Michael Pollan , author of the Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, has written to the forthcoming President Elect in the pages of the NY Times Magazine’s Food Issue. The sensational image above is the cover, by Michael Klimas.
You can read the text of the letter to the incoming president, or Farmer-In-Chief, as Pollan prefers here.
Pollan coined possibly the 7 most important words of the 21st century.
EAT FOOD. NOT TOO MUCH. MAINLY PLANTS.
Just a bit more on cupcakes. Have a look at the two pics below. This is from Google Trends and analyses three search terms over the last year and ranks their popularity. One is worldwide (where you’d expect the Pavlova and the Lamington to play a fairly insignificant role. But have a look at the same trend in Australia. And except for a spike around Christmas and again in July (I don’t understand that one) the cupcake is knocking our national sweets into a corner.
Cupcakes hit centre stage in 2002, according to the information contained in the previous post. They took a little longer to hit their straps here in Australia, but are still hanging on. Methinks they’ve got a ways to go yet. We’ve barely scratched the icing surface. Frostines Edibles are now doing online delivery of their little sweeties. And include the following gift suggestions for their cupcakes. Do you think my ‘Sympathy’ they mean ‘Sad to hear about you breaking your favourite stilettos’, or something more serious?
But really, they are an incredibly versatile, all occasion, tick every box comestible (nostalgic, authentic, designer, small, glamorous, homey) and I think they’re going to be around for a long time yet. They lend themselves to almost all flavourings, and can be adapted to go with whatever the ‘flavour of the month’ is. (And I mean that literally). They’re great for a group, or eating solo. Much like a box of chocs. And when we feel compelled to eat something even smaller to stop feeling guilty, watch the petit four come out of the woodwork. Or perhaps a la Seinfeld and the muffin tops, we’ll just be able to eat buy a dozen mixed iced tops. For those of you not familiar with that episode, you can watch five minutes of it here . Hey cupcake tops… I think I’m on to something:
TheNY Mag 40th Anniversary published this for us to reminisce over:
How many do you remember?
In the south of the United States and the north of Australia, boiled peanuts are a traditional snack.
Nuts are good for us, are they not? We should be eating more legumes, should we not? (It is a legume, not a nut)
Here’s a new take on the humble boiled peanut ~ add some flavourings to the boiling water. Ginger, star anise, chillis. Try cinnamom, nutmeg. Whatever flavours YOU want go with this friendly legume.
You have to use fresh unroasted peanuts in their shells. Cover them with water, put your flavourings in the pot and boil gently for about an hour. Eat when cool.
Which brings me to peanut butter. It must be one of the remaining unflavoured foodstuffs of our age. Maybe it too could do with a little added pep in its jar. Thai Peanut Butter, Vietnamese peanut butter, Peruvian Peanut Butter. I can feel a product range coming on.
1. Gooseberries [Cape, not Chinese] will surpass the blueberry as the new superfruit.
2. English is the new Italian.
3. Gooseberry Fool will replace Tiramisu as the desert du monde. [See 1 & 2 above]
3. Fufu will replace polenta. You can use just about any starch, mix it with water, cook the bejesus out of it and it’ll sop up your protein jus.
4. Egyptian-Australians will continue to laugh themselves sick at the cost of Dukkah.
5. Finally, the word ‘gourmet’ won’t preface every new food product. I for one, never want to hear it again.
6. Someone will make a great tasting saveloy that won’t make you glow in the dark, to scoff during footy season.
7. Organic produce will stop demanding the same profit margin and become a little bit more accessible.
8. In the quest for the authentic regional cuisine, Sardinian will overtake Italian.
9. Someone will have a book published in which the following happens ~ has mid life crisis, goest to vietnam, finds love [or at least gets laid] ~ and intersperses recipes throughout book. Probably a 50 something woman.
10. Those who like to make a DECENT stir fry [and not wok-mush] will apply to have the regulator taken of their gas stove, so they can get a good blasting heat through their wok burner that will enable it to fry and not stew.
Filed under: food trends, fruit & veg, supermarkets | Tags: buy, eat, shop, survive
Interestingly, according to a poll conductedby the Consumer Fruit Index on behalf of our pear industry, Australians are increasingly buying fruit and veg at their seasonal peak. Why is this interesting? Well, because they’re not doing it as a result of increasing awareness of food miles, upping their green credentials, or more fullsome flavours ~ they’re doing it because of economic stress and have nutted out for themselves that when produce is in season, it’s cheaper.
Filed under: Biological Farmers of Australia, farming, food trends, organic | Tags: eat, grow, plant
The Biological Farmers of Australia has released the first local Australian organic data in four years, researched by the The University of New England’s Organic Research Centre. Some of its key findings include:
• the value returned to organic producers at farm-gate has increased by 80% since 2004, despite tough climatic conditions and drought. On the other side of the fence, the industry’s retail value broke through the $0.5B for the first time to reach a figure of approximately $623 million.
• Australia retains the largest amount of certified organic land area in the world (approx. 11.8 million ha), most of which is found in vast grazing regions in South West QLD
• Organic farmers on average are younger than non-organic
• Horticulture remains a mainstay of the industry, accounting for two thirds of total organic farmers, and representing up to half of the total organic farmgate value in Australia.
• The organic vegetable, herb and nursery production sector is the highest valued in the industry overall, followed by organic fruit & wine, and organic beef sectors
• The industry has witnessed an increase in strategic market alliances and market groups
• The organic industry is consolidating and the average size of organic farms has increased – there is a trend towards professional farming at a larger scale (though t still well under non-organic farm enterprise levels for most sectors).
• Major supermarkets now stock more than 500 organic products in various category lines
• 40% of consumers now buy organic food on occasion
• Woman are the primary purchasers of organic food
• Fresh fruit and vegetables remain the most common point of entry for newcomers purchasing organic food
Filed under: flavours, food trends, potato chips | Tags: collect, eat, try
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At least that’s what Wikipedia calls them. Don’t know why it never caught on, do you? Sounds more like an ablution than a food. Anyway, I had cause to think about the myriad of potato cutting flavours a couple of weeks ago, which led me to try and determine just how many were out there. Now I’m not talking about ‘cuttings’ made from different vegetables, I’m talking about the flavours grafted on to the humble spud.
Here’s a smattering from a single company in the UK: ready salted, salt & vinegar, cheese & onion, prawn cocktail, worcester sauce, roast chicken, steak & onion, smoky bacon, lamb & mint, ham & mustard, barbecue, BBQ rib, tomato ketchup, sausage & ketchup, pickled onion, Branston Pickle, Marmite and more exotic seasonings such as Thai sweet chilli, roast pork & creamy mustard sauce, lime and thai spices, lamb with Moroccan spices, sea salt and cracked black pepper (that’s whacky!), turkey & bacon, caramelized onion & sweet balsamic vinegar, stilton & cranberry and mango chilli. Mexican Limes with a hint of Chilli, Salsa with Mesquite, Buffalo Mozzarella Tomato and Basil, Mature Cheddar with Adnams Broadside Beer, Soulmate Cheeses and Onion. Japan has nori & salt, consommé, wasabi, soy sauce & butter, takoyaki, kimchi, garlic, chili, scallop with butter, ume, mayonnaise, yakitori and ramen. In New Zealand they like Chucken (just checking you’re still reading). There’s dill pickle in Canada, Provolone Cheese in Argentina. I think Japan scoops it though with these: Caesar Salad, Caramel Butter, Cheese Curry, Consommé, Mapodoufu (Tofu in a Spicy Pork Sauce) and Tandoori.
I can feel a new hobby coming on.
Over at TED.com, Malcolm Gladwell gives a talk all food marketers should have a wee listen to. Go on, spend 17mins of your life listening what he has to say. In this he talks about some lightbulb moments had by Norman Moskowitz of i-Novation Inc
