"village voice" news and stories

You wouldn't know it thanks to Mother Nature's meteorologically unstable mood, but spring is, in fact, around the corner. As such, this month's food fetes look to the warmer weather and the promise of a new season.

Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition, March 5-7, Secaucus, N.J.: Wake up! The captains of coffee will take to the bar and compete for the best espresso, cappuccino and signature event. Entries will be evaluated on the merits of taste and tactile balance, contents and temperature. Get your jolt of joe as a judge or provide one by entering the contest.

My mom comes from a large family of mostly-secular Jews. That side of the family taught me to love going out to brunch on Sundays, to understand the need to have far more food at family events that we could possible eat and to deeply appreciate a good batch of chopped liver.

It is in the spirit of that last trait that I bring you The Great Chopped Liver Taste-Off from the Village Voice's food blog, Fork in the Road. They tasted six versions of chopped liver from local markets (although it makes me sort of sad that they didn't include a homemade version in the mix). The two winners were Russ and Daughters and Katz's Deli, two landmark Jewish delis in the New York area.

If you don't live in the New York area and want to try some quality chopped liver, here's my favorite recipe (although the lack of schmaltz makes it sort of controversial).

[via Ed Levine's New York Eats]

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There comes a point in the course of every reality TV show when someone ruins all the fun and exposes the show as fake. Sadly, that time has come for my beloved Iron Chef America. Despite the fact such a discoveries are inevitable, I'm always still so shocked! (Well, maybe not about MTV's The Hills, but in most other cases...)

Iron Chef America's exposure comes via the Village Voice, which published an article by someone who watched a taping of the show, and says that it is "more bogus than I ever imagined." The article lists a bunch of falsehoods about the show, but the most disappointing was that the chefs apparently know the secret ingredients before they begin!

If you feel re-living the day you found out Santa Claus doesn't exist, check out the full article here.

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Motivated by the new rotisserie and fried chicken takeout spot from Alison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing (formerly of Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar) called Dirty Bird To Go, the Village Voice did a blind taste test to see if Dirty Bird's claims of "an exciting alternative to conventional fast food to satisfy families and foodies alike" were accurate. Dirty Bird went up against the real dirty birds, KFC and Popeye's.

Dirty Bird won for surviving travel, maintaining its crunch, and having the moistest, best tasting meat. However, taste-testers were disappointed with seasonings.

KFC was found to be the greasiest and least crispy of the three. Popeye's was reported as "trashy, delicious chicken. The flesh is shiny with fat, the fried shell puffy and golden brown." One of the taste-testers hypothesized that perhaps there was some sort of addictive chemical added to the chicken.

Who cares about the chicken? I could eat a dozen of Popeye's buttermilk biscuits, which I am quite certain they deep fry right alongside their chicken.