Slashfood

Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com/media/feed_logo.gif Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Furr's Switches to Buffet Servicehttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/furrs-switches-to-buffet-service/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/furrs-switches-to-buffet-service/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/furrs-switches-to-buffet-service/#commentsFiled under: Southern States

cafeteria trays

Photo: back_garage, Flickr.

One of the last surviving chains from the golden age of Southern cafeterias is abandoning the classic cafeteria model for buffet-style service.

"It's a completely different experience from what folks have been accustomed to," Furr's Jill Gouge Laird says of the restaurant's new Fresh Buffet concept. "Now they really control the experience."

As recently reported by the Dallas Morning News, the Texas-based chain has opened nine Fresh Buffets over the last five years, and plans to open as many as a dozen additional stores by 2012. Existing restaurants will continue to operate as cafeterias, but Laird confirms all future outlets will be structured as "scattered buffets."

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]]>buffetcafeteriafurrsfurrs fresh buffetFurrsFreshBuffetnew mexicoNewMexicoHanna RaskinFri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTPlanned 'Twilight' Restaurant Changes Namehttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/twilight-restaurant-changes-name-models-itself-after-applebees/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/twilight-restaurant-changes-name-models-itself-after-applebees/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/20/twilight-restaurant-changes-name-models-itself-after-applebees/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants

twilight restaurant coming to forks

Note: There are no restaurants
on the town seal. Photo: ewen and donabel, Flickr.

So much for a menu of blood oranges and garlic: The owners of a planned "Twilight"-themed eatery in Forks, Wash., say they're studiously avoiding vampire cuisine.

The logging town of Forks, as depicted in Stephenie Meyer's hugely popular series of teenage romances, is overrun with vampires. But, according to Annette Root, the real Forks has a bigger problem.

"It's very difficult to find something to eat in Forks after 8 o'clock," sighs Root, a "Twilight" gift shop owner who's opening the Lodge in Forks.

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]]>forks washingtontwilighttwilight new moontwilight new moon restauranttwilight restaurantvampiresHanna RaskinFri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTPumpkin Tamales for Thanksgivinghttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/pumpkin-tamales-for-thanksgiving/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/pumpkin-tamales-for-thanksgiving/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/pumpkin-tamales-for-thanksgiving/#commentsFiled under: Thanksgiving, Fall

Photo: rvacapinta, Flickr

The gap between tamales and the Thanksgiving table is continuing to narrow as an increasing number of Mexican-Americans are stuffing their holiday masa with pumpkin and sweet potatoes.

Tamales have been a festive food ever since the Aztecs and other early Meso-Americans served them in conjunction with their religious rituals, says Claudia Alarcon, an Austin-based writer who's kicking off the University of Texas' Foodways of Mexico speaker series this week with a talk on tamale history. While tamales aren't associated with winter holidays south of the border, Alarcon says "I'm pretty sure in every U.S. state where Mexican-Americans live, they have tamales for the holidays."

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]]>pumpkin tamalesPumpkinTamalestamalesthanksgiving menuThanksgivingMenuHanna RaskinThu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 ESTMini Cheesecakes, Recipe Boxes and Motivational Speakers -- The Baton Rouge Advocate in 60 Secondshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/baton-rouge-advocate-in-60-seconds/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/baton-rouge-advocate-in-60-seconds/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/19/baton-rouge-advocate-in-60-seconds/#commentsFiled under: In Sixty Seconds

cupcakes

Photo: Rachel from
Cupcakes Take the Cake, Flickr.

Cookie exchanges are so passé in southern Louisiana, where swap-minded cooks are now trading cupcakes, cheesecakes, pralines and single slices of pound cake.
The potato is enjoying newfound popularity at tailgate parties, thanks to its terrific versatility and low cost. (But if you have cash to spare, the editors suggest pairing grilled potato kebabs with Zinfandel.)
The director of Baton Rouge's International Cooking Competition & Tasting Fair reports the festival is "getting bigger and better."
Corrine Cook extols the beauty of timeworn, taped-together recipe boxes and binders.
A motivational speaker inadvertently inspires a recipe for shrimp and corn sauté.

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]]>baton rouge advocateBatonRougeAdvocatecupcakesin 60 secondsIn60SecondsHanna RaskinThu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 ESTCounty Fair Set to Open Without Food Vendorshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/18/broward-county-fair/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/18/broward-county-fair/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/18/broward-county-fair/#commentsFiled under: Southern States, Festivals

fair food

Photo: brownpau, Flickr.

What's a fair without food? Residents of Broward County, Fla., are about to find out.

As the Broward County Fair doesn't have a fairgrounds of its own, it found itself homeless this year after its previous host, the Fort Lauderdale Stadium, closed for renovations. Scrambling for a solution, the fair relocated to a shopping mall.

"We'd rather have something than nothing at all," said the volunteer who answered the fair office's phone.

The Pompano Citi Centre has plenty of space for competitions and exhibits -- the spelling bee is scheduled for a room over LensCrafters, and student gardeners will display their plants at Lowe's -- but there's no room for rides or food vendors. According to the volunteer, who identified herself as Denise, the only food at the fair will be the canned beans, pound cakes and other edibles submitted for judging.

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]]>broward county faircounty fairfair foodfloridageo:26.146137+-80.452896mallHanna RaskinWed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTThanksgiving Food Historyhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/17/thanksgiving-food-history/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/17/thanksgiving-food-history/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/17/thanksgiving-food-history/#commentsFiled under: Shellfish, Thanksgiving, Fall

turkey and lobster

Photo: Plimoth Plantation.

The classic Thanksgiving menu -- which has become so standardized that nearly 90 percent of Americans report eating turkey to celebrate the holiday -- is a virtual parade through the food pyramid, with nearly every known food group admirably represented. Looking for grains? Try the cornbread stuffing. Craving fruit? Have some cranberry sauce. In a vegetable mood? You've got your pick of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans (mixed with mushroom soup, for an extra veggie bonus).

But, for the last half-century, one food group has been conspicuously missing from the typical Thanksgiving table. Confronted by the usual festive spread, a Pilgrim would no doubt ask: "Whither the shellfish, Prudence?"

Lobsters, clams and mussels were almost certainly served at the 1621 feast that's come to be commemorated as the First Thanksgiving. While the Pilgrims weren't especially fond of seafood -- Plimoth Plantation's culinarian Kathleen Wall says the community considered shellfish "the last of God's blessings" -- the settlement's proximity to the sea meant waterborne creatures were a staple of harvest meals, alongside earthy corn porridges, turnips and grapes. Pilgrims and Wampanoags supped on seal, swan and extravagantly large crustaceans.

"They talk about these lobsters that fed three sailors," Wall marvels.

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]]>thanksgivingthanksgiving food historythanksgiving historythanksgiving menuHanna RaskinTue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTWhat Can I Get You Folks? - The Clean Plate Clubhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/16/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-clean-plate-club/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/16/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-clean-plate-club/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/16/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-clean-plate-club/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants

half eaten meal

Photos: Logan Antill, Flickr.

Most every plate I clear looks pretty much the same: There's a typically a stain of sauce where the protein sat, a few unwanted onions shoved to the side and a spoonful or two of uneaten vegetables.

But over the course of an average evening, I'll usually encounter at least a half-dozen diners who have a very different sense of what it means to be done. These eaters -- and I'm using the term loosely here -- push back from the table after taking a few dainty bites. While every restaurant-goer is entitled to enjoy a meal in his or her own way, the under-attacked plate puts the server in a rather awkward spot.

Hard as it is for vocal diners to imagine, there are plenty of customers who are shy about saying their steak's overcooked or potato was served cold. Their untouched plates are very tactful cries for help, which is why I never whisk a still-full plate away without asking whether everything was OK.

The problem is, sometimes everything is OK, except that the diner has an eating disorder. Or was just dumped by the guy sitting across from her. Or sensed a case of swine flu coming on. Not only are guests understandably reluctant to talk about such things, they often seem to resent my posing the question.

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]]>clean plate clubCleanPlateClubwaitresswaitressingwhat can i get you folksWhatCanIGetYouFolksHanna RaskinMon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTIndian Pudding -- With and Without Fruithttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/indian-pudding-with-and-without-fruit/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/indian-pudding-with-and-without-fruit/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/indian-pudding-with-and-without-fruit/#commentsFiled under: Vegetables, Fall

indian corn

Photo: r-w, Flickr

Kathleen Wall, the colonial foodways culinarian at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Mass., understands not everyone wants fruit in their Indian pudding: She just wishes the detractors could find more civilized ways of expressing their distaste.

"I've had people stand in front of me and spit the fruit into their hands," Wall says. "People who are nice and rational."

Rational about all things, apparently, but Indian pudding, the centuries-old sweet dish that's so beloved it has its own holiday: Today is National Indian Pudding Day, an annual celebration of what Plimoth Plantation's Web site calls one of the nation's "ugliest, yet great tasting, bi-cultural culinary treats."

Its name notwithstanding, Indian pudding isn't a Native American specialty. "It's called Indian because of the cornmeal," Wall explains. Other ingredients include milk and molasses, a byproduct of the thriving 19th century sugar trade. While a recipe for Indian pudding didn't appear in print until 1796, references to the mushy snack appeared as early as 1740.

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]]>indian pudding dayIndianPuddingIndianPuddingDayplimoth plantationPlimothPlantationHanna RaskinFri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTCharlotte Custard, Lasagna and Deep-Fried Turkey - The Mobile Press-Register in 60 Secondshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/charlotte-custard-lasagna-and-deep-fried-turkey-the-mobile-pr/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/charlotte-custard-lasagna-and-deep-fried-turkey-the-mobile-pr/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/charlotte-custard-lasagna-and-deep-fried-turkey-the-mobile-pr/#commentsFiled under: In Sixty Seconds

deep fried turkey

Photo: VirtualErn, flickr

What's more Southern than pecan pie? At Thanksgiving time, it's a blackberry jam cake with a dollop of Charlotte custard sauce.
Festival goers at Mamma Mia, Daphne's annual edible celebration of the Alabama town's Italian heritage, will be able to weigh in on their favorites this year, selecting a People's Choice winner.
Experts reveal a fail-safe recipe for deep-fried turkey: three minutes a pound at 340 degrees (and, for best results, don't bother with a newfangled electric turkey fryer).

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]]>blackberry jam cakeBlackberryJamCakedeep fried turkeyDeepFriedTurkeyin 60 secondsIn60Secondsmobile press registerMobilePressRegisterpecan piePecanPieHanna RaskinFri, 13 Nov 2009 12:00:00 ESTCatfish Farmers Want Stricter Regulationshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/catfish-farmers-want-stricter-regulations/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/catfish-farmers-want-stricter-regulations/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/catfish-farmers-want-stricter-regulations/#commentsFiled under: Fish, Southern States, Food Politics

catfish

Photo: The Catfish Institute, Jackson, Miss.

Just as Southeastern oyster producers are clamoring for the government to stay out of their business, catfish farmers have launched a new ad campaign asking for more regulation of their industry.

"All catfish should be treated equally!," proclaims the Catfish Farmers of America's full-page ad targeting the USDA. The trade group's ads began appearing late last month in major publications, including the Washington Post.

Catfish farmers contend imported seafood should be held to the same stringent standards now applied to imported beef, poultry and pork. Unlike those commodities, which are inspected by the USDA, imported seafood is the domain of the FDA. According to government reports, only 2 percent of the 5.2 billion pounds of seafood that entered the U.S. last year was inspected.

"People are taking it for granted that everything's inspected, and they need to know what's going on," CFA president Joey Lowery says. "This is something that shouldn't even be negotiable, food safety for the American people."

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]]>catfishFDAUSDAHanna RaskinFri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTSonic Customers Bewildered by Fake Gunmanhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/fake-sonic-gunman-terrorizes-lunch-customers/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/fake-sonic-gunman-terrorizes-lunch-customers/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/fake-sonic-gunman-terrorizes-lunch-customers/#commentsFiled under: Fast Food, Food News

sonic america's drive in

Photo: justephens, Flickr

A fast food restaurant manager went to the extreme in training his staffers on how to handle a hold-up situation: his method scared paying customers and earned a serious reprimand from local police.

A manager of a Sonic in St. Joseph, Mo., recently staged a lunchtime mugging, recruiting someone to enter the restaurant with a real-looking toy gun and hold it to an employee's head. Problem was, employees weren't the only ones taken by surprise: When authorities received frantic reports from panicked customers of a potential hostage situation, they sped to the restaurant to resolve it.

"The officers quickly determined this was a training exercise," St. Joseph Police Department commander Jim Connors recounts. "We forcefully got the message across that's not expected behavior."

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]]>geo:39.7686+-94.846397muggingsonicsonic americas drive inSonicAmericasDriveIntraining exerciseTrainingExerciseHanna RaskinThu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTWorld's Frog Capital Forced to Import Frogs for Festivalhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/worlds-frog-capital-forced-to-import-frogs-for-festival/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/worlds-frog-capital-forced-to-import-frogs-for-festival/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/12/worlds-frog-capital-forced-to-import-frogs-for-festival/#commentsFiled under: Southern States, Festivals

Photo: Flickr, meddygarnet

The declining prestige of Frenchified cuisine has done little to dent the global appetite for frog legs, much to the consternation of conservationists who say the industry could soon eradicate certain species of the slippery amphibian.

A Swiss animal rights group this week called upon gourmands to boycott frog legs, comparing harvesting a frog for its thighs to killing an elephant for its tusks. But the University of Adelaide's Corey Bradshaw says the world's consumption of more than 1 billion frogs a year isn't just wasteful: It's threatening many frogs' futures.

"Just like fish, they're being unsustainably harvested," Bradshaw says. At most restaurants, he adds, "they'll be just skinned legs. They'll not be able to tell you what species they are."

That's a problem, Bradshaw adds, because nearly one half of frog species are facing extinction. Even Rayne, La., which is the world's Frog Capital, is forced to import the amphibians from China.

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]]>FrogLegsgeo:30.234699+-92.268303Hanna RaskinThu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 ESTYou Want Wine With That? Southern Blogger Seeks Perfect Popeye's Pairinghttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/11/you-want-wine-with-that-southern-blogger-seeks-perfect-popeyes/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/11/you-want-wine-with-that-southern-blogger-seeks-perfect-popeyes/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/11/you-want-wine-with-that-southern-blogger-seeks-perfect-popeyes/#commentsFiled under: Wine, Poultry, On the Blogs, Southern States, Fast Food

popeyes chicken

Photo: boo_licious, flickr

Acknowledging that even the most fastidious foodies can't say no to Popeye's spicy fried chicken, Dirty South Wine's Hardy Wallace has made the dish the centerpiece of what he claims is the world's first-ever online food-and-wine pairing competition.

"There are a lot of online wine tastings, but no one ever does pairings," Wallace explains. "As much as I love wine, it's useless without food."

Wallace has recruited five respected wine experts to submit their picks for the best vino to sip with Popeye's celebrated chicken, Cajun-battered fries and red beans and rice. He and 50 friends will sample the selections at a party next Wednesday; While the festivities will be live-streamed from Wallace's house, he's also urging wine-and-chicken lovers to play along at home and report their findings via Twitter.

At stake is the title of Dirty Bird King (or Queen) -- and a lifetime of potentially enhanced Popeye's enjoyment.

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]]>fast food wine pairingFastFoodWinePairingPopeyespopeyes chickenPopeyesChickenwine pairingWinePairingHanna RaskinWed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTWhat Can I Get You Folks? - Taking Note of Your Orderhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/10/what-can-i-get-you-folks-taking-note-of-your-order/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/10/what-can-i-get-you-folks-taking-note-of-your-order/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/10/what-can-i-get-you-folks-taking-note-of-your-order/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants

waitress notepad

Photo: net_efekt, Flickr.

When restaurant-goers talk about the scary things they've encountered while eating out, their conversation usually edges toward hygiene infractions and undercooked food. But what really frightens diners is the sight of a server without a notepad.

Like most servers who daylight as journalists (there are more of us than you might imagine), I'm perfectly comfortable taking notes while talking. Still, I won't break out pen and paper for parties smaller than five. That's because I believe writing down orders disrupts my eye contact with my customers and detracts from my ability to build relationships with them. Good service calls for more than mere transcription.

But I suspect my high-minded reasons for not taking notes wouldn't fly with the most skeptical guests, who like to insist I won't be able to recall their request for grilled salmon. "Are you sure you're going to remember this?," they'll ask repeatedly.

If a guest seems especially anxious, I'll make a point of writing his or her order down. But here's what I'd like to tell those nervous Nellies: Yes, I am going to remember your order. Because while the menu may bewilder you, I've been serving from it for years. It takes more than a house salad with ranch on the side and a medium-well steak to confuse me.

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]]>restaurant etiquetteRestaurantEtiquetteservers should write down ordersservers taking notesServersShouldWriteDownOrdersServersTakingNoteswaitresswaitress storiesWaitressStoriesWhatCanIGetYouFolksHanna RaskinTue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 ESTGood Reads, Rice Pudding and Melon Seeds - The Miami Herald in 60 Secondshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/09/good-reads-rice-pudding-and-melon-seeds-the-miami-herald-in-6/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/09/good-reads-rice-pudding-and-melon-seeds-the-miami-herald-in-6/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/09/good-reads-rice-pudding-and-melon-seeds-the-miami-herald-in-6/#commentsFiled under: Newspapers, In Sixty Seconds, Food News

candy apples

Candied apples.
Photo: tibchris, Flickr.

South Florida book clubbers are setting their tables to match their assigned reading, whipping up Jell-O salads in honor of "The Help" and making candied apples to celebrate "Water for Elephants."
Readers rush to the aid of a Pakistani ex-pat seeking to recreate his late mother's carrot rice pudding.
The Desperation Dinners team proves you can make faux maque choux in 25 minutes.
Dried mulberries and melon seeds line the shelves at a Persian grocery store in Plantation, Fla.

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]]>BookClubcandied applescandy appleCandyAppleIn60Secondsjello saladJelloSaladmaque chouxMaqueChouxMiamiHeraldRicePuddingHanna RaskinMon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 ESTWhat Can I Get You Folks? - The New York Times Takes on Service Ruleshttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-new-york-times-takes-on-service/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-new-york-times-takes-on-service/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-new-york-times-takes-on-service/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants, Newspapers, On the Blogs, Food News

restaurant service rules

Photo: Matti Mattila, Flickr.

New York Times blogger Bruce Buschel has done a great service by compiling a list of 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do - if nothing else, he's given fed-up diners one more forum in which to vent their ever-mounting aggravations. Thanks for the break, Bruce.

Most diners and servers would stand behind the majority of Buschel's prescriptions, which include not cursing (Rule 45), opening Champagne without making a ruckus (Rule 29) and knowing what the bar stocks (Rule 81). But his list is far from perfect. While Buschel's document would make a fine training manual for butlers, it fails to acknowledge the realities of running a restaurant. Here's what Buschel apparently forgot:

Some things are beyond a server's control.

One of Buschel's first recommendations (Rule 4) is to offer a free drink to someone who's had to wait a long time for a table. "The guest may be hungry and thirsty," he explains. May be? I think it's a safe assumption that anyone who shows up at a restaurant is craving food and drink. But I don't know of a single server who's empowered to start giving that stuff away.

The same goes for Rule 23, which insists diners be alerted to 86'd items before they open their menus. Since the hostess usually drops off menus when she seats a table, cutting her off would require Usian Bolt-speed (and necessitate breaking Rule 33 - Do not bang into chairs or tables.)

Hostesses, of course, should brief diners on which items are no longer available. But often they don't, just as the kitchen often turns out the first appetizer on a ticket a full 12 minutes before the second appetizer is ready. I completely agree that servers should "bring all the appetizers at the same time" (Rule 60), but I won't let a tray of raw oysters sit in the window while a new guy struggles to properly heat a dish of crab dip.

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]]>dining outDiningOutNewYorkTimesRestaurantEtiquetteserverWaitressStoriesWhatCanIGetYouFolksHanna RaskinFri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 ESTNorth Carolina Apple Growers Protest USDA Proposalhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/n-c-apple-growers-protest-usda-proposal/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/n-c-apple-growers-protest-usda-proposal/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/06/n-c-apple-growers-protest-usda-proposal/#commentsFiled under: Farming, Fruit, Southern States

apple tree

Photo: wonderferret, Flickr.

Growers in the nation's southernmost commercial apple-producing region are fighting a change in crop insurance law, which they claim could wipe out a 200-year-old industry.

Henderson County, N.C. -- a stretch of Southern Appalachia where the first apple trees were planted by a Loyalist on the run from the Revolutionary Army -- today generates about $24 million in annual apple revenue, representing 85 percent of the state's apple crop. But the region's 150-plus growers have been hard hit in recent years by calamities including frost, wind and hail.

"You name it, it's happened," sighs Agricultural Extension agent Marvin Owings.

Owings credits the Federal Crop Insurance Program, which reimburses growers for lost apples at a rate of $9.25 a bushel, with keeping area orchards solvent. He's worried a new proposal to significantly lower disaster payouts for lesser-grade apples could prove devastating.

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]]>Appleapple industryapple orchardsAppleIndustryAppleOrchardscrop failurecrop insuranceCropFailureCropInsuranceFederal Crop Insurance ProgramFederalCropInsuranceProgramNorthCarolinaUSDAHanna RaskinFri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTLouisiana's Giant Omelette Fest Celebrates Silver Anniversaryhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/05/louisianas-giant-omelette-fest-celebrates-silver-anniversary/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/05/louisianas-giant-omelette-fest-celebrates-silver-anniversary/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/05/louisianas-giant-omelette-fest-celebrates-silver-anniversary/#commentsFiled under: Southern States, Eggs, Festivals, Celebrations, Fall

giant omelette celebration

Giant Omelette Celebration. Photo: www.giantomelette.org.

The nation's only Giant Omelette Celebration will mark its 25th anniversary this weekend by adding one more egg to its 12-foot skillet.

The town of Abbeville, La., in 1984, joined the confederation of seven cities from Argentina to Belgium that annually commemorates Napoleon's order for a tiny town in southern France to produce an army-sized omelette. Bessieres upheld the tradition long after Napoleon's troops had gone, cooking oversized omelettes at Easter to feed the poor. The practice has thrived in places where locals fret about losing touch with their Francophone heritage.

But that doesn't mean the Abbeville cooks are entirely faithful to the recipe favored by Monsieur Bonaparte: Festival president Gordy Landry reports, "we add a Cajun flair."

"Most of the other giant omelettes are a little bit plainer and not quite so tasty," he continues. "In France, they just stick to the eggs. In Canada, they add some ham. But the only place that puts crawfish in is us."

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]]>abbevillegeo:29.97444+-92.134171giant omelette celebrationGiantOmeletteCelebrationlousianaomeletomeletteomelette celebrationomelette festomelette festivalOmeletteCelebrationOmeletteFestOmeletteFestivalHanna RaskinThu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 ESTNashville Celebs Put the Country Back in Cookinghttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/04/nashville-celebs-put-the-country-back-in-cooking/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/04/nashville-celebs-put-the-country-back-in-cooking/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/04/nashville-celebs-put-the-country-back-in-cooking/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants, Southern States

kenny rogers

Photo: d.baron media relations.

Years after the nation's last Kenny Rogers' Roasters served its final bird, country music stars are again making a play for their fans' food dollars.

Perhaps because so many of them hail from the South, where good cooking is considered sacred, country celebs have long been inordinately fond of the eponymous restaurant ventures. Once as critical to an Opry member's cred as a Nudie suit, signature restaurants have lately been on the wane, with once-proud institutions such as Twitty Burger and Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken going the way of the cassette tape. But a series of openings set for this fall suggests country musicians may still harbor culinary ambitions.

White-hatted crooner Alan Jackson doesn't have an endeavor of his own, but showed up this week at a Nashville area Cracker Barrel to introduce a new line of spices, clothing and home goods, including an Alan Jackson rocking chair. According to Jackson's spokeswoman Nicole Dona, the singer likes to take his daughters to the homestyle chain.

"The family will still stop now and then when they are on their way back from the lake," she writes in a e-mail to Slashfood. "He loves the breakfast and also the meatloaf sandwich."

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]]>AlanJacksoncountry musicCountryMusicCracker BarrelCrackerBarrelDarrylWorleyDothanjohn andersonJohnAndersonKennyRogersLorrie MorganLorrieMorgannashvillesouthern foodSouthernFoodHanna RaskinWed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 ESTWhat Can I Get You Folks? - The Eternal Ketchup Quandaryhttp://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/03/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-eternal-ketchup-quandry/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/03/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-eternal-ketchup-quandry/http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/03/what-can-i-get-you-folks-the-eternal-ketchup-quandry/#commentsFiled under: Restaurants

ketchup

Photo: @MSG, Flickr.

What matters most to a restaurant? Is it the guests, who pay startling sums of money to be there? Is it the local farmers who grow the ingredients that fill the pantry? Or the cooks who craft dishes worth buying?

No, no and no. Judging from the amount of care expended, there's nothing restaurants value quite so highly as ketchup.

Say a table orders two rounds of onion rings and a single serving of fries. By the end of the meal, those grease-happy diners will likely have burned through half a bottle of ketchup. But that bottle won't reappear in its half-empty state, nor will it be topped off from the giant bladder bag of ketchup that's a fixture on most restaurant kitchen walls. Instead, a server will slowly pour the vestigial ketchup into another under-filled ketchup bottle, creating one full bottle (and one bottle bound for the dish room).

Marrying ketchup is standard practice at every restaurant where ketchup is consumed, which - at least in this country - means every restaurant, period. With the almost imperceptible exception of hoity-toity places that make their own ketchup and serve it in ramekins, American restaurants rely on 10-ounce Heinz ketchup bottles - and expect their servers to keep said bottles looking fresh.

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]]>ketchupketchup quandaryKetchupQuandarymarrying ketchupMarryingKetchuprefilling ketchupRefillingKetchuprestaurantswaitressWaitressStorieswhat can i get you folksWhatCanIGetYouFolksHanna RaskinTue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST