"story" news and stories

Have a bizarre or touching food-related story to tell? Tell Uncle Al all about it.

Al Roker and the Food Network are compilling a collection of stories about how food changed people's lives (or...something) that they can fit into a yet-unnamed new show.

The press release that Phoodie posted listed the examples: going from homeless to being a restaurant-owner, only eating one food, or making art from food.

I could give them several ideas (see: man who makes bubble gum sculptures, girl who eats nothing but french fries...)

If you want to be casted, e-mail a brief description of your story with contact info and a photo of yourself to michaelraptis@alroker.com, or call (646) 732-9848 to be considered.

Most recent books set in restaurants, whether focusing on the front of house, the kitchen or away from the building entirely, are a bit on the edgy side. Just witness a book like Kitchen Confidential, for example, or any number of other books that concentrate on the controversy and humor, which can sometimes be a bit rough, of the restaurant industry. The Plated Heart takes a very different view. It tells a softer and more emotionally driven series of stories that take place in the same industry, but is no less compelling.

The book is a collection of short, fictional stories set in Miami Beach that focus on the lives, activities and insights of a number of people who work in or around the food service industry. It touches on how food plays a role in their lives and how they interact with it, whether they are eating, cooking or serving. The seven stories are all stand-alone pieces, but the themes of struggle, success and discovery occur throughout the whole volume.

It's well-written and an enjoyable read. It would appeal to a foodie looking for something to read besides cookbooks, as well as to those who just have an interest in a few good stores. The author, Diane Goodman, will be at the Miami Book Fair from November 12-19.

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Drinking tea won't really allow you to live forever, but that is certainly the first thought that popped into my head after reading the headline "Drinking tea linked to reduced risk of death." The article that accompanied the headline was about a recent Japanese study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association investigating the health benefits of drinking green tea. As other studies have shown numerous benefits, it was only natural to aim big and see exactly how beneficial the tea was, rather than continuing to only look at each possible factor individually. The study concluded that "those who drank five cups of green tea per day were 16 percent less likely to die from any cause during the 11-year study than those who drank less than one cup per day."

Does this mean that your life expectancy will increase if you drink more green tea? Not exactly, but it does mean that you can potentially decrease various risk factors that could contribute to health problems. In short, green tea isn't going to add any extra years to your life, but it could help to prevent those years from being cut short unnecessarily.

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Havana Salsa, though it is getting a spot as a cookbook of the day, is not just a cookbook. It is a collection of stories from the childhood of author Viviana Carballo, who grew up in Cuba in the 1940s and 50s and fled to the US in 1961, where she put all her passion for food and life into her cooking. The book begins with a story of how her parents met and vivid descriptions of some of the characters in their lives both before and after they were married. Viviana continues on to share her own experiences as a young woman, from her time in a Catholic boarding school in the US to meeting boys and attending parties at the Tropicana when Havana was at its peak. And before you start to think that the book isn't a cookbook at all, know that every character, place and event is accompanied by a much-loved recipe.

Caribbean Pumpkin Soup and Mango Pie are at the top of my "to-try" list of recipes, but the recipes in the book cover everything from drinks to salads, main courses and desserts. There is also a brief lesson on how to cut and light a cigar, which some will argue is not a recipe, despite the fact that many others feel it is a satisfying way to end a meal. The only potential drawback to the book is that there are no illustrations of the tempting-sounding dishes, though there isn't too much need for them after being inspired by the stories.

You can read an excerpt of the book here and, if you're going to the Miami Book Fair from November 12-19, you can meet Viviana in person.

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In almost every refrigerator in every home, there is a package of old, mysterious food. It could be furry, smelly or have actually developed into a new life form by the time you find it and dispose of it. There is one place that contains food more frightening that the home refrigerator: the office refrigerator.

To say that this appliance is the black hole of food is inaccurate only in the fact that some of the food eventually resurfaces.

There are a variety of standard food items in office refrigerators. Most of them contain some form of creamer, often the non-dairy varieties, as well as variously dated cartons of milk. There are always a few jars with condiments like mustard, mayonnaise and jam. The number of condiments is directly proportional to the number of people who work in the office and have access to the fridge, so despite the fact that no one can recall ever adding anything themselves, a fridge in an office of 50 people will have a dozen bottles of salad dressing, a few jars of mayonnaise and at least 3 different mustards, in addition to pickles, soy sauce and ketchup - none of which anyone can find when they want to use it, of course, which leads to the addition of even more condiments.