Oktoberfests are ubiquitous this month. For those not interested in the chug-a-thons and oompah bands, check out this list of alternative options.
Dixon Lambtown USA, Dixon, Calif., Oct. 3: Break out the mint jelly! Attendees can participate in such culinary slugfests as the National Lamb Ribs Eating Contest and Barbecue Cook-Off, not to mention a shearing competition and sheepdog trials. For the kiddies, there's Mutton Bustin' -- a buckin' bronco bruising of the woolly kind. The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival, New York, Oct. 8-11: Hosted by and benefiting the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength, this festival brings the toque and the home cook together. Everyone from sous chefs to casserole queens can attend wine seminars, recipe-creation panels and cooking demonstrations. For the kiddie cook, check out the Kids Get Cooking! series. Your favorite celebrity TV chefs will be there, en masse, including Ming Tsai, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain, as well as culinary heavyweights such as Sue Torres, Marcus Samuelsson, Odette Fada, Daniel Boulud and David Chang.
As delicate a fruit as it appears photographed above, the red chili is a fiery ingredient that adds heaps of heat with just a few potent morsels. Domesticated thousands of years ago in South-of-the-Border cooking, the chili is now starting to make an appearance in sweet dishes and drinks in trendy restaurants and bars across the country.
In some of our favorite examples, Mario Batali's Osteria Mozza serves a tequila cocktail with smoked salt and candied chili; the Food Network created a Habanero Lime Cheesecake; and Ice Cream Ireland has posted a recipe for Candied Chili Peppers. We think the pepper is an exciting ingredient for everything from the infusion of spirits to adding kick to salsas, dressings, desserts, etc. Leave us comments letting us know where -- and in what dishes -- you've encountered them!
Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.
If Texans weren't too tough to cry, the latest news out of the International Chili Society might set them to sobbing.
The cookoff-sanctioning organization has announced that the World's Championship Chili Cookoff will be held east of the Mississippi River for the first time in its 42-year history. The October event in Charleston, W. Va., represents the final slippage of the Southwest's grip on what was once a thoroughly regional foodstuff: A "bowl of red" has officially become an all-American dish.
"People have really latched on to it," ICS Executive Director Carol Hancock says of chili's pervasive popularity. "They just enjoy something they can do that's relatively inexpensive."
While there are nearly as many origin stories for chili as there are top-secret recipes for it, most agree it got its start in Texas (where, according to "The Food Lovers Companion," it is considered "a crime" to add beans to the meaty dish). The Lone Star State creation, whether pioneered by hungry vaqueros or indiscriminating jailhouse cooks, found its way to Southern California, where more than a dozen devotees gathered for a chili throwdown in 1967.
Some cooks reach for Sriracha, the ubiquitous Thai hot sauce, in a pinch. Others swear by soy sauce. And then there are those who refuse to reveal (*cough, cough* butter) what made the dish you just demolished delicious. For our part, we've developed a tiny -- OK, midsized -- crush on an infused chili oil, and we need to talk about it.
Sid Wainer & Son's Domaine de Provence pepper-spiked oil is fantastic. A drizzle of the fiery goodness rescues storebought and homemade guacamole alike with a heady, late-blooming heat on the palate. According to owner Henry Wainer, it's also tasty on bruschetta. We plan to carry it on our person all summer -- potentially awkward in the 90-degree swelter -- using guerilla tactics to douse any crustaceans and pork we spy sizzling on the grills of party hosts. (Brooklyn, consider yourself warned.)
Wainer has been equally passionate about the oil since meeting its producer at a dinner in France 18 years ago. Such culinary serendipity, he declares, "enriches the world." Can't argue with that.
Seeding hot peppers can be time consuming. Make the process less complicated by using a small melon baller scoop. And alleviate the stinging pain of particularly hot chilies by wearing gloves.
April may be the cruelest month, but January is surely the coldest. It's the perfect time to break out big, robust red wines that warm your body and soul. And what better to eat with a big red wine than a big steaming bowl of chili?
This weekend we had about a dozen people over for a blind tasting of six Carmeneres, all from Chile (the country--don't get Chile and chili confused!). Carmenere is Chile's signature grape, brought over from Bordeaux in the late 19th century. The wine is deeply dark and full-bodied, and in Chile can have a somewhat vegetal flavor, though it can also be quite fruity and spicy.
The six we tried ranged in price from $10 to $47. Chile is known around the world for its value wine, and it definitely delivered in our tasting. When the bags were pulled off, it turned out that several of us put the $10 wine in our top favorites. Surprisingly, everyone from the least- to the most-experienced tasters felt that all of the wines were good, and comparable in their quality, even though the prices were not.
More tasting notes and my "Chili for a Crowd" recipe after the jump.
Apparently the world is consuming more chilies. A recent article from the Economist explains that "bland diets of Europe and the Anglosphere" have spent the past 50 years becoming more tolerant towards hotter chilies with the popularity of curries, salsa, and tabasco sauce.
The Economist article mentions the increasing popularity of chilies in nearly every dish from rice and jelly to chocolate. Tesco, Britain's largest supermarket chain, now sells Dorset naga which rates 1.6m units on the Scoville scale, measurement of hotness. Pepper spray used in riot control scores 2m.
Despite this obsession with the heat of the chili, many connoisseurs argue that the level of heat does not define the flavor profile. For them, it's like judging wine based on its alcohol content rather than its quality. These gourmets are more struck by the presence of chili in many more foods than in the past. It could be due to the fact that chilies have a chemical called capsaicin which causes the release of endorphins that create a natural high. In fact, the more chilies you consume, the better this high gets. Also, the Economist explains that capasaicin excites a nerve that makes us more receptive to other flavors.
A 33-year-old British man has died after eating a plate of ultra-hot chile sauce, leaving his family to wonder if the chiles did it. Andrew Lee died several hours after eating a plate full of pasta sauce made with chiles grown by his father, in a contest with a friend over who could consume the spiciest food. He reported feeling itchy before going to bed; his girlfriend found him dead the next morning.
Gallery: 5 Surprisingly Poisonous Foods
But how likely is it that the chiles actually killed him? Last year, the magazine Mental Floss compiled links to several studies about spicy food and death. Apparently, at least eight children have died from chile aspiration - but that means they inhaled ground pepper, not that they ate it. An academic paper about the physiological effects of capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers spicy) suggests that the toxic human dose would be so high it would be almost impossible to consume via regular food. So I'm guessing that Lee died from an allergy to something in the sauce, or from an unrelated cause. But that hardly makes for a grab-you headline, does it.
Insert _____ possum/raccoon/squirrel joke here, if you must.
But don't laugh. A West Virginia hot dog has nothing to do with roadkill, and it's not simply a hot dog eaten in West Virginia either. It is a regional specialty with its own rules, legions of die-hard fans, even its own website. A true West Virginia hot dog is slathered in bean-less beef chili and topped with mustard, coleslaw and chopped onions, then quickly "steamed" in a microwave to soften the bun.
On a recent trip to Welch, WV (don't ask), I had a couple for lunch at a gas station/lunch counter/hunting supply shop near the town of Beckley. They were $1.29 for two, with creamy homemade slaw spooned out of a Tupperware container. The sweet gooeyness of the steamed bun reminded me of Chinese pork buns, cut by the acrid bit of the fresh white onions. I ate while perusing Polaroids of dead buck deer and other hunting trophies pined to the wall, and came out with a strange urge to learn how to use a shotgun.
Yes, I hate bbq, summer, and Memorial Day. I'm a terrible person.
Of course, I don't hate Memorial Day itself, what it represents, I hate that it signals the start of summer, my least favorite season. I hate summer the wayLost fans hated Nikki and Paolo (yes, everything I do comes back to television). Maybe even more.
Here are the 8 reasons I hate about Memorial Day and summer in general.
Earlier this week, Scott and I were sitting around, talking about what the week looked like for us and when we'd both be home for dinner. Once we realized we'd both be around on Wednesday, I started brainstorming out loud, ruminating on the pound of grass-finished ground beef I had in the fridge. I mentioned that I was thinking it would be good to scramble it with some veggies, maybe some beans and a can or two of tomatoes. Scott looked at me and said, "You do realize that you're talking about making chili, right?" I was momentarily crushed, as I realized that what I was considering wasn't at all original (silly in so many ways, I know). Once I got over my disappointment, I perked up, realizing that I could still take this pot of chili in any direction I wanted.
When I got home from work, I started chopping, sauting and stirring, cooking by feel without any sort of guide besides what I had in my kitchen. It turned out fantastically well and there was enough in the pot to feed us for two nights (I do love cooking once and eating twice)! I was particularly proud that I got the chard in there, because it meant that I got my nightly green vegetable in without using another pot or bowl.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
