Untitled Document Arron Patton is hot. Really, really hot. So hot that just thinking about him makes me sweat. While the members of the Iraqi Parliament flee their responsibilities this month to seek relief from the scorching heat and U.S. and coalition forces and civilians stationed in the Green Zone enjoy the comforts of air […]
Food & Drink
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Tastes like okra
Untitled Document On a recent Today Show, cooking kitten Giada De Laurentiis asked Atlanta chef Scott Peacock what okra tastes like, and he said, “Like okra.” I thought about the question for a minute, and in a way he’s right. Okra, the only vegetable known to ooze when sliced, tastes like okra. If blindfolded with […]
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The secret is in the sauce
Untitled Document Question: When does a host boast? With any luck it’s not very often, but I’d argue that the superego emerges whenever a marinade is involved. We’ve all been here before: “Yeah, that’s right, that pork shoulder has been marinatin’ for 16 hours, I reckon. It’s an ancient family recipe, from the South Pacific, […]
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True confessions of a barbecue judge
Untitled Document Not long after I began writing this column, I realized that the job came with some perks. I was invited to a food writers’ dinner showcasing Anheuser-Busch’s line of artisanal beers at Blackbird, one of Chicago’s best restaurants (both the food and the beers were sublime). Promotional cookbooks began showing up in my […]
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Even a ding-a-ling can make a “Ding Dong”
Untitled Document Remember Ding Dongs? Even as a kid, I didn’t really like them. They sounded fun, though, and every so often I’d succumb to advertising hype or the desire to eat what my friends ate and nag my mom into buying them. The same thing happened with cereal. Tony the Tiger, Count Chocula, Lucky […]
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Green with tomato envy
Untitled Document If we believe everything we see on the big screen, then fried green tomatoes were invented at the Whistle Stop Café in Alabama, where Idgie Threadgoode manned the stove. And that’s the truth, Ruth (Jamison). Southern folks are so savvy, taking an unripe piece of fruit and turning it into a tasty morsel […]
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Falling for eggplant
Untitled Document For many years I considered myself a member of the ranks of the eggplant-challenged. Unlike the rest of the denizens of the summer garden patch, this weird fruit is complicated, yielding a seedy flesh that requires intellectual pursuit. You can’t just boil up some eggplant or sauté it in a pan and put […]
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Culler’s french fries
Untitled Document Lemonade shakeups. Corndogs. Saltwater taffy. Honey ice cream. Few traditions at the Illinois State Fair are more hallowed than its special foods. A day at the fair just isn’t complete without them. And at the Illinois State Fair, as well as dozens of other state and county fairs and festivals ranging from Illinois, […]
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Gnocchi and summer insanity
Untitled Document Just the idea of a baked potato in the middle of summer makes me sweat. There are so many greener, leafier dinner choices at this time of year that keep the oven dial in its proper “off” position. What would possess someone to turn the house into a sauna just for a couple […]
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Experimenting with fresh-picked corn
Untitled Document Are there any sights, sounds, and smells more evocative of a Midwest summer than those of fresh corn on the cob waiting to be shucked? The leaves are still crisp and green; the aroma’s corny and delicious; the husks squeak when they’re ripped away to reveal the tender kernels. For anyone who’s ever […]
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A taste of Springfield’s past
Untitled Document Hot tamales and they’re red hot, Yes, she got ’em for sale I got a girl, say she long and tall She sleeps in the kitchen Her feets in the hall Hot tamales and they’re red hot, I mean Yes, she got ’em for sale, yeah — Robert Johnson, recorded […]
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Zucchini abundance
Untitled Document My job is to think about food. As a constant forager for news that relates to the food we eat and the myriad interconnected environmental, political, ethical, and health issues in a constantly changing global economy, I have a lot of stuff swirling around in my head. For the most part, I am […]
