Here are some items that tickled our fancies in January's food magazines.
The Saveur 100
We loved the January/February Saveur, the annual Saveur 100 issue. It's a must-read for food enthusiasts. This year, the full list was contributed by the magazine's readers, and it's a fantastic culinary compendium. Here are our favorite items:
- Tastespotting.com: We love that Tastespotting -- "a community-driven visual potluck" -- was featured in the list. We've been featured on Tastespotting many times over the past couple years and love browsing the photos there. We were most excited, though, to see that the screenshot of the site featured one of our photos of Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil & Goat Cheese salad. We love that our (very tiny) photo made it into the magazine, even if it was a complete coincidence.
- Pacifikool Hawaiian Ginger Syrup: We're dying to try this condiment from Hawaii and experience its zing for ourselves. Now we just have to find a bottle. It doesn't appear to be available for purchase online.
- Boos Butcher Blocks: We're in the market for a new cutting board, after one of ours literally snapped in half a few weeks ago. So we perked up at the entry for Boos Butcher Blocks. They're beautiful. In fact, they're so beautiful that we'd almost hate to take a knife to them. Well, almost. You can browse/order their cutting boards at JohnBoos.com.
We were surprised to see Cream-Nut Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter featured in January's Bon Appétit. Zach is a peanut butter addict, so Clay bought him a few jars of this highly regarded Michigan brand at Christmas. It's great peanut butter with only two ingredients: Virginia peanuts and sea salt. We purchased ours at Harney & Sons (harney.com).
Bon Appétit also features LaTienda.com, which we featured in our holiday gift guide. We love browsing the site's huge inventory of interesting ingredients.
The Amazon.com of CSAs
We enjoyed reading Food Network Magazine's round-up of under 30 "up-and-coming food stars," but what really caught our attention was Cleveland's FreshForkMarket.com, founded by Trevor Clatterbuck. Fresh Fork is a virtual farmers market and CSA where you can subscribe for 22 weeks or buy a la carte each week. It's not just vegetables -- Fresh Fork also works with local producers to provide meat and dairy as well. And they're also a supplier to Cleveland area restaurants. We love the idea.
Ceramic Knives
MSL has a feature on ceramic knives. We had never heard of a ceramic knife until our friend Royce showed us his last year, saying it was the sharpest knife he had ever owned. The magazine features the same brand that Royce owns, Kyocera, which are available from $45 at MetroKitchen.com. Do you have a ceramic knife? Let us know how you like it in the comments.
When Is It Important to Buy Organic?
MSL also has a feature on organic, local and seasonal produce, focusing on the Environmental Working Group's "Clean 15" and "Dirty Dozen," which we had heard about this fall. The "Clean 15" are the fruits and vegetables that carry the lowest amounts of pesticide residue, while the "Dirty Dozen" carry the most residue.
The idea is that when buying the "Dirty Dozen," you should always buy organic. Here are the lists, but we recommend that you check out the magazine's feature for all the details. EWG also has an iPhone app available at FoodNews.org.
- The Dirty Dozen: Peaches, Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Imported Grapes, Carrots, Pears
- The Clean 15: Onions, Avocados, Corn, Pineapples, Mangoes, Asparagus, Sweet Peas, Kiwifruits, Cabbages, Eggplants, Papayas, Watermelons, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Sweet Potatoes
We'd be curious to hear from readers about what they buy organic vs. non-organic. Will these lists affect your purchasing decisions?