Daniel Boulud v. Todd English: Initial Branding

By JULIETTE ROSSANT v. Super chefs have stepped up the branding battle this month, as both Daniel Boulud and Todd English launch more initialized products tete-a-tete. Daniel is launching "DBK," the Daniel Boulud Kitchen of stainless steel cookware, cutlery, tools and gadgets, and spice blends, with its own online website: danielbouludkitchen.com. DBK kitchenware is available at Macy's and Bloomingdale's (both conveniently owned by Federated Department Stores): Daniel will be touring their stores in major cities around the nation from now through December. The Todd English Collection debuts on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) on November 7 (11:00 p.m.-midnight) and November 8 (12-1:00 p.m., 6-7:00 p.m.), when he "unveils his exclusive line of kitchen and entertaining products that will inspire the gourmet in everyone." HSN already lists four "Todd English" products, namely three of his cookbooks and a "Todd English Wine Sceptre Wine Cooling System." Coburn Communcations, a PR firm with major strengthn in Beauty and Fashon, is handling inquiries. (Coburn Communications also handled Todd's as-yet-unaired TV show Open Kitchen -- see previous article.) Coburn shared with superchefblog photos of the wine scepter cooling system (above) and the rustic dinner valet (below): the rest will be revealed on November 7 and 8. Joy Mangano is indeed part of the creative effort, as we reported earlier (see previous article). And so the heat is on: Which strategy sells better -- in-store presence around the country at Macy's and Bloomingdale's, or 89 million household viewers on HSN? Whose brand sells more? Whose kitchenware sells better? And the $64 million question: which works better, a three-alpha set of initials (DBK) or only two (TE)? Stay tuned... super chefs: Daniel Boulud Todd English Previous articles: Daniel Boulud: Making It Big on Oprah's O Todd English: Pots and Pans Pucked? Todd English: Trip Over Table? From Boulud's gourmet hamburgers arise... delicate Philly cheesesteaks? Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, television, marketing --> back to superchefblog

Emeril Lagasse: Wine Spectator Award

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Wine Spectator magazine presented Emeril Lagasse with its Distinguished Service Award at the Wine Experience held in New York last Saturday, October 22, 2005, according to a press release from Emeril's publicist. The award is given to individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to the wine industry. Since 1982, 24 people have received this honor, including Robert Mondavi, Eric de Rothschild, Julia Child, and Francis Ford Coppola, all of whom exhibit excellence, innovation, and charity. Two of Lagasse’s restaurants, Emeril’s New Orleans and Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas hold the prestigious Wine Spectator Grand Award; Emeril's New Orlean's Fish House has won "Best of Award of Excellence," according to Emeril's.com. Super chef: Emeril Lagasse Previous articles: Emeril Lagasse: Carnivale du Vin All-Stars [compete coverage of Emeril Lagasse] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog

Superchefblog ranks 8 on Technorati 'Branding 25'

By JULIETTE ROSSANT "brandXpress" has ranked Superchefblog No. 8 of a list of Technorati's 'Branding 25' blogs (also reported by BrandBuilder): 1. gapingvoid 2. Johnnie Moore's Weblog 3. Thinking by Peter Davidson 4. The Social Customer Manifesto 5. Media Culpa 6. everyhuman 7. Influx 8. SUPERCHEFBLOG 9. Piaras Kelly PR 10. IF 11. Advertising/Design Goodness 12. Emergence Marketing 13. Brand Infection 14. Cherryflava 15. 360east 16. brandXpress Blog 17. Jane Genova: Speechwriter Ghostwriter 18. Media Orchard 19. Jefte.net 20. Marketing Usabile 21. Shotgun Marketing Blog 22. Casual Fridays 23. My Name is Kate 24. The Brand Builder Blog 25 Day Care For Your Brain Separately, Books For Bloggers reviewed Super Chef: The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires favorably. Previous articles: Knight-Ridder on Superchefblog: Unmatched Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, top branding blogs --> back to superchefblog

Gordon Ramsay: Women Can't Cook

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Super chef Gordon Ramsay may be famous for cursing, but now he's really stuck his foot in his mouth, by claiming that younger British women are not just bad cooks but "can't cook to save their lives" -- unable to prepare anything beyond cocktails and readymade grocery meals, according to the UK's Telegraph, as he wraps up filming for a new TV show, The F Word (debuting Thursday, October 27, on Channel 4). "I have been visiting ladies' houses up and down the country with our film crew and you'd be amazed how little cooking the girls are doing," he said, according to the British rag. "When they eat, they cheat - it's ready meals and pre-prepared meals all the way. No comment yet from Gordon's wife, Tana, who is the cook in the Ramsay house for Gordon and their four children. No matter that, according to The Telegraph, the number of female chefs has risen regularly for years and including Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray at River Cafe (Hammersmith) and Ramsay protegee, Angela Hartnett at the Connaught (Mayfair). And what about the Two Fat Ladies? Outrage has already spread to Australia, where women chefs are retorting hotly in Sydney Morning Herald, The Brisbane Courier, and News.com (a NewsCorp company). Many women in British cooking have replied, including Tamasin Day-Lewis and Nigella Lawson, all of which The Telegraph merrily relates, including expletives that show that women are indeed able to compete with Gordon on all levels, so be sure to read the full article. Knives may stay out to cut up Gordo: he also recently lost the top spot in the 2006 SMG Good Food Guide (see article). Regardless, all of this should make for good reading in his upcoming autobiography for HarperCollins (see article). Related articles: BBC Agence France Press (AFP) Channel 4 (UK) Mirror Daily Mail Sun Super chef: Gordon Ramsay Previous articles: Gordon Ramsay: Chef for All Seasons [complete coverage of Gordon Ramsay] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Television, Women, Feminism --> back to superchefblog

Halloween: Emeril's Delmonico Cookbook

By JULIETTE ROSSANT With Halloween right around the corner, reading Emeril Lagasse's newest cookbook, Emeril's Delmonico: A Restaurant with a Past (William Morrow 2005) might send a few shivers down the back -- shivers of delight. Emeril had copied his New Orleans restaurant Emeril's Delmonico (and the Delmonico Steakhouse at the Venetian Resort & Casino) on the venerable 19th Century Delmonico's in New York (described with great longing in Caleb Carr's truly eerie book, The Alienist, replete with admirable food descriptions). The story of Emeril's restaurant and cookbook is even more complicated and exciting than Delmonico's in New York. Once upon a time, the Delmonicos in New York sold the right to use their restaurant's name to one Anthony Commander. Delmonico passed to the LaFranco family, who in turn sold it in 1997 to Emeril Lagasse. Anthony Commander was an older brother of Emile Commander, whose saloon founded the basis of the Commander's Palace restaurant family empire, which some years ago employed a rising young chef named Emeril... This is a cookbook-lover's cookbook, because Emeril celebrates the Creole cuisine of the earlier LaFranco-owned restaurant and then records the additions and changes which he and his team have made. Whether you are fascinated by the history and development of the cuisines of New Orleans or by the process by which chefs revise recipes, this is the book for you, wonderful "three-fer" concept of recipes, history, and process. The recipes are for rich and luxurious food, with Southern, Creole, French influences. The stories of much-loved dished are charming and bring out the history of a restaurant known as much for its gracious hostesses as for its food. A fourth element to mention are the wonderful photographs, particularly the now elderly Black chefs who had worked under the LaFranco family (check out the photo of cooks Irene Polk, Elmer Dacquir, and Atwood Davis as they test recipes, p. 113). Lastly, there are also recipes that call for fancy tableside service, which Emeril brought back to the elegant dinning room of Delmonico's -- including fun recipes like Caesar Salad (pp. 86-7), and Steak Diane (p. 172) -- which evoke the elegance, the richness and flavor of New Orleans, at present only sadly remembered. Emeril's Delmonico and its two New Orleans restaurants sadly remain closed by Hurricane Katrina, but Delmonico's resurrected itself in New York not too long ago, and we can only wait for Emerils' restaurants to re-open in New Orleans. Meanwhile, we have this cookbook. Super chef: Emeril Lagasse Book details: Publsher Amazon.com Book tour dates Previous articles: Emeril Lagasse: Carnivale du Vin All-Stars [complete Cookbook Reviews] Related articles: ABC - WLS Channel 7 TV Chicago NPR Boston Herald San Jose Mercury News Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, cookbook, Emeril, New Orleans, Katrina, history --> back to superchefblog

Sugar Rush: Wednesday, October 26

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Sugar Rush debuts on the Food Network tomorrow night (Wednesday, October 26) at 9:30 p.m. with a first episode entitled "Celebration". Host Warren Brown of Cake Love in Washington, DC, starts a nationwide tour to learn dessert secrets. (Read more on the show's background in previous article.) This isn't the first Food Network show to feature sweets (Gale Gand starred in Sweet Dreams), but it is the first to hit the road. Keep an eye out for Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake in the premiere episode as she makes her fabulous Delux Cake. (Elizabeth has already appeared on the Food Network twice, on Rachael Ray's $40 A Day and with Cat Cora's team on Iron Chef America.) Also, look for Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore as he creates a cannon that shoots fire works. Advertising: Food Network Adsales Previous articles: Sugar Rush with Warren Brown Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog

Day of the Dead: Frida Kahlo in New York

By JULIETTE ROSSANT On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), what could be better than toasting Frida Kahlo -- at a restaurant in New York City? Frida often painted still lifes of food and was known as a enthusiastic cook, as recounted by her stepdaughter Guadalupe Rivera in Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo (Clarkson Potter 1994). Now, Frida's niece, Isolda P. Kahlo, has put her famous aunt's name on a small batch tequila that is making its debut at New York's Zocalo Restaurant, November 2-12. Chef Julian Medina is pairing shots of Frida Kahlo Tequila Blanco, Frida Kahlo Tequila Reposado, and Frida Kahlo Tequila Añejo with a special tasting menu he calls "Frida Flight." Frida Flight Appetizers Sopa de Flor de Calabaza Zucchini flower soup ~ crispy zucchini flower ~ goat cheese and requeson Concha de Callos Mexican bay scallops with hen of the woods mushrooms, Oaxaca cheese and Caviar Entrees Chef Medina’s Flight Pairing with Frida Kahlo Tequila 3 of Chef Julian’s signature dishes inspired by Frida kahlo Frida Blanco - Sweet corn tamal with crab and chile morita vinaigrette Frida Reposado - Seared sea scallop with "salsa borracha" and avocado espuma Frida Añejo - Huitlacoche and Oaxaca cheese hand made quesadilla Costillas Enogada A recipe by Frida (chiles enogada) Chef Medina’s interpretation: Braised short ribs ~ chile ancho ~ cauliflower and toasted walnut puree ~ Poblano rajas pomegranate seed salad Dessert Dulce de Calabaza - Pumpkin parfait ~ crystallized pumpkin seeds ~ cajeta ~ mescal sauce Zocalo will have a traditional altar where guests can places pictures and favorite foods to remember the dead and will show Frida films including Salma Hayek’s Frida to Sergei Eisenstein’s Que Viva Mexico. Previous articles: More Halloween Mexicana, from Rick Bayless Halloween Mexicana: Day of the Dead a la Super Chef Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Mexico, Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos --> back to superchefblog

Emeril Lagasse: Carnivale du Vin All-Stars

By JULIETTE ROSSANT To inaugurate his first annual Carnivale du Vin, Emeril Lagasse has had to move the site from New Orleans to Las Vegas (Saturday, October 29, 2005 at Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino) -- and has also kicked up the event two notches: with top chefs and for the relief of the children of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina through the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. Now, Carnivale du Vin, originally a tribute to the City of New Orleans, is an all-star event and features super chefs like Daniel Boulud, Norman Van Aken, Joachim Splichal, Nobu Matsuhisa, Michael Mina, and Todd English -- not to mention Charlie Trotter, Mario Batali, Julian Serrano, Sam Choy, Luciano Pellegrini (for restaurateur Piero Selvaggio), and David Robins (a chef-partner of Wolfgang Puck). Twenty stations will pair each chef with a winemaker, including: Au Bon Climat, Bastianich Vineyards, Bonny Doon Vineyards, Caymus Vineyards, Chappellet, Domaine Serene, Gemstone Vineyard, Hundred Acres Vineyards, Lewis Cellars, Qupe Vineyards, Pahlmeyer Winery, Schrader Cellars, Spottswoode Estate Vineyards, and William Selyem. Michael McDonald will perform, followed by an auction featuring wines, food adventures, luxury travel -- even tennis lessons with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. And then there is the Ultimate Food Network Experience with Emeril Lagasse. Recipients through the Emeril Lagasse Foundation include: St. Michael’s Special School, America’s Second Harvest (Kids Café, Café Reconcile), and Covenant House. There will also be a special “Fund in Need” auction lot benefiting the Emeril Lagasse Employee Disaster Relief Fund, for employees who were displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Super chefs: Emeril Lagasse Daniel Boulud Todd English Nobu Matsuhisa Michael Mina Joachim Splichal Norman Van Aken Previous articles: [complete Hurricane Katrina coverage] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Katrina --> back to superchefblog

Houston Chronicle Interviews Superchefblog

The Houston Chronicle's Nicki Britton recently expanded superchefblog's review of Cocina Betty Crocker: Favorite American Recipes in Spanish and English (see previous article), including interviews with New York University's Dr. Amy Bentley, Wiley Publishers' Natalie Chapman, and General Mills' Ursula Mejía-Melgar. From a lengthy interview with Juliette Rossant, the Chronicle reports: At least one critic believes the cookbook's intent is questionable, however. Juliette Rossant, author of Super Chef: The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires, posted a scathing review of Cocina on her Web log, superchefblog.com. "Cocina Betty Crocker is a corporate marketing tool by General Mills to get Latinos to stop making tortillas and arepas and get them to make Bisquick biscuits," she says. (Bisquick is a General Mills product.) Rossant questions whether Hispanics are truly interested in learning to make Sloppy Joes and Chex Mix -- dishes, she wrote in her review, that "predate the American Food Revolution of the 1970s." "I think this (book) is mostly for housekeepers and maids to learn to cook American food -- and American food that's a little dated, at that," she says. Rossant points out the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines in America and doubts that Cocina will find much consumer demand. "All of us are reaching for this wonderful ethnic food, be it from Mexico or China or Thailand," she says. "This book is the opposite of the actual trend." Be sure to check out the responses to these statements, made by Wiley's Natalie Chapman and General Mills' Ursula Mejía-Melgar. (Click here to read the article, entitled "Mac 'N' Cheese in Espanol: New cookbook offers Spanish speakers classic U.S. recipes and a culinary language lesson.") Previous articles: Cocina Betty Crocker: Portent? [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog

Note: 'Droidmaker' For Sale

By JULIETTE ROSSANT LucasFilm veteran Michael Rubin's book Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution went on sale this month, available through Amazon.com. Michael is touring the country to promote the book: check here for his book tour schedule. Previous articles: Star Wars' Super Chef: "Droidmaker" George Lucas Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, star wars, George Lucas --> back to superchefblog

Knight-Ridder on Superchefblog: Unmatched

Yesterday, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service ran a review of superchefblog, noting "incredibly detailed posts on the latest goings-on" and citing as best: The details in the posts and the links are unmatched. Rossant uses her journalism background well (she previously worked for Forbes), creating informative posts with what's lacking in many blogs -- context. Superchefblog is very pleased for this recognition: content is our top priority. We may have to reconsider our new left-column table of Contents, however -- apparently Ms. Zang missed our Masthead section and so complained that "the basics -- What is this? Who's writing it? -- seem to have gotten overlooked and/or buried." Still, if that's the only complaint, we're happy. Article: Knigh Ridder/Tribune News Service Wichita Eagle South Bend Tribune Previous articles: Superchefblog ranks 89 on Feedster 500 New York Daily News Cites Superchefblog Biscuit Cream Melts for superchefblog superchefblog makes Manhattan User's Guide (MUG) superchefblog: markedly different superchefblog cited by Netscape Channels Vote "superchefblog" Best Food Industry Blog Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, blogs, online magazines, reviews --> back to superchefblog

Mark Bittman: Best Recipes in the World

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Big title: big book! The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman (Doubleday 2005) grins at the reader as if to say: can you find something that Mark has missed? However, that isn't the point: this masterful book is a sweeping look at world cuisine for those of us who need an all-in-one. It is a tour of home cooking around the planet. It makes a great wedding or birthday present, but it also makes a great reference book to leaf through when you just don't know what to cook, or when you have to throw together a Mediterranean-theme dinner party -- or when, like this author, you are based in Washington DC and pining away for the tastes of Turkey... There is need for such a tome, and this particular book is so open-minded and straightforward that its preposterous title is appropriate. What's the alternative? Sure, you could go online to Epicurious.com, or another recipe search engine, or dig through your pile of Food & Wine or Gourmet, but this cookbook give you multiple ways to look at each ingredient in a single book and with a strong voice: My goal in this book is to help you become familiar with the ingredients, to distill the knowledge, and make the recipes as accessible as possible, and as "Amreican" as I can, without robbing them of their souls... Techniques simply don't vary from one place to the next... It is the flavors that change. (p. 1) This proves especially true if you are a home cook attempting to cook a recipe for something you have never yet tasted. This book is all about great home cooking around the world, and Bittman's accessible, assured voice makes for a wonderful guide. The Best Recipes in the World includes, such as a succinct review of sesame seeds (p. 187) which reminds us that they are used around the world in sweets, as oil, as flavoring, and as toppings. There is a vinegar chart with a description of vinegars used around the world (pp. 170-1). There are good, simple drawings of cooking processes, like how to roll cold spinach and sesame (p. 184) or how to form fish quenelles (p. 95). Some of the recipes aren't exactly what you'll find in a cookbook specializing in a particular cuisine. Take Turkish (something I know well): the Manti recipe (lamb-filled dumplings, p. 65) will produce great tasting little dumplings, but in Turkey these are made into little packets twisted closed, not the triangles or half moons in this recipe, while the filling usually does have parsley and it is served with a yogurt garlic sauce and spicy butter. Bittman's recipe is close, but is it authentic? That raises the deeper question: what is authentic? There isn't one, set way to cook anything, and Manti is cooked from Turkey to Afghanistan. Or, take Cig Kofte (raw meatballs, p. 26), a distant cousin of steak tartare (not included) but spicier and incredibly easy to make with a food processor, as Bittman rightly points out. Cig Kofte is a recipe I expected to find in this book because it is part of Turkish home cooking. The reason is clear: Turks like to eat Cig Kofte at home because they can rest assured that the raw meat is fresh and well handled. The front of the book has a handy guide (pp. 6-15) to the pantry of each country or region of the world, with lists of ingredients and how to store them or good substitutes. The back of the book has several useful indeces: a Recipe Guide (pp. 685-97) that tell you what you can make ahead, serve cold or cook in 30 minutes or less, followed by Recipes by Cuisine (pp. 698-710). Both are useful, which is exactly what this book is. Perhaps Bittman could have gone even further over the top with his title: he could have called it Only the Best Recipes in the World. Or, it could have been more accurate: The Handiest Home Recipes in the World. Previous articles: [complete Cookbook Reviews] Book links: Publisher Amazon.com Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog

National Review: White House Chef

By JULIETTE ROSSANT While the Philippines continues to rejoice over the choice of Cristeta Comerford (see recent article in AsianWeek), it seems that The National Review is still getting its head around the concept. Of course, NR carefully chose a woman to write the article -- a Cato veteran named Carrie Lukas, who leads with a predictable right-wing put-down: A woman president — it’s the dream of every politically obsessed feminist. Yet in ABC’s new drama, Commander in Chief, the real fantasy is the sexist world the new woman president confronts. Interestingly, the White House chef figures in the new series -- posing menu questions to the President's husband (doesn't that sound great? "president's husband"?), whose ego is already a bit bruised at playing "Mr. Thatcher" (and perhaps one day "Mr. Clinton" to Hilary's "President Clinton"?). In any case, Commander in Chief provides a nice break from Kitchen Confidential -- and from National Review's crabbing, for that matter. Meanwhile and more importantly, superchefblog wonders: has Cris Comerford offered the President a full Filipino menu yet -- or at least some lumpias? Previous articles: Kitchen Confidential: Spiceless Cristeta Comerford: First White House Woman Chef [complete White House Chef coverage] [complete Food Television coverage] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog

Rachael Ray: Media Empire

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Editor's Note: click here to read Super Chef's latest Rachael Ray article. Ahead of this month's launch of her new magazine Every Day With Rachael Ray on October 15 (this Friday) and in light of the the new deal with King World Productions, Oprah Winfrey's powerful Harpo Productions, and the Food Network's owner E. W. Scripps (see press release), superchefblog recommends an excellent article in the Journal News which reviews the fast-growing empire of Rachael Ray. Click here to read the full article. While some top chefs have complained directly to us about our coverage of Ms. Ray based on the argument that she is not a chef, trained or otherwise, superchefblog covers Rachael Ray (and others like her) because her career parallels and overlaps the careers of super chefs and those who aspire to such. Moreover, many super and other chefs have mentioned interest in TV outside of cooking as such the talk show in development for Rachael in Fall 2006. In short, one can learn a lot from the Rachael Ray. Related sites: Every Day With Rachael Ray Quadarm Advertising specifications Press releasese: King World Reader's Digest News stories: The Hollywood Reporter (subscription) Broadcast & Cable TVWeek.com NBC CNN MediaWeek USA Today Orlando-Sentinel Previous articles: Rachael Ray: A Few Days Later Rachael Ray Every Day from Readers Digest Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Television, Rachael Ray --> back to superchefblog

Hurricane Relief: Restoration Ale and Tees

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Looking for easy ways to continue to support victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita? Following the advice "Heal thyself" (Luke 4:23), help for New Orleans is starting at home -- well, Abita Springs, across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans and home to chefs Alison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing's new restaurant, Longbranch. You can drink a 6-pack of Fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale and help the cause! Abita Brewery in Abita Springs, LA, has brewed a new concoction called Fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale to raise money for Hurricane relief. Abita Brewery will donate $1.00 to the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation for each six-pack purchased. You can also buy merchandise including t-shirts, bats, and pins (from $10 to $250) on their website and 100% of net proceeds will go to the fund. To find local retailers for Restoration Ale, click here. Fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale will be available mid-October. Here is a description of what it's like: Fleur-de-lis Restoration Ale is made with English Pale, Lager, Crystal and Cara Pils malted barley. We liberally hopped and dry hopped our Ale with American Cascade and Centennial hops and fermented it with California Ale yeast. The result is a brilliant gold ale with a rich body, mild bitterness and a snappy fresh citrus hop flavor and aroma. If ale isn't for you, how about a “May the Spice be with You” t-shirt, developed by New Orleans' own Susan Spicer and distributed by FoodGoods with all proceeds going to the Share our Strength's Hurricane Relief Fund? Previous articles: Inside Northside Gambit Weekly Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, charity, philanthropy, hurricane, Katrina, Rita, beer, ale --> back to superchefblog

Paula Wolfert: The Cooking of Southwest France

By JULIETTE ROSSANT In the introduction to the 2005 edition of her cookbook The Cooking of Southwest France: Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine (Wiley 2005), Paula Wolfert gives a brief list of the region's great ingredients: cheese, cepes, foie gras, truffles, confits, cassoulets, game birds, pork, lamb, beef, seafood, fish, and wine. (p. xv). My mouth was already watering! The introduction continues with descriptions of different areas of Southwest France. It includes a story about being invited to a local chateau where guests were gathered for a feast before a dawn hunt for stag. Another recounts a tour of the great chefs of the Southwest both in France and the US. Paula explains that while Nouvelle Cuisine was all the rage when she wrote the first edition in 1983, many of the recipes did not survive the test of time. Lucky for us, she has added 60 new recipes, 30 of which come from books of hers now out-of-print, and she has rewritten all the rest to include authentic ingredients nowadays available in the US. Paula has also broadened geographically: Revising this book, I decided to expand the borders of my own culinary Southwest, expanding north in the Charente, so I could include more Atlantic fish, towards the center into the Auvergne, so I could include Michel Bras and his inimitable Southwestern approach, and a bit further south in the Languedoc-Roussillon, to catch sight of the Mediterranean, my speciality. (p. xiv) In the first chapter, "The Tastes of the French Southwest" (pp. 1-40), Paula explores each ingredient from cepes (French wild mushrooms) and provides a simple recipe, like Cepe-Scented Oil (p. 7) to Bayonne Ham (p. 22). Then come more expansive, complex recipes, like Garbure, a time-consuming recipe that includes salt pork, beans, and cabbage (pp. 43-46) -- a study in the nature of soup. "Garbure is the very symbol of Bearnais Cookery," she writes and goes on to tell the story of a famous local cook and the duck confit she added to her Garbure. Hearty Pot-au-Feu recipes are included in this chapter, contrasted with an elegant Oyster Veloute with Black Caviar (p. 63), in which she includes a brief history of the Gironde River sturgeon (whose caviar is available from D'Artagnan). The chapter on Duck, Goose, and Rabbit not only includes precise recipes on how to make confit but also how to cook Muscovy or Moulard duck breasts in numerous ways. Then Paula includes a rare gem, a Goose Stew with Radishes (pp. 214-216), in which a goose breast is larded with Armagnac-soaked fat. She ends the chapter with a terrific recipe for Rillettes of Shredded Duck (pp. 249-250) -- one of my favorite Christmas treats. There is a whole chapter on Cassoulet (pp. 311-24) that starts with an essay on finding the best version of cassoulet. Whether you have the 1983 original or not, this new 2005 edition is a must for any cookbook library. Previous articles: [complete Cookbook Reviews] Book links: Publisher Amazon.com Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, cookbooks --> back to superchefblog

Juliette Rossant: Forbes Tastemakers

Forbes published a Lifestyles Feature article by Juliette Rossant entitled "Tastemakers: Chefs" (click here to read the full article). The chefs profiled are: Grant Achatz Jose Andres Mario Batali Lidia Bastianich Wylie Dufresne Alain Ducasse Suzanne Goin Thomas Keller Emeril Lagasse Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Be sure to check out the readers' poll. Also, this year Forbes decided to let readers in on methodology.) Citations: Yahoo! Finance, Apuntes de Cocina desde Venezuela, Best of Trendy, Luxist.com, Business.com, eGullet Forums, PrideIndex.com, Toff's World, Wine and Cheese Online, Nominal Chefs, Basic Muscle, Chef2Chef, Shanghai Diaries, LTHForum, Hotlinks, Liao Yusheng, Fodor's Forums, eHotelier.com Previous articles: Celebrity Chefs from 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 Iftar with Rafik Hariri (1944-2005) "G" is for Wine: Guler Sabanci Latest Forbes Celebrity Chefs column [Celebrity Chefs column by Juliette Rossant, 1999-2001] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog

Jamie Oliver: School Lunch

By JULIETTE ROSSANT You may have seen him among other celebrities on NBC's Today Show as he hammered homes for Habitat for Humanity's Hurricane Katrina relief effort, or cooking for kids, also on The Today Show. By Friday last week, however, Jamie Oliver had gone where few chefs had gone before: he had made ABC News "Person of the Week." And for what, you ask? For beefing up bad British school lunches. It's a personal campaign called "Feed Me Better" that Jamie, a proud father of two girls, has taken on. With a TV camera in tow to create a four-part series called Jamie's School Dinners which ran on the UK's TV Channel 4, he started with one school and eventually delivered healthy food to over 50 schools in London at the same price the government was currently paying -- 37 pence per meal (65 American cents). Jamie also created a five-point manifesto for his program: The Meal's the Deal Ban the Junk! Big Love to Dinner Ladies Teach Kids about Food Double the Money There is even a Feed Me Better self-starter pack, to help spread not just the word but the deed. Within one month, a plan to collect 10,000 signatures had spawned 271,677 signatures, delievered to No. 10 Downing Street (that's British shorthand for the prime minister's residence -- their "White House") and resulting in a government increase of $500 million for the national school lunch budget. Tough guidelines are also in the works, reports the BBC, following the "scandal" Jamie has created over what British Education Secretary Ruth Kelly recently conceded is "junk food." "You say you want a revolution?" John Lennon once asked ("Revolution," Hey Jude, 1970). Well, you have to get together and actually make a plan to do something. You know, you gotta make like a chicken -- that is, the chickens in Chicken Run (another great English invention), so that the institutional Tweedy's Farm (big government) will acknowledge you: "Them chicken's organized!" Talk about Reality TV! Now, Jamie is ready to take on the U.S. market, land of pre-packaged, processed, and otherwise preserved foods, telling ABC: If you look at an ingredient -- a product like a sausage or a burger -- and you look at the ingredients, you should have four or five, but it's got 49 and you're like, 'Wow!' I realized that there were more standards in place for dog food than there were for our own kids, and that just sums it all up. None too soon either, because efforts led by chefs in this country are either too indirect (e.g., Alice Water's Edible Schoolyard) or too small (Emeril Lagasse's Children's Storefront School in Harlem). After all, how will an Edible Schoolyard ever make headway on the immediate, everyday school lunch? And how will change at one Harlem school change all schools in America? But that's what Jamie Oliver is doing -- affecting the entire UK population, which is (conservatively) about 15% of ours. Since we're talking about numbers, does that mean that it would take well under 10 equally committed American chefs to achieve the same here? And count in one chef already -- Jamie Oliver! News stories: BBC ABC World News Tonight ABC Good Morning America New York Daily News Previous articles: Today's Kitchen Cookbook Back to School: Mollie Katzen's Salad People Alice Waters: Ms. Smith Goes to Washington July 4: East Meets West Wall Street Journal: Beef over Chef Sponsorship? Amazon UK's Steamy Xmas Chefs Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, schools, politics, junk food, school lunch, United Kingdom, Reality TV --> back to superchefblog