The Food Section: Appetizers

Is Vinegar Alcoholic

Science: Is vinegar alcoholic?

Fresh Peas

Ingredient: In praise of fresh English shelling peas, including four different ways of preparing them.

Chinese Restaurant History

History: Author Gish Jen on the history of Chinese restaurants in America, "from stir-fried buffalo to Matzoh Foo Young."

Howard Johnson's, Adieu

Op-Ed: Chef Jacques Pépin laments the impending disappearance of Howard Johnson's restaurants.

Bacon Bandaids

Shopping List: Patch up your next kitchen wound with these bacon bandaids. Not Kosher for Passover. Via unbeige.

Supermarkets As Booksellers

Business: The New York Times reports that supermarkets "are the new frontier of book selling. . . . adapting the techniques that move large amounts of Velveeta and Count Chocula and applying them to Nora Roberts and John Grisham."

Wrapper's Delight

Technique: In the Washington Post, Robert L. Wolke presents a primer on the myriad virtues of and uses for wraps.

Salt Smackdown

Taste Test: With its "giant pyramid-shaped flakes," Maldon sea salt wins top honors in Slate's salt smackdown: "One taster expounded, 'Lovely! Looks like dandruff but tastes like food. It's a salty snack on its own.'"

Cheese Ascendant

Trends: The New York Times reports on the ascendance of cheese as New York's gastronomical obsession of the moment.

Chefs Shill

Business: The Wall Street Journal explores the world of celebrity chefs who shill. Via sw.

Barbecue Shoes

Style: Wear your barbecue obsession on your feet with these special edition "Upper Playground" sneakers from Adidas. Just don't drip any sauce on those bad boys. Via afb.

Fire How To

How To: Make fire with chocolate and a can of Coke. Via lh.

Portion Size Analogies

Technique: Easy analogies for portion sizes, such as one serving of grilled fish = a checkbook. Via 43f.

Sushi Pocket Guide

Books: This new pocket guide to sushi contains photos and descriptions of more than 50 sushi types, annotated with phonetic pronunciations, along with instructions on sushi ordering and eating etiquette.

Get Out the Vote

Politics: Bronx officials have launched a marketing campaign to increase the borough's representation in the Zagat dining guides. The get out the vote effort includes a direct link from the Bronx Borough President's office to Zagat's online restaurant survey.

Finger Finder Arrested

Crime: Woman who claimed to find a finger in her chili at Wendy's is arrested on a warrant alleging grand larceny and attempted grand larceny.

Garden-in-a-bag

Shopping List: Grow a garden in a bag and harvest your own produce section from your office window. Basil, chive, Alpine strawberry, and mini-tomato kits are available.

Pizza Party

How To: Throw a pizza party.

Tortillas

Travel: Visiting Luna's Tortilla Factory in Dallas, Texas (plus, Diana Kennedy's recipe for making handmade corn tortillas).

Food Maven Tops Awards

Books: "Food Maven" Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food has been named Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Read on for the rest of the IACP award winners.

Online Coupon Trading

Business: Marketplace reports on the wild world of online coupon trading and networking. Related: "Are overlit, heavily toxic supermarkets making you ill and eating your brain? Why, yes."

Clam Pizza

Recipes: Clam pizza from Brooklyn's Franny's.

Almonds

Ingredient: In the Los Angeles Times, Regina Schrambling on almonds, from fuzzy green-hulled spring varieties to their more mature brethren.

India Eats Out

Trends: With increased trade and rising incomes, India is experiencing a cultural shift towards dining out and the use of foreign ingredients.

Herbal New York

Metro: Where to get your herbs on in New York City.

Brown Bread Ice Cream

Recipes: A British variation on cookies & cream, this Brown Bread Ice Cream, dating from the Victorian era, is a vanilla ice cream studded with crunchy caramelized bread crumbs.

Matzo Ball Tips

How To: Build a better matzo ball: "Neither water nor seltzer contributes anything positive."

NY Lunch

Metro: The "Everything Guide" to lunch in New York. See also: The loafers who lunch.

Free Knife Sharpening

Shopping List: Cookware retailer Sur La Table is offering free knife sharpening (limit three knives) at its stores through April 30.

Tapioca

Ingredient: In the New York Times Magazine, Amanda Hesser on tapioca.

Cupcake Blogging

Online: All cupcakes, all the time.

Finding Betty Crocker

Books: The Boston Globe calls Finding Betty Crocker a "hagiography of one of the great heroines of hydrogenation, a priestess of processed provisions, the diabolic demiurge of domestic anxiety."

Horizon: Organic or Not?

Business: Does Horizon deserve its organic label?

Chowhound Books

Books: Coming soon from message board Chowhound, food and dining guide books for New York and San Francisco. Via afb.

iPod Contest

Technique: Create an iPod Shuffle out of meat (like the spam and rosemary specimen at right) and win yourself a real iPod. Via sm.

From CIA to CIA

Lives: Trained at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), Fred DeFilippo now cooks for the "other CIA" (Central Intelligence Agency): "No news is good news around here. I look for empty plates, happy faces."

Twinkies

History: Recounting 75 years of Twinkies.

Beefcake

Books: In the L.A. Times, Leslie Brenner reviews Crave, the new cookbook from beefcake chef Ludo Lefebvre: "He's the guy your girlfriends warned you about. Look at him, emerging from the surf like a chef-Adonis, kelp fairly dangling from his biceps. He caught those big fish with his bare hands!"

Panissa

Recipes: Like risotto, but brimming with beans and sausage: Panissa 'A Modo Mio' from Vercelli in northwest Italy.

Orson Welles on Peas

Marketing: Orson Welles, frozen peas, and a voice-over session gone terribly wrong: "Every July, peas grow there . . . do you really mean that?" (mp3).

Menu Organizers

Shopping List: Tidy up your sprawling takeout menu collection in style with Knock Knock's Menu Organizer and Menu Files.

Reichl Reviewed

Books: New York Times and Washington Post reviews of Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires. Plus: A discussion of restaurant reviewing, comps, and freebies.

Sumo Diet

Sports: The sumo diet.

Salmon Swindle

Business: The New York Times reports that wild salmon sold in stores, fetching as much as $29 per pound, is often farm-raised.

Foraging

Trends: Foraging for fungi and other "produce" from the forest floor.

Cookie Monster Drops Addiction

Media: The AP is reporting that Cookie Monster is weaning himself off cookies, proclaiming them to be only a "sometimes food." In this photo, he can be seen shilling for fruit while a cookie awaits in the distance. Via lac.

Drinkable Chocolates

Shopping List: 101 Cookbooks rounds up and reviews the best sources for drinkable chocolate.

Pistachio Cake Trippin'

Recipes: A pistachio cake takes a trip around the world.

Bad Bathrooms, Good Restaurants

Metro: When bad bathrooms happen to good restaurants.

A Novel of Pastry, Guilt, and Music

Books: Boogaloo on Second Avenue, the latest book from Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and Salt, is a "A Novel of Pastry, Guilt, and Music."

Whither the Pie?

Trends: Is the British savory pie going upscale? Upstart chains are trading "mystery meat" for modern fillings: "For perhaps the first time in England, hungry eaters may find themselves choosing between a confit duck, pistachio and plum pie or a chorizo, butter bean and mozzarella pie."

2005 Beard Award Nominees

Media: The James Beard Foundation announces its nominees for the 2005 James Beard Foundation Awards.

Salt

Ingredient: In praise of salt, from Halen Môn to sel gris.

FreshDirect Considered

Metro: The New York Times considers the FreshDirect phenomenon -- the convenience, the quality, the prices, and the cardboard.

L.A. Time Machines

History: Los Angeles Time Machines rates L.A. restaurants and bars by their ability to transport one into the past: "Sitting in these places, one has the illusion of a time gone by when life had a slower pace, people cared about quality and integrity, and life’s pleasures were more simple and innocent."

Julia Child Uncensored

Humor: "Just boil it in a big pot of scum," and other uncensored sound bites from Julia Child. Via sm.

Yuzu and Mache

In Season: Yuzu (just barely) and mâche.

Frank Perdue Dies

Obit: Chicken hawker Frank Perdue dies at 85.

KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker

Gadgets: Kitchen Aid's freeze bowl attachment transforms a Kitchen Aid stand mixer into an ice cream maker.

Brown Sugar Splenda

Business: The manufacturer of Splenda will introduce a brown sugar version of the artificial sweetener.

Chefs tattoos

Collections: A slideshow of chefs' tattoos.

New Ruth Reichl Memoir

Books: Coming soon from Gourmet editor in chief Ruth Reichl: Garlic and Sapphires, a memoir of her experiences going undercover as restaurant critic for the New York Times.

Lamb Recipes

Recipes: A la Carte presents 14 French methods of preparing l’agneau (lamb).