Oh, Rats! I have eaten quite a few rats in my day, and I’m here to tell you they are pretty darn tasty. Bush and pack rats of several species in Arizona, jungle rats of several types in Ecuador and Suriname, Royal rats (gibnuts) in Belize, cane rats in Uganda, rice rats in Thailand, a giant… Read More →
Welcome to Miami Miami exudes joy. With warm weather, a rapidly growing food scene, and such a creative spirit, it has become one of my favorite travel destinations. People are living out loud in Miami, and everything from the music to the food and the attitude about life is a reflection of that. And although… Read More →
Eight-Legged Treats Of all the foods I have eaten in my lifetime, the tarantula strikes me as one of the strangest from a psychological standpoint. We are pre-conditioned in this country to think of these fuzzy insects as scary and poisonous, belonging on Halloween decorations, not dinner plates. But they taste great, reminding me of… Read More →
Counterpoint Back in November I wrote a blog post about why I am over Sriracha. In summary, I just think there are better hot sauces out there. Plenty of great ones pack more punch and flavor. After the blog came out, I received a ton of feedback. Some of you agreed. Some of you really… Read More →
Embracing a Proud Culinary Tradition Representing his adopted home town on the current season of Bravo’s Top Chef, Justin Devillier is the chef and owner of New Orleans’ fantastic neighborhood bistro, La Petite Grocery. Since taking the reins in 2007, the California-native has focused on traditional Louisiana flavors and ingredients in his contemporary cuisine – think turtle bolognese… Read More →
I’m Drinking What?! For those who seek a killer caffeine buzz, kopi luwak might be the Holy Grail. This Indonesian coffee is one of the rarest and most expensive beverages in the world. A pound of primo beans garners upwards of $500, and a single, thimble-sized cup of the brew can go for 10 bucks… Read More →
Celebrating Family and Food A multiple James Beard Award winning writer, chef and pioneer of American food, Judith Choate’s impressive culinary career spans more than 50 years and 100 cookbooks. Choate’s latest book, An American Family Cooks, is a prolific volume of recipes and kitchen memories from the Choate family archive. Below, Choate talks about… Read More →
Celebrating the Life of a Legendary Chef I have known Shin Tsujimura since his early days at Hatsuhana in New York City. He had come from Hatsuhana in Tokyo and after a brief run in the NYC outpost, he joined up with Nobu Matsuhisa and has been a part of that world class group for… Read More →
Discovering Culinary Extremes An author, prolific poet, teacher and staff writer for The New Yorker, Dana Goodyear is one of the most authoritative voices in food journalism today. In her new book, Anything That Moves, Goodyear explores the remaking of America’s modern food culture, following intrepid eaters and chefs to the margins of the culinary world. Below,… Read More →
Lessons Learned Along the Way By Andrew Zimmern John Besh is one of the great culinarians of our time. He owns and operates nine fantastic restaurants – August, La Provence, and Domenica, to name a few. He’s got TV shows, and endorsements and cool things with his name on them, but I admire him most for how… Read More →
Bizarre Foods: Thanksgiving Addition Alternative proteins are the future to our food safety and security here in America, so I think we should all get used to the idea of expanding what our idea of food is. People are accustomed to serving a nice roast or tenderloin for the holidays, but there is a lot… Read More →
Try These at Your Next Tailgate Everyone has a go-to meal that fits right into the hearty, crowd-pleasing football food category. Some rely on hot wings and fall comfort-classics like chili and stew, others may boldly roast a whole steer head to make killer barbacoa tacos or light a kerosene-soaked fire for a fish boil. From… Read More →
Mmm…Blood In many cultures, blood consumption plays an important role in a healthy lifestyle. Enthusiasts say the red stuff keeps you strong, and can even warm you up on a cool day. Chug a glass of blood and your body temperature will indeed rise a few degrees–seriously! Overcoming the psychological hurdles (not to mention the… Read More →
Divulging the Food Network Allen Salkin’s new book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network is a fascinating chronicle of the evolution of a television network, from a scrappy start-up to an influential powerhouse that turned food into a cash cow and chefs into celebrities. The former New York Times reporter paints a behind-the-scenes picture, including… Read More →
I love food. What I love even more is food with a story. Through my journeys on Bizarre Foods, I’ve experienced a wide range of rich cultures, foods, and culinary techniques. I’m thrilled to share those stories and flavors from the road with you through Quarterly.Co, a subscription service that lets you receive awesome things in the mail… Read More →
Flying Foxes! With a six-foot wing span, the Samoan giant fruit bat, a.k.a. the flying fox, is the most appropriately named animal since the toy poodle. The bats are native to the tropics of Asia, Australia, Indonesia, islands of East Africa, and the Indian and Pacific oceans, but I tried them first on the uninhabited… Read More →
My Hometown I’ve lived in the Twin Cities for over a couple of decades now, and I couldn’t be more proud to call it my adopted hometown. Not only is it a beautiful city, but it has an incredible food scene, a passion for the arts, and it is filled with wonderful people. Since I… Read More →
Obsessed with Entrepreneurship Jason Wang has brought renewed energy and killer business acumen to his father’s acclaimed Xi’an Famous Foods, a string of casual yet highly-regarded restaurants in NYC serving the authentic cuisine of China’s Shaanxi province. The family-run empire is a result of old world techniques (his father, David Shi, is an incredible chef who… Read More →
Changing Lives Through Food Darrie Ganzhorn is the executive director of Santa Cruz’s Homeless Garden Project, an incredible nonprofit that provides job training, transitional employment and support services to those in need on a 3-acre organic farm and garden. Trainees and volunteers grow and harvest fruits and vegetables that sustain daily lunches and fundraising farm… Read More →
The Ultimate Grab-’n’-Go Breakfast By Joanne Chang We offer so many mouthwatering buttery, sugary, fruity, chocolaty sweet breakfast treats in the morning that it can be almost impossible to choose just one. That is, unless you’re one of those people who need to start off the day with eggs or bacon or anything not sweet.… Read More →
Boston’s Pastry Perfectionist A Harvard-educated consultant-turned-pastry chef, Joanne Chang is an empire building restaurateur with four acclaimed Flour bakeries in Boston, and the popular pan-Asian Myers+Chang. Not making a trip to Boston any time soon? Try your hand at making the infamous, Throwdown-winning sticky buns at home from her cookbook Flour, Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery+Cafe (or… Read More →
Music City’s Most Innovative Chef After honing his skills at The French Laundry, Noma and Sea Change, Erik Anderson moved to Nashville to helm the kitchen at The Catbird Seat, a restaurant where free expression is encouraged and interactivity is the norm. Scoring a reservation may be a challenge, but once you’re in, you won’t… Read More →
Democratizing Entrepreneurship By Andrew Zimmern The long awaited Travail Kickstarter campaign is live. Check it out #prevailtravail. The campaign closes on October 10th, and represents a sea change in terms of how local restaurants get funded. To me, these types of projects have democratized entrepreneurship (obvi!), allowing customers to help push dollars to restaurants they believe in.… Read More →
What Am I? Chopped Liver? A variety of animals gloriously lend their livers to the food world. Beef, chicken, duck, and goose livers, also known colloquially and collectively as foie gras, monkfish liver, and pig liver, are just a few of these organs that end up on the global table. It can be baked, broiled,… Read More →
Living the Sweet Life in Paris A veteran pastry chef who spent 13 years working for Alice Waters at Berkley’s famed Chez Panisse, David Lebovitz has written six cookbooks including the best-selling The Perfect Scoop and The Sweet Life in Paris (stay tuned for the upcoming My Paris Kitchen, due out in 2014). After choosing the expat life in Paris… Read More →
Devoted to Sustainable Seafood Jamie Malone prepares incredible seafood at Minneapolis’ acclaimed Sea Change, located on the Mississippi River in the contemporary Guthrie Theater complex. Her artfully curated menu showcases a variety of well-researched sustainable species, so delicious that Food & Wine recognized her on this year’s list of Best New Chefs. We chat with… Read More →
Exploring the World Through Food Naomi Duguid is a culinary anthropologist, translating her cultural encounters abroad into stories, photographic essays and recipes for the adventurous cook. A writer, photographer, traveler and cook, Naomi has co-authored six award-winning books including Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through South-East Asia and Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Stories from… Read More →
You scream. I scream. Ice cream? Bizarre? Let’s take care of the ground rules. Ice cream is a quintessentially frozen dessert treat made with dairy products. You love it. I love it. It takes an average of fifty licks to finish a single scoop of ice cream, unless you are my son, Noah. He’s a… Read More →
Bringing Thai to the Twin Cities Supenn Harrison introduced Minnesota to the flavors of her native Thailand when she opened her first Sawatdee restaurant in 1983. Thirty years later her story is one of great success – she’s the owner of seven acclaimed Thai restaurants, a cooking class instructor, the recipient of numerous awards and… Read More →
Danger! Beware of Japanese restaurants boasting glowing, globular, fish-shaped lanterns…it might mean a meal there could be your last. The lantern signifies that they specialize in serving toxic fugu, also called puffer fish or blowfish. Japan has been home to the fugu dish for hundreds of years, if not more. Anthropologists discovered remnants of fugu… Read More →
