How We Think and Talk About Food

The New York Times Happy Days blog has a sweet collection of short anecdotes wrapped around the common thread of treats, mostly ice cream, and the preciseness of terminologies related to them.

There's something to be said for being aware of the things we like and just how we like them and, if we're able to get to the bottom of it, why. To eat purposefully is to create the indelible memories that we dig into each time we eat again or when we want to recall specific people, places and events.

I loved this answer to what the Xerox machine sounds like:

"When I asked him what he liked about the Xerox sound, he said, I guess it’s a kind of a creamy, crunchy sound, like the inside of a Twix Bar."

And the idea of creating a record of what ice cream flavors or desserts I choose each time I have them, just might become my next project.

The Couch is Conquering the Kitchen

This weekend's New York Times magazine features another food-related cover piece. Michael Pollan analyzes how Americans are more prone to watch than do when it comes to cooking.

The Custard Cure

How to cure the crankiness of a hot, humid Friday? Shake Shack Red, White and Blueberry custard. This is one of the best flavors I have tried. Cake batter was the other standout, but judging that next to this fruity concoction is the apples to oranges comparison, so I'll call it a tie.

This may be a bit of a tease to post about given that today is the last Friday the flavor is available. This flavor tastes as beautiful as it looks here! The smooth blueberry custard is mixed with swirls of marshmallow and strawberry sauce (with tiny bits of strawberries) - finding them in a bite is like getting a surprise gift, a burst of bright fruity contrast with the blueberry. I had barely walked three blocks away before I was scraping the bottom of this little cup and savoring the creaminess lingering in my mouth.

Pancake Potential

I swear I smelled a whiff of pancakes and maple syrup when I read this post from Serious Eats declaring Pershing Square a potential candidate for the best pancakes. If it's true, it's certainly been a well-kept secret. So far, my favorite pancakes are the ones from Clinton Street Baking Company. But Pershing Square is now on my list to try.

Interview with George Mendes

Restaurant Girl (also the restaurant critic for NY Daily News) has an interview with George Mendes, of Aldea restaurant.

The first two places he mentions for Spanish food are two of my favorite tapas places in the city:

"Where do you like to go for a great Portuguese or Spanish meal in New York City?

For Portuguese I would go to PAO in west Soho or to Newark, New Jersey – Ferry St. For Spanish, I love Boqueria and Txikito as well as El Quinto Pino."

The Cost of Treating Obesity

Obesity is a recurring theme of many of the articles I've linked to here, not only because it's a problem for a greater proportion of the population but because people are becoming more aware and concerned about the growing effect it is having on things like healthcare.

The Wall Street Journal, via the Freakonomics blog, writes about the cost of treating obesity. Treating obesity now accounts for 9.1 percent of all medical costs in this country. And the study cited says obese people spend 42 percent more on healthcare. So even those who are not obese should be concerned at how this strains the overall system.

Stephen Dubner says that obesity is "a self-inflicted condition any way you look at it" and argues that we should seriously consider the idea of fat taxes. I don't entirely agree with his statement that obesity is self inflicted, but people don't always make the best choices for themselves, despite awareness of health impacts. I'm guilty of it myself. But moderation is key. And for those who have more difficulty regulating themselves, it is possible that more taxes on certain fattening foods could encourage people to choose the healthier options.

Food for Film

The Times writes about styling food for its on-screen role - so that it looks realistic and is not just edible, but actually tastes good for the actors eating it.

When watching films or plays involving food scenes, I have long wondered whether the actors get tired of ingesting things over and over when rehearsing (or performing nightly in the case of plays). Here's a clue:

"Chris Messina, who plays Julie Powell’s husband, had a great appetite and never complained, even on the day he had to enthusiastically eat bruschetta topped with tomatoes 36 times."

But not all of it is real:

"Of course, there are plenty of times a food stylist has to employ tricks. Cherry pies are filled with mashed potatoes, poultry is partly roasted and painted with Kitchen Bouquet, glycerin and water make beads of sweat on glasses, and ice cream is wrapped around dry-ice nuggets so it won’t melt."

McCafe Doesn't Fail to Disappoint

Awake and tired, early morning - the conditions were right to try McDonald's McCafe Iced Latte, and hey, it was free. To clarify, I am not a McDonald's customer, even less so after the movie Super Size Me. But I try to stay open minded (within limits). McDonald's has also been giving away free mochas on Mondays since early July to promote their coffee offerings. Just thought I'd say that for the record, their coffee tastes like pure, burned liquid. It doesn't even come close to competing with mediocre Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts coffee.

Small Bites

-Are restaurant kitchens teeming with drug-addled staff? One food writer and former chef shares his take on cooks and coke.

-Marc Ambinder discusses the politics of obesity and the food industry's responses.

and

-Why are we so fat? The New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert explores the evolution of obesity.

-Rachel Maddow shares her favorite Midtown lunch. It's a counter in the back of a deli. I have yet to try, but if it's anything like Tehuitzingo, it's worth a try.

-Oh, the fun science has with ice cream! No-melt ice cream! A bagel brunch in ice cream form! And on the not-so-appetizing side - cigarette ice cream?!?

A Street Sweets Encounter

With some time to kill one day last week, I stopped by MOMA. It turned out to also be an opportunity to try the Street Sweets truck, which has found a steady space across the street from the museum's entrance on 53rd Street for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

I opted for an afternoon snack of iced coffee and a $1.50 chocolate chip cookie. The coffee was pretty standard, though it was served in an eco-friendly plastic cup. The chocolate chip cookie was of the softer variety - fluffy with good, melty chocolate chips. Not bad, but I prefer my cookies to be less cakey. And for $1.50, it was on the small side. My assessment is similar to Midtown Lunch's: Though it's been some time since I tried the Treats Truck chocolate chip cookie, I do recall it being tastier and cheaper ($1). (Not long after getting my Street Sweets treat, I passed by the Treats Truck on 45th Street near 6th Avenue parked next to the Rickshaw Dumpling truck. Midtown along 6th Avenue is veritable corridor of street food.)

The Street Sweets brownies and small tea cookies looked tempting too. One thing the truck may have going for it is that it also has savory croissants to satisfy those who want lunch before dessert. The gentleman who served me was enthusiastic and presented me with a frequent customer card that he explained would allow me to choose anything from the truck once the card is filled. He didn't fail to promote the truck's Facebook and Twitter accounts either. While I support dessert trucks and think Street Sweets is perfectly good if I am in the area, I probably won't be going out of my way to grab its treats.

Bicoastal Food Truck Mania

Serious Eats reports that yet another food truck is coming to New York's street vendor scene - this one will be peddling Moroccan food in Union Square.

While New York marvels over its abundance of food truck options, Los Angeles has its own set. The Los Angeles Times has its own theory on the proliferation - the product of the middle class's evolving lifestyle:

"On the other hand, despite being hyped to the heavens, these decidedly experimental -- and often expensive -- nouveau food trucks may be more than just an emblem of culinary fusion or a clever use of social networking technologies. They may actually herald a significant change in the mobility patterns of young, middle-class urbanites known as "millennials."

"I think the vending phenomenon is the product of a whole new lifestyle," says James Rojas, founder and co-chairman of the Latino Urban Forum and a transportation planner for L.A. County's MTA."

A Gourmet Read

Gourmet magazine is one of those publications that seems to have a narrow focus of food and drink, but in fact manages to cover a broader range of related issues, including travel, culture and design. And for that, I love it even more. It does a good job of including interesting, complex recipes for those who might be more advanced cooks, but remembers the cooking- or time-challenged by presenting some simple, quick recipes as well. And all of this in a beautifully designed package.

So being the fan I am of the magazine, I signed up for the Gourmet newsletter- a weekly e-mail from editor Ruth Reichl with a brief story or notes about some of her favorite things and links to the best of recipes and stories from the Web site.

This week's newsletter focused on the theme of ice cream. Here is Ruth's note:

Win Tickets to Julie & Julia

Grub Street is giving away a pair of tickets to see Julie & Julia next Tuesday, July 28, if you can come up with an interesting list of which actors would play the roles of various New York chefs in a movie and why.

The list of chefs:
Dan Barber
Mario Batali
Anthony Bourdain
Tom Colicchio
Padma Lakshmi
Wylie Dufresne
Lidia Bastianich
Rachael Ray
Danny Meyer
Eric Ripert

Small Bites

-Some are criticizing Obama's nominee for surgeon general for being overweight.

-Frank Bruni gives Locanda Verde, one of my to-try places, two stars.

-Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi may soon be starring in a culinary sitcom.

-Serious Eats brings word of a great Midtown breakfast cart on 52nd Street and Park Avenue.

Aldea Review

Some newly-opened restaurants need time to get their feet wet and for the first few months while they get on track, patrons are often willing to cut them some slack and overlook any initial blunders. Aldea does not need you to go easy on it.

It stormed on to the New York dining scene in May with it already all figured out. Diners can come here with high expectations and have them met. Aldea has alternately been described as a Portuguese restaurant or a place doing Iberian cooking. The important part is that this is good food.

A Hot Highline Afternoon

Last weekend, some friends and I wandered into the High Line Festival. There was a snaking long line just to get up on the High Line, so we had to forgo our plans and instead walked the bustling cobblestoned streets of the Meatpacking District. On this day, it seemed this was the place to be for food trucks.

Not only was the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream truck in the spot where I had first seen it, but it was now offering an earl gray flavor! Alas, not too long before we had partaken in Chinatown ice cream factory following dim sum at Oriental Garden. Normally, I would not let that stop me, but given that Van Leeuwen's line on this hot afternoon was also mighty long, I decided to save my tasting for a future time.

Cupcakes Invade Ice Cream Territory

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is coming late to the cupcake craze, Grub Street reports, and in my opinion, it's unfortunate that it's thinking about cupcakes at all. And I'm not the only one with that opinion. I'm partial to the almond cookie flavor. But I think I'll give the egg custard flavor a try next time I'm there.

Julie & Julia

Diner's Journal has a fun little post about food personalities who make brief appearances in the movie Julie & Julia set to open in a couple of weeks. The movie about Julia Child and loosely based on blogger Julie Powell's memoir is directed by Nora Ephron and reunites Meryl Streep and Amy Adams (they appeared together in Doubt).

Small Bites

-New York magazine's food blog, Grub Street, goes national.

-Which restaurants in America are the toughest restaurant reservations to score? Of the restaurants on this list and the honorable mentions, I have eaten at two (Momofuku Ko and Per Se) and hope to eat at another this fall (Alinea). And French Laundry, Schwa and Minibar are all on my list.

An Excerpt from Bruni's Memoir

This Sunday the New York Times magazine runs an excerpt from food critic Frank Bruni's forthcoming memoir due out in August.