I am a budding foodie and reluctant food blogger. I've only recently joined Slashfood, and unlike many of my colleagues, I don't have any particular knowledge about the foodie world. I don't watch the Food Network (that would require me getting cable, and nyaaaah). I don't know much about fine cuisine. I wouldn't know a truffle from a button mushroom (or maybe I would, if somebody would buy me a truffle). And indeed, although I love food, love being in the kitchen and (trying) to feed my friends and family, the learning curve is daunting.

But I want to learn! And since I'm at least another year away from actually taking a cooking class, I've done what most writers do: I've hit the books. I thought I'd share them with you, while I'm educating myself on all things culinary.

Food is the new black. Or at least it seems that way, given the mass media interest in food and its preparations. It's not hard to compile a sizable reading list. I've culled mine mostly from suggestions on the food blogs, and here they are, in no particular order. The list isn't complete by any means, but it's a start.

In the days before the internet, cooking shows had to figure out an easy way for viewers to get a hold of the recipes featured on their programs. There was typically an address that one could write to to obtain the recipes. Alternately, they would leave the ingredient list and instructions up on the screen for some time at some point during the program, so that a quick transcriptionist could hurriedly jot them down. Sometimes, the only option for the viewer was to take notes while watching (my Aunt Doris always watched Julia Child with steno pad and pencil in hand).

This book, Julia Child and Company, was something of a revolution. Printed in 1978, it came out at the very same time as Child's show of the same name began to air. That way, viewers could watch the show at leisure, unworried about catching every nuance of the recipe as they knew they'd have Child's clear and careful written instructions to reference later on. Now, thirty years later, we can't follow along with the series, but we can still utilize the recipes in the book.

It is organized by menu, which is fun in that you can see just how Child would have served a meal (it's not just French food in this volume, she incorporates a variety of cultural favorites). However, if you don't want to recreate an entire show's worth of food, you do have to poke around a bit more to find what you're looking for. If you're a fan of Child and want another opportunity to "hear" her calm, helpful voice in the kitchen, this is a good book to add to your collection.

I spent some time yesterday afternoon talking with Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious, about everything from her weeknight dinners to the cookbook she's releasing this fall. It was an honor to speak with Ms. Steel, who has written for Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, the New York Times, and appeared on numerous TV programs, including the Today Show (the list goes on). After our conversation, I can absolutely see her energy and enthusiasm in the pages of Epicurious. Talk about a foodie!

I've noticed a lot of changes on Epicurious in the past year or so – new blogs and features. What's the idea behind this new content?
I came to Epicurious in July 2005, and I found a site that I loved with tremendous depth, but not a lot of breadth. We needed to broaden out the site to make it the go-to site for people who love to eat and love cooking and love food. I knew that we had a fantastic recipe database, so we added restaurant coverage, a huge thing on drinks. We added video, and a blog that I started – for a while I was the only one writing. We spent some time not only broadening our coverage and trying to get notable names on the site, but we also took a look at the site, which was over 12 years old, and we realized it was time to make it look as rich and interesting as the content. We spent a good part of last year looking at the inner plumbing of the site, and we launched [the redesign] last September. I've never worked so hard, and it was incredibly rewarding to create a food site from the ground up. I thought, "What would I like? What kind of site would I like and how would I create it? We are still rolling out features throughout this year. There are going to be upgrades and additions this year and next.

Any chance you can give us some hints about these upcoming features?
One of the things that we are going to be doing is expanding our community section. We have always had a vibrant, passionate community of people – up to six million unique [visitors] in December. They love to talk to each other. We have ten forums, and realize this is something to increase. We made a deal with Facebook, and realize that a lot of people would love to have more social networking on our site. We are blowing out something called "My Epicurious" – people will be able to upload a photo of themselves, they can already tag interests. They will be able to upload pictures so people can see what they are cooking now. They will be able to join interest groups. For example, if they are interested in it cuisines, they will be able to see everything having to do with that interest group, like new Italian recipes and posts, anything to do with Italy.

Interesting piece over at Slate from Paul Levy, about the state of food writing. He says that food writing today is too "macho," and filled with too many "foodie shock jocks" who swear and write too casually (he singles out Anthony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsay, and Bill Buford).

The food writing that's in vogue today consists chiefly of a bellow of bravado. It's a guy thing, sure, but (with a few honorably hungry exceptions) these scribblers mostly ignore what's on the plate. They view themselves as boy hunters and despise sissy gatherers, thrive on the undertow of violence they detect in the professional kitchen, and like to linger on the unappetizing aspects of food preparation. The gross-out factor trumps tasting good as well as good taste.

Hmmm...really? I think one of the good thing about this increased interest in food and all the food blogs is that you hear a lot of different voices. There's plenty of the stuff Levy likes still be written. Even here at Slashfood we try to mix up the voices a bit.

What do you think? Does Levy have a point?

[via The Grinder]

I just discovered, via the Amateur Gourmet, that Charlie Rose has made his archive of interviews available (for free!) on his website. He's got a food category under the enigmatic heading 'Other' that has 46 conversations with members of the fooderatti, including Ruth Reichl, Mario Batali, the Zagats and the grand dame of food television herself, Julia Child. The clip you see above is a July 2003 show in which Rose talks to Calvin Trillin (who is one of my favorite food writers because of his ability to blend humor with food) about Trillin's book Feeding a Yen. If you've got some time to kill and want to hear smart people talk about food, culture, history and writing, this is a great resource.

Move over Ferran Adrià. Northern China has its own version of molecular gastronomy: hand-pulled noodles. Well not quite, but the above clip of Chef Mark Pi is fascinating not only because of the sheer craftsmanship required to, er, pull off such a feat, but because of the science lesson the narrator gives.

Physicist Philip Morrison gives us noodle making as a way of discussing the size, particularly the thickness, of atoms. He states: "We approach the division of matter...by halving and halving and halving it again." This point is clearly demonstrated by Chef Pi's demonstration of hand-pulling dragon's beard noodles. After folding the noodles a dozen times he's created 4,096 ultrathin strands. Morrison points out that if the venerable chef had managed 42 times his noodles would have reached atomic thickness.

Incidentally, this vid comes from a 1987 PBS program The Ring of Truth: Atoms. I found another great and hilarious clip featuring Julia Child. Without giving too much away, all I'm going to say is it involves her isolating pure carbon.

I was noodling around in my files and food magazines and ran across some info that I thought would make a good food trivia quiz.

Food Trivia Quiz

1. When and where did McDonald's open its first drive thru?
2. Who turned the world on to Blackened red fish?
3. Who are Tim and Nina and what are they known for?
4. In 1982 what became ET's favorite candy?
5. When was the Slurpee introduced?
6. What is Alice Waters known for?
7. Who was the first Ronald McDonald?
8. What cities recently banned the sale or use of certain food products.
9. What storm caused the devastation of one of the top food destinations in the world?
10. Where was the original home of Subway?
11. Who wrote "On Food and Cooking" the book that was the catalyst for the combining of the culinary arts and science?
12. When did the Blooming Onion first appear on a chain restaurant menu?
13. When did the Food network first start broadcasting?
14. When and where did the first Starbucks open?
15. The first dishwasher was introduced to the public in 1893. What decade did it finally catch on?
16. What was the first diet soda?
17. What was the "Space Age drink" and when was it introduced?
18. Waring invented the blender in 1937. What year was the one millionth blender sold?
19. What was the cereal Mikey likes?
20. Who wrote "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"?

Don't peek at the answers! They're after the jump.

In the fall, cornfield mazes start to spring up in various locations around the country, designs getting more elaborate as farms try to out-do each other. Mike's Maze at Warner Farms in Sunderland Massachusetts is paying tribute to Julia Child this year, using a picture of her framed by what appears to be a magnetic knife rack with all sorts of cooking implements, as the template for their annual maze. They are also working to expand their seasonal cafe's menu with influences from Julia and several local restaurants.

If only crop circles could have been this interesting...

Most families have one person who is responsible for baking the cakes for birthdays and other occasions. It might be a grandmother who bakes her famous coconut cake everyone loves or an enthusiastic child whose greatest love is elaborately decorating sheet cakes made with box mixes, but there is always one. When you are that one person, sometimes you run out of ideas. Even grandma must get tired of her coconut cake every once in a while.

Birthday Cakes: Recipes and Memories from Celebrated Bakers is a good book to get inspired by.

The book is packed with stunningly beautiful cakes, recipes to go with them and stories from bakers who moved from being "the one" in their family to making a career out of something that they loved to do. Recipes come from cooks like Alice Waters, Julia Child, James Beard and Alice Medrich. They are cakes that will take birthdays and other celebrations to a new level, not just variations on the same old thing, so if you're up for the challenge of tacking something new, like a Princess Cake, you will be well rewarded when it is met with oohs and aahs at serving time.

This week's New York Times Book Review is dedicated to food, but seems to concentrate on those whose lives have been about food. The books they focus on are not cookbooks, though a few reviews are included. Instead, the books are memoirs and compilations, reminding us that food is an integral part of life and, for some, it is life.

The Times has printed the first chapters of several food-related books this week, including two books, Two for the Road and The Nasty Bits, which we reviewed here. There is only one problem with reading through these excerpts, though it's not necessarily a bad one: after you read the first chapters, you may just have to hop in the car and drop by the nearest bookstore! Read them at your own risk:

• Two for the Road - The story of how the concept of roadfood came about
• My Life in France - The story of cooking, eating, France, California and Julia Child's life
• What to Eat - How to find things that you want/should want to eat in the grocery store
• The Nasty Bits - Anthony Bourdain's latest collection of essays from his life and travels

[Image NYT]

There was a small news item at IMDB that mentioned that there is a new movie about Julia Child starting production. It is/will be based on her life, perhaps a full biopic, and the role of Julia will be played by Joan Cusack. Cusack announced this on Martha Stewart's talk show, and Martha mentioned that she would love to make a cameo appearance in the film about her idol. At the very least, Martha might be able to serve as a technical advisor, since Cusack admits she is not much of a cook.

While I certainly hope that Cusack does a good job, I have a hard time picturing her in the role. I would much rather see a different actress in the role, perhaps someone like Joan Allen, who seems to have a lot more presence than Cusack and might be more compelling as Julia.

It's a popular week for the release of new cookbooks and cooking-relating memoirs.  A quick look at Amazon's list of pre-ordered books notes that the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis has a new book out today, while there's also a new memoir from Julia Child, edited by her grandnephew. Additionally, Amazon's list of summer 2006 books includes a book by Bill Buford, the former fiction editor of the New Yorker. In the very well-reviewed Heat, Buford befriends Mario Batali, and offers a insidery look at the cooking world.

I can't remember ever having a French onion soup that I loved. Sure, it was a dish I'd eat without complaint. But never have I longed for a cheese-crusted bowl of sweet oniony butteriness. Until now.

I was idly flipping through Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, my favorite coffee table cookbook, when I came across this recipe. I had a huge bag of onions and I was intrigued: evidently, Jacques preferred white wine for "extra flavor" in his onion soup, while Julia Child preferred red. As I identify more with Julia than Jacques - and I had a bottle of red wine at the ready - I figured, why not? Off went my hubby to the market to get Gruyere, and some more wine, just for good measure.

Little did I know I was only an hour away from addiction.