Cooking With Ideas

Affairs of Steak

I like Julie Hyzy's White House chef series, and so liked this treat, gifted to me by someone wonderful. I read it in almost one fell swoop, on my kindle, and it relieved stress and made me smile. I do get just a tiny bit tired of the punny titles, but Hyzy is not alone in that -- I suspect it of being a conspiracy of publishers trying to make us smile when all they really elicit is a bit of ruefulness. (For a site with a list of some punny titles in culinary mysteries, try here. The writer likes Tamar Meyers' puns the best I think.)

In any case, the pun issue is probably just a quibble. The mystery was fun, the series characters getting on with their lives, and all in all I enjoyed it. Among the things I liked best is, I missed the main mystery. I was fooled by red herrings (yep, a foodie joke) and I like that. It may have been because I read at such a clip but it is more likely it is because Hyzy did well this time out. I also like the ways [POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT BUT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT THAT]  bipartisanship gets turned on its ear -- we all wish for reasonable facsimiles of intelligence and logic and caring rather than politics as usual -- in which I trade this good for that good and we all end up with. . . . well, you get my drift. In any case, I do think the cliche of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer is a bit tired, but I also think unexpected allies are always useful. It helps keep the vote counters off balance, and it also often leads to creative solutions. Hmmm. This is a theme that in various eays runs through this installment in the series of White House chef meets murderers and can;t control her urge to pursue justice.

So, in this mystery it is Ollie, the chef, and the sometimes annoying (dare I say all too often) chief of protocol as well as others who stand in for this theme. Their pairing allows for a lot of snideness, which I found entertaining. Also, the romance angle is going along without being too annoying in this one; Ollie is trying to be discrete, but it seems as though, if you trust this series, the West Wing might be renamed the "no gossip not fit to share" and people are adroit at guessing.

One thing that always eventually gets to me in series with amateur detective-y types is how often they end up involved in murders. Really, it gets a bit unbelievable. Hyzy does a good job using that to add to the flavor of the series, in a slightly tongue in cheek way. I like that. Otherwise, I would begin to feel like my suspension of disbelief, and indeed I do suspend it, is being stretched just a tad too far.

One silly note: there is a kitchen (pro kitchen) gadget involved, and I like that. . . though not its use.

Wanna try Hyzy's blog? Click here.

Chicago Again: Blackbird Again

So, a while back I was in Chicago and lunched at Blackbird. Here's what I had to say then.  So, I was there again and tried dinner. Wow. I liked it for lunch, I did. But dinner was fabulous. I spent quite a bit -- but it was worth every cent.

What did I have this time? I had trouble picking from the menu, as there were multiple things I wanted to try. On the advice of the server I went with the rabbit entree (rather than pork or lamb belly) and I tried the ahi tuna appetizer (with a lovely citrus theme and perigord truffle). The ahi was slow roasted, succulent and had the best mouth feel of any tuna I have ever eaten. (And that says a lot.) The truffles were lovely; and the orange, molasses and spiced streusel went extremely well with the tuna. It looked like I licked my plate; for the record, I did not.

The rabbit was in a ballotine (is that the right word?) -- with confit leg and roasted rabbit "saddle." It came slices into rounds, atop barley risotto. Well, not quite risotto until you poked the round egg yolk in the center, which had I not known that was what it was, would have baffled me as it was dusted with broccoli bits.  Amazing. I am not always a big fan of runny yolks, but this was amazing. Swish swish and -- magically there was risotto.  It too was amazing -- expecially the rabbit, which was tender, rich, and wrapped about with a somewhat salty bit. A perfect sweet/savoury balance. Again, looked like I licked the plate. Again, for the record, I did not.

I love rabbit and this is one of the best versions I have ever had -- with the best probably having been in Quebec City or Montreal. Hmmmm. Or maybe Chicago. At blackbird.

I had a pinot noir to go with these; not a cocktail, though they are rightly well known for their cocktails. I chose it myself and am proud that I picked something that went so well, as my palate is not great and I usually am pretty darn dependent for wine choices.

And, dessert? Yes, I cold not resist. I was tempted by many. What did I go for -- the chesnut mousse with the same sort of truffles as noted above and persimmons and caramel. Amazing presentation (yes, I keep repeating that word) -- the persimmons were very very very thinly sliced and arranged like a flower on top of the mousse. I felt vaguely guilty messing with the design as I ate it; and I have to say: there was a bit of crunchy to it all which made it transcend perfection. (Is that possible? Can something be more perfect than perfect?) While the plating of this was absolutely great, all the plating was well proportioned and attractive. And things smelled good. Hurrah.

Am I always this effusive? I think not. But this was a really good meal. And the service was delightful as well. The woman who sat me also ran out to get me a taxi in what were not quite the best conditions for someone without a coat (her, not me).

Yep, worth it. Dandy. Better than blackbird pie.

For an utterly unrelated recipe for rabbit saddle that I may try some time, click here. I found it trying to figure out what the saddle is (it is the loin more or less) -- and there are lots out there that look amazing. Yep, that word again. Hmmm.

Not as unrelated, they are supporters of Chicago's green market. Here is their site.

And, for urbanspoon on blackbird, including my prior review, here you go:

 

 

Help

No, I am not referring to the Beatle's movie, but if you want the complete move, try here. Nor am I referring to the the ordinary language word. I am referring to "The Help" -- yep, a movie and book which has stirred controversy and which I finally saw about a month or so ago. It is based on a novel by Kathryn Stockett -- and yes, it has engendered controversy around issues of race and gender. If you are the last remaining human being who does not know this -- the film and novel tell the tale of a young white woman in the South who interviews "the help" -- black (african american) maids -- learning much about their lives as she does so. The controversy: of course it is from a white woman's point of view in many ways, and of course the film does not solve the problems of that universe, let alone our universe of racial and gendered tensions. (And this is not even to mention class and regionalism.) It is set in Mississippi, and seems to be in the early 1960s or so.

Talk about white guilt. I felt oddly guilty that I liked the movie. Oh, I know, I know -- those who had no clue that the african american nannies had to have someone else raise their own kids while they raised those of white families -- are pretty silly. Yep, I knew that (though I can remember when I actually learned that -- and remember with crystal clarity a colleague describing how she learned her mother's maid had a Masters Degree)-- and yet the film reminded me and raised questions for the world we live in. I know, I know -- there are some ways in which the film distracts us from the forms of racism outside the Deep South -- and risks occasional romanticization of an imagined past racism. But still. . . .  And yes, there is endless discussion: is "The Help racist?"  And, everyone has weighed in; I find this piece particularly useful from black women historians (though a bit less in depth than one would want).

Having said all this, one oddity is that googling the help racism brings up all sorts of discussion all over hte web. And, then, I tried the help sexism. Not so much. In fact, basically nothing turned up on the film. Hmmmm. (Though this little oddity did turn up on George Clooney and Viola Davis on sexism in Hollywood.) I finally tried "the help fiml sexism" and did come up with this piece which I found informative. Hmmm.

But what about food? Even Food and Wine covered the film -- in its guise as a foodie movie. Here's their article, which emphasizes the authenticity of the food ("cooked by real Southern cooks") and the filming in the town of Greenwood, Mississippi ("home to Martha Hall Foose, author of the acclaimed Southern cookbook Screen Doors and Sweet Tea and the new A Southerly Course."; here are some of foose's views on the film and food from another source.) In some ways the food is a prop (and here's a great piece on food as props in films) and in other ways it is defining of both the issues raised by the film -- vicious exploitation and resistance in various ways -- and the risk that the film trivializes that viciousness. Food is about class, race, and more in The Help.

Class? Yep. It is definitely a film about labor exploitation and class.For some working class studies perspectives, try this site. I love the title: Global Women Workers of the World, Unite! And I suspect we ought to think not merely of the help in the film, but the help in the making of the film. Hmmm.

Want race, class and gender all in one critique? Try here. And here someone who seems to be a bit of a pip when it comes to these approaches --- but even he (yep) sees this film through these lenses. Yes, a pip. . . who sees the film as subtle. Really?

If you have not seen it, I actually recommend it -- it is problematic but I liked it. And it requires reflection from us all -- about the era, the realities of life, and what it means that this film has been made now, in this way. That too is worth reflection.

Upcoming Geneva NY Foodie (or Food-Related At Least) Events

Hobart and William Smith Colleges has a center called the Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men. This year's Fisher Center Lecture series is titled: Digesting Gender: The Politics of Food.  

• Are you covering topics related to Food in your classes—its acquisition, distribution, and ingestion?  And, have you ever wondered about how this relates to issues surrounding gender, race, and class?
• Are you and your students interested in learning more about how the politics of food impacts our communities, nation, and global world?  
• Have you ever wondered why the production and preparation of food remains a space of domesticity and invisibility for women, immigrants and the poor, while at the same time it's a route to celebrity and wealth for professional chefs, critics, corporate agribusiness and fast food conglomerates?

Here are upcoming events for Spring 2012.

February 15              Carole Counihan*

                                    “Gender and Food Activism in Italy”

                                    7:30-9 pm, Geneva Room, Warren Hunting Smith Library

 

Abstract: This talk will ponder whether and how gender plays a role in contemporary Italian food activism.  The literature on food and gender suggests several forces that may affect men’s and women’s participation in food activism, for example, women’s identification with feeding; the male-female division of food labor; gendered sensory, corporeal, and emotional relations to food; and gendered meanings surrounding food.  This talk uses ethnographic interviews conducted in 2009 with leaders of several Italian Slow Food chapters and in 2011 with a range of food activists in Cagliari, Italy, to ask how their gendered experiences with food in Italian culture might contribute to or detract from efforts to make the food systemmore just, more sustainable, more responsive to local communities, and of higher quality.

 

Bio: Carole Counihan is Professor of Anthropology at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. She has a BA in history cum laude from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts.  Dr. Counihan's research centers on food, culture, gender, and identity in the United States and Italy.  Supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, she authored A Tortilla Is Like Life: Food and Culture in the San Luis Valley of Colorado (University of Texas Press, 2009), which is based on food-centered life histories collected from Hispanic women in the town of Antonito, Colorado.  Counihan is also author of Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family and Gender in Twentieth Century Florence (Routledge, 2004) and The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power (Routledge, 1999).  She is editor of Food in the USA: A Reader (Routledge 2002), with Penny Van Esterik, of Food and Culture: A Reader (Routledge 1997, 2008), and with Psyche Williams-Forson of Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World (Routledge 2011).  She is editor-in-chief of the scholarly journal Food and Foodways.  Counihan has been a visiting professor at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy since 2005, and she has also been a visiting professor at Boston University and the University of Cagliari (Sardinia), Italy.

TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED:   

February 22               Film Screening: "After I pick the fruit", Director Nancy Ghertner 

                                    7:00-9 pm, Geneva Room, Warren Hunting Smith Library

After I Pick the Fruit is a feature-length documentary that follows the lives of five immigrant farmworker women - three of them undocumented -over a ten-year period as they struggle to fulfill their roles as workers, wives, mothers, and members of an isolated community that’s almost invisible to the outside world. It’s an intensely personal film, born of friendships forged by filmmaker Nancy Ghertner with each of the five women, who asked to be identified simply as Soledad, Verge, Maria, Elisa, and Lorena.   After I Pick the Fruit begins and ends in the apple orchards around Sodus, NY, but includes footage on location in Chilapa de Diaz, Mexico, the US-Mexicanborder in Texas, the orange groves of Florida, the Capitol Building in Albany, and most importantly, in the women's homes when the work day is done. The Bush Administration's post-9/11 crackdown on illegal immigration is pivotal to the film. Ghertner shows how a series of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in 2006 affects the women, their families, farmers, and residents in and around Sodus. When Elisa learns that her husband has been deported in an early morning raid in front of the local grocery store, she invites Ghertner into her home to talk about what happened. The film also documents the stunned reaction of the farmer who employed Lorena's husband after his deportation. Later the film follows a group of area residents whohave volunteered to stand watch outside a Catholic church on Sunday mornings - on the lookout for ICE agents - while undocumented immigrants attend Mass inside.

For some info on this film and etcetera, try here or here. For the trailer, click here.

March 14                   Film Screening and Discussion with Lucia Berliner, William Smith ’12 and the Fisher Center’s 2011 Woodworth Fellow

                                    7:00-9 pm, Sanford Room, Warren Hunting Smith Library

Film Synopsis: Berliner’s film will investigate the basic means for survival—food. By focusing on the creation, actualization, and beneficiaries of Healthy Food for All, a unique program initiated by Remembrance Farm and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the film will demonstrate demand and compassionate supply create by a network of small businesses and individuals vested in making a difference.

Bio: Outside of the classroom, Media & Society / Psychology major Lucia Berliner ’12, plans socially conscious events and programs on campus such as ArtFest, a Japan relief fundraiser, and EcoFusion, a free after school program designed to connect middle school children to various facets of environmental stewardship.  A lifelong Hudson River activist, Berliner was born and raised in the Hudson Valley where she has always been fortunate enough to have access to healthy local foods, a goal she hopes to help make a reality for all people.

April 11                      Julie Guthman*

“Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: Reflections on the Origins and Character of Contemporary Food Activism,”

7:30-9 pm, Geneva Room Warren Hunting Smith Library

Abstract:  In this talk I will reflect upon how food activism has become “feel good politics”. Drawing on nearly a decade's work with students who enrolled in the food and agriculture track in UC Santa Cruz’s Community Studies major, I have found that most contemporary food activism in the US consists of teaching others how to eat and grow food rather than contesting state or corporate practices. This, I argue, is a convergence of neoliberalism’s politics of the possible, the governmentality of healthism, and the desire for connection. While such activism affords those enrolled the pleasures of doing good by eating well, it largely neglects the deep socialinjustices propagated in the production and consumption of food.

For a bloggish review of one of Guthman's books, click here. 

Bio: Julie Guthman is an Associate Professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz where sheteaches courses primarily in global political economy and the politics of food and agriculture. Since receiving her PhD in 2000 in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley, she has published extensively on contemporary efforts to transform the way food is produced, distributed, and consumed, with a particular focus on voluntary food labels, community food security, farm-to-school programs, and the race and class politics of “alternative food.” Her first book, Agrarian Dreams: the Paradox of Organic Farming in California, (University of California, 2004), won the Frederick H. Buttel Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement from the Rural Sociological Society and the Donald Q. Innis Award from the Rural GeographySpecialty Group of the Association of American Geographers. Her new book, Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism (University of California, 2011) challenges many of the taken-for-granted assumptions about the so-called obesity epidemic, including that it can be addressed by exposing people to the "right" food.

*These two events (Counihan and Guthman) feature a Thursday morning roundtable discussion at 9-10 am, The Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men, Demarest 212