Chews Wise

Only in Los Angeles - Korean Mexican Taco Trucks

I recently came across KCRW's good food blog, associated with one of my favorite food radio shows. They've posted a video on Los Angeles taco trucks that proves that some of the most exciting cuisine happens at the fringe, as in the Korean Mexican taco truck. 

Pollan's New Project - Your Family's Food Rules

Michael Pollan pressed readers of the NYT Well blog to post their family tips on smart eating, pursuing his thread that traditional, ethnic or family wisdom has more to offer than scientists and nutritionists.

In one day he got more than 1,200 comments (though a tech glitch prevents most of them from appearing, for the moment). Here are a few:

• When (my grandmother) made her famous babka, you were never sure if it was a ‘cake’ or a ‘bread’ because she only used enough sugar to give you the illusion of it being sweet. TOO SWEET was never an option in her baked goods.
• Eat a little of everything; take your time; enjoy your food.
• “Don’t eat plastic food.” In other words, if it’s not a real ingredient, you don’t want it–this applies to faux sugars, chemical additives, fake colors, etc.
• My main food rule is “cook your own food from scratch.” This was as much a food rule growing up in my family as it was a budget rule.
• My grandmother always used to say: “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.” She always kept her slim figure and she never had to diet.
• Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

When I was growing up in the 1970s, my family got a wok and made a lot of stir fries. We learned a little bit of meat goes a long way -- a rule I live by today. Another rule I try and live by though admittedly don't always succeed in following -- at least two sides of veggies with dinner; if we're eating vegetarian that night, it means at least three (including easy ones like raw carrots or hummus).
- Samuel Fromartz

Your Thanksgiving Challenge?

...To lose 10 pounds. Not.

Actually, Eat Well Guide and Consumers Union are launching a challenge you can eat -- a local and organic Thanksgiving. “With the holidays around the corner, and fuel-inflated food costs soaring, this is the perfect time to use our interactive Eat Well Guide to find locally produced turkey, fruit, vegetables, baked goods, dairy, meat and more, wherever you live,” says Eat Well Guide Director Destin Joy Layne. Post your recipe and check out those by Dan Barber, Mario Batali and Alice Waters on the Consumers Union site.

Another resource: The Local Harvest Catalog, which has a Thanksgiving section. I buy award-winning Pennsylvania garlic from Farmer Troy though that site (he also comments on the blog so it's mutual).

Also, many farmers markets have extended hours ahead of Thanksgiving or are opening up if they've already shut down for the season, Edible Chesapeake reports. The magazine also has a good read - and taste test - on heritage turkeys. The top bird: the Midget White which was actually bred in the 1960s.

 - Samuel Fromartz

Image: Turkeys at Nicks Organic Farm in Maryland

Junk Food: A Recession Diet?

My friend, the DC restaurant critic Tim Carman, has an interesting theory about why junk food sales are up and it has nothing to do with trading down.

Goes like this. When people get laid off and feel like crap, they eat crap. Which is why McDonald's sales are rising while Starbucks' are falling. Why not Starbucks? Because people don't need a caffeine jolt when they're worried about their job and finances. They want comfort food. Greasy food. Interesting theory. But for my comfort food, I'll take spaghetti carbonara. And no, it ain't junk. (Image from flickr)

Organic Lettuce Porn

Or lettuce you can't buy in a store. I had thought I planted this red iceberg lettuce seed too late in September, but it came up fine and kept growing. Dressing ideas anyone? I'm thinking Caesar at the moment.

Ceder Rapids Digs Out, After the Flood

On an extended trip to Iowa this summer, we trekked over to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to visit longtime friend, Karen Vander Sanden. Karen also happens to be the spokeswoman for Mercy Medical Center which was evacuated during the city’s devastating June floods.

Five weeks earlier, an estimated 9.2 miles (which is roughly 1,300 city blocks) sat immersed in murky flood water when the Cedar River crested at unprecedented levels. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we drove slowly through block after block of total wreckage, and our hearts sank with the realization of what flood victims are actually up against. It’s one thing seeing it on television. Quite another when you’re seeing it first-hand.

Different colored placards were tacked to front doors to indicate if a house was safe to enter, and while the river had receded weeks earlier, abandoned homes still sat with clotheslines that sagged with now filthy items that had been hung out to dry the day the flood hit. From the street, we could still see watermarks that stopped at rooflines and devastated lives.

Downtown was heartbreaking too. Electricity had just been restored earlier that week, but it had the feeling distinct feeling of a ghost town.

Andy Deutmeyer, chef and owner of Blend says it was a long eight-days of being shut out of his downtown restaurant. Once inside, he discovered that the water had risen to nearly five feet.

“It was a breathtaking sight. You didn’t know what to say, or where to start, or what to do. We didn’t even know how to start, so we started with the wine rack behind the bar, and after that, just started throwing stuff away,” said Deutmeyer, who hopes to reopen in October.

Fortunately, restored electricity wasn’t the only sign of recovery. An Adopt-A-Business program was launched last month, pairing hard-hit downtown businesses with companies that were less affected by the flood.

Zins, a fine dining restaurant also located downtown, was paired with RuffaloCODY, a company that specializes in fund-raising software. CEO Al Ruffalo says his company has provided Zins with access to his legal department to review their insurance polices, and to his marketing department which has been using email to update Zins’ customer base on the restaurant’s status. The company has also replaced several computers for the restaurant, and employees donated $2,000 and plenty of man-hours cleaning so construction can begin inside.

“They lost their restaurant, but on the positive side, if we do this right, their business will be better than ever,” said Ruffalo.

Karen Slaughter of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce says more than 600 businesses were damaged by the flood. While the Adopt-A-Business program can help, there’s a long waiting list for assistance. The news cycle has moved on, but they’re still accepting donations at the Job & Small Business Recovery Fund. 
– Clare Leschin-Hoar

America-Jin Deska?

If you can't tell from the headline, I'm in Japan for a couple of weeks. I'll be posting more on this in a bit, maybe one night at 2 a.m. as the body continues to adjust to an 11-hour time difference.

Visiting relatives, we had some scrumptious greens along with several other dishes. Turned out to be broccoli rape.

 

Our Daily Bread - Wheat at a Record High

Wheat prices have surged 34 percent so far this year to a record $12 a bushel, with supplies at a 60-year low. Expect more posts soon on food prices, but already artisan bakers are feeling the pinch. Here's a few snippets from one baker's discussion board:

• "Alberta Red winter (ARW) which I was paying $12.00 (20kg bag) for a year ago will be $27.00 for tomorrow's delivery. Every delivery it is going up."
• "I too now join the ranks of the flour pricing oppressed. My supplier just raised my price for a 50 lb bag of GM All Trump from $17.55 to $29.95. Yes, the end may be near. Maybe I can be a barista next!"
• "My spring wheat just went from $15.90 for a 50 lb. bag to $24.50 for 50 lbs. This is really crazy. I have called every flour supplier in my area and they are telling me to prepare for much higher prices than the $24.50 I am currently paying. The forecast by two of these suppliers was $30.00 a bag by April.

Ouch! I guess we'll see the price of a good loaf going up rather soon.

Update: Bakers are marching on Washington next month to "let our government officials know that there is a crisis happening to bakers of every type and size," according to a press release from the American Bakes Association.

Image source: Baguettes by your's truly, Fromartz.

- Samuel Fromartz

Coke's Thinking on Honest Tea Deal

Ted Mininni, a blogging brand consultant, adds a bit more context to the Honest Tea deal with Coke and the thinking of the beverage giant. "There isn’t any doubt that ready-to-drink teas are experiencing meteoric sales, much like energy drinks did a short time ago."

Thanks for pointing that out, Rob. His Murketing blog also offers insights on Goldman's interview with ChewsWise, and we look forward to his upcoming book, BUYING IN: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. 

Honest Tea Founder Talks on Coke Deal

By Samuel Fromartz

Though I took a critical look at Honest Tea's deal with Coke last week, company co-founder and CEO, Seth Goldman, agreed to chew it over with me in an interview.

I've admired Honest Tea for awhile and profiled the company here. It sources from organic and fair trade tea estates, has  looked hard at packaging and shipping, and has been open and transparent in its practices - as this interview attests. These are all key practices in sustainability.

Their "less-sweet" drinks offer a tasty alternative to sugar-laden calorie-busting sodas - yes, just the kind Coke sells. The formula drove Honest Tea sales up 70 percent to $23 million last year.

But I worried Coke's deal to buy a 40 percent stake would throw Seth and his team off track, or worse. There's more than a few examples of companies that stagnated or died a slow death after a giant took them over.

Seth countered that Coke will actually give him a major push in the market -- starting with two new products he's launching this year. Here's the edited interview:

(Photo: Seth Goldman via Honest Tea)