Maltby St Market: a quiet foodie haven

If you're one of those people who loves the products sold at London's Borough Market, but can't stand the crowds, there are two options.

1. Don't go on Saturdays.

2. Maltby St Market!

My mom, who is more up-to-date on all things London than I am (she's back in California, but reads the Financial Times), sent me this nice little article on the new Maltby St Market near Tower Bridge. It's not really a full-blown market, but it's where the purveyors of many of Borough's finest products have their shops and warehouses. These include Monmouth Coffee (best coffee in London as far as I'm concerned), and Neal's Yard Dairy, but also a lot of other wonderful companies I'd never heard of. Definitely worth checking out, I think, if you're a local like me who is sick of the tourists gawking and pushing around in Borough.

Read all about it here (there is great photography as well):
The Trend: Maltby St Market (Financial Times)

Mexican candy-making in East LA

My tribute to El Día de los Muertos...

I want some of these candies now. I wonder if they ship internationally.

The Artisan: La Zamorana, making candy the old-fashioned way (LA Times, 28 Oct 2010)

Enjoy!

That's enough

Alright. That's enough. I've put off the blogging for too long now. I'm going to try again! Thanks to those who have been commenting. Stay tuned for further posts!

Momma knows best

Not that I'm in favor of women getting up at 4am to fix food for their family, but this mom goes to amazing lengths to entice her picky kid to eat healthy food. Cool photos of her food creature creations:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10962398

And the baguette award goes to...

...a Senegalese-born Parisian! I love it.

The 2010 "Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris" has been won by Djibril Bodian, 33, who beat 160 other professional contestants at the tasting. Sure, it's ruffled a few traditionalist feathers, but he's French, too, so well done! Now he gets to supply Sarkozy for the year.

Video from the BBC: click here
Blog entry with more info from livingfrench.net: click here

You can try these award-winning baguettes for yourself at Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses, found at 38 Rue des Abbesses, 75018 Paris, France in the wonderful neighborhood of Montmartre.

Volcano disrupts import/export of food

Because air freight is at a standstill in the UK (and elsewhere in Europe I presume), lots of food is just sitting in warehouses, rotting. I want some of that salmon that is about to rot! Distribute to the poor! Sell on the market for cheap! And in Africa they could do the same.

Here's the video update from the BBC - click here.

TYPO!

Apparently there has been a massive typo made in a recently published cookbook...

"An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cook-book after one recipe listed "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper."

Nice.

Click here for the full article and how much the reprint will cost.

Farewell to the Sardines

The last sardine packing plant in the United States is closing. Too bad...

In Maine, Last Sardine Cannery in the U.S. Is Clattering Out - NY Times

"They all worked fast, as the job demands, but Mr. Colson, the manager, said with some amazement, as he looked over the daily report, that two of the women, Lulu Orozco and Alma Rodriguez had packed 5,228 cans in 195 minutes, a dizzying rate. It was an extraordinary display of dexterity and focus, if not a little sardine showmanship at the end of the line."

Digging can be good fun

This exhibit looks like good fun at the Imperial War Museum in London - The Ministry of Food. Check out their blog and this cute video!

The Ministry of Food

"Isn't an hour in the garden better than an hour in a queue?"

Iranian Seder in Beverly Hills

Read this delicious article about Iranian/Jewish cuisine at Passover! There are some related recipes as well... Now I understand why the kosher shops in LA also sell Iranian food products.

Iranian Seder in Beverly Hills - NY Times

The almond cake with cardamom and pistachio sounds divine.

Celebrate Passover Iranian style!

Goat Heaven

As I sit here on a rather wet, London day, I wish I were in California with my mom and uncle who are lucky enough to be heading out to Harley Farms this morning to hug baby goats!



If you haven't been, it's worth the trip over to the sleepy coastal village of Pescadero. Harley Farms is on the edge of town and supports quite a herd of goats who dutifully line up each evening to be milked. Their milk is made into delicious, award-winning goat cheese which is available for purchase. At this time of year, the farm is overrun with newborn goats. Apparently they are expecting over 200 this year and the current count is at 173. You have to book to go see them, but what could be better than spending time with rambunctious kids? Sadly, Bart, the goats' 'guard llama' recently passed on.



The cheese is SO good at Harley Farms. You can sample them at the farm shop and read more about them here:
http://www.harleyfarms.com/cheese.php
My favorite is probably the cranberry-walnut cheese, but the ones with edible flowers are beautiful. They're all really tasty!

When you're weary of goats (how could you be, but I suppose everyone gets a bit of fresh-air poisoning), head down to Duarte's Tavern (pronounced "doo-arts") and have some of their world-famous artichoke soup and olallieberry pie! It's and old-style diner that's been around since 1894. I absolutely love their crab melt in the winter, but try out seasonal salads with locally sourced ingredients, too.



Finally, have a stroll around and visit the little shops and my favorite, Arcangeli's, which is stocked with cured olives, local jam, sauces, Harley Farms cheese and their own, wonderful variety of Italian-style breads. Delicious!

Watch this nice little video on Arcangeli's:


I usually come home from Pescadero very happy and incredibly full! On a nice day, head down to the local beach and digest as you watch the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. It's only an hour's drive from Silicon Valley - perfect for a day out.

Lazy cooks

Here's a slightly horrifying, but not unexpected article from the BBC Magazine regarding the rise in sales of pre-peeled and pre-chopped vegetables and fruit. There are some good comments at the end from readers.

The rise of lazy foods - BBC Magazine

And thus follows my rant:

I find it pretty ridiculous that people want to buy a peeled potato or a chopped carrot. You can perfectly easily eat those foods without peeling them, just by scrubbing them well and chopping them up, which takes no time at all. The peeling doesn't take long, either, if that's what you prefer. I think it's a sign of a really sick society when people can't even find the time to cook meals from scratch anymore. Why not gather up the family and make everyone chop something? It cuts the time and you still get to spend time with the family, right? Plus, you educate everyone about the work and rewards of cooking your own meal. I also don't understand this excuse of young professionals who have no time to cook. It takes a remarkably short time to prepare a nutritious, interesting meal. Why not cook up a batch of something that will last a whole week?

In addition, buying all this pre-packed stuff means more rubbish in the dump - plastic, plastic, plastic, petroleum, petroleum, petroleum. In the outdoor markets here in the UK, many of the vendors still force plastic bags on you. What is the problem?Why is it weird that some of us don't want to have any more plastic bags in the house? Education of the public is seriously failing, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The more we distance ourselves from the tradition of cooking, the more people will be afraid of raw ingredients and society will continue down the ever more slippery slope of obesity. And we'll just keep adding to our overflowing landfills. Come on people! Try harder!

Rant over.

Fish farming - the ecological model

Watch this great talk by chef Dan Barber.

From ted.com:

"Chef Dan Barber squares off with a dilemma facing many chefs today: how to keep fish on the menu. With impeccable research and deadpan humor, he chronicles his pursuit of a sustainable fish he could love, and the foodie's honeymoon he's enjoyed since discovering an outrageously delicious fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain."



(thanks M2)

Best news EVER

There is a NEW Ottolenghi cookbook coming out on 5 May 2010!! This is the most exciting news since Ottolenghi cookbook 1. The recipes will be all vegetarian and based on Yotam Ottolenghi's column in The Guardian on Saturdays. You can pre-order with a 30% discount and get signed copies in their shops. I want one now!

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi - info



I'm drooling already.

If you live in the UK and haven't been to one of their restaurants, you MUST make the pilgrimage. Their sort of Mediterranean fusion cooking defies all stereotypes and will titillate your taste buds in ways you didn't know were possible. Culinary creativity to the max. These guys LOVE taste.

"Dying for a biscuit"

Read this horrifying exposé on palm oil and how it's killing orangutans by destroying rain forest. I've noticed palm oil listed on some products in the UK, including a lot of peanut butter (why the heck would you want another oil in peanut butter when it has its own natural oil?!), but I didn't know that they aren't required to list it as such. It can just be 'vegetable oil'. Apparently some companies like Sainsbury's are making an effort to highlight it on their own products and declare that it's sourced from sustainable sources, but it looks like we consumers could do more to make ourselves aware of what we buy.

BBC News - Panorama - Orangutan survival and the shopping trolley

You can watch it on iPlayer in the UK as well for the next week:
Panorama: Dying for a Biscuit

Food Harmony

A Carew Pigs Dinner, 22 Feb 2010

A lapsed 'Jew', 'Muslim', and 'Catholic' sit down to a dinner of pork ribs during Lent.

Clearly our religion is food, uniting us in our blasphemy.

"We need a food revolution"

As annoying as Jamie Oliver can be, he's got it right on here.

"I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity."



Why we should know how to cook our own food... God...

Sausage making - learn all about it!

This looks like fun! Learning how to make Italian sausage. :-)

From the Guardian - A family affair: Italian sausage-making

And you should watch Four Men and a Pig, too. It's the first part of the series. Enjoy!

I hate McDonald's and the Italian govt.

Dig this:
The 'McItaly' Burger Row
Gross!

Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen

Read this series:
http://www.theslowcook.com/2010/01/19/tales-from-a-d-c-school-kitchen/

Comments later if I can get my act together.