Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com Slashfood http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.slashfood.com/media/feedlogo.gif Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Bakso: The President's Favorite Soup?http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/12/bakso-the-presidents-favorite-soup/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/12/bakso-the-presidents-favorite-soup/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/12/bakso-the-presidents-favorite-soup/#commentsFiled under:

Barack Obama state dinner in IndonesiaPhoto: Charles Dharapak / AP Photo


President Obama spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia in the 1960s, and recently made an official presidential visit to the southeast Asian archipelago. But what excited the most public attention in Jakarta were not any diplomatic initiatives he proposed, but what he said he missed from his time there. And what he missed was bakso.

Bakso (a.k.a. bakmi) is Indonesia's premier street food, a soup that can contain any number of things, but always includes meatballs -- which are also called bakso. Confused? This soup is sold from stalls in the street, from trucks, and, most memorably, by vendors who ride bicycles that have a bakso-assembling set-ups attached to the front, complete with little steam-table tubs heated by Sterno flames or charcoal.

The meatballs themselves are usually made with finely ground beef, but can also be composed of chicken, fish or shrimp. Sometimes, they're formed from bovine variety meats like tendon and liver. But the quintessential feature of these orbs -- which can be as small as marbles or as large as tennis balls -- is that the meat is extended with tapioca flour, which gives the meatballs a bouncy consistency.

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]]>baksoobamaPresident Barack ObamaPresidentBarackObamaRobert SietsemaFri, 12 Nov 2010 15:30:00 ESTChefs vs. Bloggers: The Battle Heats Uphttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/09/chefs-vs-bloggers-the-battle-heats-up/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/09/chefs-vs-bloggers-the-battle-heats-up/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/09/chefs-vs-bloggers-the-battle-heats-up/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Screen Grab: Guardian UK

It used to be fairly common for restaurant reviewers to receive notes penned by chefs after a review came out. If the review was favorable, the handwritten missive would be polite and congratulatory. If the review was negative, sometimes the chef -- perhaps oblivious to his posterity -- might unleash invective.

Later, of course, the pen dried up in favor of email as the medium of choice for irate chefs to write to critics, and the practice has continued. In my work with the Village Voice, I personally have received angry emails from chefs, though polite thank-yous still predominate. The waters have further been muddied by the ascendance of blogs as a medium of review, and the rough-hewn quality of criticism they often exhibit. Many chefs have commented, both in public and in private, of their distaste for blog reviews, which often occur just days after a restaurant opens for business, and are hence deemed unfair by the chefs.

Restaurateurs and chefs have decided to fight back. New York chef David Chang banned food photography in his restaurants, in an apparent attempt to keep bloggers from taking pictures of food and posting them with reviews. In a 2008 roundtable discussion conducted by the Chicago Tribune, chefs Graham Bowles and Bill Kim expressed irritation at instantaneous reviews of their restaurants that appeared on foodie websites like Yelp and MenuPages, igniting a debate in the Windy City that continues today.

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]]>chefsfeaturedfood bloggersrestaurant criticsreviewsRobert SietsemaTue, 09 Nov 2010 15:00:00 ESTCelebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lightshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/05/celebrating-diwali-the-festival-of-lights/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/05/celebrating-diwali-the-festival-of-lights/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/11/05/celebrating-diwali-the-festival-of-lights/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: Alamy


Diwali is a five-day Hindu festival that this year begins today (November 5th). But the enjoyment of the festival worldwide goes well beyond the circle of observant Hindus. In India , Sri Lanka , and among Indian immigrants to the Caribbean, the U.S., Australia , and Southeast Asia , the gala event is celebrated by individuals of many religions, including Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians. The holiday is becoming popular among non-Indians, too, in places like the Richmond Hill, Queens, neighborhood of New York City, where everyone is swept up in the excitement of the nonstop street festivals and parades.

As with many holidays, Diwali commemorates a broad range of events in Hindu scriptures, most prominently the marriage of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi (not Padma, but the goddess of wealth and prosperity). Some make the elephant-headed god Ganesh the center of attention, while others celebrate Kali, the goddess of strength. The precise focus of the shindig is thus up to you. The climax of Diwali occurs on the third day, the Festival of Lights, marked by fireworks and the lighting of candles and diyas, which are clay lamps with cotton wicks, traditionally fueled with ghee (clarified butter).

In common with most religious holidays, there are foods associated with the festival, mainly snacks and sweet treats, which vary according to group and geographic location. On the BBC website, blogger Cyrus Todiwala, a Zoroastrian, provides a thumbnail guide to the foods of Diwali, which include puran poli (a flatbread stuffed with sweetened crushed lentils), karanji (a round pastry filled with coconut), chiwada (beaten rice cooked on a griddle with things like nuts, chiles, and fried vermicelli), and badaam paak (almond fudge). (Links to recipes for the sweets are also included in the BBC story.)

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]]>Diwaliholidaysindian foodRobert SietsemaFri, 05 Nov 2010 11:00:00 ESTTom Colicchio's On a Roll, and Other Chef's Fave Breadshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/29/tom-colicchios-on-a-roll-and-other-chefs-fave-breads/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/29/tom-colicchios-on-a-roll-and-other-chefs-fave-breads/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/29/tom-colicchios-on-a-roll-and-other-chefs-fave-breads/#commentsFiled under: ,

Parker House rollsPhoto: tlboyd05, Flickr


"Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio has written in the current issue of Saveur of his love for Parker House rolls, an American classic invented at Boston 's Parker House Hotel in the late 19th century. This being the 21st century, his version is smaller and less flattened than the original, and the top is sprinkled with salt, but he serves them every evening at his eponymous Colicchio & Sons restaurant in Manhattan, and reports that guests often eat three or more. It got us to wondering what other breads have become associated with renowned chefs.

Here, and after the jump, a half-dozen cooks and their favorite breads:

David Chang, who founded the Momofuku restaurant mini-empire, where Asian-American fusion is the rule, is a big fan of northern Chinese bao - puffy and pale steamed flatbreads that can be folded over a variety of ingredients to make little sandwiches that at Momofuku he calls ssams. The most popular is made with pork belly, but the same bread is served on the side with the entrée of pork shoulder and raw oysters at his East Village restaurant Ssam Bar.

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]]>breadschefsmarcus samuelssonTom ColicchioRobert SietsemaFri, 29 Oct 2010 15:00:00 ESTFrog Found in Frozen Vegetableshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/22/frog-found-in-frozen-vegetables/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/22/frog-found-in-frozen-vegetables/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/22/frog-found-in-frozen-vegetables/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: Today, MSNBC

A Michigan couple who got up early one mid-October morning to prepare special food for a sick dog got more than they bargained for. Tim and Marty Hoffman told Today that they were going about the sorts of chores most couples routinely pursue as the sun comes up when Tim -- who was in the bathroom at the time -- heard his wife scream bloody murder from the kitchen, where she was getting food ready for their dog Zoey, who needs a special diet due to allergies.

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]]>featuredfood and drug administrationfrozen vegetablesRobert SietsemaFri, 22 Oct 2010 13:00:00 ESTPeanut and Seed Brittles Have Us In a Dessert Crunchhttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/21/peanut-brittle-has-us-in-a-dessert-crunch/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/21/peanut-brittle-has-us-in-a-dessert-crunch/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/10/21/peanut-brittle-has-us-in-a-dessert-crunch/#commentsFiled under: ,

Photo: sassyradish, Flickr


Peanut brittle might remind you of something grandma kept in a jar and doled out during special visits. Crunchy, sweet and translucent brown, brittle tasted of peanuts in a way far different from peanut butter. But it was also one of those candies the dentists warned you about -- with brittle's adamantine hardness, you were bound to lose a filling or chip a tooth. Spoilsports.

Now, according to Nation's Restaurant News, peanut and other nut and seed brittles are undergoing a revival in restaurants across the country, where pastry chefs are crushing them and sprinkling them over other desserts such as puddings and cakes (think pistachio brittle over creamy cheesecake), to add texture. They're also using brittle as a component of layered confections, spicing it up with cayenne and cloves, or simply incorporating it into the mix of components on the dessert plate (such as a panna cotta served with olive-oil cake and figs).

With a startling protein content of 24 percent, making it the most nutritious of legumes, peanuts may be making a comeback, and in its simplicity and ease of preparation, peanut brittle will be leading the charge, followed by brittles made from, among others, pecans, pistachios and pumpkin seeds. (Visit Kitchen Daily for a selection of peanut brittle recipes.)

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]]>dessert trendpeanut brittlepeanutsrestaurant trendsRobert SietsemaThu, 21 Oct 2010 15:00:00 ESTBK Whopper Bar Misses the Boat, but Not the Bloathttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/08/04/bk-whopper-bar-miss-the-boat-but-not-the-bloat/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/08/04/bk-whopper-bar-miss-the-boat-but-not-the-bloat/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/08/04/bk-whopper-bar-miss-the-boat-but-not-the-bloat/#commentsFiled under: , ,

"The BK Black & Bleu Steakhouse XT" ($7.69) utilizes a double-thick patty. Photo: Robert Sietsema


I have a confession to make: Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Whoppers. There was something about the out-sized patty - even though it was razor thin - and its ability to absorb smoke, coupled with the salad on top that somehow gave the thing a "healthy" aura, that hooked me young.

When given the assignment of checking out the new upscale BK hamburger joint in midtown Manhattan, which promised beer in addition to Whoppers, I was elated, though also skeptical. The place is called Whopper Bar, which sounds like a place that fishermen go to tell lies about the fish they've caught. It's occupies a bi-level corner space in the Garment District just south of Times Square, and they must be paying a whopping rent for the premises. Instead of the usual arrangement of tables and chairs, there are counters with stools, and oddly shaped tables thrown every which-way, with plenty of room in between for the lines of curiosity seekers now forming to try the new and weird menu.

Instead of the usual uniforms, the staff is dressed in black, as if they were secret ops in Mission Impossible. Still, the installation and arrangement of food machines behind the counter is the usual packed welter, and the employees bump into each other in the confined space just like Keystone Cops, as per usual. The menu begins with a normal Whopper, and then mutates the hell out of it in a half-dozen variations. I tried the three most interesting and daring, but was denied a chance to try a fourth - the so-called Meat Beast, which features pepperoni, cheese, and "crispy bacon" - because, as the counter gal told me, "I don't think we've ever had any pepperoni here." Quite an oversight on their part, considering it's this place is showcasing new products.

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]]>bourbon whopperburger kingburger king whopper barcalifornia whopperwhopper barRobert SietsemaWed, 04 Aug 2010 11:00:00 ESTThe Greening of Wasted Foodhttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/18/the-greening-of-wasted-food/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/18/the-greening-of-wasted-food/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/18/the-greening-of-wasted-food/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: jaymiek, Flickr


As we obsessively catalog the ways that humans damage the earth -- without really doing a hell of a lot about it - we must finally come to "green waste." It represents the uneaten food that must be disposed of. According to one estimate, it accounts for 14% of the vittles purchased, or 470 pounds per person per year. On the average, that's like each of us annually throwing away $600, or $3,000 for a family of five. Moreover, this figure has leaped by 50% since 1974. And the food we waste in restaurants, partly our fault and partly not, may exhibit an even higher percentage.

Working from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of the uses for discarded foodstuffs, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Sandy Bauers gives tips on how to partly solve the problem of household food waste. Not buying as much food, and finding creative -- and delicious -- uses for leftovers is a first line of attack, and she has high praise for her husband, who can do miracles with a ham bone or a chicken carcass.

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]]>epafood wastegreenhouse gasessandy bauerswasting foodRobert SietsemaFri, 18 Jun 2010 16:00:00 ESTThe Short, Tangled History of the Sliderhttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/05/12/the-short-tangled-history-of-the-slider/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/05/12/the-short-tangled-history-of-the-slider/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/05/12/the-short-tangled-history-of-the-slider/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: rishi989, Flickr


A "slider" can be a sneaky baseball pitch, a 1972 album by T. Rex, a turtle of the genus Trachemys, the mascot of the Cleveland Indians, a potentiometer control, or the little glass tube that connects the bong reservoir to the bowl, but, increasingly, it has come to mean a Lilliputian-size hamburger.

Food historians sometimes trace the origin of this usage to White Castle, the world's first hamburger chain.

The hamburger itself was brought to New York City in the early 19th century by German sailors, who taught cooks in harborside eateries to make patties of ground beef -- as yet, there was no bun. These patties were named after the city of Hamburg, the busiest port in Germany. So appealing was the concept, that hamburgers soon spread to the upper levels of society, and by 1834, New York's most effete restaurant, Delmonico's, listed a "Hamburg Steak" on its menu.

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]]>hamburgerslidersliderswhite castleRobert SietsemaWed, 12 May 2010 14:00:00 ESTFlying in Soon: French Noodleshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/27/flying-in-soon-french-noodles/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/27/flying-in-soon-french-noodles/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/27/flying-in-soon-french-noodles/#commentsFiled under: ,

Photo: Hello Pasta

Lately we've seen pizza shaped like cones, burritos made with organic meat, candy-coated Korean fried chicken, and sandwiches with chicken cutlets standing in for bread -- but if you think all possible fast-food ideas have already been done, you'd better reconsider.

The Wall Street Journal reports that two international fast-food pasta chains are poised to enter the U.S. market. Are they Italian, you wonder? No, French.

Continued after the jump.

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]]>fast food pastahello pastanooipastaRobert SietsemaTue, 27 Apr 2010 15:00:00 ESTThe Corn Syrup Drama Continueshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/19/the-corn-syrup-drama-continues/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/19/the-corn-syrup-drama-continues/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/19/the-corn-syrup-drama-continues/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: trimmer741, Flickr


Corn-syrup bashing has become one of the primary food-related preoccupations of the current era. First, a Princeton University study reported that lab rats gained more weight if fed a diet of corn syrup rather than plain old white sugar. Then obesity experts traced the rise of childhood and adult fatness at least party to humongous, "Big Gulp" servings of soda pop -- which contain large quantities of corn syrup.

Despite remonstrances on the part of agri-food giants like Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and Corn Products International that their corn syrup remains wholesome and good for you, the public perception of corn syrup has increasingly become one of suspicion and even fear.

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]]>corn syrupgovernment subsidiespepsicoRobert SietsemaMon, 19 Apr 2010 14:00:00 ESTSeeds and Deedshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/09/monsanto-free-seeds-and-products/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/09/monsanto-free-seeds-and-products/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/09/monsanto-free-seeds-and-products/#commentsFiled under:

Getty Images


Sure, you've seen Food, Inc. And maybe as a result you're not very happy with Monsanto, a chemical and agri-business giant headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Founded in 1901, Monsanto has been responsible for the manufacture of Agent Orange, DDT, and other chemicals that have proven to be environmental disasters. But their current infamy, according to the film at least, lies in it being the world's leading developer of genetically modified seeds, which cannot be re-seeded, forcing farmers to buy the same patented seeds year after year, undermining a system of crop propagation that goes back to the very start of farming countless millennia ago.

Naturally, the frankenseeds -- which are often genetically spliced with bovine growth hormone and other alien chemicals to improve the seeds' performance -- have their fervent detractors, and one of the foremost is April Davila, a Los Angeles native who read about how the Monsanto's genetically modified corn could be at the root of kidney and liver disease. So she made a promise to herself: She'd see if she could do without Monsanto products or anything made from them for an entire month.

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]]>agent orangeDDTmonsantoMonsanto Companymonsanto free productsRobert SietsemaFri, 09 Apr 2010 14:00:00 ESTNew USDA Rules for "Organic"http://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/25/new-usda-rules-for-organic/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/25/new-usda-rules-for-organic/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/25/new-usda-rules-for-organic/#commentsFiled under: ,

Getty Images


Consumers who have been worried about the enforcement of federal organic food regulations under the George W. Bush administration -- and the stringency of the regulations themselves -- may now have less cause for worry, according to a piece just published in the Washington Post. With Walmart and other big retailers going organic, food labeled "organic" has become big business, with sales of over $24 billion per year.

On February 12, the United States Department of Agriculture published new rules governing the pasturage of livestock whose meat and milk receives organic certification. Previously, these animals only had to have "access to pasturage" -- a regulation so loose as to be virtually meaningless. Now, that ambiguous phrase has been strictly defined: Animals must be permitted to graze at least four months out of the year, and receive 30 percent of their sustenance from that source during those periods.

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]]>national organic programorganic foodorganic food regulationsusdaRobert SietsemaThu, 25 Feb 2010 15:00:00 ESTTop 10 Food Songshttp://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/17/top-10-food-songs/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/17/top-10-food-songs/http://www.slashfood.com/2010/02/17/top-10-food-songs/#commentsFiled under:

Photo: The Everett Collection


While most top-ten lists of food songs are bombarded with predictable pop selections from the past 50 years (invariably including a Bubble Gum number and "Savoy Truffle" by the Beatles), we've managed to delve much deeper, and come up with a few songs so obscure, you may have never even heard of them. Luckily, some rendition of each lies on YouTube, and most will have you tapping your feet and guffawing before the tune ends.

10. "The Roast Beef of Old England," traditional marching song
This memorable rant against French food ("But since we have learned from all-vapouring France/To eat their ragouts as well as to dance") is the work of Henry Fielding, the 18th-century Englishman who wrote the risqué novel, Tom Jones. The patriotic nature of the lyrics and somber marching cadence may send the wrong kind of shivers down your spine, but who can complain about a tune whose refrain is the gleefully redundant, "Oh! The roast beef of old England/And old English roast beef!"

9. "Sing for Your Supper," The Mamas and the Papas
Though this ditty penned by the songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart first appeared in the musical The Boys from Syracuse (1938), the most memorable rendition is by the Mamas and the Papas. Check out the live performance on YouTube, and you'll see a swaying Mama Cass (who, at age 32, was erroneously reported to have choked to death on a ham sandwich) crooning this romantic and stoic paean to hungry street performers everywhere.

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]]>featuredfood songssongstop food songsRobert SietsemaWed, 17 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST