Opera and food is a match made in heaven

May 12, 2012 by
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The New York Times has a delightful article, Don't Sing With Your Mouth Full, discussing how tightly entwined the worlds of opera and food are. As they write, "Opera, of all the art forms, is singularly associated with food, whether because of the appetites of well-girthed singers or the sensual pleasures celebrated in its rich ragout of music, emotion and… read more

Is it pretentious to assume that Bon Appetit is a better magazine than Paula Dean’s or Rachael Ray’s?

May 11, 2012 by
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 Anna Brones over at the Huff Post sat down and took a hard look at three magazines: Cooking with Paula Deen, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and Bon Appétít. Among her questions, if they're promoting the same food, why do we have different reactions to them? For example, "Rachael Ray gives me a handful of fried chicken recipes and I cringe, but… read more

Cocktail preferences from famous fiction writers and from famous chefs

May 10, 2012 by
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 Over at theKitchn, they're celebrating Cocktail Week. We found two of their articles, 10 Famous Fiction Writers and Their Cocktails, and 25 Food Writers Share Their Safety Drinks especially informative. The first article deals with what famous fiction authors, e.g. Hemingway, Faulkner, Chandler, preferred to drink. Among some of the fun facts: James Bond ordered 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin… read more

A Cajun shrimper, 1st day of culinary school, and ironing with Jim Beam

May 10, 2012 by
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It's May 10 - National Shrimp Day. And what a better way to celebrate than with this fun story. To set the scene: It's the first day of culinary school in New Orleans, and the chef instructor informs the class in no uncertain terms that they must show up everyday in full uniform, including pressed and clean jackets. One student,… read more

Busting kitchen myths: The great recipe swindle

May 8, 2012 by
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Should a recipe, if followed precisely, deliver culinary precision? Most experienced cooks realize that this kind of promise is actually not only unrealistic but also constraining. They use recipes as starting points, as inspirations. But cookbook authors, publishers, and sellers would have us believe that their cookbooks can deliver on such a promise. The problem, as this article by Nicholas Clee in The… read more

Did Rachael Ray exorcise Martha Stewart’s evil spirits from her studio?

May 8, 2012 by
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I guess it's Wacky Tuesday, at least according to the New York Post. As reported in this article, "Tv chef  Rachael Ray has asked staffers to perform a wacky exorcism ritual while planning her move into arch rival Martha Stewart's Chelsea studio, ordering them to burn bundles of sage to chase away negative 'spirits'." The Post goes on to quote an expert from… read more

Culinary intelligence – integrating real food into your daily life

May 7, 2012 by
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Courtesy of Michael Ruhlman, we're highlighting three thoughtful books today. In his blog entry, Culinary Intelligence - An Emerging Trend, Ruhlman reviews two books. Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy and Really Well, by Peter Kaminsky, talks about being smart about food, thinking sensibly about cooking and eating. As Ruhlman writes, " Getting middle-aged and plump myself, it was my kind… read more

Are these the ultimate – and easiest – brownies to make?

May 6, 2012 by
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Brownies may not be haute cuisine, but they have a lot going for them. They're a comforting bite in times of stress, induce chocolaty feel-good moments, fill the house with warm aromas, often bring back simple, childhood memories - yes, brownies are among the ultimate comfort foods. But while we may often impulsively want, even need, brownies, there's something about… read more

Jeffrey Steingarten goes on the Master Cleanse regime

May 4, 2012 by
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The Master Cleanse is one of those fad/extreme diets that seems to pop up every ten years or so. Currently, it's hot -- with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé rumored to follow the regime. It's a simple diet, just consume 6 to 12 drinks day, making the drink from water, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The… read more

Saveur announces its best food blog awards

May 4, 2012 by
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We love reading about food (maybe not quite as much as cooking it, but almost), so when a prestigious magazine like Saveur produces its awards for best food blogs, we're anxious to see who is on it and what blogs we might have missed and should follow. In particular, while the usual categories are there, we were delighted to see… read more

Just how popular is a $450 cookbook?

May 3, 2012 by
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In 2011, a 36-person team organized by former Microsoft chief technology officer and avid foodie, Nathan Myhrvold, produced  a 5-volume, 2,400 page cookbook called Modernist Cuisine. Weighing 45 pounds, the book(s) concerned itself as much with food science as with recipes. There was a great deal of skepticism when it was published - just who would buy it? The Wall Street… read more

Layers of deceit: Why do so many recipes contain a lie about onions?

May 3, 2012 by
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Over at Slate, Tony Scocca is fed up with recipes that perpetrate lies; in particular, the fallacy that you can caramelize onions in 10 minutes. He quotes recipes from such respectable sources as The New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and Madhur Jaffrey, all of which have published recipes with a 5 - 10 minute time period for caramelizing… read more

Great kitchen gifts for under $25 and for under $10

May 2, 2012 by
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Our friends over at theKitchn.com have been compiling some great ideas for kitchen presents -- in time for Mother's Day, anniversaries, shower gifts, birthdays, or just because... They have two lists: Smart Food Gifts for Under $10 and Beautiful, Useful Kitchen Gifts for Under $25. We especially liked the filled chalkboard spice jars in the first category, and the ultra-thin scale… read more

Two cutting-edge culinary items: Cooking with cannibis & 15 weird lollipops

May 1, 2012 by
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Here at EYB we like to bring our community cutting-edge news from the culinary world. In that spirit, here are a couple of items that caught our attention. In Oregon, the first restaurant specializing in marijuana-baked items has opened and is sharing their cooking tips with their clients (please use only where legal). And we present 15 weird lollipops. While insects… read more

Who’s the richest chef?

April 30, 2012 by
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Over at Eater, they've calculated who the richest chef in the world is. Admittedly, we were surprised. Yes, Wolfgang Puck made the list, as did Rachael Ray, but who would have guessed Jamie Oliver? Check the names out here. read more

Cooking contests – find out what’s out there

April 30, 2012 by
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We know most of you are passionate cooks (why else would you have all those cookbooks?) and look to your books and recipes not only for instruction, but for inspiration. And we're sure you've created wonderful dishes that you love to share with family and friends. And we even suspect that many of you think that those dishes might be… read more

A tour of Mario Battali’s kitchen

April 29, 2012 by
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Most of us who love to cook have experienced kitchen envy. And editors know this; glossy tours of famous chefs' kitchens have been standard articles in food magazines and online. So while this tour of Mario Battali's home kitchen from Chew is not unusual, we found it had a few surprises. First, it's not full of monstrous, gleaming commercial appliances;… read more

Complete guide to grilling

April 27, 2012 by
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if you ever cook anything outdoors (whether on a charcoal grill, gas grill, or "barbie"), Kenji over at Serious Eats has put together a Complete Guide to Grilling that's definitely worth taking a look at. He has both an equipment list as well as cooking instructions that deal with everything from how to start coals to choosing the right wood for… read more

Screening out unsuccessful recipes

April 26, 2012 by
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Following up on Susie's blog, Epic fail - anatomy of the recipe that didn't, we found a great follow-up article. Susie's article, besides being funny, details many of the ways a recipe can be poorly written. As she points out, a poorly written recipe can be costly in time and ingredients, and potentially embarassing to boot. So is there a way… read more

Useful kitchen tips you may not know

April 26, 2012 by
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Collections of kitchen tips are always popular - many cooking magazines run pages of them in every issue. But with that kind of demand some tips become rather esoteric and deal with obscure problems. We prefer easy tips that deal with everyday issues -- like spraying measuring spoons and cups with nonstick spraying oil before measuring out sticky items like… read more

10 essential spices

April 25, 2012 by
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Spices can be a real kitchen challenge. Their flavors can add so much interest to a dish, but they also present a world of questions: Which ones should I use with this meat or vegetable? Do I really need to buy that spice and risk throwing out an almost full jar a year from now? Can I substitute for a… read more

How Mexican food conquered America

April 24, 2012 by
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The Salt over at NPR has an extensive interview/150 mile trip with Gustavo Arellanos, who just published a book: Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. They visit the (still existing) stand where tacos where first introduced, places where fusion tacos are created, and the "baroque masterpiece" of the Battleship Taco. Of particular interest is the discussion of the part… read more

What to eat after a little too much celebration

April 23, 2012 by
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As we approach May and lots of reasons for parties and celebration - graduations, anniversaries, weddings - we thought this advice from the Huffington Post on Hangover Foods: 7 Ways to Ease Hangover Symptoms - might come in handy. And, no, hair of the dog that bit you isn't one of them (although if it works...why not?).  read more

What do celebrity chefs eat when they get the munchies?

April 22, 2012 by
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The people at Eatocracy (CNN) asked numerous celebrity chefs - Daniel Boulud, John Besh, Michael Chiarello, Gail Simmons, Marcus Samuelson among others - what they eat when they get the munchies. They confess to eating the same things most of us resort to when we want to indulge; but the funniest part of the whole video is at the beginning,… read more

How to blog about food

April 20, 2012 by
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Christina Soong-Kroeger over at The Hungry Australian has put together a series of well-thought-out tips on starting a food blog. As she writes, "As I began blogging I had lots of questions. How did I get people to comment on my posts? What should I write about? Do I need a decent camera? How did I make a header on… read more
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