Literary Tapas

Origianlly published at Paper Palate (paperpalate.net) on July 11, 2008.

A collection of small dishes from the realm where paper meets palate.

• With all of the hullabaloo right now about salmonella tainted tomatoes the good folks at Domino Magazine comes to the rescue in their August ’08 issue with an article for uses of heirloom tomatoes. For those who do not know, heirlooms are what tomatoes were like before scientists decided that they should round, red orbs. After consulting with “culinary guru” Susan Spungen they dished up five very innovative dishes using locally sourced heirlooms including a Warm Caprese Salad where the tomatoes are grilled and the amazing Gazpacho Bloody Marys. More importantly they tell you how to find local produce by offering the link localharvest.org.  Or you could just get an Aerogarden.
• Russ Parsons, the renowned food and wine columnist for the LA Times is also an award winning author having snagged multiple James Beard awards. He appears to have hit another homerun with his book How To Pick A Peach which he describes as a cook’s look at agriculture. As he explained to Daniel Boulud on his MOJO series After Hours with Daniel, it is about, “. . . how we got to the point we are today with the kind of the split between super market produce sections and the farmer’s market and how the farmer’s markets are influencing super market produce sections and vice versa.” Adding that, “The chefs influence the farmers and the farmers influence the chefs.”
• Weber Grill “professor” Steven Raichlen is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the release of his James Beard Award winning The Barbecue! Bible by revising the grilling guide which has sold more than 4 million copies and has been translated into 14 languages. Raichlen says that so much of Americans’ understanding of how to cook over an open flame has changed over the past decade that it was time to update his mammoth opus.  In a recent interview with David Holloway of the Mobile Press Register he explains his motivation for the makeover, “People now have a much greater understanding of barbecuing and grilling. When I first wrote the book, I had to go into great detail to explain indirect cooking: now it’s pretty much common knowledge.” Holloway sums up the book by saying, “If you could only buy one book on how to grill, smoke, or barbecue, this would be it.”  Perfect for those of you who are part of the bbq sauce of the month club.