TracyFood

Random brain snacks, from my browser tabs to yours. 15 January 2008 9:40 am

Posted by Tracy in : anthropology,cheese,cooking,geekery,pictures,reviews,school,work , trackback

Let’s see if I can prevent yet another Firefox crash! Here’s a little smorgasbord of delicious internet randomness, ranging from book reviews to music videos, all food-related (no, really).

First, here’s a review of Kitchen Literacy by Ann Vilesis, which I returned, unfinished, to the library this week because somebody else had it on hold. I never really got into this book, but I am way into EL‘s use of the term “retrovore”, oh yes.

Next, an old Slate piece about chefs in film, complete with little clips of movies I’ve either seen or feel vaguely obligated to see now, if only to take notes on depictions of gender in films about food and cooking. (Um, can you tell I’m supposed to be writing a project proposal for my anthropology class? Eeek.)

Here’s a good rant about what it means to be a professional cook — both good and the bad bits.

(Speaking of the bad bits, here’s a picture of some scary blisters I gave myself on December 29:

They were already healing well by the time I took this picture (the one on my middle finger popped first and was almost invisible in this shot, but it was almost as scary as the index finger burn, I promise). Anyway, I feel okay posting that now that they’re both better.)

On a much lighter note, and getting back to my browser tab overload, here’s a series of musical advertisements for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese which you should not watch unless you’re willing to risk having a tune stuck in your head for hours (don’t say I didn’t warn you):

I’m guessing they’re singing in Italian, and I’m sort of curious what they’re saying… yes, Penny, I am looking in your general direction. You too, Chiara. Also, remind me to finally do that parmesan vs. romano taste test already (predicted result: apples and oranges, dude, but I loves me some sheep’s milk cheese).

Next up, a New Yorker article about a few different books about meat, including The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, which I keep meaning to check out one of these days.

Also, here’s what happens when an NYU food studies professor goes out to lunch with a reporter from the New York Times (also, I get all weird all over again about having name-checked Prof. Ray in my application essay even though we’ve never met).

Finally, your very special reward for plowing through all of that is this delightfully surreal cartoon which was all the rage last month in at least three of my favorite food blogs. In case you missed it then, here’s what happens when a cartoon version of no less a luminary than Marilyn Manson gives a musical tour of the USDA food pyramid. I swear I am not making this up:

No way can I top that, so I’ll end here today.

http://soy.dyndns.org/comics Penny

The video that may or may not be in Italian is no longer available.
http://www.tracyfood.com Tracy

It still works for me. Weird.
Stony

Unrelated to anything in this post, but what are your opinions on teflon? And more to the point, do you know how to fry an egg without it? I know that we aren’t alone in having teflon in our kitchen almost exclusively for frying eggs. I’ve heard that it can be done in cast iron, but I have yet to confirm this, or what sort of tricks might be required.