Food News Feed

Funniest Food Videos. Flambe Disaster! Spontaneously hilarious, if you know what I mean. Nods to the video library at the Amateur Gourmet (Adam - ditch the book deal and get your own tv show). We are especially fond of "Cooking Light with Pancetta". And unless you are completely outta the loop, SNL's homage to the frosting on a Magnolia cupcake. A fond farwell to Dizzy Chicken by the late comedian Mitch Hedburg. "I think a rotisserie is like a really morbid ferris wheel for chickens."

Food Humor. Funny in a David Sedaris way. "What I like about France is that there are so many places where you can get simple food. In the United States, every town, you open up a little book, you know, like "Here's St. Louis," or "Hello, Cincinnati," and there's a food section and it's got all the tall food that's stacked up into like a pyramid or something like that and it's got like pineapple and pork and maple syrup, and it all feels like the same restaurant to me." David Sedaris interview with Emily Gorden of Emdashes. Funny in a Steingarten way - Heather Irwin on menudo. "The entire house is soon infused with a heady aroma as steam rises from the pot in wave after wave--a sort of El Salvadorian Bat signal to her family...she ladles me a bowl the size of a soccer ball. She plops in a choice bit of gelatinous foot with a devilish smile. Lucky me." And anything written by Mr. Steingarten for Vogue magazine.

Most useful food article of the year. Jason Kottke's pop science version of how to order food in a restaurant.

Most popular link of the year (one of them at least). The Top 50 things every foodie should do...before they die. #1 on the list: Make toast. Uh huh, by Nigel Slater.

Most insightful conversation. eGullet's spotlight with Gourmet Magazine Wonder Woman Ruth Reichl. Come on Ruth, you left the last question unanwsered! "What do you think of food blogging and how has it affected the formal food publication world?" Food bloggers are dying to know...

Food Writer and Pulitzer Prize winner David Shaw's last article for the LA Times. Well done in Provence. An appreciation of David Shaw by John Balzar of the LA Times.

Cookbooks I used from last year.
Paula Wolfert: The Cooking of Southwest France (Wiley 2005).
Suzanne Goin: Sunday Suppers (Knopf 2005).
Michael Ruhlman/Brian Polcyn: Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Norton 2005).
Ed Giobbi/Eugenia Bone: Italian Family Dining (Rodale 2005).
Melissa Clark: Chef, Interrupted (Clarkson Potter 2005).
Nina Simonds: Spices of Life : Simple and Delicious Recipes for Great Health (Knopf 2005).
Janet Fletcher/Bill Niman: The Niman Ranch Cookbook (Ten Speed Press 2005).