"EndlessSimmer" news and stories

So it's 5 o'clock EST. Did you make your last widget for the day? Answer the boss's last e-mail?

If "yes," read on. If "no," you've been warned. Because it's totally possible you'll lose the next 24 hours of your life to Endless Simmer's fantastically obsessive Top 10 Top 10 Food Lists.

Yeah, you read that correctly: For better or for worse, it's all there, from The Frisky's Top 10 Songs with Sexually Suggestive Food Metaphors (props for the Cibo Matto, guys -- but no Def Leppard?) to Lifehacker's genius Top 10 Food and Drink Hacks (we can open a beer bottle using a piece of paper?!). There's even a nod to the Creepiest Mascots and Bad Boy Bourdain's best takedowns.

These types of lists make all other tasks sort of disappear. So if we've just sent you hustling to iTunes to start typing out retorts to The Frisky or hunting for a sheet of 8 1/2-by-11 and a Negro Modelo, we apologize.

But not really.

[Via Endless Simmer]

Endless Simmer just put up a speculative piece about the next White House Executive Chef. Before going off the deep end with their suggestions that the Obamas try out Rachel Ray, Cindy McCain, and butter sculptor Duffy Lion, the site laid out three front runners for the job: Art Smith, Tony Mantuano, and Criseta Comerford. Smith and Mantuano are both noted chefs with prominent restaurants; Smith runs "Art and Soul," while Mantuano owns the Obamas' favorite Chicago eatery, Spiaggia. The third choice, Criseta Comerford, is the current White House Executive Chef.

After reading Endless Simmer's piece, I took a peek through The White House Family Cookbook. Written by Henry Haller, Executive Chef at the White House for over 25 years, the book showcases the wide variety of foods that Presidential families have eaten over the years. Based on Haller, I tend to disagree with Endless Simmer's first two suggestions for a few basic reasons. First off, while being the big Kahuna in the White House kitchen is a great honor, it isn't exactly necessarily a great career move. In fact, most people don't really know anything about the White House Executive Chef until he or she releases a cookbook, usually after leaving the job. With this in mind, it seems unlikely that an established chef would walk away from a prominent restaurant to toil in relative obscurity.

The second problem with Smith and Mantuano is that the skills required of a White House chef are significantly different than those required of a restaraunteur. To achieve fame in the restaurant profession, a chef needs to develop a personal style that is distinctive and unique. A White House chef, on the other hand, needs to be able to prepare a wide variety of foods to absolute perfection. While this gives a lot of room to try new things, it doesn't allow a lot of room for personal expression. A creme brulee has to follow the classical definition of the dish, and a pancake has to be a perfect, if bland, pancake. For established chefs, the inability to put a personal spin on every dish would be painful at best.

After three years of working in the White House, Comerford probably has a great deal of experience with mastering the preferred styles and tastes of numerous White House visitors. Beyond that, she already knows her way around the kitchen and has a place in the city. My money is definitely on her!

This picture was featured yesterday as Endless Simmer's 'Artsy Picture of the Day.' Looking at it, you can almost taste the mulled cider and smell the crisp fall air. Such a perfect autumn image. If you haven't had a chance to get out to an apple orchard or pumpkin patch yet this season, this weekend might just be the perfect time to go.

Thanks Endless Simmer team, for adding this picture to the Slashfood Flickr pool.

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I spent some time in Indonesia when I was 22. I wasn't particularly interested in food back then and so I didn't do anything interested like go to open air markets or travel to the places where spices are grown and sold. These days, there's nothing I'd like to do better than travel to a country where I could wander marketplaces and take gorgeous, vibrant pictures of foods, lentils and seeds. Until that time, I'll have to live vicariously through the experiences of others. This image from Endless Simmer makes me want to go to Morocco, quite a whole lot.

Thanks guys, for adding your image to the Slashfood Flickr pool.

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