unthwarted

A follow-up to this post from 3/13/07: when my computer at work got replaced, I lost iTunes *and* lost my access/ability to load iTunes onto the new computer. Just this past week, one of the IT guys installed iTunes (bundled with QuickTime) onto my computer for me, without my even breathing a word of request or mourning for lack of iTunes. Pretty awesome how things work out, sometimes.

please remember to eat responsibly

The recent hullabaloo about mercury levels in New York's fresh tuna and the (recently released?) ethics-of-eating-seafood book, Bottomfeeders reminded me that I should check for the current list of seafoods I should avoid. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has published its 2008 regional Seafood Guides and I recommend that you take this information to heart if you happen to enjoy eating seafood. This Guide is more geared to eco-responsible eating... if you're more (or equally) concerned about seafood that could negatively affect your own health you will want to check out the following page: Seafood and Your Health

Photo Challenge

Solution:
calla lily

view last week's Photo Challenge

A new challenge

I'm going to introduce a new component to the blog - a picture challenge! Here's the deal. I'll post a detail of a photo... you get to guess what the image is, then after a reasonable period of time, I'll share the original photo to provide context to elucidate the answer. [text edited] Comment on the blog to submit your guesses!

Solution:
The Eiffel Tower

Slow Food

I was cleaning out some old bookmarks and ran across this article/essay by Alice Waters (of Chez Panisse fame, chef who popularized California cuisine which prioritizes seasonal & local food). My heart cheers for her point of view.

France vs. Spain, circa 2003

I ran across this long-ish article, "A Laboratory of Taste," from 2003 about Ferran Adrià's restaurant El Bulli (the one essentially credited with starting the whole Surrealist cuisine movement). This gives in-depth descriptions of the techniques and usage of materials that were initially so imaginative and fresh and now, especially after their appearances in one challenge on The Next Iron Chef, seem almost commonplace. Also, there is a fleeting comparison of Spanish and French art and film as an additional context for the comparison of Spanish and French cuisines. Sit back, wish you had a culinary lab all of your own, and read about the ideas that started quite the revolution in the concept of how and why we sit down with something edible in front of us.

I'm not doing resolutions this year, or at least none have occurred to me. However, if I had a pre-existing list of "stuff I want to do in life," I would be adding a visit to El Bulli or another of the key restaurants that use these techniques with the aim of engaging all of the senses in the dining experience.