So you have had some food in your fridge for a while. Like me you hate to waste anything, but you're not sure if it is safe to eat. What do you do? Some people call their parents. "Mom, I bought fish on Tuesday, didn't cook it, can I make it today?" one might ask, only to hear back, "It is probably not a good idea but while I have you on the phone I have some things I need you to do and by the way, what are you doing with your life?"
Please allow me to spare you from ever having to have this conversation again. I introduce you to StillTasty.com, a website which will answer your food storage and safety questions for almost any item under the sun. Bacon is always a tricky one, its cured but its pork and you may not eat it all the time so it could be around for a while... Hm. Before you spend way too much time touching your bacon to decide whether it is "slimy," my dad's preferred method of determining if it is time to toss it, check out Still Tasty. You'll also learn neat tips such as store your eggs in the main area of your fridge, not the door, they'll last longer. I won't spoil the rest for you. Go check them out for yourself and start wasting less food and money! TGIF.
In the gastronomic blogosphere there is a lot of blah blah blah. Here is where I ate last night. Here is the recipe for the blueberry crumble I made. Here is what I think of the White House vegetable garden. But every once in a while I stumble across something truly original, and hilarious. I direct you to this site full of haikus about bacon. Below is my hand at a quick one, but I am just a dabbler. Click through to experience a real pro.
I went on a first date with a restaurant last night. When we were set up I checked the place out online, Northern Spy Food Co: local, sustainable food at reasonable prices. It seemed too good to be true. Either it was going to be packed, or ugly, or have bad food, or my least favorite wart, nasty service. Maybe I am not ready to try new places again I thought.
But I put my coat on and went, and am really glad. I know its early but I may even be in love. I tried not to stare but I couldn't help notice that the place was really cute. Its not all about looks I reminded myself, as my friend Katie arrived. A restaurant has to have more than that to offer.
We shared the kale salad to start. Frilly chopped pieces of delicate yet flavorful kale piled fluffully with cubes of cooked squash, clothbound cheddar, and almond pieces. It was slightly heavy on the almonds but the elements combined liked they were meant to be together and the textures yielded some fun chewing which unlocked gradually changing taste experiences with each bite. You make a good first impression Northern Spy Food Co.
Next, Katie had the squid and mussels entree and I had a special of pork meatballs in red sauce. I reached across the table and tried Katie's food. The squid and mussels were light but the navy beans in the dish gave it a little heft and the subtle breadcrumbs lent it a hint of decadence. And the meatballs? A nice balance on the sweet to spicy and dense to squishy scales with a lovely porky flavor. The red sauce, as it should, tasted like tomato and had a good acid level. Often tomato sauce can be like an assault rifle on my esophagus but this was just right. Could you be for real Northern Spy Co?
We skipped dessert to spend a little time browsing the shop of artisanal food products in the back. Brooklyn Brine pickles. Anarchy-in-a-Jar jams. Mother-in-law's Kimchi. Consider Bardwell Cheese. And then there is the sin section, a bevy of little homemade confections by the register. I was wooed by the beer pretzel caramel and the chocolate covered graham cracker. How you sweet talk me Northern Spy Food Co.
So where is the catch? Is it the service? Not at all. It was homey and genuine and sweet. Was it the price? Not that either. $33 each for the above plus two house-made seltzers, two drinks (one wine and one beer from a good selection of local craft offerings), and a 20+% tip. The little treats we got on the way out were $1 a piece. I'll keep my guard up because this is a tough town, but I can't wait to go out with you again, Northern Spy Food Co.
An issue that has become very important to me of late is sustainable farming. And I don't mean sustainable farming in the buzz word, bumper sticker, causnik, I'm for puppies sort of way. I mean that in actual practice, we need to transform the food ecosystem through the choices we make when it comes to food. Sustainable farming is a trendy issue these days but one thing many lose sight of is that sustainable farming is not the responsibility of farmers alone. Consumers are an integral part of the food business, in fact its reason for existing, and it is our responsibility to demand food that has been responsibly produced and sourced, and support the producers that meet these demands. We should know where the food we eat comes from and roughly speaking, we should know how it is produced. And we should know, in the case of livestock, if it was raised in the most humane and natural manner possible. You wouldn't drink a cocktail that was made with a bottle that only said "alcohol" in block letters on the label. So too shouldn't you eat something that just says "food" on it, and if you don't know where it comes from, that it is edible is really all you know about it.
But, how you ask, in a free market economy, did we get to a place where people actually prefer to buy industrially farmed produce that is laden with chemicals and devoid of taste? When consumers have choice, why do they buy chickens that have been raised exclusively indoors with no room to even turn around? It is a complicated issue for sure, made more complicated by farm subsidies and other government programs, but at the consumer end of the supply chain, a lot of it boils down to a fundamental information asymmetry-- one of those little wrenches they taught you in Econ 101 could disrupt a market's ability to function efficiently. Other than superficial appearance, the only thing consumers really see when they shop for fruit, vegetables or meat at the average grocery store is price. They don't see the impact on our soil and water supplies from farming the way big agriculture farms. They don't see pictures on meat packages of animals raised in barns packed practically wall to wall. Leading with price, and obscuring a lot of other facts, farming industrialists have radically changed our agricultural landscape and in turn, the food that makes it to our tables.
I could go on and on about how sustainable farming is better for the earth, better for you, better for animals, and better in terms of taste. Just ask if you're curious. But my point is that it is not in the interest of the big food companies to tell you about where the food they sell comes from. So start finding out on your own and make educated choices. You, the consumer, are the tail that can wag this dog and help reverse a tragic trend in American agriculture and food. Sure, these choices may be more expensive, but how do you really feel about eating a $2 chicken anyway? My suggestion is to choose the good stuff, maybe just a little less of it.
To help you on your way to learning more, here are two short videos. Neither was chosen for shock value so don't fear any preachy animal abuse snuff like content. Just some good information. The first video is As We Sow, a short sobering documentary about farming in Iowa. The second is a look into animal farming at Stone Barns, a working farm and agricultural center just north of New York City. Take note of the difference between the pigs in both videos, which ones do you want to eat?
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