"sizzle" news and stories

Julie Biuso is a well-known New Zealand chef, cooking teacher and food writer who is just starting to make a splash on the American food scene. However, if her new book, Sizzle, Sensational Barbecue Food, is any indication of what she has to offer, I imagine we'll be hearing more and more from her going forward.

When I first opened the book, I had my defensive hat on. I mean, come on, how many barbecue cookbooks can I look at before they all start to look the same? However, this book grabbed me from the start, as it has a well-written introduction that got me nice and excited for the book ahead. And the recipes? Well, they look lovely.

I haven't had an opportunity to try any of the recipes in the book yet (and I'm going to have to adapt most of them to my no-grill lifestyle), but here are some of the ones on my list: Eggplant Toasties (essentially a toasted cheese sandwich made out of grilled eggplant, mozzarella cheese and whole grain bread), Spicy Lamb on Sticks with Yogurt Sauce (flattened lamb meatballs on skewers) and Dried Fruits Cooked in Paper (apricots and prunes, marinated and seasoned, wrapped in parchment paper and slow cooked).

If want to expand your understanding of food cooked on a grill, this would be an excellent book to look at. It takes your backyard Weber and moves it out of the realm of special occasions and places it smackdab in the center of everyday meal prep. Which, judging from the recipes Biuso has written, isn't a bad thing at all.

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Here's a bit of odd food-news. In Cumbria, the department of tourism has set up a dedicated telephone line, the Lakes' Escape Line, that is supposed to help people beat the winter blues when it is light out only a few hours each day. Callers will hear "cheerful sounds," including "a reading of Wordsworth's Daffodils [and] the sound of water lapping at Windermere." The sound of sizzling sausages - Cumberland sausages, of course - will also be prominently featured.

Daylight or no, you would think that people would be capable of comforting themselves with sausages at any time of year without calling a phone line to hear them sizzling in a pan. And wouldn't it be better to smell the sausages than to hear them anyway?

I got the impression that the Escape line would be a free-call, but if they charge for the sounds, residents might want to start saving up and stocking their freezers with sausages before winter sets in and they consider calling.

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