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  simonathibault 7:14 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It For November 9th, 2012 

  I skipped last week’s Read Up On It, but believe me, there was lots to read last week on Passable. Like Melissa Buote’s great story/interview/0p-ed about the recent accusations of “sad sack”-ery in our midst. Read it. And then come back and check out the rest of the links in this edition of Read Up On It.

  
  Someone brought me back some wasabi flavoured Kit Kats from Japan. They’re much better than you think

  • Why do the Japanese have all the neat junk food? Wasabi Kit Kat? And now fat-blocking Pepsi?

  • Quora, the intellectual’s Reddit, asked its readers: “If there were 10 commandments in cooking what would they be?” Some of the answers: “Taste everything. Repeatedly.” “Respect the knife (and other cutting tools).  The moment you don’t, you’ll be abruptly and unpleasantly reminded of the reason why you should.”

  • The Globe and Mail looks into how many decisions we make when it comes to food a day. Apparently, 225. Don’t believe it? Read.

  • The G&M also recently wrote about beer, or rather the idea of terroir in beer, and how pumpkin and beer are a match made in heaven.

  • I recently had the chance to talk to some local mushroom foragers about how,what and why they seek out fungi in this week’s issue of The Coast.

  • Even though the term “vanilla” is used to describe something that is plain and boring, it’s an inappropriate use of an amazingly complex thing. Food 52 looks into the what, why and which of vanilla beans.

  • This one is for Melissa. Food Republic talks about that currently-unavailable-in-Nova-Scotia tipple, Fernet Branca. Apparently, they use 75% of the world’s supply of saffron. Jeebus.

  • It’s no secret that I love quinces.  Apparently, so does an editor at The Guardian. Smart minds and smarter bellies. Or maybe fatter bellies.

  • I love this. Herbavoracious has a “bacon” made from mushrooms. I’d make this. And I love bacon from pigs.

  • And last but not least, Rene Redzepi from Noma has started posting some interesting videos on Vimeo. Including this one on how they make their own “pea-so”.

  Pea-so from Rene Redzepi Noma on Vimeo.

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  simonathibault 2:37 pm on October 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It For October 26th, 2012 

  This week’s Read Up On It features tips on everything from how to hang your pheasant to how to freeze whipping cream, as well stories about dumplings and japanese noodles.

  Hanging Pheasants by Alexander Pope.

  • First things first. Hank Shaw doles out tips and tidbits on how to hang pheasants.

  • Eater reports that an editor at Marie Claire got snippy with a chef when the chef wouldn’t comp his meal because the editor said that they would give him publicity. Good on the chef.

  • A great story in the New York Times about the recent rise in quality and inventiveness of that most humble and satisfying of foods: dumplings.

  • Sometimes I buy too much whipping cream. I’m always paranoid that I am going to have to go back to the store and get more. Fear not, says David Lebovitz. Freeze it.

  • The CBC posted three interesting stories, all of them touching on concepts around food safety. First an Ontario doctors wants warning labels on junk food. A student at a university in Cape Breton suffers from “caffeine rage” due to Red Bull, and Market Place looks at how mechanical tenderisation may not be the best way to do so, due to concerns over e.coli.

  • And finally, I don’t usually post reviews, but I want to read this book now. The Japan Times reviews a book about the history and significance of ramen.

   

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  simonathibault 3:16 pm on October 19, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It For October 19th, 2012 

  This week’s edition of Read Up On It brings together such disparate items as Micheal Pollan, Reddit, Burmese street food and why truffle oil is so beyond over that it’s ovah!

  • First, a video.

  I recently had the chance to interview cookbook author Naomi Duguid for Passable. Duguid is currently promoting her book, “Burma: Rivers Of Flavour”. She also was recently featured in the New York Times. In the above video, she instructs a gentlemen from Roads & Kingdoms on how to eat street food in Burma.

  • Speaking of videos, former NYT food critic Sam Sifton recently hosted a video for Bon Appetit where he shows us how to deep fry a turkey.  Apparently shoes are very important.  And industrial-grade children’s coat hangers.

  • Many food and wine lovers have heard of the expression “terroir”, which denotes the flavour or character of a place present in its food and drink products. But what about the ocean?  The Washington Examiner looks into the idea that oysters could be a perfect representation of the character of the ocean, or”merroir”.

  • I love sweet potatoes.  I think these farmers featured on CBC will have a strong customer in me and many others with their sweet potatoes.

  • Reddit, the so-called “front page of the internet”,  has collided with the food universe. Michael Pollan hosts an AMA. 

  • Think you love beer, that oft-hoppy beast? The Wall Street Journal introduces its long lost and hopless cousin, gruit.

  • The L.A. Times posts a blog about the top 5 things that need to stop being served in restos. Number One? Truffle Oil. And I agree.

  • And last but not least, a series of international culinary vignettes that appeared in the NYT’s Food & Drink Issue. Chicken kneecaps, cornish pasties and the wonders of szechuan cookery, all 23 flavours of it.

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  simonathibault 5:38 pm on October 12, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It For October 12th, 2012 

  
  Image Source

  For a lot of food lovers in Nova Scotia and the rest of Atlantic Canada, the publication of Maclean’s 50 Best Restaurants was a bit underwhelming. A few notices (props to Fid & Bicycle Thief). But the real story popped up on Thursday when the editor of said issue, Jacob Richler, was published in the Globe and Mail, where he called the Maritimes a “culinary sad sack”. Ouch. On Friday, October 12th, CBC Mainstreet interviewed Mr. Richler to explain why he said what he did, and then subsequently interviewed three local chefs – Jennie Dobbs from Morris East, Michael Howell from Tempest and Renée Lavallée, a.k.a. Feisty Chef – to respond. Well, the Feisty Chef had already responded online. You should read what she had to say. As of press time, I’m still waiting for Mainstreet to update their podcasts so that I can include a link to the interview(s).

  During the on-air discussion, host Stephanie Domet asked the three chefs what they would offer Mr. Richler to eat, so as to try and change his mind. Ms. Lavallée suggested crow. And therein lies the reason for this week’s image in our weekly Read Up On It.

  ***

  • Speaking of local culinaria, there are a couple new kids on the block. The Coast reports that a diner is opening up in the former Cousins space on Agricola, and The Wooden Monkey is opening up a second space over in Dartmouth.

  • I’m currently working on an interview with Naomi Duguid, the co-author of multiple cookbooks such as Hot Sour Salty Sweet. Duguid recently published her first solo endeavour, about the food of Burma. It will be posted here on Passable at the start of next week. In the meantime, check out a piece in the Globe and Mail about her.

  • The CBC reports about the current bumper crop of U.S. and Mexican tomatoes and how it is affecting prices and farmers in Canada.

  • A look at trends at a recent food trade show in Japan. I’ll admit, I kinda want some shio koji.

  • Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a fan of the whole David Chang thing. Sure, I could be accused of bandwagonism, and you know what? I’ve never eaten at any Momofuku resto. I own his cookbook, and cook from it often. I also own the Milk bar cookbook, written by his dessert maven, Christina Tossi. I read Lucky Peach, the magazine he does with McSweeney’s. I’ve posted about him here, usually in Read Up On It. Is the guy perhaps a bit too media-saturated? It could be argued that yes, he is. But that’s not his fault. The thing is, this guy digs food, and most of his detractors take personal pot shots at him, rather than his ideas about food. And I like his ideas. So I will be watching the new show on PBS that starts soon. Check out the trailer.

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  simonathibault 6:36 am on October 5, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It for October 5th, 2012 

  Read Up On It returns this week with all kinds of kooky stories for you to check out this week.  Everything from MSG to that “supposed” bacon shortage, alongside a map of what apples you should be eating/using/cooking. (Apologies for being unable to post a brand-new Read Up On It last week, but I have returned with a great list of links for you.). It’s time to Read Up On It!

  Image via The Atlantic

  • The Atlantic looks at coffee houses around the world and the spaces that makes them. Just fucking wow.

  • Remember how last week everyone was talking about a bacon shortage? It’s probably bullshit. (via L.A. Times and Slate)

  • Newsflash! We as North Americans waste a lot of food! Well d-uh. The CBC looks into it.

  • Macleans announces its first list of the 50 best restaurants in Canada. Halifax faves Fid and The Bicycle Thief end up on the list. But Montreal’s Pied de Cochon and Joe Beef do not. And people have opinions about the whole thing, including Mark Schaetzker in the Globe and Mail, as well as Anthony Bourdain.

  • Still at the Globe, Chris Nuttal-Smith looks into a quebec organisation called La Société Orignal that sources and sells food that chefs are salivating over, such as sea urchin bottarga.

  • With apple season upon us, it’s time to think: what do I do with all of them? Slate figures it out for you.

  • The New York Times looks into two very interesting and divisive topics: hunting and offals.

  • Speaking of offals, the Guardian talks about feet. Nom nom toes.

  • And last but not least, David Chang gives a talk about MSG and the stigma behind that tasty glutamate.

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  simonathibault 9:51 am on September 21, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It For September 21st, 2012 

  This week’s Read Up On It delves into the wonders of fermentation, Nova Scotia wine, and “microwave popcorn lung”. Check out this week’s tasty tidbits.

  

  • First, something a little absurd. A man in the U.S. has been awarded $7 million USD for damages caused by inhaling the fumes from microwave popcorn. He was diagnosed with “microwave popcorn lung.” And of course, this story comes from Gawker.

  • The Coast has devoted a lot of space to Nova Scotia’s wine industry in this week’s issue. Stories about changes in laws on liquor laws, Wolfville’s “Winery Bus“, and the buzz about bubbles coming from Benjamin Bridge.

  • Speaking of bevvies, the Globe and Mail talks about a recent interest in fruit brandies.

  • Maclean’s is putting out a special edition issue all about “Canada’s best restaurants”. Check out a sneak peek.

  • Bon Appetit talks about the twittering masses discussing the most important gastronomic issue of our time: brioche buns as burger buns. Yay or nay? I say “nay”.

  • The New York Times interviews Mr. Fermentation, Sandor Katz, to talk about fermentation, microbes and more.

  • Finally, if you haven’t seen this all over social media this week, you probably live under a rock without 3G coverage. Nick Offerman, a.k.a. Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreations, doing slam poetry about bacon.

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  simonathibault 3:51 pm on September 14, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It for September 14th, 2012 

  This week’s Read Up On It includes everything from coffee to salmon, sustainable seafood, minerality in wines and how to make your own salt.

  

  • When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Season with them. Slate looks into lemons as the new salt and pepper.

  • The New York Times seems to be having a little love affair with Nova Scotia. James Beard Award winning author Joan Nathan explores the southern tip of the province, talks about smoked salmon, and why the “Nova” in “Nova lox” doesn’t always mean Nova Scotia.

  • Speaking of seafood from our region, you might want to skimp on the shellfish for a while, or so reports the CBC.

  • The Globe and Mail looks into the usage of the term “minerality” in wine, and how it has nothing to do with rocks in the soil.

  • Speaking of minerals, Michael Ruhlman looks into making salt at home.

  • Too many plums?  The Washington Post advises you to make slivovitz, that wonderful hungarian hooch.

  • With a lot of talk around sustainability in seafood, Bon Appetit heads to Houston to find a group of fishmongers and chefs who are using up the bycatch in a smart way.

  • What does Ron Swanson eat? A lot of eggs, meat and more meat, usually in bacon form. This supercut from Vulture proves it.

  • And finally, for the coffee hounds out there, a book for you.

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  simonathibault 3:48 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It for September 7th, 2012 

  I don’t know what happened, but this week there were some pretty amazing stories about food posted online. Everything from the serious (studies on organic farming) to the trends (home canning, temperance cocktails) to the surreal (ice cream nachos, McDonalds going vegetarian in India). It’s Read Up On It!

  

  - Baskin Robbins is either sick or smart. I haven’t decided yet.Ice cream nachos? Gawker asks, WTF?

  • The Globe and Mail had some pretty interesting stories this week. First, a piece about the recent surge of urbanites who do their own bottling/canning . Apparently the lion’s share of sales of canning jars is in urban, not rural areas. Neat. Then a story by Wency Leung about what is arguably the most maligned of sandwhich meats: bologna (or baloney, depending on who you talk to).  Finally, a report on a subject that we are maritimers should be proud of: moonshine, and the people who make it (legally, that is).

  • McDonald’s used to fry their fries in beef tallow, rather than veg oil.  That wouldn’t have flown at their most recent venture, a vegetarian-only resto in India. 

  • I’m a huge fan of burdock and dandelion soda/root beer.  What I didn’t know is that it was fostered through the temperance movement.  Now with the recent interest in mixology (how I hate that word), temperance “cocktails” have found their own nice in the U.K. 

  • I’d be interested to know what the deal is for Canada, but in the U.S., 80% of the antibiotics produced in the country go straight into the food chain, and a lot of it is unregulated. The New York Times looks into it.

  • Also at the NYT, a story about how Taipei may be the greatest place to eat food in China, and how restaurants are keeping stock of what you like, what you don’t like and who you are.

  • Finally, I don’t even live in Los Angeles, but I read/follow Jonathan Gold’s reviews all the time.  Believer sits down with him and talks about food criticism and snobbery, and eating live octopus is perhaps a bit more fucked up than you think it is.

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  simonathibault 6:37 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Reading ( 16 ), Simon Thibault ( 85 )   

  Read Up On It – August 31st, 2012 

  This week’s Read Up On It includes debates on how swedish the Swedish Chef is (he’s not), more about Quebecers tipping in Vermont (they’re not) and how tasty maritime cheeses pair with beer (they do).

  
  Avocado Meatza, from Bon Appetit, 1976

  • Bon Appetit posts a bit of mea culpa and shows off some of the strangest and least appetizing dishes they have ever put out. Blue Cheese Mousse, anyone? Blech.

  • The Atlantic and Slate look into an unlikely culinary figure: The Swedish Chef. Apparently, he doesn’t sound anything like a Swede. Norwegian, maybe. Maybe.

  • The Atlantic also posted some of the most brutal images of the recent U.S. drought. Warning: depressing as fuck.

  • The Globe and Mail pairs up maritime beers and maritime cheeses. Nom. Slurp. Nom.

  • The G&M also talks about a recent interest in a very old and almost forgotten trade: coopering, or barrel making.

  • A New York Times’ correspondent writes about the life of the saunier, one who collects sea salt.

  • Speaking of salty bits, the L.A. Times looks into koji, the mold used in making sake, soy and miso.

  • Remember how we posted that story about Vermont servers and restaurants getting miffed at quebecois tourists for being crappy tippers? Well, Eater reports that “diners with French accents were starting to get restaurant checks that were 18% higher than expected. This practice apparently goes by the charming moniker “Queeb tax.”

  • And The Awl puts up an alphabetical list of food writing terms, fads and ideas. A is for apples, F is for Fritos, and Y is for Yolks.

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  simonathibault 7:54 am on August 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Read Up On It, Simon Thibault ( 85 ), Sledding Hill Farm ( 2 )   

  Read Up On It – For August 24th, 2012 

  This week’s list includes lovely lavender, southern cooking and bad tippers. It’s all in a week’s worth of links on Passable’s Read Up On It.

  
  A field of lavender at Sledding Hill Image courtesy of Sledding Hill Lavender

  • I often link to stories in the Globe and Mail, it’s nice to link to one of my own. I recently wrote a small piece about former Passable interviewees, Sledding Hill and their most popular product, lavender pepper.

  • One of the biggest stories this week was a recent study which claimed that americans throw away up to 40% of the food they buy. The Atlantic looks into it.

  • From wasteful to disgusting, a farmer who can’t feed his cows corn due to the shortage and price of the staple crop, has turned to feeding his cows candy. Gross. (via Gawker)

  • Over at The New York Times, Pete Wells looks into the realm of small plates. Sharing? Bah!

  • Food 52 creates a one-ingredient “ice cream”: banana ice cream. Must. Make. Now.

  • For fans of southern cooking, an interview in Southern Living with Sean Brock, talking about what he thinks are some of the greatest cookbooks on southern cooking and food. The earliest was published in 1770, the latest in 1984.

  • Eater looks into the upcoming cookbooks coming out this fall. On my own list: Naomi Duguid’s book on burmese food. (Hint: Duguid will soon be featured in an interview on this site!)

  • And last but not least, a CBC report about how some people in the service industry in Vermont find that when it comes to tipping, Quebecers aren’t very generous.

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