October 2007 Archives

Is anybody else insulted by this guy's bug-eyed chop suey act on Iron Chef America? I mean, I know peeps gotta make a living, but it's 2007 -- Asian men don't have to do karate chops to be watchable. B. D. Wong on L&O SVU -- no wax on/wax off business AND his English is perfect. Look at that dude on Lost -- he's never done a roundhouse kick to get off the island. Alright, that guy on Heroes has a samurai sword, but it's a comic book show so it kinda makes sense. The whole Chairman's nephew as martial artist is not charmingly eccentric the way the pompadour and yellow pepper were. It's not hot. It's just vaguely racist and kind of embarrassing.

I did enjoy the first episode of The Next Iron Chef, though. It's fun to watch professionals who can actually cook on the Food Network instead of shlocky candy product placement and pointy haired chili dog assemblers. But I can't believe Traci Des Jardins got cut so early.

Bonus, because I'm feeling so judgy judgy tonight -- Is Alton Brown going through a midlife crisis? The whole motorcycle road trip thing complete with tattoo is so Wild Hogs.

I'm immersing myself in Julia Child this week -- first by reading the new Judith Jones memoir and next by going to this panel discussion on Julia Child at the NYPL this Wednesday, Oct. 10. Judith Jones' book is a fascinating read for anyone who enjoys reading cookbooks. She discovered Julia Child and championed her masterwork, Mastering the Art of French Cooking; she was also the editor for Madhur Jaffrey, Lidia Bastianich, Edna Lewis, Marion Cunningham, and lots of other cookbooks you probably have in your kitchen. Jones talks about how Mastering the Art of French Cooking and The French Chef really changed the culinary climate of the country -- whereas before, home cooking was a chore best knocked off in as little time as possible (sound familiar?), Julia Child encouraged people to indulge in spending time, energy and brain power in the kitchen.

So I've been thinking, what will be the next culinary revolution in the home kitchen and who will be its hero? Will it be the gastrolabs of Wylie Dufresne, Will Goldfarb, Grant Achatz? The slow, local romance of Alice Waters and Dan Barber? The real world test kitchens of blogging home cooks like Chocolate & Zucchini, 101 Cookbooks, The Wednesday Chef, Smitten Kitchen?

I'd like to predict that the next revolution will happen when every kitchen gets a computer. Soon, you'll be able to put recipes together for a meal or a party and have the computer not only spit out a shopping list, but know which ingredients you already have in the pantry, order the other ingredients for delivery, or tell you the nearest place that has the obscure ingredient in stock. You'll be able to program the dietary restrictions and allergies of all your friends so that red flags will be sent up for incompatible recipes.

You'll be able to adjust all recipes automatically for number of servings, altitude temperatures, or to fit the equipment we have on hand. The computer will be able to give you a minute-by-minute game plan for every dish in a single list of directions, complete with hands-free, eyes-free audio recipe instructions. It'll show at the touch of a screen how to tournedo a vegetable, how to butterfly a chicken, etc. How about cooking seminars, where you can follow the audio and visual of a pro chef in real time, with TiVo style pause and rewind? Or family recipes, recorded and handed down as video clips?

Does the idea freak you out? It's a total Jetsons fantasy which is so close to becoming reality. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe in slow food cooking methods. I mean, I still can't really bring myself to trust the food processor. But I would love having a computer in the kitchen for auxiliary memory and computation.

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This is the only clip I could find of The French Chef in a lazy YouTube search. It's hard to believe that roast chicken was not as ubiquitous as it is now. They're apparently going to show lots of old clips at the panel on Wednesday, which I'm looking forward to.

Name: Deb Perelman

Occupation: Reporter

Borough: Manhattan

Relationship status: Hitched

What did you eat today?

One of my miniature bagels with a tiny bit of butter. [Your husband is a lucky, lucky man. --Ed.]A small coffee from the cart outside my office.

What do you never eat?

Fish. I thought I'd get over my aversion to it one day but I'm beginning to think it will squick me out for all eternity. Also: beets, chai, 99 percent of teas, cilantro except in rare circumstances, power/cereal/luna/anything bars and those tri-colored pastas. Wow, I better stop here or people are going to think I'm picky or something.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Eggs, butter, yeast, some fruit my husband has determined inedible because it has actually ripened and a few containers leftovers of an indeterminate age we're in a standoff with, waiting for last month's blog entry to throw itself out. Hasn't worked yet, but we're a hopeful bunch.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

It's like asking me to choose a favorite child! Cover your ears, okay? Mommy loves you all equally: Mandoline, digital scale, our g'normous Staub cocotte and its twin, a one-cup version that does nothing but sit there looking cute all day.

Where do you eat out most frequently? Le Singe Vert or Momoya on 7th Avenue, though lately it's been Tia Pol on 10th.

World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?

I want to eat at the Bread Bar at Tabla. I want one bite of every single dish on the menu, a bowl of spiced popcorn, two pomegranate gimlets and a vanilla bean kulfi pop. Would it be great to leave this world buzzing with inspiration? Or at least gin?

Why not both? Visit superstar Deb at her incredible, edible website, Smitten Kitchen.

I'm really more of a center cut girl, but this is genius -- every piece is a corner piece. Looks like a good pan for baking Thanksgiving stuffing, or a crispy potato galette, or maybe a nice, crunchy mac and cheese.