Monday, July 30, 2007

Food Jargon of the Day: Video Recipe Sharing

Video Recipe Sharing
Cooks looking to share their favorite recipes with other foodies have ditched handwritten index cards and text-heavy blogs text in favor of video recipes. Amateur cooks record themselves demonstrating how to make chili con carne or Spanakoptia, and then uploaded the video recipe to sharing sites like imcooked, ifood.tv, and foodgeeks. Actor Christopher Walken recently rocked the video recipe sharing community when he posted this video recipe demonstrating how to prepare roast chicken with pears.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Food Jargon of the Day: NPR Farmers

NPR Farmers
This tasty-bit of food jargon comes courtesy of Warren Howell, who promotes agricultural businesses in Loudon County, Virginia. "NPR Farmers" are enthusiastic newcomers who sell their goods locally through farmers' markets and CSAs, or to near-by restaurants specializing in local food.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Food Jargon of the Day: Kopi Luwak & Crappacino

Kopi Luwak
From the Indonesian words for coffee (kopi) and civet (luwak), kopi luwak is a highly coveted coffee culled from the droppings of wild civets. The cat-like animals eat the the red fruit of coffee plants and expel the interior beans which humans separate out - by hand - from the civet dung. The beans are then shipped to gourmet food shops around the world, where they sell for upwards of $600 per pound.

Apparently, a civet's digestive system removes some of the caffeine and bitterness from the coffee, making for a smoother cup of joe. For more info, check out this LA Times article by Paul Watson.

Interested in buying some kopi luwak? You can order on-line at www.buy-kopi-luwak.com.

Crappacino
Another name for kopi luwak.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Food Jargon of the Day: Beef with Benefits

Beef with Benefits
"Beef with benefits," or grass-fed beef, possesses nutritional advantages it's factory-raised, corn-fed brethren lack. Source - Kate Clancy in the August 2007 edition of Food and Wine .