Kitchen Report

Salon has an article today talking about an oven-mitt showdown between the Brighton, Mass., test kitchen that produces Cook’s Illustrated and Food52.com, produced by New York Times food columnist Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubs.

At issue: Is a test kitchen better than an army of blogging home cooks? A recipe contest will decide the winner.

My favorite points the article brings out:

1. “home cooks are the original ‘old guard’ of cooking”
2. “with blogged recipes … it’s hard to know whether they come from a talented or trained chef, or are simply the musings of someone who is a disaster in the kitchen.”

It seems chefs, professional cooks, and test kitchens are starting the feel the same competitive heat that journalists have been feeling for years. And now it has come to this: A blogger who wears an apron over her pajamas while taking pictures of her food is someone to reckon with.

May the best recipe win!

To listen to my conversation with Amanda Hesser about her book, “Eat, Memory” click here.

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NPR will have a report on “All Things Considered” on April 26 about a Baltimore library partnering with a local grocery to help its resident neighbors have access to fresh food. Patrons can place and pay for orders online and then stop by the library the next day to pick up their orders. This could literally be a lifesaver for those families without easy access to supermarkets who settle for the paltry offerings at the local convenience store for sustenance. But beyond that, cooking leads to more people around the dinner table which strengthens family and community ties – a form of “communion” that we all need.

Three cheers for this innovative approach to the problem of “food deserts”! With libraries on the chopping block in my neighborhood and across the country, a new purpose to improve the lives of its patrons seems like a win-win-win for all involved.

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Forget trying to wrap your head around a complicated bipartisan healthcare plan. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, along with Michelle Obama are doing something that actually makes good common sense. They are launching a $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) that will bring decent grocery stores into the inner cities.

“Food deserts,” or a lack of grocery stores selling affordable, good food, is a huge problem. Convenience stores and fast food restaurants on every corner (read: easy access to fries, shakes, potato chips, soda, candy bars, other crap) cannot sustain healthy, happy dinner tables. There have been all kinds of creative solutions to address this problem, from teaching inner-city kids how to grow their own food, such as Boston’s The Food Project, to trucking in more fresh produce, such as Detroit’s Peaches & Greens.

But kids can’t grow tomatoes all year round in Boston and food trucks have their limits. It just makes more sense to build better, more accessible grocery stores for those of us who live downtown and create jobs in the process. Bravo for a simple plan!

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Assault on junk foods
The Obama administration is leading a charge this week with soon-to-be introduced legislation that will ban candy and sugary substances from many schools. The aim is to reduce obesity levels among children.

On Tuesday, Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move” campaign to promote more exercise and healthier eating for kids. Parents can download age-appropriate recipes on Letsmove.gov and find resources for developing more healthy lifestyles for their families.

Teens, of course, are rebelling. People make people fat, not vending machines, they claim. (more…)

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