Pollan on the decline of cooking

Great essay in the New York Times from Michael Pollan on everything from how cooking has become a spectator sport to the new movie "Julie and Julia" to how a return to cooking could save your health. Like everything that Pollan has ever written, I highly recommend you set aside 20 minutes or so and take your time digesting what he has to say.

Ruhlman's post about Pollan's essay also makes a great point about the distinction between cooks and foodies, which is really quite a large distinction.

Nothing else really needs to be said. Read this stuff because it's a lot better than anything I've ever written. I'm not kidding, damn it. Read it.

Two quick reads

The BLT challenge from Ruhlman, in which he asks his readers to grow their own tomatoes & lettuce, cure the pork belly, and make the bread and mayo from scratch. Very interesting. I don't have a smoker anymore, but I think I can get away with cured bacon and do this.



Mark Bittman, longtime fish eater, writes in the New York Times about how complicated it is these days to eat fish. I, too, have become sensitive to these issues. A trip to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium where I picked up one of their sustainability cards pretty much sealed the deal for me. I am now a finnicky eater when it comes to seafood. I ask where the fish was caught and with what method. I sometimes long for the days when eating was little more than a hedonistic act for me, and in no way political, but now that I know fish are disapprearing from the oceans, how could I in good conscience continue to eat sea bass and bluefin tuna and farmed salmon?

The Real Reason We Love to Cook

Great post from Ruhlman on a great article in the New York Times about working with your hands and how cooking helped us evolve. I don't really have much to say about it other than please, please, please read what these brilliant men have to say.