Salon.com > Tracie McMillan

Mister bean

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:19:00 +0000

Every food has its fans, and with Ken Albala's new book, "Beans: A History," the humble legume may well have found its champion. Over a year spent eating beans on a daily basis, from minuscule rice beans to 4-inch whoppers called gigantes, the culinary historian put his expertise -- and his stomach -- to work, compiling a detailed family history of the world's edible beans.

But lest that seem like an avalanche of research to pour into a humble subject, Albala is quick to point out that beans are one of the few foods that appear in nearly every national cuisine, from French cassoulets to Filipino bean and fruit desserts. Pairing a foodie's curiosity with an academic's knack for detail, Albala carefully charts the food's historical arc while also offering recipes in keeping with each era. A simple lentil soup punctuates the tale of the small legume's role in stabilizing early agriculture in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, while tepary beans, native to North America's indigenous cultures, show up both in both a hearty stew and haute "slow food" dishes.

The anxiety of appetite

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:26:00 +0000

America's food enthusiasts may find it hard to place the name Barry Glassner. He's not a television chef, or a restaurant critic, or a diet guru. Indeed, the University of Southern California sociologist is known primarily for his best-selling 2000 book, "The Culture of Fear," a dissection of the anxious underpinnings of the American psyche. It's a subject that might seem to have little relevance to the dinner table, but Glassner begs to differ. If his latest book, "The Gospel of Food," makes one thing plain, it's that few topics generate more worry among Americans than our breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

Glassner relishes debate, and "Gospel" -- which sports the insistent subtitle Everything You Think You Know About Food Is Wrong -- takes on nearly every sacred cow of contemporary food culture. High-end restaurant reviewers, eaters seeking "authentic" ethnic eateries, organic converts, local agriculture proponents, and fast food's detractors all receive a methodical interrogation of the accuracy of their claims.

The Julia Child of Malaysian food

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:30:00 +0000

Pre-made sushi and pad thai may now be making appearances on American dinner tables from coast to coast, but mention Malaysian food to your Midwestern aunt, and you're still likely to get a raised eyebrow. James Oseland is on a mission to change that. Just as Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" brought French food into the hearts and hands of American housewives 40 years ago, Oseland's new cookbook, "Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking From the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia," is a comprehensive and charismatic attempt to introduce Americans to a great, global cuisine.

Jicama in the ‘hood

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:00:00 +0000

Amid a crowd of New York City public high-schoolers, Antonio Mayers, 16, is trying -- with modest success -- to wrap his head around the idea of freezing a mango pit for later consumption as a popsicle.

"How long you put it in the freezer?"

"Just until it gets, you know, frozen. It's really good," says Michael Welch. Welch is leading Mayers and his tittering cohorts in a cooking class coordinated by EatWise, a New York nutrition and food systems education group. As simple as that mango may seem, for Welch's students -- and their counterparts in the many high-density, urban areas around the country that researchers have deemed "food deserts" for their lack of grocery stores -- fresh fruit, indeed fresh anything, is largely inaccessible. Welch has carefully selected today's dishes with his students in mind, a calculation that has resulted in a menu featuring both local sweet corn and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. "Not all these kids can afford the high-end and organic stuff," explains Welch. "I wanted it to be something they can find in their neighborhood." Continuing his presentation, Welch shows his skeptical students some of the less-familiar ingredients they'll be using: jicama, raw corn sliced from the cob, honey. Much of the produce was grown in local dirt, a particularly relevant fact given the venue: Stone Barns, the Westchester County estate James Beard-recognized chef Dan Barber has transformed into a working sustainable farm, education center and restaurant. The site is just 30 miles from Manhattan, but the combination of fine dining at Blue Hill Stone Barns restaurant and the rolling farm it overlooks are a world away from the concrete grid where Welch's students buy their groceries. Indeed, Stone Barns is to New York foodies what Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard and Chez Panisse are to food-conscious San Franciscans: an institution committed to wholesome food and local ingredients, set on convincing the next generation to avoid industrial food in its favor. It's a lofty goal, one routinely -- and effortlessly -- sold to food acolytes, but today Stone Barns is aiming at a different audience.