Party Talk
Yesterday was All Over Albany’s third birthday party. And I got home really really late after spending all evening with wonderful and interesting people. Even so, there were a lot more people there that I really wanted to spend time with, but never got the chance. Luckily, I know there will be other opportunities.
I was very encouraged by how many people said they were planning to come on the Tour de Soft Serve and/or attend the Jewish Food Festival.
Anyhow, I got home far too late to actually write an entire original piece. But spending all night making cocktail party chitchat reminded me of this recent bit from Saturday Night Live. In it, one mom confronts another mom about the evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), and without any facts to back up her argument the mom who expressed concerned about the food additive looks positively foolish.
Well, it just so happens that a year ago today I posted links to a bunch of interesting studies on HFCS. Learn the facts, and don’t look like an ass should someone call you to task.
Crazy About High Fructose Corn Syrup
Originally posted on March 24, 2010
You know sometimes you just have a crazy feeling about things. Sometimes that crazy feeling is just that, crazy. And other times you may find out you are right.
Long before people became widely aware of the dangers of partially hydrogenated oils, I was scouring the markets for products without the dreaded ingredient. There had been some early reports that showed potential health concerns, so avoiding these manmade fats just felt right to me. At the time, my snack food options were limited to Mi-Del Ginger Snaps. Luckily, they were pretty tasty.
My crazy feeling du jour involves genetically modified organisms. Nobody is really paying that much attention to it today. But since the largest genetically modified crops are corn, canola and soy, GMOs are in practically everything. Most consumers have no idea this is going on, because in this country products that contain GMOs do not need to be labeled.
But for now, let’s focus on the present. Because there has been recent news about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that I thought would be interesting to share with the class. And even if you’ve seen the research already, now you can get my take.
Fear and Loathing: Snack Food Greatness
Traditional snack foods aren’t generally my cup of tea. If I’m going to eat in between meals I would prefer to have a second breakfast or a second lunch. Granted, my meals are generally smaller than the average bear’s. But when I eat, I do like to sit down and enjoy my food.
That’s not to say I don’t snack.
Like anyone else, sometimes I get busy and skip a meal. It’s tragic, I know. And those are the times I need a handful of something to munch. Generally I go for nuts. They are satisfying and not filled with a laundry list of questionable ingredients. Other times I will go for a piece of fruit. Since discovering Burn Notice, I now keep yogurt on hand as well.
But when I was in D.C. last time, my old friend La introduced me to something as horrifying as it is delicious. And since she brought this infernal product into my life, I must confess that I’ve become addicted. I don’t know whether to curse her or thank her.
Nominations for the Tour de Soft Serve
First people said that all cider donuts were the same. Then others suggested that mini hot-dogs with meat sauce were indistinguishable from each other. So I am undeterred by the argument that all soft-serve ice cream is identical.
But I aim to find out once and for all.
In a few weeks I intend to lead an intrepid group of ice cream eaters on a tour of the finest seasonal ice cream stands the Capital Region has to offer. I hope you will join me on Saturday, April 9. Save the date, for more details will be forthcoming.
As of now, I have no details. Truth be told, I’ve never really liked soft serve ice cream, but here it seems to be a regional religion. So I’m really hoping that this outing will change my mind. There are a few places on my short list for inclusion, but I’m certain you all will nominate a few of your favorites
My Doctor’s Cans
My old friend the doctor feels a bit neglected. He’s still out in California and we continue to keep in touch. But I haven’t talked about him much on the FLB. He was the one who took me to Philz for the first time, I’ve enjoyed numerous Super Bowls with him, and he’s best buds with Chef Cory.
He asked to be called Doc.
So Doc posted a picture to Facebook recently of him shopping at BevMo! with his new infant sleeping in the shopping cart. I fully support daddy and daughter excursions to the liquor store. Little Miss Fussy is partial to All Star Wines because they have a koi pond, while Young Master Fussy prefers the player piano at Exit 9.
Anyhow, I look at the photo and try to identify what items he has in his cart. Not that I’m judging, it’s just that I’m curious. Oddly, there are a bunch of cans with blue tops that I just couldn’t identify. It turns out they were Boont Amber Ale, which was a surprising revelation.
More surprising was that he has switched to only buying beer in cans.
The Egg Cream is Jewish?
When Harvey Randall was growing up in New York City, egg creams cost a nickel. Back then, for comparison’s sake, a glass of plain seltzer was two cents.
Those extra three cents didn’t get you a whole lot. A few tablespoons of Fox’s U-Bet and a couple ounces of ice cold whole milk. But combining all three ingredients and having them coalesce into an egg cream takes no small amount of skill.
In fact, exactly how to make one properly is highly contested.
But Harvey Randall remembers well those sweet and foamy drinks of his youth. And he has spent a lot of time thinking about the best ways to replicate them without the use of a professional soda fountain. As far as I can tell, his method is unique, and I can’t wait to try his version of this classic at the Jewish Food Festival on April 3 in Schenectady.
Moe’s Goes for Foes
It’s no secret how I feel about Chipotle. For a long time, they were one of the only places around to get a meal made with ethically raised meats and other ingredients I could feel good about. At a point when one couldn’t buy sour cream or cheese made from cows that weren’t treated with rBST in supermarkets, Chipotle was stocking these ingredients in their restaurants.
Based on this model, Chipotle has been very successful.
My hope had always been that others would follow their example. And this hope was realized when I learned that Moe’s was launching a sustainability initiative. Although when I started to check into the details, I was surprised and a little bit skeptical by some of their claims.
So I reached out to Moe’s corporate P.R. to see if they could provide me with answers. Their response was to set up a call between me and their Executive Chef Dan Barash. Well, chef Dan and I spoke last week for about a half hour, and I learned some really interesting things.
Trouble Brewing
I can’t even imagine what would happen if I got obsessed with trying to make espresso at home. It’s bad enough that I’m trying to tackle brewed coffee. But there are so many more variables at play in pulling a shot than there are to brewing a cup.
And even simple brewed coffee involves more variables than I care to address.
What’s even worse is that I’m still not close to producing something approaching my gold standard of brewed coffee. To many in my old stomping grounds the brew of choice is now Philz. But I still have a soft spot for Peet’s, which was my daily morning treat all those years working in San Francisco.
More than anything else, the thing that set Peet’s coffee apart was its body. This wasn’t like drinking coffee extracted from the beans with hot water. Rather, it was like drinking hot molten coffee beans itself. At the time I had heard it suggested that the secret was using an unconscionable ratio of grounds to water.
Maybe that’s the key. I’ve been spending most of my coffee-brewing time recently focusing on the pour-over technique, with a little bit of time tinkering with the automatic drip. Sometimes making coffee by the cup is just a bit too labor intensive.
But I’ve learned a couple of things in my quest for a better cup of coffee.
The Global Locavore
Words are powerful things. I say this knowing full well that my twelfth-grade English teacher would have my hide for even suggesting such a ludicrous notion. His mantra was always, “The word is not the thing.” But despite my belief in their power, sometimes there are no good words to convey complex ideas.
Take for example my difficulty in trying to find great coffee and espresso. While I’m glad to have stumbled upon the term “Third Wave” as a useful shorthand, it’s hardly evocative of what I’m after. And as some have suggested, there are certainly a handful of “Second Wave” places that would more than satisfy my needs and desires.
Now granted, I take food way too seriously. I know this.
So I get really worked up when certain food industry words get corrupted and lose their meaning. “Natural” is meaningless, “Organic” has been weakened, and “Sustainable” seems to be a matter of opinion.
Locavore on the other hand would seem to be very concrete. Although maybe it’s not as clear-cut as it sounds. I don’t think I’m entirely alone on this, but I suspect that for most people “eating local” isn’t entirely about eating local. Rather I think it’s a convenient shorthand for something larger that we don’t have an adequate word to explain.
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