Hedonia

The Butterfly Effect, Part 4

The Butterfly Effect
Part 4: A cookbook or other written work

The Man Who Ate Everything
by Jeffrey Steingarten
I've been writing professionally for over a decade, starting out in technology. I really enjoyed being a software reviewer during the early days of the tech boom of the mid-90s, taking in products faster than we could digest them, learning, assessing, reviewing. As Internet usage crept into the homes of normal people across the country, I shifted to covering the Web itself, observing its development from a patchy conglomeration of incoherent ramblings and sites with pictures of people's cats to ... well, we still have all of that, but so very much more, too.

But shortly before the Internet economy developed a nasty cough that threatened to turn to a death rattle, I grew weary of technology as a topic, and shifted my focus to travel. Yet, the more I paid attention to my own writings whilst traveling, the more I became aware of the fact that I wrote at least as much about the food as about anything else.

I took a food writing class, taught by Jeannette Ferrary, at Berkeley Extension with a coworker in 2000. To be honest, I found the class of limited use. The big takeaway, in fact, was when my coworker turned me on to this book. Steingarten was everything I aspired to be: Erudite, witty, well-informed and just plain enjoyable. If I didn't exactly want to be him, I at least wanted to mimic his best qualities as a writer.

Granted, I haven't read the book in a few years, but I still chuckle when I think back on his madcap (yet informative!) experiments with bread leavened with airborne yeast and with an expansive variety of espresso makers. Being a former lawyer, he has an amazing ability to drill down to the tiniest degree of detail, yet never gets lost in the minutiae.

My most favorite of his essays deal with debunking food myths. The highlight of this book is "Salad the Silent Killer," wherein he illustrates how each element of a typical raw salad is potentially not only utterly non-nutritious but potentially can block the absorption of valuable nutrients from other foods. It is of course hyperbole, but makes for a very enjoyable read.

The follow-up book, "It Must Have Been Something I Ate," is as enjoyable, and he still writes for Vogue and other outlets (as well as making the occasional Iron Chef appearance).

Next: Part 5 >>

Quick Italian-Style Garden Pickles, part 1

I like pickles. I like all things pickled. I'm an equal-opportunity pickle lover, too. Tart, zingy dill pickles? Great. Sweet-sour bread-and-butter pickles? Ideal. Salty garlic pickles? Yum! And so now, with the Zojirushi equation looming over our heads, I have a yen to make pickles so as to have some variety at our fingers.

A couple of years ago, I picked up a copy of Quick Pickles on impulse. The promise of making bright, colorful folk pickles was too much to pass up. I promptly set it on the shelf and more or less forgot about it. But one of the joys of having too many cookbooks is the rediscovery of one that's been lurking in a dark corner, or hiding behind a bigger book, or that you look at flat out hundreds of times and simply stop seeing.

I picked the recipe for Italian-Style Garden Pickles for its simplicity and its familiarity. But of course, I didn't follow it exactly to the T. (Do I ever?) Rather, the vinegar is mostly apple cider vinegar with some white wine and red wine vinegars thrown in to make up the balance (it's what I had in the house), and I tossed in some extra dry herbs to pump it up a bit.

The flavor will develop over the next few days. I'll report back accordingly. The recipe, as usual, after the jump.

Good thing: Martha gives us her John Hancock

Deliciously evil bitch goddess Martha Stewart descends on her broom for a book signing at the flagship Williams-Sonoma store on Union Square tomorrow. (Did I mention I'm a fan?) The event begins at noon, but prospective attendees are being encouraged to show up very early.

In other news, I predict PlanetOut, Gap and Schwab headquarters will face office closures due to an unusually high number of gay employees calling in sick.

Williams-Sonoma
340 Post St, between Powell and Stockton