Category Archives: Food Writing

Care of the Small

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Francois Lachance

The cover is special. It is of a felt that feels like peach fuzz. Diana Henry How to Eat a Peach Introduction (its conclusion) Meals, no matter how simple, are made better by small things […] They’re also made bad … Continue reading →

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Foodie Renovation

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Tamar Adler Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revisited Leftover [shrimp] pâté is also miraculous stirred into hot polenta or risotto or congee or grits. I love the enumeration — it speaks to an internationalism and to cross-cultural familiarity. And … Continue reading →

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Farmers and Stories: Products and Producers

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Francois Lachance

David Mas Masumoto in The Perfect Peach If foods are not paired with stories, no one hears the farmer’s voice and the farmer is easily dismissed. More context: Without stories, peaches become a commodity and consumers are attracted by their … Continue reading →

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WHAM

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Consider Gussie’s lines from the 1948 movie Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House — it’s her culinary and linguistic creativity that saves the day. I’ve seen the movie; I now want to read the novel to see if the key … Continue reading →

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Culinary Periodization

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Introduction James Beard’s American Cookery It should be apparent that this not a book of regional cookery, it is not a collection of family recipes, it is not primarily a critique of American cuisine. It is simply a record of … Continue reading →

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Crack, Beat, Cook, Exaggerate

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Francois Lachance

I like the contrasting and complementary colours on the front and back of the dust jacket… Soufflés, Quiches, Mousses and the Random Egg Our amusement continues inside. George Bradshaw supplies an anachronism to make a recipe memorable in the section … Continue reading →

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Slow Start Superb Finish

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Familiar to anyone who has diced vegetables for mirepoix or simply sweated sliced onions… battuto e soffritto Battuto, literally ‘beaten’, in a culinary context means chopped so fine as to appear pounded. A battuto, consisting traditionally of chopped pork fat … Continue reading →

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Representation of a Representation

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Helen Guri Match Delectable opening of “After ‘Still Life Fast Moving’” — a most superb food fight albeit one served up as a slide show: In some pictures, objects come alive and the living are objects. Picture, for example, a … Continue reading →

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Searching for the Origin of Sugar Bones

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Francois Lachance

I bought bones for soup and found them labelled as sugar bones. My search as to the origin of the name netted no online explanation beyond an inkling of a Yiddish connection: Tziker is Yiddish for sugar. You bought sugar … Continue reading →

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Casting Upon the Waters

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Francois Lachance

From Breadcraft Charles and Violet Schafer (San Francisco: Yerba Buena Press, 1974) Ways of lobbying: p. 13 Members of American Women Already Richly Endowed, opposing equal rights amendments for women, made gifts of homemade bread to influence Ohio legislators. They … Continue reading →

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