"event" news and stories

While it's not exactly Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando and some tasty Komodo dragon, a "Dinner of Supposed 'Blacklisted' Fish" is being sponsored by the Culinary Guild of New England and Legal Sea Foods.

According to the press release, widespread discussion on sustainable fish "is flawed by outdated scientific findings that unfairly turn the public against certain species of fish. In a direct effort to counter existing misinformation about sustainability, the menu for this event is deliberately designed to serve what is commonly believed to be outlawed or blacklisted fish."

The dinner, scheduled for January 24, in Boston, will feature black tiger shrimp, cod cheeks and prosciutto-wrapped hake. And while all three species are indeed listed in Seafood Watch's red "Avoid" column for reasons that include pollution, loss of habitat, use of trawls, overfishing and depleted populations; we're still trying to figure out what exactly blacklisted means (is it the McCarthy era for fish?), and which specific scientific reports are "outdated." What we do know is the dinner will be led by Legal Sea Foods' president and CEO Roger Berkowtiz, who says he's trying to create more dialogue and push the accuracy of assessments of fisheries.

"I always found it curious that chefs and restaurateurs were the last to get information about sustainable seafood. Oftentimes it was from Monterey [Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program] that blacklisted everything, or a group like Chefs Collaborative -- you get a group of people that work off a particular science, and I would argue that science isn't necessarily balanced," Berkowitz told Slashfood in a telephone interview.

Prosciutto from Big Boy the pig. Photo: Rebecca Winters.

"What happened to the rats on your property?" someone asks urban farmer Novella Carpenter.

"I have a theory that my pigs ate the rats," Carpenter says. Realizing that her audience has been munching on slices of said pig's hindquarters, she laughed. "So enjoy some delicious prosciutto!"

Farmers are reputed to have a tough streak. They step over piles of excrement, battle gargantuan hogs and, of course, have to earn a living. Carpenter, author of "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer," seems no exception. She lives in the city, not the country, "so I can get Chinese food at 2 a.m."

The two 300-pound hogs she raised in what she calls the Oakland, Calif., "ghetto," also enjoyed Chinese takeout. She read about her adventures in urban farming on a Brooklyn, N.Y., rooftop adjacent to a 6,000-foot, 30-crop rooftop farm built by Goode Green and tended by farmers Annie Novak and Ben Flanner.

Dumpster diving, fish guts and the cost of rooftop farming, after the jump.

Classic French drinks at Brooklyn's Bastille Day. Photo: Alex Van Buren

Bastille Day is tomorrow, but in New York City the party started as it so often does -- early. From an uptown street fair in Manhattan featuring the decadent pastries of Francois Payard to a boozy, New Orleans-like outdoor fete on Smith Street (often called Brooklyn's Restaurant Row), the city was awash in stripes of red, white and blue.

Those wondering how to pay homage to that long-ago storming of the Bastille prison via gastronomical decisions tomorrow, not to worry: We've got a classic Provençal recipe and a few Francophilic cocktail ideas coming your way tomorrow.

Meantime, after the jump, a recap of the Brooklyn event (more pictures here) from moules frites to the peculiar triumph of anise-tinged Ricard.

"Loco for locavorism" might sound like some bizarro play on an old TV ad, but the phrase carries some heft these days, if the crowd at last night's Brooklyn Uncorked was any indication. The sip-and-nibble-fest in honor of local goods was jam-packed with tipsy oenophiles clutching wine glasses and munching on local pickles (garlicky!), rosé sorbet (brilliant!) and buzzed-about turkey meatloaf (by the time we got there, gone!). Dozens of local restaurants, wineries and producers were on the premises: as one sign bragged, no vinos were made more than a two-hour drive from Brooklyn.

Hyperlocalism isn't local to New York City, either. Edible Communities, whose Edible Brooklyn hosted the tasting, boasts more than 50 publications from Missoula, Wash., to Santa Fe, N.M. All feature the same bright, minimalistic food-focused design touting "local foods, season by season." If you believe that New York hearkens nationwide trends, well, like the Brooklyn Food Conference before it, this event was sold-out and about as crowded as could be.

Sugar High Friday was hosted by David Lebovitz this month and, to no one's surprise, the food blogging event was a chocolaty one. David's theme was Chocolate By Brand and he instructed all the participants to work with just one brand - any brand - of chocolate to learn about the nuances that belong specifically to that manufacturer. Entries have closed at this point, but the best part of any food blogging event is the roundup, where readers can get easy access to tons of great recipes, all in one place. David has started his roundup now and already has parts one, two and three posted, with four to follow shortly.

His own entry was a Chocolate Idiot Cake, made with Scharffenberger Chocolate, that is dead easy to make. Tsokolate submitted a Chocolate Monkey Bread. Jumbo Empanadas dipped some grapes in chocolate for faux truffles and Café Fernando's submission was a Chocolate Caramel Pot de Crème(pictured), with Côte d'Or Culinaire chocolate.