"pbs" news and stories

The Korean Peninsula has gained a certain reputation for firepower, whether in the form of mortar shells from the North or the mouth-searing, "dare-you-to-eat-it" offerings at most Korean take-out places. But a couple of recent video and TV offerings are inviting us to get to know the other side of Korea, the fun-food side.

Marja Vongerichten, the wife of international super-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is entering the spotlight in her own right as the star of an upcoming 13-part series on PBS. The Kimchi Chronicles documents Marja's culinary travels through her native homeland, which, according to The New York Times, she left at the age of three to be adopted by a couple in Virginia.

Here she is sampling four-year-old kimchi, or diving for crabs, or touring what appears to be a veritable island of green tea. Her husband is often at her side, and in the preview clip, it's funny to see the head of an international restaurant empire relegated to the role of awkward diplomat, quizzically listening for the translator's cues and, in one scene, committing the faux pas of sipping the green tea before properly appreciating its aroma.

Burger and fries. Photo: onlinehero, Flickr.

• Now that California law requires fast food joints to list nutritional information, consumers are learning that the seemingly healthy salads and dips are often fattier than the pizzas and fries.
• A list of cookbooks for frugal cooks starts off with former Slashfoodie Alanna Kaufman.
• A chat with chef Eric Ripert about his new PBS show, "Avec Eric."
• An Internet search might give you the idea that reheating spinach is dangerous, but a food toxicologist says the concern is baseless.
• Produce Picks goes nuts for Bartletts and suggests pear quesadillas.
• Recipes: Molten Chocolate Cake, Microwave Risotto, Baked Apples with Dates and Pecans.
  
• San Diego's food calendar.

Sunday afternoon, I had more than ten tasks and projects to get completed before the week started up again. However, instead of running around the apartment, marking things off my list, I got completed sucked into a documentary that Scott was watching. Called To Market, To Market, To Buy a Fat Pig, (from the old children's nursery rhyme) it is an hour-long visit to farmers markets all over the country. They take you from New Mexico and California to Ohio and Hawaii.

The only market they visited that I've personally been to is Lancaster, PA's Central Market and, having seen this program, I now have an unquenchable urge to plan my vacations around new farmers markets. I think before the summer is out I'll be driving down to Lexington Market in Baltimore to explore.

If you are a fan of farmers markets, this is one not to be missed. It's on the PBS schedule in various locations for the next couple of weeks.

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PETA has offered a million dollar prize to the first people to develop artifical chicken meat. To find out how this would go over, a new PBS web TV series, Your Week, hits the streets, farms, and markets asking if people would be willing to eat meat grown in a lab.

The response, not surprsingly, was mixed.

Have a look at the video and let us know if would you eat Frankenmeat. Answer in the poll and leave a comment letting us know why or why not.

I've written about King Corn before, both when it first was being screened around the country and then when AOL Video made a 20 minute clip of it available for viewing. I am happy to say that now you can watch it in the comfort of your own home, on PBS. You'll have to check your local listings for specific airing information, as that changes depending on markets. In some locales, you'll be able to watch it tonight, here in Philly it won't be on until Friday night at 11 pm (an unfortunate time). Whenever it's on, set your DVRs or VCRs (my parents still use one and there's nothing wrong with that) and make sure you catch it.

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