"bitten" news and stories

The Jewish festival of Purim starts today, bringing with it one of my longtime culinary bugaboos - the hamantaschen. These cookies, meant to resemble the tricorned hat of Haman, the villain of the Purim story, consist of a buttery dough folded around a generous dollop of filling - usually jam, chocolate chips or sweetened poppy seed paste. Sounds good, right? But alas nearly ever hamantaschen I've tried has been awful - sticky, heavy, bland. I've been testing recipes ever since I was a little kid baking in the synagogue kitchen during Sunday School, but have yet to hit on one that's worth the cost of the flour.

Today, however, I'm seeing a glimmer of hope on the hamantaschen front. In a post on the New York Times' Bitten Blog, Deborah Gardner offers her grandmother's own recipe. These gorgeous, golden hamantaschen have "tender, lemon-zest-flavored dough...a far cry from the thick, dry shell of most hamantaschen, and the tart filling perfectly offsets the sweet crumb. These are the kind of hamantaschen for which any self-respecting prune would be happy to meet its maker," Gardner promises.

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I wanted to tell Mark Bittman that I own his entire cookbook collection, and that I read his blog and columns religiously -- but I didn't. I admire Bittman, the Minimalist for the New York Times, so much precisely because he wouldn't give a hoot either way. In fact, he didn't even seem to care whether we finished our interview after two disconnects (I, however, frantically scrambled from corner to corner of my room praying for better reception). He has a straightforwardness that I think translates remarkably into recipes, and he is my go-to source for breads, soups and countless other basics. For a taste of the bluntness (and I would say, brilliance) that put Bittman on the foodie map, read on.

You just returned from Europe. How did your blogging for [your new blog] Bitten affect your trip?

I would say it affected it by me writing fewer emails. I spent more time blogging, but I didn't spend more time at the computer really.

When you write your New York Times column, your audience is already decided for you. Do you envision a different audience when writing your cookbooks or for your blog?

I think the answer is no. I think I pretty much do what I do. It's not as if I don't take my audience into account, but people who like I what I do are going to find me and read me by any means. I'm not saying, "Oh I'm writing a blog so I have to a different style." I wouldn't know how to do that anyway.

I've recognized some of the recipes on the blog from your cookbooks, how do you choose which ones to post?

Actually most of the recipes that have been on the blog are former Minimalist columns, the Recipes of the Day are being drawn from Minimalist Columns that have been in the New York Times Book – Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times. The ones that are called "What I had for dinner" are literally that and they may or not be variations of something I've done before. But they haven't been "let me take this recipe out of How to Cook Everything and throw it on the blog." I'm not saying it won't be that, but I don't feel the need yet.

Mark Bittman, better known to New York Times Dining and Wine section readers as the Minimalist, announced this morning that he is joining the blogging movement. His site is called Bitten and part of the New York Times family of blogs. He says that the goal of his new writing venture is, "to look at great food made with everyday ingredients and readily achievable techniques - as The Minimalist has been doing for a decade - not food as something to be admired from afar, but as a part of daily life."

So far, his blogging seems appealing and conversational, a more casual version of the voice we're used to reading in his weekly columns. I, for one, am happy to welcome Bittman to the blogging world. I think his perspective will be a valuable addition to the food blog conversation and I look forward to reading it regularly!

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