"too many chefs" news and stories

I like eggplant but don't cook it all that often. I have no good reason to offer up for this, but other than occasionally grilling it, it's not on the menu. After seeing this recipe that Barrett posted for Eggplant Stuffed with Fruit and Nut Rice on Too Many Chefs, I'm definitely going to make a change because this dish sounds delicious. And even more importantly, it looks delicious. Simple, light and summery, a rice salad is prepared with a combination of Persian and Indian spices, summer squash and eggplant, not to mention dried fruits and nuts, then is stuffed into a hollowed out eggplant and baked. The smell must be fantastic with, cumin, cinnamon and tarragon. This sounds like the perfect meal for a night that is too hot for a heavy meat dish, as well as a night when you want to have an extra serving of pie for dessert.

There is a movement gaining popularity that concerns the way we eat. Some say that we should focus on organics, but this movement says that isn't quite enough. They think that people should eat locally produced and grown products. Exclusively, if possible. Some of the biggest proponents of this movement, the Locavores, are based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This is a fantastic and do-able plan, admirable in that it supports local businesses and farmers. It still gives you great variety in your diet, too - if you live somewhere where a wide variety of foods are widely available. Some states aren't so lucky. According to the California Farm Bureau Federation, "California produces all of the nation's commercially grown almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwifruit, nectarines, olives, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins and walnuts. Its top performing commodities in [terms of] gross sales are dairy products, grapes, nursery products, lettuce, cattle and calves." There are other fruits, like avocados and strawberries that thrive in the golden state like no where else. And this rules out quite a few possibilities for the diets of those who want to eat locally but live in less agriculturally friendly areas. Must people in Chicago forgo artichokes and avocados, asks Barrett in a brilliantly written essay at Too Many Chefs?

The gist of his argument is that people throughout history have been driven to new places and into discovering new cultures all in pursuit of foods: chocolate, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, oranges, spices, bananas - the list goes on. He's not saying that eating locally is a bad thing, just that there are plenty of good reasons to import foods, from different states or different countries, as well. Read the article. It's a good one.

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