The Food Section: Appetizers

Gopnik on Food Writing

Books: In The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik reviews six new books on cooking and dining and opines about the state of food writing.

Better Butter

Ingredient: As mentioned in the New York Times, this rich butter from Italian producer Montanari & Gruzza is churned from the cream remaining after milk is skimmed off to make Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Beard Foundation Restructures

Metro: The entire Board of Trustees of the James Beard Foundation has resigned. Three new trustees have been elected in their place.

Lemon Grass

Ingredient: Lemon grass.

Send In the Clowns

Dining: Send in the clowns.

Fruit-infused Sake

Technique: Infusing sake with fruit, from litchi to strawberries.

Tiny Cupcakes

Trends: Next big thing: tiny cupcakes.

Moby on Tea

Books: Musician and tea impresario Moby publishes Teany Book, a collection of "Stories, Food, Romance, Cartoons and, of Course, Tea."

Enormous Omelet Sandwich

Health: Burger King has unveiled the Enormous Omelet Sandwich, which weighs in at 730 calories and 47 grams of fat. Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me) commented that it "should come with a $5-off coupon for your first angioplasty."

Sur la Table

Metro: Cookware chain Sur la Table is coming to SoHo this summer. The 10,000 sq. ft. cooking and baking supply superstore will be located at 75 Spring Street.

The Wisecracker

Shopping List: With its "Slim Shim" splitter, the Wisecracker turns the art of crab-cracking into a surgical discipline. You also have to admire the gadget's nifty crustacean-like design. Via ch.

Spanish Olive Oil

Travel: Foraging for Spanish olive oil at the Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero in Madrid.

Stromboli

Crave: Stromboli with arugula pesto and mozzarella.

Guide to Meat

Books: NSFV (not safe for vegetarians): Aliza Green has followed up her Field Guide to Produce with a new guide to meat, a compact manual on "How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Meat, Poultry, and Game Cut."

Winespeak defined

Drink: "Pencil lead" and "cat pee" are good, while "wet horse blanket" is bad: the San Francisco Chronicle attempts to explain winespeak. Plus: A handy illustrated wine chart.

Clotilde's Moblog

Travel: Feed your inner Francophile with Clotilde Dusoulier's daily snaps of her Paris eats and environs.

Cats Dress up for Dinner

Shopping List: These Japanese plush toys feature cats in various states of gastronomical dress, from crêpes to cream puffs to french fries, among other foods.

Beurre Blanc How To

How To: Make beurre blanc.

Erbazzone

Crave: Let's all go to Italy right now and eat some erbazzone.

Butter

Ingredient: In praise of butter.

Fulton Fish Market

Metro: Fulton Fish Market faces its final hours before moving uptown.

In the Guardian

Media: Press sighting: TFS is a Guardian newsblog "Pick of the day"!

Espresso Porn

Drink: Beautiful espresso porn and latte art from flickr user "tonx," a coffee roaster at Seattle-based Victrola Coffee & Art.

IACP Award Finalists

Media: eGullet has the lists of finalists for the 2005 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook and journalism awards.

Study Debunks Terroir

Drink: A new study questions the influence of terroir on wine: "'Wine-making has become so sophisticated that it can completely shade the effect of terroir, and vines can be grown in almost any place, as long as the weather permits, and the right combination of vines is made." Via sw.

New Food Science Book

Books: Food nerds take note, a sequel to Robert Wolke's great food science book, What Einstein Told His Cook, is coming soon.

Bruni Unmasked

Media: Chef Eric Ripert "unmasked" Times critic Frank Bruni while he dined at Le Bernardin to prepare his four-star review: "'I came right up to him and said, "You are recognized," which you’re not supposed to do. He said, "You are not supposed to recognize me," and I said, "If I recognize someone in my restaurant, I think it is rude not to say hello." He was not thrilled.'"

Spice Rack How To

How To: Make your own magnetic spice rack. Via lh.

Kermit Lynch Online

Drink: Not only does famed Berkeley wine seller Kermit Lynch have a spanking new Web site, but he has also made his newsletters available for online subscription. Via Vinography.

Marmite Marketing

Marketing: The BBC reports that British children are running scared from TV commercials depicting Marmite as a giant, city-eating blob (watch the video). Via eG.

Scrumptious Spoon Bread

Recipes: Cheesy Potato Spoon Bread: "This recipe is outrageously good. Warm, tasty, cheesy, crusty, cayenne-kissed, oven-baked goodness. If you are a fan of comfort food - look no further."

Sushi Roll TP Cozy

How To: Cover up your toilet paper with this crocheted sushi roll cozy. Via trj.

Tangy 12

Shopping List: "The Tangy 12": March madness for mass-produced salsa.

Strawberry Perfection?

Ingredient: In pursuit of the perfect strawberry.

Cheese Warning

Metro: Outbreak of tuberculosis cases prompts warning on raw-milk cheese imported from Mexico.

A Lot of Spam

Media: New York newspapers get spammed by Monty Python's Spamalot.

Lowcountry Oysters Up North

Technique: Roasting oysters Lowcountry-style in a New York City apartment.

Stores Just Wanna Have Fun

Business: New Whole Foods store in Austin, Texas, puts the "fun" in supermarket shopping: "Whole Foods thinks shopping should be fun. With this store, we're pioneering a new lifestyle that synthesizes health and pleasure," said Whole Foods founder John Mackey.

Caviar Chronicle

Books: International political economy, technology, espionage, and fish eggs come together in Richard Adams Carey's new caviar chronicle, The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire.

Blue Lobsters

Science: How one in a million lobsters gets blue. Plus: Your lobster questions answered.

French Women Live Large

Lives: French women don't get fat, but they do live in phat West Village apartments.

Saloon Gear

History: Cocktail shakers, bitters bottles, and bar attire from the pages of the Albert Pick Saloon Catalog, circa 1918.

Affordable Bistro Search

Travel: In the New York Times, Mark Bittman searches Paris for the affordable bistro.

Build a Better Easter Basket

Shopping List: Build a better Easter basket with these chocolate filled eggshells or these egg-shaped JELL-O molds.

Roast Pork Sandwich

Crave: Chino's roast pork sandwich ("rice-wine-marinated pork roasted to a deep mahogany, lacquered with plum sauce, topped with kimchi and cilantro, and served on a springy, grilled Mandarin bun imported daily from Chinatown").

Catching Crabs

Travel: Catching crabs (of the Dungeness variety) off the coast of Northern California.

Smellaround

Film: Filmmaker Les Blank creates aromatic environments, "a technique he has dubbed 'Smellaround'," during screenings of his documentaries about food.

Jonesing for Tea

Travel: British writer Stuart Payne finds himself jonesing for tea on a trip to California.

Bag-a-Cork

Drink: Ontario's innovative Bag-a-Cork program encourages wine drinkers to collect their corks and deposit them in local recycling bins which are emptied and sorted by Girl Guides (Canadian Girl Scouts). The cork is sold to create new products made from the recycled material, with all proceeds benefiting the Girl Guides. Via th.

Grapples

Technology: Introducing Grapples, grape-flavored apples. Via Core77.

Bay Area Bloggers

Media: Yet another food blog story -- the San Francisco Chronicle profiles Bay Area food bloggers. Plus: A profile of Chocolate & Zucchini's Clotilde Dusoulier.

Din in Dinner

Metro: The New York Sun classifies New York restaurants by their noise levels. There are the "Just Rights" (Babbo) and the "Loud-By-Designs" (Pastis), and then there are the "Hapless Unfortunates" (Blue Ribbon Bakery).

Al Sharpton Diet

Metro: Salad for lunch, salad for dinner, and boxes of sugar-free cookies: The Rev. Al Sharpton Diet.

Tasty Tones

Music: The New York Times reports on a musician who can taste tone intervals: "A minor sixth tastes like cream; a major sixth tastes like low-fat cream; a major third tastes sweet. A fifth tastes like water."

The Bruni Digest

Media: Jules, a self-described Brooklynite with "weak bones and a dorsal fin," launches The Bruni Digest, a blog "predicated on the suggestion that every Wednesday, in the Times Dining Out section, Frank lays a huge faberge egg of hilarity." Via bt.

NY Mag: Best of New York

Metro: New York unveils its picks for Best of New York: Eating.

Sake Tour

Travel: Seeing Japan through its sake breweries.

Op-Ed: On Tails and Farms

Op-Ed: Defending cow and pig tails. Plus: Small farms make a comeback.

Graperadio

Drink: Graperadio exhibits a lovely raspberry, cherry, and blackberry-scented bouquet, and a medium to full-bodied, elegant, Pinot Noir-like texture. This delicious podcast is best drunk over the next 2-3 years.

Tessa Kiros Q&A

Q&A: Interview with cookbook author Tessa Kiros.

Steingarten Storm

Media: Food writer Jeffrey Steingarten slams celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis at Museum of Television and Radio seminar, writes blogger Dan Dickinson: "I felt the most pure, unbridled pity I've felt in ages... I felt horrible for Giada" [Via gothamist]. See also: "Disappointment Beyond Words."

The Middlebrowing of Dunkin Donuts

Business: Slate on the middlebrowing of Dunkin' Donuts.

Bubba Has Died

Breaking: Bubba has died.

Mammoth Lobster

Lives: Bubba, a mammoth 22-pound lobster caught near Nantucket, Massachusetts, and shipped to a Pittsburgh fish market, may be more than 100 years old. "He could have survived two world wars and Prohibition," reports CNN. "He also could have been dinner." Via bb.

Kitchen Tools

How To: Use PVC pipe, pliers, putty knives, and other tools in the kitchen.

Rice Pudding Round Up

Recipes: Rice puddings from around the world.

Bruni in Words and Music

Media: "When it came to sushi, I was a cad." Restaurant critic Frank Bruni's raw fish confessions, in print and set to music.

New York To-Go

Metro: The New York Times explores the world of food to-go in New York City -- from the best neighborhood options to delivery do's and dont's, online ordering, celebrity eats, and tips from the delivery guys.

Jello Salads

History: Singing the praises of "retroFreaky" Jell-O salads. Via jwb.

"Dinner on Tap"

Recipes: Dishes made with beer, from beer-battered asparagus to stout-braised short ribs.

Chaud-froid

Technique: Peter Hertzmann at A la Carte offers a lesson in the art of chaud-froid: "cooked chicken served cold with a sauce that has jelled into a solid mass." Despite that less than palatable description, he promises that "chaud-froid dishes are actually quite tasty."