News from the food universe that are informative, will make you laugh or simply scratch your head.

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Magnolia Pictures brought us Food, Inc., now a new food-centered documentary is on its way: A Place at the Table.
49 million people in the U.S. – one in four children – don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. [watch trailer]

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How ‘Tyrannical’ Are Fine-Dining Restaurants Really? New York’s Tasting Menus Ranked by Time, Courses, and Cost [article]

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Wildly Delicious: 10 Invasive Pests You Should Be Eating for Dinner (via First We Feast)  Fighting alien species, one bite at a time. [article]

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Why Does the Durian Fruit Smell So Terrible? Anthony Bourdain calls it “indescribable, something you will either love or despise… Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.” [article]

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New Generation Butchers Revive the Craft  –    Two magic words:  chicharrones & 4505 Meats. Not sure why I am having a hard time picturing our local butchers in a similar video.
(which reminds me, that I STILL need to frame these porkalicious masterpieces I once ordered at 4505 Meats) [watch video]

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Usually I decline promotional kitchen tool offers, I know what I use in my kitchen and what I would deem simply superfluous; hence I rarely add new tools or gadgets. But when GIR offered to send me one of their new spatulas, I surrendered – silicone spatulas are one of the heavily used tools around here. Currently I can count almost ten different ones to my name and not a single one of them is “perfect”. They’re either too soft, their handle is awkward to work with or it needs to be taken apart to be cleaned thoroughly. Not so my new grey GIR, as it consists of a single piece of silicone and the handle has exactly the right grip. If you’re like me and use it nearly on a daily basis (hopefully for a couple of years), the somewhat higher price becomes neglectable. A new favorite. (website)

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Cookbook of the week

Since Phaidon stepped into the cookbook business back in 2006 with the Silver Spoon, the publishing house has added some extraordinary tomes to their food portfolio.
Many of them have become favorites of mine, e.g. this green one, Pork and Sons or India. Naturally I preordered their latest masterstroke Where Chefs Eat: A Guide to Chefs’ Favourite Restaurants as soon as I had read about it and last week’s delivery didn’t disappoint. Especially nice: Stumbling upon a quote from Åžemsa Denizsel (who we had the pleasure to meet and spend some time with last year in Istanbul), in which she recommends L’Arcangelo in Rome, where we just happened to have had said gnocchi!
(I really hope this one gets its own app, otherwise the restaurant information may be outdated just too quickly)

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Favorite quote of the week

Just remember: your New Year’s resolution may put a pastry chef out of a job. #eatdessert
by @thebravetart