with a free burrito, while all voyeurs get a crash course in expert burrito-rolling technique. Henry Santoro of WFNX will emcee. You’ll need to register.

Your Local Cocktail’s Ancestry
Boston’s Cocktail Scene took root in 1998. So claims this report from boston.com about the the fertile cluster of talented bartenders who teamed up way back when at the long-lost B-side Lounge in Cambridge.

Food Advocates Nestle and Pingree on YouTube
The Museum of Science has posted edited videos of all three Farm Bill Teach-In sessions held last month in Cahners Theatre. (The keynote session is super informative.) Session I: Keynote speakers Marion Nestle, Chellie Pingree. Session II: Ellen Parker of Project Bread, Annette Higby of the New England Farmers Union, and Tim Griffin of Tufts. Session III: Wrap-Up. Continue reading →

Photo: NOAA Photo Library/Flickr

From January 2010 til late last summer, PRK readers heard monthly from Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, an active member of Slow Food Boston, who regaled us with food- and drink-related tips, musings, book reviews, local histories and the like. Anastacia expressed her own views, but the topics on which she wrote consistently aligned with the mission and meaning of Slow Food Boston and the mothership, Slow Food USA.

Today, the mantle is being passed. While Anastacia hunkers down to complete her first book, colleague Alex Loud, Chapter President of Slow Food Boston, will contribute to PRK each month in a similar vein.

In his first post, below, Alex writes about Slow Food National’s current controversies. What should, and what shouldn’t, this organization be in the current food age?

Alex Loud
Slow Food Boston 

Although more than a generation behind us, 1986 does not, in retrospect, seem particularly different from today. Yes, a Macintosh was a boxy little brown computer and vinyl records were still common. Hip-Hop didn’t exist, but Rap was booming. Madonna was as ubiquitous as ever.

Yet, compared to the monumental changes witnessed over the preceding two generations (air travel, highways, computers, the atomic bomb, etc.), the space between 2012 and 1986 seems rather dull.

The same cannot be said, however, for the global food system. Continue reading →

Photo: shawncampell/Flickr

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

On February 14 in…

1803
Moses Coats patents the apple parer.

1838
Margaret Knight, inventor of the flat bottom paper bag, is born.

(© 2011 Michael V. Hynes)

Somerville Winter Market (photo: USDAgov/Flickr)

Earlier today officials from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) announced that $400,000 will be made available to specialty crop producers in Massachusetts.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing the funding through its Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. (You’ll recall that, on the federal level, “specialty crops” do not refer to exotic or non-native crops, but instead to fruits and vegetables, broadly speaking.) Indeed, the newly announced grants will help bolster the market for specialty crops in Massachusetts, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and dried fruits.

With the awarding of these grants, DAR will begin a competitive Request for Response (RFR) process. This means all agricultural organizations — beginning farmers, commodity groups, individuals, agricultural organizations, colleges and universities, producers, municipalities, state agencies and agricultural nonprofits — are eligible for this grant program. Proposals must meet all the specifications in the Department’s RFR and the USDA’s Notice of Federal Assistance, CFDA 10.170.

Comprehensive information about the application process can be found on the MDAR website.

Photo: SteveR-/Flickr

Kathy Gunst
Resident Chef, Here & Now
Cookbook author, blogger

You can make reservations. Many will. But why do so many people think that sitting in a restaurant on one of the busiest days of the year, eating from a set-priced (read: overpriced) menu is the way to spell L.O.V.E.?

Don’t get me wrong. I love going out to eat and exploring menus and seeing what chefs are cooking. But there are two days of the year when I just won’t go out — New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day.

I know that Valentine’s Day is a great day for restaurants to generate business in an otherwise slow February. But all those tables for two with red roses and hearts everywhere just doesn’t appeal. Not to mention all that über-rich food and overpriced chocolate desserts. No thanks. I prefer to stay home and cook for the one I love.

Light a fire. Light a candle. Forget about cream sauces and wild mushrooms. Serve a delicious winter salad made of spicy greens, arugula, tiny sweet, juicy sections of tangerine and winter nuts glazed with maple syrup. Pan sear local fish or roast a chicken stuffed with lemon and herbs. Mash some winter root vegetables like celery root or parsnips (with a touch of crème fraiche). Keep it simple.

Photo: Kathy Gunst

But when it comes to dessert you really don’t have much choice. Valentine’s Day and chocolate go hand in hand like St. Patrick’s Day and corned beef and cabbage, Passover and matzoh, Thanksgiving and turkey. It’s just the way things need to be.

When it comes to chocolate, let’s just say there is no better way to celebrate than with chocolate and sea salt.

I promise: you don’t have to be an accomplished baker to pull off a tart combining these two ingredients.

Go ahead, eat this tart. And tell me you’re not in love. (Recipe after the jump.)

Continue reading →

Photo: Horia Varlan/Flickr

Cauliflower is a bulking, dull, and awkward vegetable that remains unloved and untouched at salad bars across the country. That is, at least while it’s raw — because, roasted, it becomes sublime, an ugly duckling transformed. Raw, its ordinary whiteness evokes a piece of broccoli devoid of flavor; roasted golden brown and even charred, it is striking.

(Forgive me if this is an example of over-the-top food writing. Some people get passionate about politics; I get passionate about the dualism of cruciferous vegetables.)

If you haven’t tried roasted cauliflower before, do yourself a favor before you give up on the veggie completely — try this recipe from Eat Make Read, for a side dish of roasted cauliflower with a walnut pesto. The sweet of the cauliflower mixed with the crunch of the pesto turns a sad vegetable into a stunning beauty. You know that scene in The Breakfast Club where Ally Sheedy puts on a headband and all of a sudden she’s making out with Emilio Estevez? It’s like that.

Photo: JacQuLyne/Flickr

On February 9 in …

1894
Hershey’s Chocolate Company is founded

(© 2011 Michael V. Hynes)

The Backstory
Milton Hershey was the son of Mennonites from Lancaster County, PA. His father was inquisitive and bright, but struggled as a businessman. The family moved often; young Hershey attended seven schools in eight years of formal schooling. The chocolate company we all now know is actually the third confectionary business Hershey began, and the only one to succeed. But succeed it did. Understatement. Continue reading →

Photo: Sister72/Flickr

LOCAL BITES

Java, Let Me Count the Ways
The second hour (11 AM) of “On Point” tomorrow, Feb. 10, will be dedicated to that most necessary, beloved, personal and sometimes controversial of topics, coffee. American tastes in coffee, that is, and the ongoing battle for our taste buds. Tune in, and join the discussion by phone, Facebook or Twitter.

Your Valentine, You and Your Terrible-Two
Friday evening, Feb. 10, Aura restaurant at the Seaport Boston Hotel is offering one of its Family-style Fine Dining dinners. This means serious cuisine for you and both kid-friendly dishes and Valentine’s Day-themed crafts for the kid(s). Peace. Love. Fun. It all begins at 5:30 PM. More information here.

Make Reservations First, Love Later
Food is love, Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, and Boston-area restaurants — too many to list — are ready to serve you and your loved one. Choose your favorite and book it now! You’ll thank us later…

Love Needn’t Be Blind
On Monday, Feb. 13, come to BU for a lecture and tasting guided by Nancy Harmon Jenkins on what might actually be in that beloved bottle of extra virgin olive oil sitting on your shelf. Offered through BU’s Food and Wine Program, Jenkins’ talk is one in the ongoing Pépin Lecture Series, free and open to the public. Learn more.

What We Eat
Northeastern University’s Open Classroom Seminars continues its semester-long series on Food & American Society: An Urban Prospective. Next Wednesday, Feb. 15, Frances Moore Lappé of The Small Planet Institute will speak on Food, Ecology, Democracy, Justice. On Feb. 22, hear Sara Dwyer of Oldways and Northeastern professors Lori Lefkovitz and Robert Hall discuss the role of culture in what we eat. Lectures are free and open to the public, but you’ll need to register. Continue reading →