Travel the World for the Very Best Foods

Apparently, this is the world's greatest pho

The British newspaper The Observer has a list billed as The 50 Best Foods in the World and Where to Eat Them. The list has very specific foods and where the best is, like oysters from Northern Ireland and olive oil from Turkey by way of a London shopkeeper, as well as broad cuisines like the best place Algerian food (shockingly, in Algiers!). The list skews slightly toward British tastes (I am apparently too narrow minded for steak and kidney pie), but there are also items that seem almost too mundane (the world’s greatest tomato juice!).

In looking at the list, one thing, as an American, that I felt was missing, was the world’s best fried chicken. In looking at the list, do you see any foods that you wish were on it?

Hot Links: Food Story Roundup

These Chicken Feet May Prevent a Trade War

New York Times: Tasty feet may keep China from banning U.S. chicken.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Lots of ideas to enjoy the peak apple season.

Denver Post: Don’t miss the Great American Beer Festival.

Chicago Tribune: Want to make Indian food at home? Start with naan.

Washington Post: Homemade “fast-food” is a recession buster.

Web Gem: Cheap, Healthy, Good

Here at Foodventure we’re all about sharing the love. That’s why we’re debuting “Web Gems,” a feature that will shine the spotlight on other great blogs. This week, we’re looking at “Cheap, Healthy, Good,” a blog that truly lives up to the name. Kristen Swenson, Leigh Angel, Jamie Green, and Rachel offer up a great collection of recipes, links, and original articles with an emphasis on lots of veggies.

Chlorophyll and Awesomeness Salad...What a title!

“Cheap, Healthy, Good” has a ton of recipes that are extemely well organized: Breakfast; Breads; Soups, Stews, Stocks, and Chilis; Sauces, Spreads, Dips, and Dressings; Sides; Vegetarian Entrees; Carnivore Entrees; Snacks and Desserts; and Beverages. Every recipe has the nutritional information and the cost-per-serving posted, so readers can really see just how the recipe is going to affect their wallet and waistline.

Foodventure readers should check out “Cheap, Healthy, Good” for inspiration for anything from weeknight dinners to brunch ideas fit for company. I’m sure we’ll be linking to more of their recipes in the future.

Hot Links: Food Story Roundup

An al fresco salad from Michael Chiarello via the San Fransico Chronicle

Washington Post: The Internet connects 21st century baking clubs.

San Francisco Chronicle: Extolling the virtues of eating outdoors in the beautiful weather.

Chicago Tribune: Food storage tips to combat food-borne illness.

LA Times: Dorm food is finally riding the revolutionary wave.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A cooking instructor moves from the classroom to the home kitchen.

The Sushi Birds Leave the Nest

Needless to say following the sushi class we were anxious to cut our teeth at making our own. Katie and I were feeling empowered by the relative success we enjoyed in class. We were both impressed with ourselves; it didn’t seem as difficult as we thought it would be and in my opinion we were at the top of the class. Armed with our new knowledge and inflated senses of ourselves, we set out to put our lesson into practice, unsupervised.

Our instructor sang the praises of H Mart as a reliable, affordable outlet for sushi fish and supplies. We ventured out, expecting not to fly too close to the sun on our first try, meaning no raw fish. Still, we stashed a cooler with ice in the car just in case we picked up a product that we wanted to keep cold on the drive back to Katie’s. Read more »

Giving Top Chef Masters a Try

Here at The Foodventure we’re big fans of Top Chef. I think it is a great mix of food and personalities, and it is almost always an enthralling hour of television. This summer, Bravo is trying out a new concept: Top Chef Masters.

Top Chef Masters (TCM) features 24 chefs, many of whom are recognizable to TV foodies. For six weeks, four of the chefs will compete against each other in the usual Top Chef Quickfire/Elimination Challenge format, with the winner of the group moving on to the second round with the other five winners. I watched on Wednesday to see if it measured up to the original, and I thought I’d offer a few thoughts for our readers.

TCM carries over a lot of material from the original, including over the top product placement and reality TV essential confessional interviews. Part of why Top Chef works is because there’s always a contestant or two with a bitter, completely unlikeable personality who viewers rally around rooting against, and the confessional serves as a way to draw that personality out. On TCM, the chefs are consumate professionals who, instead of competing for significant cash and recognition, are playing for the charity of their choice. This eliminates a lot of the drama that defines the original Top Chef.

The fact that these guys (and gals) are pros really changes the dynamic. Top Chef relies on overeager competitors making mistakes, but these guys handle the curves like they’re nothing. In week one, Texas-based chef Tim Love inadvertently puts all of his groceries in the freezer overnight, a mistake that would have killed many lesser cooks. He obviously would not have done this on purpose, but it did not entirely throw him off, and he still competed admirably.

Top Chef fans should enjoy Top Chef Masters. It lacks some of the drama of the original, but the collection of chefs is impressive, and if week one is any indication, the chefs really enjoy the challenge and will rise to the occasion. Summer time TV is notoriously unsatisfying, but Top Chef Masters can be the Wednesday night fix that gets people through the week.

The BBQ Obsession

Honey and Ginger Glazed Baby Back Ribs

Commencement speakers and wannabe English professors frequently exhort audiences to follow their passions. This is all well and good, but I have always believed that a world full of young idealists wandering around following their hearts would be a dangerous one. Cynical? Maybe.

That said, if the world were perfect and money was not an obstacle, I can assure you I would crisscross the globe in search of barbecue nirvana. I believe, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, that the dance of smoke, fire, meat, and reluctantly, vegetables, is proof that God wants us to be happy.

Pulled pork, brisket, ribs, sausages, you name it, I’ll eat it and when I’m feeling bold, make it.

Barbecue is very personal, like painting. One of the saddest memories of my adult life was saying goodbye to the staff at the Half Moon BBQ in Silver Spring, Maryland on their last Saturday night.

But barbecue is supposed to be happy, and I was happy to come home from work to find the July issue of Bon Appétit, completely dedicated to barbecue, sitting on the mail pile.

The cover photo of Honey and Ginger Glazed Baby Backs pretty much sums it up: crusty spices, crispy meat on the outside, even the obligatory grease spots.

This is 21st century barbecue, which is to say it is global. Korean beef barbecue and pork belly shares space with Spanish grilled black cod and Turkish chicken kebabs. Needless to say, there’s plenty of material for Summer experimentation.

As Summer rolls on, you can expect a lot more grilling here at The Foodventure. Of course, we’d love to hear about your favorites, too.

Recipe Ownership

Commenters over at Serious Eats raise an interesting discussion: at what point does a recipe become your own? That is to say if you make a recipe from a cookbook or a magazine multiple times and your friends really like it, can you call it yours?

Years ago I took a barbecue class with my aunt. One of the recipes we learned was a brined grilled chicken that was the class favorite by far. I have made the recipe hundreds of times since, and friends, family, and neighbors request it frequently.

I didn’t create the recipe, and I don’t modify it much when I make it. Still, everybody calls it Frank’s chicken. Is this fair?

New Grill!

It was a gorgeous day in our nation’s capital, and I knew that I wouldn’t have a better opportunity for a while to do something I’d been putting off: buying a new grill. My old one, which I picked up for free second hand, was badly rusted, so I thanked it for all the memories and moved on.

For the maiden voyage I went with a piece of salmon fillet that I salted, peppered, and oiled, then went it was almost done finished with butter and dill. I Also adapted these potatoes for the grill, and grilled some asparagus. It was a major success on all counts.

I’m looking forward to a summer of great grilling. If anybody has any grilling suggestions, leave a comment below!

Philly Phoodventure

As Katie wrote below, The Foodventure took our show on the road to Philadelphia this weekend. On paper, the trip was to visit friends, but with all due respect to those who we saw, the trip was really about food. As always, Philadelphia came through in a big way.

As you know, we’re two weeks away from Easter, and meat is still not on the menu. Philadelphia made the cheesesteak famous (or possibly the other way around), but for my money, the roast pork hoagie at Di Nic’s is the best sandwich in Philly, or anywhere for that matter. Sadly, because of Lent, there would be no roast pork or cheesesteaks, but in the name of good eating we went forward undeterred. Read more »