On Professional Food Blogging

There’s an interesting piece on the Guardian’s food blog today about “professional food bloggers”, that is, people who started blogging and then went on to get book deals or paid writing gigs. The piece mostly looks at the realm of recipe bloggers and cook books, comparing the fresh voices of bloggers with the work of celebrity chefs.

I suspect that anybody who writes, dreams – even secretly – of doing it professionally. I kind of don’t buy the whole “I started a blog to share recipes with my friends and family” thing. Maybe, to start with, but if that was the case, why not just use email or Facebook?

Mind you, I also don’t get the whole idea of “community” and the assumption that everyone who has a food blog therefore automatically has something in common with every other food blogger on the planet. On the basest level we do, but that doesn’t create a community per se. Most of us also wear shoes but that doesn’t mean we all want to go shoe shopping together.

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Lucky Dip – Monday, June 6th, 2011

The German e.coli scare – it’s sprouts, it’s not sprouts… we still don’t have a clue. [Toronto Star]

There’s always the possibility that it might have been terrorists poisoning the food supply. [Daily Mail]

And don’t think it couldn’t happen here. Check out this list of foods in Canada that are currently being recalled. [National Post]

Is there such a thing as too much fruit? Only if you’re seriously overeating, because it still beats chips. [Toronto Sun]

Can we be over the burger thing yet? Please? [Esquire]

Do you expect friendly enthusiasm from the restaurants you eat at? What if you met with ambivalence or indifference? [CNN: Eatocracy]

You know how when you eat a lot of garlic, you smell like garlic? How about if you eat candy scented with roses? [ConfectioneryNews.com]

My good friend Jodi lost her beloved old cat this weekend. She eases the grief with cooking and chocolate. [Nostrovia!]

Word of Mouth: Deli Duel, Curdilicious, and an Italian wine dinner. [Toronto.com]

Quince’s Indonesian Rijsttafel

Quick – tell me your favourite Indonesian restaurant in Toronto. Can’t do it? That’s because they don’t exist. Seriously, Google “Indonesian restaurant Toronto” and you get hits for a Thai restaurant, a Malaysian restaurant and a Vietnamese restaurant. And while those 3 cuisines are similar in many ways to Indonesian food, there’s a different interplay of spices and ingredients that make Indonesian food unique.

I first got hooked on Indonesian food back in the 80s, when the food court in the basement of Dragon City Mall had an Indonesian kiosk where my roommates and I could try various dishes to our heart’s content. I had no point of comparison at that time, so I don’t remember if it was particularly good Indonesian food, but since there are no other Indonesian places in Toronto (and no, nasi goreng at Movenpick Marche doesn’t count), I haven’t had much opportunity for comparison. Until last week.

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Smörgåsbord – Wvrst, Stockyards, Pizza e Pazzi, Marben

Smörgåsbord part 2 continues with the many meals of May.

We popped by Wvrst (609 King Street West) a day or so after they opened to grab a photo for my Toronto.com piece and found it to be a great place. The many sausages come either on a bun or as currywurst, where the sausage is sliced and served with rye bread and a tomato curry sauce. The above was a Kranjska sausage and was way delicious. Beside it, the Italian sausage with sauerkraut.

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The Places We Inhabit

Something happened last week that has weirded me out and I can’t seem to shake it. Greg and I ran into an acquaintance on the streetcar who happens to live in the basement apartment of the house we lived in for 12 years, up until 2006 when, due to the negligence of the landlord, I fell in the front walkway and broke my arm.

Despite eventually moving to a smaller place in a highrise building and no longer having a big old Edwardian mansion (with a huge back yard) to call home, we ended up much happier, if only because we no longer had to deal with said landlord and his utter refusal to fix anything unless absolutely necessary. While the house was cosmetically beautiful, there were rotten joists, no insulation, century-old single-pane windows, squirrels in the attic, and because the landlord converted a cellar to a basement apartment illegally (as in, he never got a building permit, and paid a bunch of illegal immigrants less than minimum wage to do the work that wasn’t up to code… not to mention that he’s never paid property tax on the basement unit), some serious issues with black mold that had spread through the crumbling walls.

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Smörgåsbord – The Ballroom, Bloom, Cardinal Rule

So, uh… we’ve been eating out a lot lately. For work… you know. In any case, I amassed a bunch of stuff throughout May, figuring that we’d do a SalivAte column over on TasteTO, but then we decided to change things around and I have all these pictures of tasty food… So I’m working through the smaller ones alphabetically and then there’s a couple more big ones – dinner with multiple dishes – and then I’ll hopefully be caught up. Maybe. In any case, please enjoy.

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Lucky Dip – Friday, June 3rd, 2011

The big food news in the US this week was about the new plate-shaped food guide. And while still not perfect, it more appropriately addresses proportion of food consumed rather than number of portions or overall portion sizes, which always seemed to confuse people because there were so many different rules (is it a serving of meat that should be the size of a deck of cards, or is that cheese?). Also, “meat” is now just “protein” and dairy products are off to the side, indicating that they’re optional, not required, which is how it should be. [Globe and Mail] [Reuters via Toronto Sun] [The Atlantic]

This is going to stir up some controversy – next week a Toronto councillor will put forward a motion to ban shark fin. Given the number of places in Chinatown that serve it or sell it, I’m expecting a big fight. [Toronto Life: The Dish]

Are cupcakes the answer to world peace? They are when British intelligence groups hack an Al Qaeda bomb manual and replace it with cupcake recipes. [The Telegraph]

In case it was ever disputed – nachos are a dish for sharing. [Toronto Star]

You can bet the farm that “farm to… “, well, pretty much anything should be dead and buried. [Food & Wine]

Eat some dirt, it’s good for you. [Toronto Sun]

Wait, can we really blame meat eaters for “killing vegetarians” by linking the various e.coli outbreaks to meat consumption? [Good.is]

Because baby humans are not baby cows – alternatives to feeding children’ cow’s milk. [Globe and Mail]

Why you’ll never see a rich person drinking a Pepsi. [Vanity Fair]

Some facts about food waste. [Chow]

 

Lucky Dip – Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

But, everybody’s doing it! Supermarket listing fees and why that competitive nature means hard times for small independent food manufacturers who can’t afford to pay them. [Toronto Star]

Allergies, special diets, concerns about sustainability… have we all become impossible to please when eating out? [Boston.com]

The best eats of the coming summer, from burgers, BBQ and brunch to Thunderin’ Thelma. Use it as a to-do list and hit them all. [NOW]

10 restaurant trends that are dead in NYC. Which means Toronto can still beat some life out of them for another couple of years. [Eater]

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Smörgåsbord – Andrew Carter at St. Lawrence Market

Shoppers who bustle about the south St. Lawrence Market building seldom look up – they’re too busy. But if they did, they’d see that there is a fantastic kitchen and event space at the northwest corner that overlooks the market proper and offers a breathtaking view of the city skyline. Equipped with top of the line appliances, the space is often used to host dinners and cooking demos and this summer a handful of Toronto’s executive chefs are taking part in a dinner series where they’ll cook and interact with guests.

On May 12th, we attended the first event in this series with Chef Andrew Carter from the Queen and Beaver Public House (35 Elm Street). I’ve been a fan of Carter’s since he started at Q&B and he enthusiastically led Greg and I on a tour of his kitchen. That he’s been known to serve up dishes like fried cod cheeks, potted duck and a venison stew made with chocolate also don’t hurt.

His night at St. Lawrence Market featured traditional English fare, and was designed to tie in with the Toronto launch of the Billy Elliot musical.

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Lucky Dip – Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

There are school lunch organizations out there that are feeding kids healthy, organic foods. But your kid’s school isn’t necessarily working with them. They might be dealing with a service like this. [Toronto Star]

There’s nothing sadder than really, really wanting to love a restaurant and having it come up sub-par. [Drawn and Devoured]

Live in Toronto? Jennifer Bain would like to come to your house for dinner. You should invite her. I’ve met her and can vouch for the fact that she’s a nice lady and not an axe-wielding serial killer. [Toronto Star]

Oohh… I love Sri Lankan grub. This place in Markham looks outstanding. [Spice City Toronto]

The hottest new trend for restaurants? Opening an accompanying food shop. [Globe and Mail]

The US will not list bluefin tuna as an endangered species. But… why?? [Politics of the Plate]

The bigger the package, the bigger the portion. Why buying in bulk may not be such a great idea. [National Post]

Quebec sugar pie rocks. (And it’s supposed to be gooey.) [Madame Benoît et Moi]

Speaking of sugar, the Candy Expo is now the Sweets and Snacks Expo, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a whole pile of candy going on. [Serious Eats]