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I feel sorry for the folks that tried to make the "Chipotle Meatballs" from last week's New York Times:

Because of an editing error, a recipe last Wednesday for meatballs with an article about foods to serve during the Super Bowl misstated the amount of chipotle chilies in adobo to be used. It is one or two canned chilies, not one or two cans.

Yowza!

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I feel sorry for the folks that tried to make the "Chipotle Meatballs" from last week's New York Times:

Because of an editing error, a recipe last Wednesday for meatballs with an article about foods to serve during the Super Bowl misstated the amount of chipotle chilies in adobo to be used. It is one or two canned chilies, not one or two cans.

Yowza!

Oops! My bad! :lol::huh::)
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Oops!  My bad!  :lol:   :huh:   :)

Why does this remind me of the giant fireball-producing icebox rolls recipe from that one issue of Southern Living? I actually managed to get my hands on a copy of that issue after it was recalled, due to the negligence of a nearby convenience store. :wub:

Of course, in that case it wasn't a typo, it was just a group of editors too lazy to retest their recipe when they switched from lard to Crisco.

Edited by Principia
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I feel sorry for the folks that tried to make the "Chipotle Meatballs" from last week's New York Times:

Because of an editing error, a recipe last Wednesday for meatballs with an article about foods to serve during the Super Bowl misstated the amount of chipotle chilies in adobo to be used. It is one or two canned chilies, not one or two cans.

Yowza!

That wasn't an error. :lol::huh:

Recipe Voodoo.

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I feel sorry for the folks that tried to make the "Chipotle Meatballs" from last week's New York Times:

Because of an editing error, a recipe last Wednesday for meatballs with an article about foods to serve during the Super Bowl misstated the amount of chipotle chilies in adobo to be used. It is one or two canned chilies, not one or two cans.

Yowza!

Anyone who knows how much heat those things put out would be real leery about putting in two cans worth. Sort of reminds me of an old Alka Seltzer commercial though.

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Anyone who knows how much heat those things put out would be real leery about putting in two cans worth.  Sort of reminds me of an old Alka Seltzer commercial though.

I would venture to predict, considering circulation,

that a number of blind monkeys followed the directions. Heatballs. I mean, how did they know to run the correction? Some blogger or reader wrote a letter saying 'my mouth hurts.' The dosing on these recipes is beginning to concern me.

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I would venture to predict, considering circulation,

that a number of blind monkeys followed the directions. Heatballs.  I mean, how did they know to run the correction?  Some blogger or reader wrote a letter saying 'my mouth hurts.' The dosing on these recipes is beginning to concern me.

I am sure that some people thought the original recipe was great and will miss the correction and continue to make it.

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"Like their confreres in the travel genre, food writers have crossed a frontier. Cheap airplane travel, mass tourism and television, not to mention a horde of scribbling journalists, have shrunk the globe and placed absurd demands on anyone trying to deliver an exotic experience to readers. When everyone, either in person or through the Food Network, has sampled street food in Hanoi, what's left?"

Click

(The rest of the article reviews a number of recently published food books.)

Thoughts? I personally think it's a cop-out of an argument, useful as an excuse if your prose can't transport your readers. I, for one, equally enjoy reading food writing about street food in Hanoi (something I haven't sampled) and sushi at the Tsukijii fish market in Tokyo (something I have) -- if the writing is sufficiently evocative.

ETA: Then again, I'm not a food writer... so clearly I could be missing something...

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I include my response to an article I read today since it touches on a subject discussed here somewhat frequently, if not directly then indirectly:

Mr. Fisher:

As much as I expect that some lessons from the Holocaust will never be learned, I do hope, even demand, that some lessons from human slavery must be. I read with shock, and horror, your piece today--not as a columnist, but as a reporter--regarding "growth concerns" in Culpepper, Virginia.

Perhaps, as seems to be suggested, even approved, in your news article, individuals of lesser status as "Americans" can be identified by legally enforced symbols sewn into their clothing, so that all can see just exactly with whom we are dealing. That would just make the views you reported upon, if not favorably then at least with journalistic objectivity granting legitimacy to horrible, horrible sentiments, clear and plain and acceptable.

Please do not visit any of my restaurants, and if you do so, please do not introduce yourself to me or use your position at the Post as a calling card. You, and the ideas you give voice to, are not welcome.

Michael Landrum

Proprietor, Ray's The Steaks/Ray's The Classics

I repeat these comments here as an employer and hope that this fact makes this topic relevant enough to the board to not be deleted.

(I should note here that "pisher" or "fisher" in Modern Hebrew and Yiddish--the plosive or affricative being a purely arbitrary distinction, linguistically--is used to mark an individual of such ultimate lack of weight or regard (as in a little boy who can not help but wet himself, metaphorically, with his underdeveloped organ) so as to not ever be taken seriously, and to be held in stark disregard to the modern standard of Israeli and Europe post-'45, well let's say, umm, "adultness" (thanks to Primo Levi, Shai Agnon, Vera (mother of Dimitri), and both the Grossmans, David and Vasily (Hi Nadya!!), for research, and, hey how about this for a place for book club interest?))

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The exception is the Pacific Northwest forum, whose posters cook and eat together regularly.
Without getting too far into dangerous territory...

That group is another of the eG regional fora that decamped en masse following the events policy.

They just didn't have someone as stupid crazy industrious as Rocks to start up their own board. :)

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I thought it was an interesting read. It certainely shows the power the "Internet" plays in our lives. I also think that, knowing a review of a new restaurant can be online in an hour, will push those opening restaurants to make sure everything starts out right. Opening night mis-steps are to be expected but should not be a reason for half assed food or service. However, restaurants should still be entilted to a grace period to work out the kinks before they get bashed. :lol:

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I thought it was an interesting read. It certainely shows the power the "Internet" plays in our lives. I also think that, knowing a review of a new restaurant can be online in an hour, will push those opening restaurants to make sure everything starts out right. Opening night mis-steps are to be expected but should not be a reason for half assed food or service. However, restaurants should still be entilted to a grace period to work out the kinks before they get bashed. :lol:

Yeah, but if they're charging full price, shouldn't we expect full value, right from the get-go? I totally agree that there should be a grace period, and that a brand new place needs some time to work out the kinks, but, not if a customer is paying full price - For me, I'd rather wait a bit to try a place. But for the people that don't, I'd just expect the restaurant to make some kind of compensation (comped dessert, something) if they screw up early on.

Also, right after I saw that article, I came straight here - I'm expecting this thread to keep me entertained all day :unsure:

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Don't these people have lives?

"I'm just a dude with a ridiculously opinionated stance on all things food,"

Jeez, what's the matter with these losers?

Ignorant narcissists? Losers? Well, I don't know, but it seems to me that carping about food blogers here, particularly by frequent posters, is straying into "pot calling kettle black" territory.

Sarcasm my friend, sarcasm. Crescentfresh is infamous for it.

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Yeah, but if they're charging full price, shouldn't we expect full value, right from the get-go? I totally agree that there should be a grace period, and that a brand new place needs some time to work out the kinks, but, not if a customer is paying full price - For me, I'd rather wait a bit to try a place. But for the people that don't, I'd just expect the restaurant to make some kind of compensation (comped dessert, something) if they screw up early on.

Also, right after I saw that article, I came straight here - I'm expecting this thread to keep me entertained all day :unsure:

I agree that waiting is the best way to go. My feeling is that bashing a restaurant on opening night is wrong. Period. Plus if a new chef working in an exsisting restaurant doesn't have his/her shit together when they put out a new menu then shame on them. Another period. :lol:

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I agree that waiting is the best way to go. My feeling is that bashing a restaurant on opening night is wrong. Period. Plus if a new chef working in an exsisting restaurant doesn't have his/her shit together when they put out a new menu then shame on them. Another period. :lol:
Unfortunately, you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. Now that restauranteurs know they may be blogged in their first minute of service, the smart ones make sure they've got it right-right out of the box-I'm not saying it's fair, but it IS happening.
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I read this article and had mixed feelings about it. I guess I am a food blogger, so I guess I have some thoughts about both the people and the writer. Yet, we decided not to do restaurant reviews for much of the reason hinted at in this article. Personally, I didn't feel comfortable bashing someone's livelihood without more than one sitting in a restaurant. I mean to do a fair and decent review I think you have to put a great deal into the work of reviewing it. And I just don't go out to a single place often enough to be that fair.

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I read this article and had mixed feelings about it. I guess I am a food blogger, so I guess I have some thoughts about both the people and the writer. Yet, we decided not to do restaurant reviews for much of the reason hinted at in this article. Personally, I didn't feel comfortable bashing someone's livelihood without more than one sitting in a restaurant. I mean to do a fair and decent review I think you have to put a great deal into the work of reviewing it. And I just don't go out to a single place often enough to be that fair.
As I prepare to launch a new blog (launch date is expected this weekend- I just need to continue tweaking graphics and some writings for spelling and grammar) I have taken this notion into great consideration. My goal in writing a food blog is to take restaurants at a random sitting and tell my dinner as the story that unfolded before me. The thing is, I'm actually less interested in dining at a place 3-5 times to get the sampling that a reviewer like Bruni gets- rather I'd like to do what the normal diner does and go once and see how it is. Plus I'm on my own dime, not someone elses.

I don't believe in bashing a place just to bash it. That's childish to me. But I do believe in telling it how it is with a humurous slant on it. Read my review of Le Bec-Fin for example in the Philadelphia post. One thing I have made it a point to do with all of my reviews is to send out letters to the chefs/owners who I am reviewing and posting and giving them an open opportunity to respond. My posts will stand as they are (minus grammar or spelling issues) but I feel it's only fair to let them respond.

It's about balance in journalism to me, and I do see food blogging as a new form of journalism.

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Personally, I don't think my decision should apply to everyone. But my feeling is that I look at it from the statistician perspective. You are unlikely to be able to tell that your unique event is the same as everyone else's. I understand the idea that it should be the same for everyone, but it typically isn't. I mean the error of a server or a table that gets caught in the flow of a busy restaurant and fails to get served right away is a the type of unique event I'm talking about. Or reviewing a restaurant that has a lot of press and is in its first week of opening is an example of times when I expect quirks in service.

For example, there is a famous Italian Chef who opened a new casual place a few months ago. It had been open for about 10 days when my wife and I went. It was terrible. I mean the food was off, the service was regrettable. Does the public have the right to know it? Absolutely. Does that mean I should promote that its a terrible restaurant because I had a bad experience on the one time I went? I'm not sure I should active in discouraging people when so much is on the line. In fact, I've read a number of reviews that confirms that my persepctive was unique.

With that said, sounds like you have the idea of being editorially balanced. If you need help, please let me know. I'm all to happy to assist if you need it.

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It's about balance in journalism to me, and I do see food blogging as a new form of journalism.

I went to this wedding kind of recently. Friend of a friend. I mention it because Balance, Journalism, and Blogging were there, too. All I can say is this -- it was a disaster.

In the middle of the cocktail hour, Journalism started pelting Blogging with cocktail weenies and maraschino cherries, muttering something about Integrity and Balance. Blogging saw who was throwing the food and she ended up tossing not only her cosmo into Journalism's face, but she also shoved him into the wedding cake. (It was like that scene from the Brady Bunch where Tiger ran amok in the backyard knocking over all the BBQ stuff.)

Balance, meanwhile got so pissed off at the both of them. He was pissed at Blogging because every time they were supposed to go out together, Blogging kept canceling. And he was pissed with Journalism for accusing him of hanging out with Integrity, a very uncool thing to do while he was making moves on Blogging.

What I learned from this incident was that Balance, Journalism, and Blogging cannot live together even in the same universe, let alone the same banquet hall reception. I have no confidence you'll ever see any of them peacefully co-exist, no matter how hard anyone tries to put them altogether.

(Balance did leave with the Maid of Honor, though. Some hot chick named Bias. I'm waiting for the photos of that to show up on flickr!)

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I went to this wedding kind of recently. Friend of a friend. I mention it because Balance, Journalism, and Blogging were there, too. All I can say is this -- it was a disaster.

In the middle of the cocktail hour, Journalism started pelting Blogging with cocktail weenies and maraschino cherries, muttering something about Integrity and Balance. Blogging saw who was throwing the food and she ended up tossing not only her cosmo into Journalism's face, but she also shoved him into the wedding cake. (It was like that scene from the Brady Bunch where Tiger ran amok in the backyard knocking over all the BBQ stuff.)

Balance, meanwhile got so pissed off at the both of them. He was pissed at Blogging because every time they were supposed to go out together, Blogging kept canceling. And he was pissed with Journalism for accusing him of hanging out with Integrity, a very uncool thing to do while he was making moves on Blogging.

What I learned from this incident was that Balance, Journalism, and Blogging cannot live together even in the same universe, let alone the same banquet hall reception. I have no confidence you'll ever see any of them peacefully co-exist, no matter how hard anyone tries to put them altogether.

(Balance did leave with the Maid of Honor, though. Some hot chick named Bias. I'm waiting for the photos of that to show up on flickr!)

That was both a fun and amusing allegory and I believe it about as much as I believe that about as much as I believe Methusela lived to be 969 (Gen 5:37 for you biblical geeks)
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I'm not sure what to make of this 'ignorant narcissist' line. I mean a number of these folks have pretty successful little businesses working with pretty decent reader base. I don't do that sort of writing, so I'll think its just not a personal attack at my species. But I'm curious why they are ignorant and narcissist?

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Not to label anyone who posts here an ignorant narcissist, but there are surely a hell of a lot more people with blogs out there who think they have something to say than there are who actually have something to say.

Personally, I may be ignorant and I'm certainly verbose, but I stick with boards like this because I'm not quite narcissistic enough to think the world is waiting for me to start my own site. There's a close parallel between blogging and making your friends look at pictures of your vacation: if you accept yourself as a bit of a mook with a few shots your friends might like, you're probably going to be OK. If you start thinking what you have to say is important, you're probably not.

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How would you like to be pulling in $20,000 a month doing public relations for Le Cirque, and then you pick up the NY Times description of a piece in New York magazine? It's about Rudy Giuliani's courtship of Judy Nathan.

<<The article describes a man who seems so smitten by his companion he took her out for dinner at the luxurious Le Cirque in Manhattan numerous times, even though the food was so rich it made him throw up.>>

Not a good day to go to work tomorrow.

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“It’s like America running out of steak,” said Tadashi Yamagata, vice chairman of Japan’s national union of sushi chefs. “Sushi without tuna just would not be sushi.”

Well kind of, except that beef stocks are managed a bit differently than tuna.

Full story.

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Anyone read this NYTimes article on good value wines that are still under $10? I am not a wine connoisseur (not even close) and a good, expensive wine is lost on me. But a good, cheap wine is something I'd like to stock up on. Any of the wine experts here care to lowbrow and see if the NYTimes' picks are worth checking out?

If those are the best wines they could come up with for under $10, the wine scene in NYC is pretty pathetic. At Whole Foods the other day, I saw that Les Hauts de la Brune from the Languedoc is still just $7.99. Get yourself to Ace or Arrowine or Schneider's and ask for advice.

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If those are the best wines they could come up with for under $10, the wine scene in NYC is pretty pathetic. At Whole Foods the other day, I saw that Les Hauts de la Brune from the Languedoc is still just $7.99. Get yourself to Ace or Arrowine or Schneider's and ask for advice.

I agree-- I mean, Ravenswood, Paringa and Duboeuf are all well and good, but really New York Times? We also have some good stuff for under $10 that is decidedly more interesting-- for instance, come by and pick up or try to track down the Torre de Gazate 1999 Cab/Tempranillo from La Mancha, Spain. Interesting appellation, interesting blend, and tasting all the better for its age.

Shoot, if they were going for the ubiquitous, I am surprised the Di Majo Norante Sangiovese didn't make the cut-- its everywhere, its good, and Bob Parker loves it year after year.

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I saw that Les Hauts de la Brune from the Languedoc is still just $7.99.
Insert dissenting opinion here. Harsh and too thin.

I'll toot the horn yet one more time for the Domaine de Fenouillet Pays de Vaucluse. Ch. de Valcombe and Ch. Mas Neuf are 2 Costieres de Nimes right around $10 that I enjoy. My favorite cheap Nimes is the Ch. de Grande Cassagne - $9 at Magruder's.

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I agree-- I mean, Ravenswood, Paringa and Duboeuf are all well and good, but really New York Times?

Do a little Googley search on Constellation Brands and WJDeutsch - as if these global mega-companies need a pump from the NYT. This is shameful. Could it possibly have anything to do with advertising?

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Insert dissenting opinion here. Harsh and too thin.

This is in regards to Domaine Les Hauts de la Brune. Joe and I are wondering if we've tasted the same wine. I am talking about the 2004, which is a mouth-filling fruit bomb. Quite the opposite of "harsh and too thin." So he's going to check the next time he goes to Magruder's to see if the one he tasted was a different vintage.

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This is in regards to Domaine Les Hauts de la Brune. Joe and I are wondering if we've tasted the same wine. I am talking about the 2004, which is a mouth-filling fruit bomb. Quite the opposite of "harsh and too thin." So he's going to check the next time he goes to Magruder's to see if the one he tasted was a different vintage.

Harsh and thin would describe the 2002, I reckon.

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Today's Wall Street Journal article details restaurants' tactics to sweeten their relationships with on-line writers.

The Price of a Four-Star Rating

Was a free meal behind that glowing online restaurant review? The rising influence of food blogs has chefs plying Web critics with dinners and drinks to avoid bad write-ups.

By KATY MCLAUGHLIN

October 6, 2007; Page W1

<snip>

Among those using the tactics are some of the biggest names in the business. Terrance Brennan, co-owner and chef of New York's Artisanal Bistro and Picholine, hosted a cheese class for bloggers last year, waiving the usual $75-a-person fee. Bill Telepan, chef and co-owner of Telepan in New York, donated a $200, four-course meal to one influential blogger's online contest. And in Washington, the Park Hyatt's Blue Duck Tavern says it invited a customer back for a free Father's Day meal after she posted a negative comment on the Washington Post's Web site. (In a follow-up post, the diner wrote, "We will definitely return to Blue Duck Tavern," not mentioning that she had been invited free.)

<snip>

Chowhound says it does not allow posts from anyone connected to a restaurant or from consumers who have received complimentary meals. Staff writers for Chow can accept a free meal from a restaurant, though not when they're writing a review of the restaurant, says Jane Goldman, the site's editor in chief. Ms. Goldman says it isn't financially feasible for the site to do otherwise. She says if she had the resources, she wouldn't allow contributors to accept free goods or services, "because it subtly influences the recipient."

While most of the article wasn't surprising, the information on Chowhound's apparent double standard regarding comped meals was.
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Today's Wall Street Journal article details restaurants' tactics to sweeten their relationships with on-line writers.While most of the article wasn't surprising, the information on Chowhound's apparent double standard regarding comped meals was.
This Eater piece note that the practice isn't just relegated to online writers. . . .
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Marian Burros, formerly of The Washington Post, reports. Fascinating subject matter and an example of the kind of story that would make sense in the food section of our local paper, too.

Apparently, overhaul in the cafeteria's operations conforms to mandates set by Nancy Pelosi. Given the fact that we've got an FDA that just approved cloned animals as fit for human consumption and lobbyists who endorse the calming effect of cages for hens, some of the measures taken arouse controversy. Plans involve a nod to locavorism. Meanwhile, over in the Senate...

N.B. The link is to "More House Salads..." on January 16, 2008.

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