"recap" news and stories

Our food system may not be perfect, but we have to admit we've come a long way since last December, with a new eye for public health and environmental responsibility. Here's a 2010 recap of the top stories worth a revisit before we move forward into the new year.

Redefining Organic
Until February 2010, the term "organic" was taken pretty loosely. Consumers weren't too sure what the organic stamp actually guaranteed. So the USDA released new rules, including the minimum time animals should have access to pasture: 4 months each year, with 30 percent of their diet sourced from said pasture.

Sustainable Seafood
In 2010, people weren't just concerned for their own health; they started really thinking about the health of what they ate as they reached for more locally grown, sustainably raised foods, and nothing became more political than seafood. We become more aware of the Seafood Watch Guide, which tells us which fish are sustainable to consume and where we can find it. We learned that bluefin tuna, a popular fish used in sushi, was going extinct and there was no move by the U.S. to protect it. And we saw the beginning of the battle over the first genetically engineered animal: salmon, which is yet to be approved but may face required labeling.

New York Cracks Down For Health
Mayor Bloomberg started this year off with a war against health-plaguing substances in New York City restaurants, which are historically models for restaurants across the country. We said good-bye to trans fats and almost lost salt and bake sales, too. In came proposed taxes to high-sugar items, as well as menu labeling and letter grades.

Padma, Gail, Tom, Mark Peel and the troops. Photo: Bravo

Note to "Top Chef" editors: You fooled us. As with any reality show with a dozen-plus contestants, the ones who get the most face time in the early episodes are usually the superstars, or the ones who'll be packing their knives and going home.

By that logic, perma-cryer Jesse -- who managed the ignominious feat of having the lowest scores in the previous two episodes -- was marked for doom this week. But at least she owned her status -- or lack of it -- as the loser of last night's quickfire challenge: "I'm on the bottom again -- balls!"

Brian Boitano at breakfast. Photo: Food Network

So pop culture has come to this: A former figure skater perhaps best known for being a goofily ironic punchline to a "South Park" song has his own show -- and it's a cooking show. Die-hard foodies, take note: "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" is not for you.

This is not to say it operates at Sandra Lee levels of non-cooking: At no point does Brian (whom we interviewed) crack open a packet of supermarket taco seasoning for some zing or create a lush tablescape out of freshly raked autumn leaves. But it is, shall we say, a little on the frothy side for anyone wanting to learn the proper way to braise a quail. (Though the guy sure knows how to strain his juices for a mango-tini.)

No, this is one of those "lifestyle" shows the Food Network is so adept at churning out -- more tailored to the host's persona and his or her niche than anything else. And to judge by the first episode, Brian's self-professed niche would be San Franciscan guys who like to entertain their single girlfriends, prepare fussy little crudités and "ride bikes on rainbows!"

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.

Season 5 of Top Chef premiered last night on Bravo, and I have the enviable task of recapping each episode for everyone's favorite foodie blog: Slashfood. A word of warning for all you folks out there that haven't watched this episode yet, here there be spoilers.

The producers of this season's Top Chef have made it clear that this is the most difficult season of Top Chef ever, and it is being filmed in the toughest city around: New York. This season's contestants meet each other for the first time in a variety of New York locales (just to make sure that you know they are, in fact, in New York City) and introduce themselves, I try not to get attached to any one chef until at least episode 6 (you never know when someone will be eliminated).

Soon enough the contestants find themselves on a ferry to Governor's Island where Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio wait with this season's first Quick Fire challenge.

Read on for more Top Chef details after the jump.