The HandPicked 8 is our quick overview of stuff that matters. There’s always a lot going on in the space we call ‘real food’, but not every story generates a whole post on its own.
That’s why we’ve created The HandPicked 8, to give you a quick idea of some of the things happening in food.
We’re constantly cruising the web, listening to people and generally keeping our eyes and ears open to information we think HandPicked Nation will find useful.
April. Showers. It’s getting warmer every day. Ramps. Asparagus. Rhubarb. It’s official: spring has arrived. Check out this week’s HandPicked 8.
1. We love CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture). Operating the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market in San Francisco is one among the many good things they do. They have published a remarkably comprehensive Guide to Greens that you have got to see. Lots of great information. Thanks, CUESA.
2. Everyone has his or her favorite, but it is an article of faith that Roberta’s in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn makes a pretty damn fine pizza. The New York Times pairs Anthony Falco of Roberta’s with Sam Sifton to demonstrate how to make restaurant-style pizza dough at home. Watch this video and you’ll see, pizza is easy if you know what you’re doing.
3. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the oldest tool is the best tool? Yahoo Food has a story up about chefs’ obsessions of old knives (and cleavers). Rustic. Romantic. Knives made from carbon steel that can hold an edge. Knives that ancestors gripped–connections with the past made real.
4. Passover starts at sundown on April 14. Tori Avey has an enlightening post on her site, The Shiksa in the Kitchen. She has recipes for both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Passovers. Chag Kasher V’Same’ach!
5. Michael Ruhlman has written a new book. NPR’s The Salt blog serves up his views on the mighty egg along with some delicious-sounding recipes by way of touting his Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient.
6. Speaking of eggs, Good Eggs has come up with a brilliant idea. The Los Angeles Times gives all the details. The company’s efforts are to further their goal to “grow and sustain local food systems worldwide.” Available now in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and New Orleans, Good Eggs bring small batch producers and growers to an online presence where people can get real food with a couple of clicks. Brilliant.
7. It had to happen. Momofuku master, David Chang is now a car salesman. Star chefs are taking over the world!
8. Eater tells us about a really interesting Chinese-food documentary, The Search for General Tso. The film tells the story of this popular dish’s roots in China and how it ended up on every Chinese take-out menu in the United States. It will make its world premiere next week at the Tribeca Film Festival.
And that’s some of the stuff that matters, April 11, 2014!
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Photo credit: Craig McCord
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