Empires, Cannibals, and Magic Fish Bones
Join us as we celebrate food, the dinner table, and quite likely empires, cannibals and magic fish bones!
Francisco Goya’s still-life, A Butcher’s Counter. A sheep’s head and sides of mutton. Painted between 1810 and 1812. Painted during the ano del hambre in Madrid when thousands starved to death. This was the time of Napoleon’s invasion, time of Desastres de la Guerra. In our featured painting, protein is the key molecule, movement. In … Continue reading Protein Of The Soul
I consider Harold McGee a Moses of Food, that is, he’s come down from the mountain with tablets announcing what cooking is really about, and what natural laws we should follow. Concerning the Holy Tablet of Fats, here are his words from On Food and Cooking, Fats and oils are members of a large chemical … Continue reading Fats, Gods, and Fire
He’s one of the foremost chefs in the world. His restaurant Noma is regularly voted the best in the world. He’s the father of foraging. And I don’t have near his knowledge, skill or kitchen. I don’t have hare bones, reindeer lichen or a wild grey duck. I can’t vacuum-pack, dehydrate, sculpt fake mussel shells. … Continue reading René Redzepi Roasts A Chicken At Home Or What Happens When I Don’t Turn Celsius Into Fahrenheit.
Down White Oak from Revival Market in the Houston Heights waits a trattoria-style dining experience combining fresh, local produce and engaging, delicious cooking–Coltivare. Mr. and Mrs. MagicFishBones arrive at six, greet another couple, and fortunately are able to sit immediately at one of the last available tables–right near the front window. Going out to dinner … Continue reading Coltivare–Pig Parts and Putrefaction Never Tasted So Good.
Greenling has delivered okra! Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking tells us that “Okra comes from the annual plant Hibiscus (Abelmoschus) esculentus, a member of the hibiscus family and a relative of roselle and cotton. It originated in either southwest Asia or eastern Africa, and came to the southern United States with the slave … Continue reading Why A Food Blog? Roux And A Symposium . . . Or How I Dance, Talk, And Brown Butter At The Same Time.
Hardwoods and evergreens press emerald, malachite and viridian leaves and needles up against the road snaking along the edge of Little Traverse Bay between Harbor Springs and Cross Village. Bellworts, violets and wake-robins cover the forest floor, while above the sun disappears for minutes at a time as I drive M-119, the Tunnel of Trees … Continue reading James Salter: Life Is Meals
A compelling view of hunger from Osage, Iowa to Houston, Texas to the Bronx, New York. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/hunger/ This is also a good place for a book recommendation: The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement by Nick Saul and Andrea Curtis. A small food bank in Toronto, Canada … Continue reading Hunger In America
Why would this episode of Empires, Cannibals and Magic Fish Bones begin with Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Socrates? Ah, just you wait–death, drink, friends, and something sacred are all in the air. The Odyssey, so much eating, so much time: sacrifice and feasts, strangers walking in the door and feasting, sailors feasting on cattle … Continue reading Ancient Cuisine Philosophy For 500, Jack! The Odyssey To Yum Yum Cha To Nineveh To Cajun Country.
We’re preparing for Brazil vs.Germany and I’m drinking a caipirinha as we cook a Moqueca. Why moqueca? It’s a signature dish from Bahia! Here’s where we are so far. I’ve halved, quartered several limes and added a spoonful of brown sugar. Also, the Rolling Stones on brown sugar. Next step, mottle. Add ice, cachaca, and … Continue reading Caipirinha, the Girl From Ipanema, And World Cup 2014!
This afternoon I’m drinking a Wasatch Devastator Double Bock (creamy, malty, yeasty and bananany) as I simmer diced onion and bacon (Revival Farms) in charred leftover bits of sirloin (Augustus Ranch). Grounded in the kitchen? Dwelling and being. I stir the pan and think through rural America, national parks, salmon on the Columbia River, returning … Continue reading Savoir-Vivre: Some Thoughts On Culture In A Bowl
