Macaron lovers of New York City, next Saturday is your day! Get a free macaron from these fine retailers.
PS: The slogan, “Macaron — the new cupcake,” makes me gag. NOOOOOO! Cupcakes are just so … America circa the Bush years. Macarons are the exquisite marriage of centuries-old craftmanship and unusual ingredients. (Give me a free macaron and I will forgive that ridiculous motto.)
Breast milk cheese. Seriously. Created by Chef Daniel Angerer with his wife’s milk. He served it at his restaurant until the NYC Health Department shut him down.
But Gael Greene got a taste. She writes:
After tasting his wife’s milk from its natural vessel—“I was breastfed myself so I have that taste for it”—his mind went immediately to fromage. A little rennet. A clean cloth. Some aging. Simple, like any cheese. “It’s not like I was making Reblochon,” he wrote. “That would be trickier.”
His confession drew fans and bitter attacks on his blog. He was even accused of cannibalism.
That ultimate taboo in my head, the cheese arrives. I contemplate the tiny cream-colored square—doll size, barely enough to satisfy Minnie Mouse. It rides in on two house-made pickle rounds nesting on a thin slice of bread. I take… a bite. Eeeeew!
Surprise. It’s not the flavor that shocks me—indeed, it is quite bland, slightly sweet, the mild taste overwhelmed by the accompanying apricot preserves and a sprinkle of paprika. It’s the unexpected texture that’s so off-putting. Strangely soft, bouncy, like panna cotta.
Of course, Angerer’s ultimate critic is the food source itself. He wanted his wife to try her cheese, he tells me when I call him after my human lunch. “I gave her a taste but I didn’t tell her what it was.” And she liked it. “Well, we had a bottle of Riesling,” he adds, “and it worked very well with that.”
There’s room for experimentation: His wife is a vegetarian. If she ate meat, her cheese would have a different flavor, we agreed.
(Via @elizabethbard.)
Remember when I didn’t eat much meat? Well I do now — local, farm-raised chicken, mostly — and Dan Barber explains why. All that fish I ate last year just wasn’t sustainable.
Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish | Video on TED.com
When a Fish Farm becomes an ecological network… Fish are fed through their natural habitat, predators are encouraged to sustain a healthy balance, and impurities and pollution are eliminated through a natural water purification system. What an amazing model of ecological sustainability and productive synergy of natural systems.
Dan Barber speaks on the current failure of agribusiness and the question: How to feed the world, with clarity and insight. He points to the importance of using ecological models rather than business farming, creating farms that aren’t worlds unto themselves, farms that restore instead of deplete, and farmers that are experts in relationships.
Cheap and Tasty on the East Side
Won’t be in Austin any time soon … this is a little closer to home. And it’s all in the family:
Lined in yellow-and-blue Spanish tile and pages from the 20th-century Cuban news magazine for which it is named, Carteles, 443 East Sixth Street (Avenue A), (212) 614-6817, is the charming anchor of what will eventually be Cienfuegos. The brainchild of Ravi DeRossi, an owner of the nearby bars Mayahuel and Death & Company, Cienfuegos is a planned collection of Cuban-themed places that will also include a full-service restaurant on the corner next to Carteles and a rum bar upstairs.
For now, this sweet cafe represents the project winningly.
[This place is gonna be bananas.]
I spent four days in Southern California and I didn’t have one decent taco. That should be is a crime.
This breakfast taco from The Tamale House in Austin looks bien rico. Check it out, SXSW’ers.
Weird but true: greens, such as spinach, continue to photosynthesize — and bulk up on nutrients like vitamins A, B9 and C — under the fluorescent lights of the supermarket. So if nutrients are all you’re after, you should buy greens that have been there longer.
Stick to the fresh stuff if you’re just a normal, food-loving person.
I knew I was doing something right!
Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight
Dieters are often advised to stop drinking alcohol to avoid the extra calories lurking in a glass of wine or a favorite cocktail. But new research suggests that women who regularly consume moderate amounts of alcohol are less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers and are at lower risk for obesity.
Recipe: Petite Sugarcane Cured Bacon “BLT” with Roasted Tomato Confit & Ginger Aioli
I normally do not like “food” but I’ll make an “exception” for this.
Beginning of a cozy meal with Miss Andrea: split pea soup garnished with prosciutto and Dave’s Killer Bread. 3.2.10.
Recipe from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Chicken and duck stock by my boyfriend.
We had an extraordinary (three-hour) meal at Sushi Uo last night.
Chef John’s creations are gorgeous — and he’s none too shabby either. He said he’s going to keep the restaurant open ‘til 2 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays for sushi bar jam sessions, improvising for whomever is lucky enough to be sitting on the other side of the counter. Make your reservation.
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