Food For Thought: Cultivating the Saavy Food Blogger’s Taste

Hosted by the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, a panel of food bloggers gathered to discuss their blogs, food trends, and how public relations professionals can embrace the growing food blogging community.

The panel consisted of:

Josh Friedland of The Food Section - www.thefoodsection.com

Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy’s the Kitchn - www.thekitchn.com

Karen Hochman of The Nibble - www.thenibble.com

Kat Kinsman of AOL Food and Slash Food - www.slashfood.com

The question was posed: How should PR firms communicate with bloggers?

What NOT to do is continue the blanket email blasts, cold calls and misdirected solicitations. Food bloggers only respond to relevant pitches.

Being a blogger myself, and targeted surreptitiously on my website with irrelevant pitches, I sat in the audience nodding in agreement with the food bloggers.

What you SHOULD do is find out what bloggers are writing about. Actually READ THEIR BLOG and not just one or two postings. Get a feel for what they cover and tailor your pitch to their subject matter. Food bloggers are happy to try samples, break stories, and work with PR professionals as long as you make it interesting and worth their while.

A few specific recommendations for electronic PR pitches from the blogger’s themselves -

• keep the pitch short
• the pitch better directly relate to what their blog is about, otherwise they hit delete
• send low res thumbnail images only
• cut and paste all text into the body of email
• no attachments
• address the blogger by his or her real name in the greeting

On the lighter side - the bloggers were asked to list the top food trends.

The response was:

• bacon
• food television shows
• healthy cooking (especially gluten free)
• slow cooking

But of course, you foodies knew about these trends already didn’t you?

The panelists also discussed the controversial question that recently tore across the food blogosphere - Did the Internet kill Gourmet magazine? (The original op-ed piece that set off the firestorm is here)

The panelists agreed the answer is unanimously NO!

Gourmet was shut down because revenue was down substantially. It was a business decision, pure and simple.

Technorati tags: public relations, gourmet magazine, Kat Kinsman

My adventures at the Dumpling Festival

Immense dumpling on display

The first ever New York City Dumpling Festival was held in the off and on rain yesterday in Sara D. Roosevelt Park (Next to Whole Foods) from 12-5pm. The event featured dumplings from around the world, the 6th annual Chef One dumpling eating contest, Chinese plate spinning, and a raffle. All proceeds from the event benefited the Food Bank for New York City.

The dumpling inspired line up included gnocchi (Italy), tamale (Mexico), bao (China), pierogi (Poland), palitaw (Philippines), kuih koci (Malaysia) and idli (India).

I volunteered for the event through the Food Bank and boy did I take advantage of the opportunity. I helped create two massive balloon arches and handed out balloons to dozens of children, the shy and demanding included.

Indian Idli station

(Left) Malaysian kuih koci (Right) Mexican tamale

When the call came for dumpling counters for the dumpling eating competition, I was all over it knowing that it would get me on stage in front the sea of dumpling revelers. It was six rounds of glorious, controlled chaos and yes, there was regurgitation out of the mouth and nose.

View of the crowd watching the eating competition

Women's round. Just before the eating begins

“Gentleman” Joe Menchetti won the Men’s division by devouring 53 dumplings in 2 minutes. Stick thin, first time eater Olga Zaitseva shocked the crowd by ingesting a staggering 40 dumplings also in 2 minutes, clinching her victory in the Women’s division. Joe and Olga each won $1,000 cash prize.

My shining moment came towards closing time. Most of the booths had sold out of their food hours earlier. But there were dozens of boxes of pot stickers still needing to be cooked. Who do you think stepped up to the pan? Ha! Me of course.

Using a portable gas range, I cooked up packages of pork and chive dumplings to get the still massive line down to size at the end of the day. Can I say how thrilled I was? Can I also say how demanding New Yorkers are?

Some people were unhappy at the lack of vegetarian options, unhappy that we only had pork and chive, unhappy that they had to wait while their dumplings were cooked.

C’mon people, the event was shutting down after five hours and feeding probably over 500 people. Quit your bitching. Its not my fault you showed up at closing time. I’m the chef now. You’ll eat what I’m making you or you’ll go hungry.

To the mostly gracious festival goers at the end of the day, thanks for being understanding about our makeshift, last minute cooking station and thanks for eating my dumplings. It was my pleasure to cook for you.

Food Bank volunteer serving dumplings

Chinese Bao

Upcoming Event: The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

Sunday November 15th

1:00-5:oopm, The Bell House, Brooklyn

Competitive cookoff pros Theo Peck and Nick Suarez team up with Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs of Food52, and present to you New York's premier culinary competition, the Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment. Amateur chefs will compete by creating their most delicious chocolate-based dishes in three categories. Sweet, savory and drinks. The audience along with a celebrity judging panel pick their favorites. As usual, huge prizes and cash will be given away to those who strive for cook-off gory. Do you have what it takes to compete?

Website for tickets or questions here.

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When Animals Attack at the Shake Shack

Located in Madison Square Park, the Shake Shack is known for two things: great food and long lines. With no line due to the recent cold snap, I ordered a single cheeseburger with pickles and I had my burger in three minutes flat. I was ready to embrace my first Shake Shack burger when things started getting weird.

Outdoors at the empty rain soaked tables and chairs, I assembled the two pickles they gave me on my burger. Really it was one and a half pickles since one was only dime sized. C'mon Shake Shack, is the recession affecting your pickle supplies?

I took a big bite, looked up and realized I was being watched by several sets of eyes.

Hungry squirrels and a flock of various birds had silently surrounded me.

The squirrel tried to hop in my bag of shoes from DSW. I sent a big karate kick in his direction and he fled for the moment.

The finches, wrens and other small birds perched themselves on every empty chair around me.

One bold bird made his move. He flew right at me, fluttering its wings a mere six inches from my face, trying to get my precious cheeseburger. I flailed my arms and yelled out, "go away." I must have looked liked like a moron to the group of Asian tourists nearby.

I ate faster because NYC animals are hard core. The birds started tag teaming me and I was thinking of Hitchcock's movie The Birds.... and that scene with the woman's eyes pecked out.

The bird flew for my cheeseburger AGAIN! The squirrel was back standing on his hind legs with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

I quickly swallowed my last bite, grabbed my shopping bag and got the hell out of there.

Be warned - when the Shake Shack is empty, the animal's stomachs are empty too. Unless you are St. Francis of Assisi reincarnated, you'll have to go to battle to protect your food.

The burger was definitely tasty, fresh and fit perfectly in one hand so you can use the other to fight off the animals. But Shake Shack burgers don't compare to the heavenly greasy goodness of Five Guy's Burgers.

Instead of the Apple Pie Bake-off

I missed an event. There I said it. I missed Enid's apple pie bake-off.

I had too much going on Saturday that when it was time to go, I was too tired.

So instead I whipped up some gluten free apple cinnamon pancakes for dinner.

Special Tibs aka My first Ethiopian

I put off having Ethiopian since my sister Meg first mentioned it when we both lived in Arlington, Virginia around 1998. At the time, I wasn't into pesto, cous cous, or anything with chick peas. Now I love those things and didn't realize I had a very picky palate back in the day.

My friend Jessy had mentioned her favorite Ethiopian place was in the city, so when we got together last night to catch up, we ventured to Meskerem [W 47th and 10th Avenue].

I don't plan to formally review the restaurant or the food. (The food turned out to be very good and the whole fear I had of eating the spongy Injera bread was really not a big deal).

I will say that the Ethiopian hummus (on the left) was wonderfully garlicky and the lentils (on the right) were nice and spicy. The lamb in the center was named Special Tibs according to the menu. Special Tibs was boneless leg of lamb sauteed with Ethiopian honey wine, onions, fresh tomatoes, green peppers and finished with awaze - a hot pepper paste of mixed spices, ginger, and garlic.

Next time I go, I need to try the combo plates since I saw alot of combo's coming out of the kitchen!

Ruth Reichl Interview on NPR

Editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, NY times food critic, and celebrated author, Ruth Reichl, gives a wonderfully personal interview on NPR's Fresh Air.

She recounts the demise of Gourmet magazine and her new memoir "Not Becoming My Mother."

Take a listen here.

Figs

I ate my first fig today. And no, it doesn’t taste anything like a Fig Newton. My gardening coworker Steve brought me more cucumbers and let me eat one of the Brown Turkey figs that he picked off his fig tree in his backyard.

I cut it open and was dazzled by the color and design. Course I recognized the appearance having seen pictures in magazines.

It was sweet and mysterious to me. I’ll have to search for some at the Greenmarket.

Vendor Rundown from the Chili Pepper Fiesta

Ole chili

As promised, here is your rundown of the glorious vendors at the Chili Pepper Fiesta. From the silly to the serious, they all had a distinctive take on the craft of chocolate. I first encountered Vere’s Certified Organic Dark Chocolate bars which proudly boasts of their partners in Ecuador and the fact they use less sugar, their product is less sweet, and has less packaging. The chili spiked chocolate sample that I munched on was ridiculously flaming hot. Hoo boy. It literally made my eyes pop open and my nose run. I’ve never had such an intense burn from chocolate before. It was too intense for my mild palate, but it was perfect for the festival.

You need a fire extinguisher for Vere Chocolate

I chatted with always friendly Mark Sopchak and Jenna Park from Whimsey & Spice, who looked familiar to me. Duh! I wandered past them a few times the prior weekend at Brooklyn Flea. They offered samples of sweet and crunchy chili brittle and a mild chili spiced chocolate biscotti. In business for about a year and half, they do big sales online. I regretted not buying one of their gorgeous looking (and sounding) Hazelnut Chocolate Whisky Cookies. But I was saving my money for something out of the ordinary. It didn’t take me long to find it!

The wild card vendor of the day was Roni-Sue’s Chocolates located in Essex Street Market right near my butcher God Jeffrey Ruhalter. I almost wandered away seeing nothing terribly out of the ordinary. But I randomly asked “what’s good” and I learned of their wildly popular Pig Candy. What’s Pig Candy you say?

Its chocolate covered crispy bacon.

What? WHAT?

I smiled and promptly pulled out $5.0o to sample a bag. More for the fact that I recognized a unique blogging experience and risked an unsettled stomach for you my dear reader.

Pig Candy

Coated with milk or dark chocolate, the candy pieces were wavy and curvy like bacon. Shocking, I know, since it is bacon after all.

I shoved a piece in my mouth and my brain malfunctioned trying to register the bizarre flavor combination. It wasn’t good or bad. Just, to be polite, I’ll say it was “interesting.” The chocolate flavor melts away and you are chomping on some very tasty and perfectly crunchy bacon. The woman behind the table raved about the high quality slab bacon they use. However, I think I would have preferred the bacon with a side of scrambled eggs.

A group of chocolate buzzing middle aged women stood gawking at the Pig Candy and I leaned over and extended my wax paper bag for them to sample. Sharing was easy, since my stomach was feeling queasy from the three pieces I already ate. I warned the ladies about the unusual flavor and as they all chomped away, they were silent and making funny faces. Surely the were trying to wrap their brains around what they were eating, just as I had done. It was a bonding moment for us all standing in a circle pondering chocolate and bacon silently. Then there was a burst of laughter about how odd it was.

My favorite vendor (who I didn’t even taste their product) was uber hip Mast Brother’s Chocolate, who are New York City’s only bean to chocolate bar makers. I was intrigued by this claim as much by Rick and Michael’s ample beards and suspenders. What drew me to their booth, was the beautiful wrapping paper that lovingly covered their chocolate bars. They used reproductions of old medical drawings and vintage wall paper patterns. Of course it was Rick’s beaming wife, who came up with that idea, which is a step above the often seen brown wrapping paper. Rick and Michael are featured in a great article about Brooklyn’s burgeoning artisan food scene which you can read here.

Mighty fine packaging Mast Brothers

Oh I didn’t try the beer, but judging by the line, it was good.

Chili Pepper Fiesta

Its fiesta time with bread pudding in the background!

Chocolate and Chili got down and dirty together at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Nearly a dozen vendors lined up along verdant Osborne Garden hocking their spicy/sweet concoctions. The vendors, yes those divine vendors, will have their own blog entry since there was much to sample and learn about.

This entry will focus on the 5 alarm hootenanny otherwise known as the The Brooklyn Chili Peppers ‘n’ Chocolate Takedown. The soundtrack for this event was “old time string tunes with a dash of New Orleans blues” played live by Brooklyn’s own, The Dust Busters.

Six fiery contenders gathered under a big tent tent while a horde of people lined up for the feeding frenzy. The line moved as fast as a snail on Valium. I snapped some photos and watched as Matt Timms, organizer of this and many other takedowns, got concerned with the line’s slow pace and started yelling out to the hungry visitors, “Keep moving. Don’t talk to the cooks, they aren’t interesting. Its their food that’s interesting. Keep moving, you can talk to the cooks afterwards.”

Hey now Mr. Emcee, way to go making the paying crowd feel welcome. If I was competing in the takedown and heard you spouting off that nonsense, I would have shoved my entry down the front of your pants. Course he might have been making a bad joke.

Anyhoo...back to the food entries up for consideration.

My preferred dish was Katie Feola and Anne Garrett’s Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Cayenne whipped cream. The bread pudding was velvety rich, complete with little chocolate nibs. Of the six entries, this entry had the best balance of heat and chocolate. Neither overwhelmed the other.

Olin Moran’s short rib ravioli with mole sauce, was surprisingly bland to me. The short rib filling had little flavor and the mole was really mild. I’m not a fan of mole, but I did expect more from the short rib. Great idea though!

Mole, Mole, Mole

The ubiquitous Cathy Erwin created a visually stunning Chocolate Pepper Popper. The chocolately filling seemed too strong for the pepper it was inside, but I give it two big habaneros up for presentation.

Cathy Erwin's poppers win my vote for best looking entry

Chocolate Pain. That was the name of the most unpleasant looking dish. Dan Marino put together loose meat, cocoa powder and mascarpone cheese. The result....well it tasted good...but the grayish brown color on my plate resembled sloppy joe mixed with excrement.

Chocolate Pain

Henry Chan, was the Ice Cream Man. Henry made the best chewy ginger snap I’ve ever had. He also made the spiciest chewy ginger snap I’ve ever had. Dear god, my mouth was burning two minutes after I swallowed the chewy goodness. Henry paired the ginger snap with a chili chocolate ice cream. This ice cream, with a mild amount of heat, would be wonderful in restaurants. I’m wondering why I haven’t run into it yet. Mental note....google establishments in NYC that serve that.

Henry Chan serving up Chili Chocolate ice cream

The last contender was the refreshingly fruity Chili Cocoa-Nut Caramba by Jui Shih. The peachy coconut flavored ice cream (which lacked any chili heat) was served over a circular portion of some kind of dense chocolate cake. It was great. Thank god I ate it last, because my nose was running and my mouth was in dire need of cooling down after eating my plate.

Aye Caramba - its the Chili Coca-Nut Caramba

This was a great event, I’ll have to amend this tomorrow to find out who one as I skipped out early when the rain drops started to fall. I’m crossing my fingers its the Bread Pudding.

Be sure to read my other posting about the Chocolate vendors and my adventures with.......Pig Candy.