Photo composite: Jane Bruce, courtesy of The Daily Meal

What did you eat for lunch today? Was it your work’s cafeteria fare, maybe? Was it organic? A frozen meal? Did you brown bag leftovers from that trendy Japanese place you visited last night? Did you make a Rachel Ray recipe (we won’t judge)?

I suppose what I’m getting at is this: maybe you chose what to eat for lunch today, but you were helped. Maybe you bought it at a store beginning to emphasize organic produce, or maybe you went with something processed because it was cheaper. Maybe you were inspired by a recipe you saw online, posted by an up-and-coming food blogger. Maybe your chef got into Nordic cuisine after the Noma cookbook came out. Simply put: on a larger scale, there are more powerful forces determining how America eats. Here, from The Daily Meal, are fifty of them.

The site’s list of the fifty most powerful figures in food is wide-ranging and surprising. Topping the list is the president of the Food Network — ranked one spot above the Secretary of Agriculture. The rankings include the biggest names in fast food (#6 is the CEO of McDonald’s) and the most stalwart proponents of food reform (#36 is Michael Pollan). There are chefs and activists, businessmen and food writers. It’s truly a big picture snapshot of food in America. To learn more, we spoke to Colman Andrews — the editorial director of The Daily Meal and a James Beard Award winner — about where the food industry is now, and what we’ll be eating in 2012. Continue reading →

Gibson with homemade cocktail onions (Photo: Susanna Bolle)

The cocktail onion is a humble thing. It may be a bar essential, but it’s one that regularly gets short shrift. Honestly, if plucked unceremoniously out of a jar, such onion can be pretty unpalatable. But a good cocktail onion can be a beautiful thing, transforming a run-of-the-mill martini into an extra-special Gibson. And the tastier the onion, the tastier the final drink will be.

The true glory of a Gibson was first revealed to me when I tasted a particularly nice rendition at Eastern Standard. Yes, the vermouth and the gin were both great, but it was the crunch of the delicately vinegary house-made cocktail onion that truly put the drink over the top. Recently, my love for the Gibson was rekindled at Backbar in Union Square, where it was served with a jewel-like pickled red onion. My drink was as pretty to behold as it was pleasurable to sip.

Inspired by that Backbar Gibson, I decided to try my hand at making cocktail onions at home when I saw a bag of pearl onions at the grocery store last week. As it turns out, this is not difficult. After all, pickling isn’t rocket science. The hardest thing is peeling the onions and, if you’re really wanting to keep things simple, you can even use frozen ones.

What you do need to do is choose your recipe wisely and be prepared to make some modifications to get the onions of your dreams. Continue reading →

Photo: Robert Banh/Flickr

February 7th is National Fettuccine Alfredo Day.

The Backstory
We’re heading to Rome for this one, then to Hollywood. Here’s the scoop.

A restauranteur named Alfredo de Lelio created this dish around 1914 as a variation on the traditional dish fettuccine al burro (with butter). The double, and sometimes triple, addition of butter with the pasta and parmigiano was apparently easier for his pregnant wife to keep down.

De Lelio began serving the new dish at his Ristorante Alfredo on Via della Scrofa, near Piazza Navona in Rome. In swish Hollywood starlets Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks on honeymoon to Rome in 1927. They tasted fettuccine Alfredo, loved it, dubbed de Lelio the “king of fettuccine” and returned to Hollywood spreading word of this delicious Roman primo. It sky-rocketed in popularity. So did Alfredo.

Always served with butter and parmesan cheese, and often gussied up with broccoli, shrimp, chicken and just about anything else, fettuccine Alfredo is an American dinner staple (it’s virtually unheard of in Italy). ‘About as American, in fact, as apple pie. But with Roman roots.

Where’s your favorite fettuccine Alfredo served? How do YOU make it? Buon Appetito!

Photo: Jess Thomson

Kathy Gunst, our colleague and neighborly Resident Chef at Here & Now, recently went to Seattle. She had these observations to make about Washington’s highly caffeinated, serious food city.

Kathy Gunst
Cookbook author, blogger

It’s a little before 11 a.m. but I’m already on my third cup of coffee.

In Seattle, you can’t really go for more than a block or two without passing at least one coffee shop. I’m not talking Dunkin’ Donuts, but the kind of coffee shop that has Polartec’ed, Gore-Tex’ed patrons with waterproof messenger bags slung over their shoulders– the ‘uniform de Seattle.’ They order triple lattes and “dry caps.”

Coffee here is dark, way stronger than I’m used to, kind of how super moldy blue cheese is to bland Muenster. Two sips and you’re flying.

I’m here on a book tour for my latest, Notes from a Maine Kitchen. It’s an experiment, to see if a book about New England food resonates with West Coast people. On a foggy Monday night, at Booklarder, an independent cookbook store, there’s a small crowd assembled. I had expected my two Seattle friends showing up and not many more, so I’m pleased with the turnout. I talk about the overlaps between the food cultures of Maine and Seattle. I read a few essays from my book — one about a January ice fishing expedition for smelts, one about tapping our maple trees and making syrup. There are questions and comments from the assembled group and, the more everyone talks, it seems the two coasts are united by one single element: the deep love of food. Continue reading →

Splitting checks in Davis Square (photo: Dan4th/Flickr)

One of WBUR’s producers, Karen Given of Only A Game, is also a food blogger. She’s taking a course with BU’s Gastronomy program called “Food Writing for Print Media,” which led her to interview Ike DeLorenzo of the Boston Globe.

Ike regularly contributes to the Globe’s “Cheap Eats” column. Here’s the story on how he got started.

Karen Given
OnceUponAKaren

With tousled brown hair, a slight build, and pleasingly geeky glasses, Ike DeLorenzo looks like he’d be more at home in front of a computer monitor in Silicon Valley than in the kitchens of Boston’s most interesting restaurants. And, until recently, that’s exactly where you would have found him.

But, in 2009, after 12 years living in San Francisco and working as an executive at high tech companies, DeLorenzo was ready for a change. That change took him back to where he came from…the Northeast and the world of food.

DeLorenzo still has a toe dipped in the high tech waters of software consulting, but his main passion is writing about food and culture for publications such as the Boston Globe, the Atlantic and his own The Ideas Section blog.

“Food just cuts to the core of what people are doing with their lives,” DeLorenzo recently told a class of food writing students. “If there’s food involved, there’s going to be something interesting to write about.” Continue reading →

Photo: lisaakemi/Flickr

Since I’ve started living with my boyfriend — and, by extension, cooking for him — I’ve realized, with some sadness, that I can’t just have a salad for dinner anymore. My boyfriend likes vegetables, but unless they’re paired with grains or a protein, it’s just not enough to fill him up.

So while I used to look at salads like this cabbage and orange beauty from Roost and think “cheap dinner,” now I see it and try to think if shredded chicken or salmon would go well in it, or if it would make a nice side to an omelette. Or even if it can stand alongside pork chops. Maybe the oranges make it more of a breakfast salad, served with toast and poached eggs; or maybe I could toss in some quinoa or chickpeas.

But you know what? I think I may just make this simple salad as is, on a night when my boyfriend is away or in class. It may be just plants, it may be cold and crunchy instead of warm and deeply filling, but some nights, that’s all you need. Why should a bloody steak steal the limelight from a blood orange?

stringparts/Flickr

On February 6 in …

1985
Perrier introduces Perrier with a ‘twist of lemon.’

(© 2011 Michael V. Hynes)

The Backstory
The source for Perrier® sparkling natural mineral water is millennia old and found in Vergeze, France, where Hannibal and his army purportedly stopped after trouncing the Romans. Dedicated development of the Source began with Napolean III, however, then took flight at the beginning of the 20th century as part of an Anglo-French private venture.

Perrier® was the first sparkling natural mineral water bottled in the U.S and the first imported brand to be sold in supermarkets. The addition of ‘the twist’ in 1985 helped revolutionize natural beverages as a sought-after drink, becoming a popular social drink for non-drinkers.

Photo: cnewtoncom/Flickr

LOCAL BITES

The Patriot
Still pulling together Sunday’s menu? Have a look at this new cocktail, introduced by Turkey Shore Distilleries in Ipswich. Made with Turkey Shores’ White Cap Rum, the “Old Ipswich Patriot” has been created in honor of our Pats. Bring that trophy home!!

B Crazy
Burton’s Grill in Andover is going ‘B’ crazy in anticipation of the Big Game. Brady, Belichick, Burgers, Beer, the Super Bowl…you get the picture. Edible details: a customized burger with bacon and blue cheese, when ordered with a beer, is $12 from 11:30 til kick-off.

That Boston/NY Rivalry
It’s got one looong history. Chowder’s in there, too! And chef Eric Brennan of Boston’s Post 390 (yikes! He’s a native New Yorker!) is not shying away from it. Brennan has created a chowder that places the creamy New England version side-by-side with that, um, other one — all in one bowl. Taste for yourself which is better at the 390’s Pre-Game Brunch, Feb. 5th. The price of that rivalry in a bowl is a whole lot less than the price of a ticket. Continue reading →

Photo: ninetwentysvenphotography/Flickr

On February 2 in …

1892
William Painter patents the crown-cork bottle cap.

1897
Alfred L. Cralle patents the ice cream scooper.

(© 2011 Michael V. Hynes)

The Backstory

The Cap
William Painter was a foreman and inventor, and founded the Crown Cork & Seal Company of Baltimore, MD, soon after securing his patent. The company is now a global enterprise, with corporate headquarters in Philly. The 1960s is when Crown Holdings made soft drinks its main manufacturing focus, over beer.

The Scoop
Alfred L. Cralle was an African-American born in post-Civil War Virginia. He became interested in mechanics during his youth. While working as a porter in Pittsburgh, he noticed that ice cream — growing every more popular with the public — was tricky to serve. It stuck to spoons and ladles, requiring two hands and two or more utensils to dispense. He therefore invented and, ultimately, sought a patent for an ice cream scoop. Originally called the “Ice Cream Mold and Disher,” Cralle’s gadget was practical, durable and apparently inexpensive. It could also be operated with one hand — no sticking.

Photo: gkdavie/Flickr

It’s Super Bowl Sunday this weekend and, for plenty of Americans, that means Tostitos, chili and a six-pack. Yet whether the Patriots win or lose on game day, many New Englanders will wake up on Monday in a world of hurt – the hangover.

Apart from not drinking, there are several strategies to avoid a hangover that definitely do work: keeping hydrated (perhaps alternating every alcoholic drink with a glass of water), eating before drinking and moderation.

But there are other theories, too. One adage says “beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, never fear.” Another common theory says drinkers should stick to light alcohols like vodka and clear rum, which are easier on the system than amber spirits.

But does either of these ideas have any truth to them? Continue reading →