Posts filed under 'Food'
Organics in France
Interesting article by David Lebowitz about organic food in France:
I’ve spoken to a several French chefs about organics, inquiring why it’s not really a movement here in France like it is in the United States.
Surprisingly, every response is similar; “Why are Americans so obsessed with organics? We use very little pesticides on the produce in France.”
While I don’t have exact facts and figures, from the looks of fruits and vegetables, I would take an educated guess that the French probably use as much, or as few, pesticides as any other industrialized nation. Is the movement really a major cultural change in the United States? Are Americans finally taking a much closer look at the foods we eat? I would definitely say “yes”, as evidenced by the popularity of natural-foods megastores, artisan chocolates, and the like, but that doesn’t seem to be happening here. Maybe it’s because the French never strayed that much from their agricultural roots to begin with. Farmhouse cheeses and good breads are easily available, even in supermarkets, and wine is chosen based on the region, not by the grape variety (which is changing, in a rare nod to globalization.)
Most French chefs seem primarily interested in the terroir, that vaguely-translatable term that means that the product is a sum of the elements from where it’s grown; the soil, the climate, the cultivation techniques…the ‘territory’ of origin, gives food its certain “Je ne sais quoi.” That’s why the sweet corn in New England will always taste different than the corn in California, even if it’s the same variety. Or brownies in America taste better than the ones in Paris (I think I’m the first person to ascribe terroir to brownies). And why baguettes taste much more authentic in Paris than the ones in America.
Add comment May 23, 2006
Vancouver pho is Pho-Licious
Vancouver Pho blog Pho-Licious has created an interactive map of all the restaurants they've reviewed, with links to their reviews. They also have a nice chart with photos and details of all the pho. Time to get started working your way through viet-van.
Also of note in the ongoing saga of pho-punning: mo pho in New Jersey
Add comment May 21, 2006
