Relying On Tools- March 28, 2008 I like to believe, despite the many boxes our friends packed and moved, that I am a minimalist about kitchen gadgets. A good knife, a solid whisk, a handful of wooden spoons, a few bowls, and a couple pots and pans are all a cook needs for most tasks. At least, that’s what I tell myself and anyone who asks. It turns out that I take my gadgets for granted. I can finally cook simple food in the kitchen: There are still drop cloths everywhere, but there is now a small work area next to our.http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#4165706976682472690 Dine For A Change, April 3, 2008- March 27, 2008 On April 3, have a good meal while donating to a worthy cause. Twenty-five Bay Area restaurants and stores will donate a portion of that day’s till to San Francisco Women Against Rape, an organization that educates about sexual assault and helps women who are victims of that horrible trauma. From Bi-Rite Market to our old neighborhood restaurant Pho 84, you have a wide range of options for donating. Take the opportunity to try a new restaurant, or visit an old favorite. Either way,...http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#757508205330922418 Berkeley Bites- March 22, 2008 Our new house doesn’t have a kitchen. It did when we bought it, but before we moved in we turned that room into a miniature Christo installation, using plastic drop cloths to enshroud every surface while we sand down our smurf-blue walls and ceilings, prime them, and paint them — we’re just beginning to emerge from that process. This has been a glimpse into our lives when we remodel the kitchen in the next few years. In the meantime, we’ve spent dinnertime exploring the.http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#3040807503610059363 Not About Food: The Other Kind Of Java- March 20, 2008 On Tuesday, our company’s president came all the way from Chicago to pay us a surprise visit. Many of you are probably thinking the same thing we all did: Uh oh. And sure enough, headquarters is shutting down our office and laying all of us off at the end of May. A few of you remember that this has happened to me before. That time, I took a month or so off, cooked a lot, made bread everyday, and generally loafed around. Now, I have a mortgage; my attitude has changed. I already have a.http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#8790565796335045578 Class Update: Flying BlindGoing On A Blender- March 17, 2008 The last night of Fundamentals II is always fun. I start the night with a “guess the wine” exercise. As I told my class, being able to deduce a wine from its aromas and flavors is little more than a neat party trick for most people. But focusing on a glass and bringing your experience and memory to bear forces you to think about the wine and take time with it. Too often, we scarf our dinners and gulp our wine: There is value in giving your senses a chance to do their jobs. I tried..http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#2632370193518043737 SF Chronicle: Vineyard Nurseries- March 14, 2008 If you’ve already seen the lead story in the Chronicle’s Wine section, I know what you must be thinking: “Geez, Derrick, how cliched can you get A story about vineyard nurseries” No, wait. I’m thinking of a different topic. In fact, the small-but-crucial nursery industry rarely gets coverage in the consumer press; I’m not sure how much coverage it gets in the trade press. But just about any vine you see in a vineyard comes from one of the handful of...http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#5958537561786008202 Book Review: A Geography Of Oysters- March 12, 2008 I consider myself pretty oyster savvy, but the other night I looked at a restaurant’s oyster selection with new eyes. The names gave me clues they hadn’t before, and I had enough knowledge to comment on the presence of Olympias and Belons (these from Maine, I think), both unusual fare. The secret to my new awareness Rowan Jacobsen’s A Geography Of Oysters, an exhaustive look at the North American oyster industry. (Like all modern books, it has a companion website; unlike most.http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#8675003890334597021 Class Update: A Night Of Terroir!- March 10, 2008 I started class the other night by asking how many of my students had heard the term terroir: Most had. Then I asked them what it meant, and the room quieted down. Tentatively, they began to mention the definitions they had heard while I scribbled them on the board. “Of the earth.” “The effects of soil on the vine.” “That a wine tastes like where it came from.” And so on. As I told them, there’s no right answer. What, exactly, defines terroir is one of.http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#8843629814626215077 Beer Glasses (Not Goggles), SF Chronicle- March 7, 2008 Delve into wine even a little bit, and you'll quickly discover the fetishistic appreciation of glassware. Crystal companies have made serious bank convincing the world that it needs a different wine glass for every style of wine, a marketing message that I find dubious at best, as it often reeks of pseudoscience. But the wine world has nothing on the beer world, where it sometimes seems like every beer has a unique glass. I dug into that world a little bit for an article in today’s...http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2008_03_01_blog-archive.html#6611393537372791336 |