Fast Food KILLS: Meet The Fast Food Mafia!
Posted by Jeremy Barker | Popped Culture
Previously on Popped Culture…
Ronald McDonald’s Dark Side
Would You Like Fries With That?
I’m Lovin’ It
January 2012
48 posts
Previously on Popped Culture…
Ronald McDonald’s Dark Side
Would You Like Fries With That?
I’m Lovin’ It
Feeding Big Sexy Couple of The Week: Kevin and Amanda
5 Foods That Taste Better In The South
Posted by Andrew Knowlton
Dear Foodist:
Now that grits have hit the big time from L.A. to New York, what quintessential foods are still worth seeking out in the South?
I was raised in Atlanta on a steady diet of pimiento cheese sandwiches and Hoppin’ John. I never gave the unique foods of my youth much thought until I moved North. Thankfully, I can get great fried chicken near my apartment in Brooklyn. Ditto for braised collard greens. But there are still things that just don’t translate. When I go back home, here’s what (and where) I eat:
Pork Rinds
They’re basically fried pork skin—and they’re delicious: crunchy, fluffy, and slightly greasy, with a funky porcine flavor. Right now, my favorite brand is Hickory Ridge from Bartlett, Tennessee.
Sweet Tea
In the South, people drink it in the morning, at lunch, and at dinner all year long. They like it so sweet, you feel like the enamel on your teeth is about to come off. Only outsiders order it unsweetened. I’m actually more of a half-sweet, half-unsweetened guy. Just don’t tell my people.
In Georgia, New Orleans, and the coastal Carolinas, fried food has been elevated to an art form. Pristine local seafood—wild shrimp, oysters, and grouper—is treated with as much respect as the Italians give to truffles. I still long for the mixed seafood basket at Hudson’s on Hilton Head Island. The fried shrimp dinner at See Wee in Awendaw, South Carolina, is worth the drive from Charleston. And no trip to New Orleans is complete without a shrimp po’boy at Parkway Bakery & Tavern.
Okra
Southerners know how to cook okra. They know that the smaller it is, the less sticky it will be. They also know to either cook it quickly or let it go for a long time. I love okra stewed with tomatoes, or dusted with cornmeal and flash-sauteed. But whole fried okra dipped in buttermilk dressing is the ultimate. Go to Farm Burger in Atlanta and see for yourself.
Brunswick Stew
Good luck finding this dish outside the South—unless you happen to come to my house on the right evening. It’s essentially a thick vegetable soup (made with those Southern staples—tomatoes, corn, lima beans, and okra) supplemented with protein. Depending on what region you’re from, that could mean rabbit or squirrel, though these days you’re most likely to see it made with chicken and shredded pork at spots like Harold’s Barbecue in Atlanta.
Waffle House
Nothing says “you’re home” to a returning Southerner like the sight of this roadside staple’s yellow sign. My order is always the same: patty melt; hash browns scattered, smothered, and covered; and, if it’s been a particularly rough night, a pecan waffle on the side. If you don’t love Waffle House, you don’t belong in the South.
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How Much Should You Buy If You Work From a Coffee Shop?
Posted by Sam Dean
Illustration by Erik Peterson
SF Weekly’s Jonathan Kauffman tackled an issue near and dear to my blogging heart this week in his etiquette column: how often should someone working at a coffee shop for hours on end get up and buy something?
Kauffman ends up recommending that wifi workers buy one thing per hour spent in the place, visibly and generously tipping all the while. Not to quibble, or engage in CLASS WARFARE (oh hey, Google algorithms), but that seems like a lot! He actually recommends buying “a bottle of sparkling water,” as if anyone who is working in a coffee shop for lack of a nice enough apartment or office to work in could afford to drink water that didn’t come from a tap and wasn’t served in a humiliatingly off-colored “courtesy cup.”
He anticipated that people like me would complain in precisely the way I just did, though, and suggests that we take our blogging game to the library, all in order to “keep your barista on your side.” Which brings me to the more interesting truth revealed in Kauffman’s advice column: coffee shops in San Francisco are famously mean.
He notes that a local coffee shop (that he continues to frequent) has actually taped up its outlets so as to not let people charge their laptops while working there, and that you run the risk of “toxic glares” if you don’t tip enough. For once, I can say with certainty that New York is a friendlier place.
This comes hot on the heels of news that Starby’s (a.k.a. the only real public restroom of NYC) is starting to kick out “laptop hobos,” though, so the meanness might be spreading eastwards. Anyone in Denver seeing a change, or has it already gotten past the Mississippi?!
[via SF Weekly]
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25 Dinner Party Do's and Don'ts for a Host or Hostess
Posted by Bridget Moloney
A successful dinner party is one of the greatest achievements the home chef can claim. Sure, entertaining can be stressful, but don’t let that stop you. These 25 rules will help guarantee your success:
1. DON’T attempt a maiden voyage. It might seem like a good idea to try a new recipe for your guests, but there are few things sadder than realizing that the pork was supposed to have been butterflied by a butcher or rest for four hours…45 minutes before guests arrive.
2. DO make as much as far in advance as you can. Even if you’re a daredevil. Think of how precious those moments are before the doorbell rings. You can catch the cats and lock them in the bedroom, you can pour yourself a glass of wine, you can remember to tell your partner not to mention that thing to that guest.
3. DO read the ingredient list and directions thoroughly. So you’ve made this chicken 25 times? It’s still a good idea to remind yourself of its specifics—like the fresh parsley you forgot to buy.
4. DO practice “mise en place.” Have all the ingredients out and ready to go before you start cooking. This is a great way to discover you are short on ginger in time to buy more.
5. DO start cooking a little earlier than you think you should. People are happy to wait on dinner…but not until 10:30. Unless you live in Madrid.
6. DO take your guests’ dietary restrictions into consideration. Although your lamb and eggplant shepherd’s pie will be amazing, it will limit your vegetarian, non-nightshade-eating friends to salad and wine.
7. DON’T go crazy worrying about guests’ dietary restrictions. Despite what we just said, you are their host, not their nutritionist. Special meals do not need to be prepared for each guest; just make sure there are options.
8. DON’T apologize for the food. The roast is a little more done than you’d like? So what? Own it. No one has ever left a dinner party thinking, “I wish he’d said he was sorry for the asparagus being oversauced.” If anyone has, find out who and don’t invite him or her back.
9. DO make a playlist. Background music makes things all the more festive.
10. DON’T make it too loud. No one wants to shout over music, even if it’s a great remix of Bon Iver. Especially if it’s a great remix of Bon Iver.
11. DO use cloth napkins. It’s a dinner party. You can go back to paper towels and balancing a bowl of quinoa on your lap the night after.
12. DON’T rely too heavily on your guests. Sure, they asked if they could bring something, but people have been known to forget things at home or be late. If it’s an essential item, like ice for the cocktails, you don’t want to be left in the lurch.
13. DO consider seating. If you’ve invited eight or fewer guests, allow them to seat themselves; with more than eight, be prepared to give direction, if not place cards. Yes, place cards.
14. DON’T invite all strangers. It might be tempting to introduce all your favorite friends to each other, but if you are the only thing they have in common, the evening might feel more like a mixer than a proper dinner party. Take a note from recipes: Add new elements a little bit at a time.
15. DO sit down. Plan the menu and the serving of it so you’re able to enjoy the meal too. You deserve a chance to eat, but also no one wants to be at a dinner party where the host spends most of the evening urging people to eat while he or she stirs something on the stove.
16. DON’T pry. If someone says “no thanks” to something you are offering, don’t offer reassurance that it’s not too caloric or boozy and insist that the person have some. You don’t want to force your guests into revealing that they’re dieting/pregnant/newly sober.
17. DO light some candles. Atmosphere! It’s what makes a dinner party a party. Your tablescape doesn’t have to be over-the-top, but it should look nice. Candles are inexpensive, readily available, and a great place to start.
18. DO put out salt and pepper. Even if you’re serving Sichuan food. Even if you’re sure your food doesn’t need it. It’s just courteous.
19. DO accept some help—if you want it. This is personal: Some people don’t want guests to see behind the curtain or the kitchen door. If you don’t mind your guests knowing you don’t work clean, then let them clear the table.
20. DON’T let the guests do dishes—unless they’re related to you or they’re compulsive. If they are neither, you might be calling their bluff on an empty offer, and then you’ve made your guest use your ratty sponge, which is not a very gracious experience.
21. DO serve dessert. Whether it’s a beautiful fruit platter, something store-bought (or homemade), or a cheese platter with dried fruit, dessert is a good way to signal that the meal is over and you’re on to the next part of the party.
22. DO think about dessert being served away from the table. It’s nice to move to another seating area for coffee and dessert. Just be prepared for people to hunker down. Dinner party guests have been known to linger—especially if the couches are nice and there are unopened bottles of wine…
23. DO manage your expectations. Not everything will be perfect. Maybe you were planning a sophisticated evening, and then someone found your laptop and started sharing YouTube videos. Go with the flow. Depending on the videos, you can reassess your friendship with that person.
24. DON’T write thank-you notes. A host(ess) gift is a thank-you. But if you were given something more than wine (a candle, a plant, a hemp grocery bag), you could dash off an e-mail letting your guest know how much you enjoyed his or her company and the thoughtful whatever-it-was.
25. DO start the cleanup before bed. Even if you overindulged. That Dutch oven will look even worse in the light of day. And you’ll be so happy to wake up to a clean kitchen. After all, that’s what dinner parties are about: good times.
Bridget Moloney is a writer, blogger and crackerjack home entertainer living in Los Angeles. You can find more of her at Yipster.
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Please Don't Serve This at Your Wedding
Posted by Bon Appetit
Photograph by nicolesy / iStockphoto
You know what? We’re over shrimp cocktail—at big events, at least. It’s watery, it’s rubbery, it’s probably not great quality shrimp, and it looks like something Frank (or Fronk, rather) would have suggested back in 1991. Unfortunately, there are more dishes where this fountain o’ shrimp came from—read on for our list of foods we’d rather not see served at weddings anymore.
See the slideshow: 16 Foods That Should Be Banned from Wedding Menus
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Grapefruit Brûlée
Recipe by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
Using a culinary torch is the best way to caramelize the sugar into a candy shell, but you can also make this old-school breakfast treat using your broiler.
Photograph by Marcus Nilsson
Ingredients
4 servings
- 2 grapefruits, halved crosswise
- 4 tablespoons raw sugar
-
Special Equipment:
A kitchen torch
Preparation
- Trim 1/4–1/2” of peel from bottom of each grapefruit half to stabilize the fruit and prevent it from rocking back and forth. Place grapefruit, cut side down, on paper towels to dry for 5 minutes. Invert grapefruit and sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar evenly over exposed flesh of each grapefruit half. Using a kitchen torch, heat sugar until melted and beginning to turn dark amber.
Hungry for More? If you have a question about this recipe, contact our Test Kitchen at askba@bonappetit.com. To see more recipes like this one, check out our Caramel Desserts Slideshow.
Is Mac and Cheese from Scratch Worth the Effort?
Posted by—Elizabeth Gunnison
In our column Fake It or Make It we test a homemade dish against its prepackaged counterpart to find out what’s really worth cooking from scratch.
If Proust had been an American, I’m confident that his madeleine would have been a spoonful of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Gather a group together around bowls of the neon orange stuff, and you’ll find that people of every stripe have a childhood mac n’ cheese memory to share: how their mother always mixed it with sliced hot dogs or made it for lunch on snow days. That’s what I discovered when I assembled my testers to evaluate Kraft’s ubiquitous instant macaroni & cheese against a from-scratch version. But once you put nostalgia aside, can the processed version hold a candle to homemade?
The Contenders
Kraft Deluxe Original Cheddar vs. Gourmet’s Macaroni and Cheese
Pasta and cheese casseroles have been around since the Middle Ages, but the dish of elbow pasta and cheddar sauce that we know and love is thought to have been brought back from Italy by Thomas Jefferson. The dish is an American classic, especially in the South, where it’s often served as a side with ham, barbecue, or fried chicken. When Kraft came out with its processed dry macaroni and cheese mix in 1937, it gave homemakers a version of the dish that they could whip up for kids in less than thirty minutes. The processed version has been a household staple ever since.
Relative Costs
Store-bought is much cheaper, owing to the high cost of real cheese. I paid $3.50 for a box of the Kraft, which works out to 88 cents for each of four portions. Ingredients for the homemade version added up to $22.19 for eight servings, or $2.77 per serving.
Relative Healthfulness
Advantage homemade: While it may not be low in fat or calories, the from-scratch version at least calls for real cheeses, milk, and butter. Kraft’s is processed to the hilt, filled with preservatives and un-pronounceable industrial food substances (sodium phosphate, sodium alginate, and sorbic acid, to name a few). As a result, Kraft’s version is also much higher in sodium that the homemade.
Time Commitment
It took me an hour and 15 minutes to prepare the homemade version, versus 20 minutes of mostly passive time for the store-bought.
Leftovers Potential
Homemade trumps Kraft. Although both versions can be refrigerated and safely eaten for 4-5 days, the Kraft does not stand up well to cooling and reheating. It’s best eaten straight out of the pot.
What The Testers Said
First let me introduce our panel.
THE HEALTH NUT
A delicate eater, the health nut is calorie conscious but also likes to eat well
THE FOODIE
Calorie agnostic, our foodie judge has a sophisticated palate and a love of cooking
THE DUDE
Ambivalent toward food trends and health concerns, this guy just wants to be fed when he’s hungry
THE KID
Between ages of 9 and 12 years old, not jaded, typically not into strong flavors
Testers sampled both macaroni and cheeses hot, and then reheated. No one had trouble telling the two dishes apart. While the testers expressed a lot of initial enthusiasm for the Kraft version, it tapered off quickly after the first few bites.
The Health Nut: Homemade. “Homemade is so much subtler and creamier, I can happily eat much more if it in a sitting.”
The Foodie: Homemade. “I do love the tanginess of the Kraft and the density of the noodles, but after the first few bites the bitter, terrible aftertaste catches up with you. And God forbid you eat this stuff when it’s not hot.”
The Kid: Store-bought. “It takes stronger and more cheesy. It’s basically my favorite food.”
The Dude: Homemade. “The Kraft stuff reminds me of being a kid, but I’ve gotta admit that the homemade version is much more appetizing, in the long run. The Kraft is good for a few bites then you’re sick of it.”
The Verdict
Make It.
Even Kraft Macaroni & Cheese’s biggest (adult) fans will admit that the charm of the processed stuff’s supremely artificial tang wears off fast, making way for a bitter, unpleasant aftertaste and rubbery noodles. Homemade is the clear winner if you’re preparing a side dish for grown-ups, but at over an hour to prepare, it’s hardly a replacement for store-bought as a quick and easy kids’ meal. Given the Kraft version’s nutritional shortcomings, it might be time to banish instant mac n’ cheese from the children’s table in favor of simple noodles with butter and Parmesan.
Menu Decoder: Purslane
Posted by Meryl Rothstein
Here at BA we spend a lot of time reading menus. So we usually wind up playing the role of menu decoder when dining out with family or friends. That’s why we’re starting a new series to demystify trendy ingredients and bizarrely named culinary techniques so that you too can explain to your mother what quinquina is.
Up first: purslane.
Even if the name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve probably seen purslane before: It’s a ubiquitous weed that’s likely growing in your garden (or, city-dwelling readers, in the cracks of sidewalks. But you might not want to eat those particular stalks). In fact, weeds have been popping up on diners’ plates for years, but right now, purslane in particular is having its moment. The plump green is pushing its way onto menus across the country, lending a tart, peppery kick to salads, and as a garnish to dishes that can use that same tart, peppery kick.
“It has a juicy acidity that I really love,” says chef Brandon Jew of San Francisco’s Bar Agricole, who recently served it alongside fried green tomatoes. Even better, it’s incredibly nutritious, packed with antioxidant-rich beta-carotene and more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than any other green. (Go weeds!)
Now when you spot it at farmers’ markets, driveway cracks, or on menus (see below for recent sightings at New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco), you’re primed to drop some culinary knowledge on your dining companions. For bonus points, mention that in Malawi, the word for purslane translates to “the buttocks of the wife of a chief.”
But you already knew that.
Try cooking with purslane in our Dilly Bean Salad and see the weed in action on these menus from restaurants across the country (click the menus to see larger versions).
Hospoda, a Czech restaurant in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, serves purslane with a dish of potatoes, cottage cheese, and milk skin
At San Francisco’s Bar Agricole, purslane comes with fried green tomatoes and cipollini onions
Purslane is a garnish for bread soup at Philadelphia’s Koo Zee Doo restaurant
—Meryl Rothstein
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