"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.
The theme for the last month's Sugar High Friday, the popular sweets-based global food blogging event, was Sugar Art. Hosted by Habeas Brulee, the theme required that participants work with sugar in some capacity beyond just sprinkling it on top of things or stirring it into batter and use it to create a dessert that was a real work of art. As usual, bloggers stepped right up to the challenge and created a round of very impressive desserts. Danielle, the hostess, made some Cardamom Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee Bubbles (pictured), airy mouthfuls of sweetness that would make any molecular gastronomist proud. Other entries included Cranberry Mousse from Seriously Good, Bouche De Noels from Tsokolate!, A Finger in Every Pie and Vers l'absurde. El Bulli's Frozen Chocolate Air was submitted by Hungry In Hogtown and Riana, from For The Love Of Baking, made a standout Gingerbread House. Check out all the entries in the roundup. And save some room for the next round of SHF!
Food bloggers take particular pleasure in sharing their favorite foods, recipes and food news with other bloggers online, but like most people, we still find that human interaction is nice on occasion. It was exactly this thought that spawned Blogging by Mail in the first place, a "real" (i.e. non-digital) event to let bloggers from around the world connect. The round from earlier this summer is closed, as is the last edition of Canadian Blogging by Post, which is a similar event that is limited to Canadian bloggers only. In fact, take a look at then roundup of entries from CBBP to see what you may have missed out on.
Inspired? If you're a food blogger interested in signing up for the newest edition of Blogging by Mail, which is open to bloggers from all over the world, head over to Dispensing Happiness and sign up soon. The deadline for this edition is this Thursday, November 18th and the theme is holiday foods.
Congratulations to all the winners. We can't wait until the next round comes up and we can see what food bloggers from all over have been cooking up in the last month.
We really like candy here, whether it is a sugary caramel or a decadent box of chocolates, and there is nothing like Halloween to get into the candy spirit. After all, the entire purpose of the holiday is to eat candy! To get into the swing of things before the holiday hit, we decided to host our own day of Candy Creations on Tuesday, October 24th. We'll talk about some of our favorite candies, homemade and store-bought, and offer up some tips on where to find the best candies and what to give out for Halloween. We have lots of treats to give out, but you'll have to be patient!
If you want to join us in our celebration of candy, write a post about your favorite candy, candy recipe or use for candies (sundae toppings, deep fried candy bars, etc) and post about it between now and the 24th. Send us a link to your post and we'll do include it in our roundup that day.
Earlier this year, we saw the launch of a new Canadian blogging event, Canadian Blogging by Post that followed in the footsteps of the international Blogging by Mail and the european Euro Blogging by Post. The premise is the same for all of the events: packages of food and food-related items are shipped out and received by all participants. The events give everyone a chance to try new foods, "meet" new bloggers and just generally have a good time.
A new round of Canadian Blogging by Post is being hosted by Jasmine, of the beautiful blog Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. The theme is "our season's bounty," meaning that at least part of the package should focus on fall, fall flavors or fall foods. Unfortunately for some of us, the event is only open to Canadian bloggers (hence the name!), but we can all participate vicariously by keeping an eye on the host blog for a roundup of all the packages in the next few weeks.
This month's edition of the food blogging event Sugar High Friday - an event that is sweet-centric - was hosted by Alanna at A Veggie Venture. Most of the themes for this event revolve around a single ingredient or one type of dish. The theme for this round was "a surprise inside," which was variously interpreted to mean surprise ingredients in otherwise regular dishes, surprise fillings and add-ins in some recipes and just plain surprises in others. There were over 65 participants from around the world and they submitted recipes that included:
The 2006 Miami Book Fair is coming up in just a few short weeks and it is a great place to get up close and personal of hundreds of celebrated authors from around the world. Of course, we have a particular interest in the food writers and cookbook authors who will be there and after seeing the list of attendees, we were not disappointed. Food lovers will see:
Slashfood readers can expect to see the works of these authors, as well as several others, featured here leading up to the Fair. Others in attendance will be authors of the non-food persuasion and include Isabel Allende, Nora Ephron and Thomas Cahill.
On top of the opportunity to interact with the authors and attend wonderful seminars, there is also a huge street fair that goes along with the event, where visitors will find everything from books and art to food and drinks from around the world. Since it's Miami, expect to see lots of Cuban and Caribbean offerings.
The Book Fair will be Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus from November 12 – 19, 2006.
La Festa al Fresco was an end-of-summer virtual potluck put on by the bloggers from Cream Puffs in Venice and La Mia Cucina. The premise was to use at least one fresh ingredient in a dish that was seasonally appropriate. Since food bloggers don't need too much of an excuse to get into the kitchen and start cooking, the turnout for the "party" was huge, with dishes from 57 bloggers! The roundup of all of the entries was posted in two parts, and can be read here and here, but if you want to have your own Festa at home, these were some of our favorites from the event.
Mario Batali will cook for you and 11 of your closest friends, if you are the highest bidder at a charity auction in Michigan next month. The "Sunday afternoon lunch in the true style of Rome", to be held on August 27th, includes a cooking lesson with as much participation as you want to have in preparing the food, wine tasting and (of course) a 10-course lunch. He auctioned a similar lunch for the group, The Conservancy, last year, which sold for $25,000. Batali says that he offers 6 to 10 such functions for charitable events every year and that most of them sell for around $50,000.
The silent auction closes on August 1st and bids can be placed online. The bidding starts at $5,000.
Usually, Andrew puts up a post announcing the entries in the monthly food blog photography competition, Does My Blog Look Good in This? I happen to be in charge of this month's event, though, so I get the honors. All of the entries are simply gorgeous. You can view them here, in the official gallery. The judges for the event will pick a winner at the end of the month, but please leave comments on your favorite photos to give the bloggers some feedback and let the judges know who you think should win. Not that they'll be swayed in their judicial responsibilities, of course, but it certainly can't hurt!
If you have your own food blog and would like to participate, read the submission guidelines. There is still plenty of time to enter.
Food bloggers take particular pleasure in sharing their favorite foods, recipes and food news with other bloggers online, but like most people, we still find that human interaction is nice on occasion. It was exactly this thought that spawned 
We really like candy here, whether it is a sugary 
Earlier this year, we 
The 
La Festa al Fresco was an end-of-summer virtual potluck put on by the bloggers from 
Mario Batali 
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