In this week’s Food News, eggs, rice, paella, and forbidden foods – all from the Chicago Tribune – plus Frank Bruni answers questions about New York dining:
Learn about Eggs: I hate eggs so when I started this blog, I also began a personal experiment: cook many egg dishes and try bites of each one. The benefits for me would be two-fold: I would learn how to cook a food I have rarely touched before and maybe I could even teach myself to like eggs. I’ve made little progress thus far, but I did enjoy this article about eggs in the Chicago Tribune, which taught me a few things about eggs despite its short length. For example, there are two types of egg white – thick and thin. Fresher eggs have more thick white, but as the egg ages, the thick white gets thinner. The article also talks about brown vs. white eggs and how to crack an egg open with one hand.
Types of Rice and Paella: When it’s Kenny’s turn to make dinner, the rice cooker immediately goes on, several cups of white rice bubbling away inside. Even now, as I sit at my desk researching this week’s Food News, Kenny is cooking and the rice cooker has just beeped in the kitchen, signaling it is time for white rice once again. I do not love plain white rice. So this one is for Kenny: an article in the Chicago Tribune that talks about the different types of rice available and the best uses for them. The most interesting: bomba rice. Used in paella, it is said to absorb 30% more broth than regular rice (also check out the Chicago Tribune’s paella party article: it says good paella starts with the rice.).
“Forbidden Foods”: This may be an older article, but the Chicago Tribune’s slideshow on “ forbidden foods” – items that were banned by the government including absinthe, Szechuan peppercorns, raw milk, and Iberico bellota ham – is still an interesting read. Learn why people love these products and, if you’re in Chicago, where to find them. Also, if the piece on absinthe – green, high alcohol content of 50 to 70 percent, formerly favored by creative types, and thought to cause hallucinations and madness when it was initially banned – has sparked your interest, check out this absinthe article from the New York Times.
New York Dining Questions Answered: In his last article as the New York Times restaurant critic, Frank Bruni answers questions about New York dining. This is a great resource for anyone living in or traveling to New York and looking for a good meal. Some of my favorite bits of advice: Bruni’s guide to navigating a menu (avoid dishes you’ve seen in other restaurants as well as those that come from too far afield – but read his words; they’re much more funny) and the meal he says is a steal: the $88 prix fix menu at Eleven Madison Park, which includes more for your money than I would ever expect.
