"jobs" news and stories

Whoopie pie -- a regional Maine/Pennsylvania/Midwest cookie with two round cakes and a frosting center -- is having its moment in the sun. With recipe!

With restaurants closing left and right due to the economy, chef jobs are really, really hard to come by. Like, 300 people will apply to a single $25,000-a-year, no-benefits job.

Eric Asimov reviews the wines of Spain's Bierzo region.

The Temporary Vegetarian offers a recipe for cauliflower with raisins, almonds and capers guaranteed to woo even die-hard cauliflower haters. I happen to recall that Slashfood readers have a few cauliflower recipes up their sleeves too.

Recipe for a blood orange olive oil cake with yogurt.

The Minimalist tunnels through pork loins with a wooden spoon and stuffs them full of figs.

Eating "mountain oysters" at the International Comstock Mountain Oyster Fry. Hint: Mountain oysters are NOT oysters.

Source

After college, I took a job bussing tables at a very high-end restaurant attached to a very expensive country inn near my hometown. It was the kind of place where you had to stand with your arms spread at the beginning of a shift and submit to having the maitre d' inspect your cuffs and the knot in your tie (even women had to wear ties).

I'd been working there for a few weeks when I noticed that employees were throwing away massive platters of food from the wedding buffets that took place nearly every weekend afternoon -- I'm talking untouched trays of smoked salmon, artichoke hearts, blinis with caviar and mini lemon souffles. I also noticed that the wait staff would pour the remaining pitchers of fresh-squeezed orange juice straight down the sink after brunch. Finally, I asked the head waiter why we didn't just save the food to eat at employee mealtime.

"Because, if we allowed employees to eat leftover food, pretty soon you'd all be eating whatever you wanted straight out of the fridge," he told me sniffily.

What, like untrained dogs?! I gave my two weeks notice the next day.

I was reminded of that incident when I read this New York Times post, about a man fired from Whole Foods for trying to save and eat a tuna fish sandwich that was about to be thrown away. Whole Foods claimed that the man's behavior was "misconduct," which means, in addition to having lost his job, he'd be denied unemployment benefits. The man, Ralph Reece, challenged the misconduct ruling and won.

Good for him, I say. Not only is keeping employees from eating leftover food degrading and wasteful, the "misconduct" charges were, according to Reece's lawyer, souped up in order to save Whole Foods money for not having to pay unemployment. And this from a company that is supposed to be one of the best places in America to work!

Source

If you ever gave any thought to writing for Slashfood, this is your big chance. We're looking for a couple of food-loving writers to join our team! We are looking for:

• A weekday writer
• A weekend writer

First and foremost, you should love food, dining out and cooking. You must also enjoy writing about it and be capable of expressing yourself in a clear, engaging way. If you enjoy photography, that's a plus; we love food porn. You don't have to be a professional writer, or even have you own blog, but you should be familiar with blogs including Slashfood and other members of the food blogging community. And, all glory aside, we do pay our writers.

We need someone who can commit to blogging daily or every weekend, but we're extremely flexible about the schedule. To apply, we need:

• Three sample posts (original material, please, not links to existing posts on a blog)
• A few words about yourself and why you're interested in food or writing about food
• Your contact info
• The position you're applying for, your location, and scheduling, including a ballpark number of posts per week

No attachments, please. Put everything in the body of your email. Once your application is complete, send us an e-mail at leadsATslashfoodDOTcom.