Champagne Refresher Course

Captivating Confections: The New York Chocolate Show

World's Best Cookbook Awards

Passport to Dry Creek Valley

Savoring Serrano Ham

Food Finds: London and
Vancouver

The Best by the Bay: San
Francisco Restaurant Show

Say "(American) Cheese"

Dreaming of a culinary getaway? Check out
CF's list of Culinary
Adventures.

Welcome to CulinaryForum.com
The idea site for foodservice professionals, home cooks, and anyone who enjoys the best in food, wine and spirits. Recipes, culinary concepts, F&B news and events, best products and sources—find it here, or contact us today.

Sustainability Couldn't Be Easier

The most important step you can take toward food sustainability is to support local farming. You can begin deliciously at your local farmers’ market, where cherries and berries, juicy tomatoes, and the freshest fruits and vegetables abound. Tree fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots are at their best, too. It’s summer, the best time to go green—and red and purple and orange—and support your local farming community as much as possible.

While you’re at it, let your congressional representatives know that independent farms are important to our health and to our environment.Congress is in the process of deciding provisions for the new Farm Bill. It will affect us, the environment and all the food we eat for years to come. Let them hear your ideas:

• Read Michael Pollan on the Importance of the Farm Bill>
"This year's Farm Bill will transform public health and the health of our farmland."

• Take a position and write your member of Congress today> [a sample letter>]

Related Links

• Find out how to “green” your restaurant on the non-profit Green Restaurant Association site. The GRA provides research, consulting, education, and marketing services to help the restaurant industry become more environmentally sustainable.

• Join chefs nationwide in supporting local food sourcing through the Chefs Collaborative, the national network for a sustainable future.

• Learn how author Barbara Kingsolver and her family managed to eat only home-grown and locally produced food for a year. The site promotes their book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and includes recipes and a wealth of sustainability resources.

• For a podcast interview of Kingsolver, check out The Ethics of Eating on the spiritually inclined American Public Media program, Speaking of Faith.

The Ethics of Eating also features an essay by Alice Waters on sustainable seafood choices called The Last Wild Food.

• For a listing of American Public Media programs, reports and features on sustainability, visit APM’s  Sustainability: Programs, Reports and Coverage site.

• Find out about buying, eating and entertaining sustainably throughout the year>

• Check out CF's guide to seasonal shopping and eating, In Season, and It's Cocktail Time, a review of organic spirits at the NASFT Fancy Food Show.

Web CulinaryForum.com

Culinary News: Week’s Most Interesting News
Home Cooks Share Their Secrets These approaches make cooking easier, more fun and flavorful. (Janet Fletcher, San Francisco Chronicle)
5 Nutritious Habits of the Planet's Healthiest Countries Health benefits attributed to countries’ styles of eating. (Lia Huber, Cooking Light, on CNN.com)
Tomato Paella Video shows how to use late summer tomatoes in an easy,delicious paella. (Mark Bittman, New York Times)
(See also Bittman’s earlier video, Paella Valenciana.)
Western Influences Disrupt Mediterranean Diet Studies on Crete clearly show effects of changes on villagers’ health. (Audio segment by Joseph Shapiro, NPR.org)
Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy? Some reasons behind recent major reversals in medical advice. (Gary Taubes, New York Times)

More Recent News>

Best of the Best
Best Cookbooks 2007 Winners of the 2007 IACP Cookbook Awards were announced on Saturday, April 14, at the Awards Gala in Chicago.
2007 James Beard Foundation Awards The creators of 2007's best culinary books, food-related journalism and broadcasting, chefs and restaurants, and restaurant design were honored on May 7, 2007, in New York City. Most recipients attended, and are shown with their medallions.
World Chocolate Awards, London The winners of 2006's Chocolate Awards run by the Academy of Chocolate.
2006 Santé Magazine Restaurant Awards On September 1, 2006, Santé, the magazine for restaurant professionals, announced its awards for the nation’s best restaurants.
Check out the latest awards for best cheeses, beer, and cookbooks throughout the world. (Submit postings to CF's Q&A and Info.)

Culinary Events
November 2007
6-9, APCA Summit American Personal Chef Institute and Association, Academia Barilla, Parma Italy. Contact: 800-644-8389; contact@personalchef.com
9-11, Chocolate Show Meltropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building, New York, NY. Contact(866) CHOCNYC or (866) 246-2692; visitor@chocolateshow.com
10-13, FS/TEC 2007 (International Foodservice Technology Exposition) Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA. Contact: 212-756-5229; bmari@nrn.com
10-13, International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show Jacob Javits Center, New York, NY. Contact: 914-421-3296
11-12, Kosherfest 2007 Jacob K. Javits Center, New York City, NY. Contact: (207) 842-5504; Kosherfest@divcom.com
December 2007
19, Food from Britain's Network Forum & Export Awards The Savoy Hotel, London, England
More Events>

Cool Idea
iPod Programs for the Bar and Kitchen New Podtender programs contain 900 mixed drink recipes, 260 gourmet recipes and a vegan edition with 277 animal-free dishes. (Enrique Quintero Design)

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The Heat is On

These new titles inspire great ways to enjoy summer:

Be Natural
Who knew that “natural” cooking could be so easy and taste so good? Heidi Swanson incorporates global flavors into her healthful, vegetable, grain, and legume-based dishes in Super Natural Cooking. Chef Dan Barber asks, “When did you last salivate over a truly healthy dinner?" and the answer is with Swanson's citrus-punched Wheat Berry Salad with feta and spinach; Yucatan Street Corn; and a Green-Packed Stir Fry of tofu, veg and cashews brightened with ginger, hoisin sauce and basil. Even barbecuing carnivores will love these terrific sides.


Be Cool
Sensation dessert man, David Lebovitz has created the ultimate iced dessert book, The Perfect Scoop. The former Chez Panisse pastry chef shares his secrets to making luscious ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, granitas and their accompaniments, such as crispy cones, cookie cups, and meringue nests. You’ll find classics such as satiny chocolate or Philadelphia-style vanilla ice cream, as well as exotica: Aztec chocolate, lavender-honey, cinnamon, anise, or green tea ice creams, luscious watermelon sorbetto and Champagne-cassis granita, among many others. You’ll chill out just deciding what to enjoy next.


Be Exotic
Niloufer King’s My Bombay Kitchen is an instant favorite of ours—a fascinating story of her descendants (Persian Zoroastrians immigrants in India), and historical derivations of Parsi cuisine. This type of cookbook, one that gives readers as much pleasure from its author’s cultural knowledge and excellent writing as from its delicious recipes, is a rare find in today’s overcrowded world of celebrity cookbook publishing. Kudos to U.C. Press, and kindly pass some of the wonderfully spice-scented Braised Leg of Lamb, Green Chutney Soufflé, or Chicken with Apricots, please.

Be Lighter
If you’d prefer to delete some surplus body baggage while enjoying cool and delicious summer foods, you’ll love The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook. It’s filled with delicious gazpachos, salads and spritzers, as well as meat and poultry grilling secrets—and luscious extras like a lighter tiramisu.

Other recent book finds >

More Top Picks
Check out more Top Picks for products and services CF thinks are worth special recommendation. Let us know if you have favorites you’d like to see in Top Picks.

New Feature
Cooking Videos Online Got broadband? (Cable or DSL.) If so, these free online videos feature top pros who show you how to cook. Learn the best cooking techniques easily, at home.Over 100 topics: Techniques.