Great Taste

If strawberries are almost here, local tomatoes can't be far off

Yes, real tomatoes--not those flawlessly perfect-looking red fruits that taste like....just what do they taste like?

Come to think of it, how have mass marketed tomatoes been altered so drastically that their taste almost doesn't resemble what they are named after? 

Barry Estabrook, author of "Tomatoland," has excellent insights regarding this question. Here is a  Q & A with him in Salon.com.

Look for top quality tomatoes--the kind you can eat out of hand, with perhaps a sprinkle of salt---to start showing up at farmers markets next month. 

 

Today Aspen, tomorrow--Rochester?

Here's the scoop on Meatless Mondays in Aspen, Colorado, from Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-elam/aspen-co-meatless-mondays_b_871596.html

Could "Meatless Mondays" be the next happening thing in Rochester, Minnesota? This writer would like to think so. 

What sayeth Baseball Cap? Can GG persuade you with tater tots, French fries and more potato delights? How about creamy, vegetable-based wild rice soup? And don't forget apple pie! Finish off a meal with some rich coffee.....Would you, could you.....? 

Thank you, Mr. Bittman

Check out blogger Mark Bittman at New York Times online....His post about global trends in meat and seafood consumption is spot-on. 

If you read this blog and are motivated to act locally, here, for starters, is the website of VIGR--Vegetarian Information Group of Rochester. 

"Just say no" to shark fin soup

Dear Baseball Cap:

Say it ain't so. GG understands you love burgers, fries, and all that, yeah. And she knows you dig the edgy stuff like absinthe. But--you are seeking SHARK FIN SOUP?

Please read the following links:  http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2009391,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_finning

If you are looking for something rare and wonderful, note that, in just a couple of months, luscious morels will be popping up here in Minnesota. So delish yet harmless to fellow creatures.   

What do hungry Madison protesters eat most?

GG has never tried Ian's Pizza but she is ready to protest for a slice now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTMv6KyvDns

And she's particularly curious because Madison-based Ian's has an outpost on Clark Street in pizza-crazy Chicago.  

Here is Ian's very own blog: http://ianspizza.com/speakEasy/

 

Bye bye, Gulf shrimp?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/03/gulf-seafood-update-fishi_n_560490.html

Last Monday, Great Taste found a market (outside of Minnesota) where unshelled Gulf shrimp was still being sold on ice in the case.  Great Taste bought six shrimp and boiled them in lightly salted water with a sprig of parsley thrown in. She has eaten just two so far, choosing to extend the experience over a couple of days.

Great Taste asks: Do you know the sweet, subtly textured difference between Gulf shrimp and the imports that have become standard in most market seafood cases and restaurant offerings?

Gulf shrimp is a national treasure, like Maine lobster and Alaskan King salmon. What is to become of the Gulf shrimping industry and those who savor this shrimp above all?

It's not a "shrimpy" issue.....

http://www.news-press.com/article/20100504/GREEN/100503066/1007

These are sad times for America.

Great Taste loves: Minnesota coffee companies

It's a pleasure to drink rich, fresh coffee that has been grown organically and marketed using Fair Trade practices. In the state of Minnesota, such a win-win experience is easy, owing to the plethora of hip coffee companies based here.

While the following businesses are not based in the immediate area, many of their products are sold and served in southeast Minnesota and all but Roastery 7* are available for purchase online. 

Peace Coffee, Minneapolis

Flamenco Organic Coffee Co., Minneapolis

The Coffee Fool, Minneapolis

Roastery 7, Brooklyn Center

Providence Coffee, Faribault

True Stone Coffee Roasters, St. Paul  (Has a full organic line in its inventory.)

Morning Star Coffee, Minneapolis

and....last but not least, Dunn Bros Coffee, Minneapolis, offers a few organic coffees.

Let Great Taste know if she missed any of your favorites. 

*Roastery 7 reports that in the near future its coffee will be available for online purchase through amazon.com.

New book for omnivores

Advice and insights from author Dave Kirby, who has just released a book, "Animal Factory."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/6-baby-steps-toward-a-mor_b_481624.html

The "Animal Factory" website: http://animalfactorybook.com/

Some modern food technologies gross us out

And there's that pesky mercury problem.....

http://res2.greatschools.net/parenting/health-nutrition/slideshows/five-ubiquitous-foods-to-avoid.gs?content=2067

Readers, Great Taste encourages you to stay away from highly processed foods and to buy from organic/sustainable farmers/producers whenever you can.  If we become enlightened shoppers, many of these objectionable products and processes may go away.

Regarding mercury in fish: It's extremely troublesome and worldwide, caused to a great degree by coal-fired power plants. (http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/mercury/merenv.htm      ) If you have time, write to your legislators and join organizations, like Sierra Club, that are working on the coal issue.

GG

PS: For uber local fresh food updates, Rochester Downtown Farmers Market is now on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/rochfarmmkt

Cool California is warming on soda tax

Gourmanda likes the idea of a soda tax. 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/now-that-public-officials-and-health-authorities-have-recognized-the-growing-problem-of-obesity-the-question-is-what-to-do-a.html