nosh nook #51 - monday, may 25, 2009

ew, y'all: bizarre foods show comes to texas (link)
05.24.09 - houston chronicle - by jeanne jakle

to me, texas has always been this strange, unfamiliar world, an enormous state with big skies, a penchant for secession & a reputation for barbecuing both tasty meats & their worst criminal offenders.  personally, other than a stopover at the dallas airport, i've only been to the state once & that consisted of no more than driving through the skinny part up at the top of the state near amarillo.  sure my brother lived in austin for a spell & i dated a girl whose family was from dallas, but i've never actually visited.  now i really have a reason to go there--bizarre foods.

as jeanne jakle reports, andrew zimmern, host of the travel channel's bizarre foods (a show where he samples old delicacies from around the world), traveled to texas & shot an entire episode there, highlighting texas' wacky cuisine.  the episode, which premieres this tuesday, took zimmern all over the state, where he came across such crazy dishes as rabbit sausage, alligator kabobs & something called "skunk pig."  mmm...skunk pig.

for zimmern, two of the big highlights were a trip to houston's johnson space center (where he tested out a range of freeze-dried astronaut food) & san antonio's liberty bar, where he found a new favorite snack--"goat cheese with chile morita & piloncillo sauce."  it makes sense that he'd fall in love with a goat cheese dish.  if i was him & had just had a texas experience that included eating both cow's head & wild dove wrapped in bacon, i'd probably go with the goat cheese too.

nosh nook #50 - friday, may 22, 2009

dew tour announces MATADOR by jack link's as a sponsor (link)
05.20.09 - espn.com - by press release

today in the totally celebratory & radically X-treme 50th edition of nosh nook, we have what i'm sort of looking at as my first ever follow up story. back in late march, before i developed a half-assed social networking strategy for this here blog you're reading right now & gave in to twitter, i posted this article to my personal facebook wall, doing my damnedest to ensure that as many folks as possible knew about the launch of a bold new beef snack--the MATADOR.

less than two months later, the MATADOR beef stick is already making some pretty X-treme waves. according to espn.com (via press release), they've just signed a multi-year deal to be an associate sponsor of the dew tour, a five-city sports tour that features the largest prize in action sports--$2.5 million. it's a perfect fit for the MATADOR.  according to jack link's director of marketing, jeff lefever, "teens have confirmed that our new MATADOR snack sticks have just the right kick they're looking for and we believe our marketing activation will highlight the bold experience of the new MATADOR brand at all dew tour events this year." seriously, does this guy actually believe the boilerplate bullshit that's spewing forth from his piehole?

now, when action-driven teens are looking for just the right kick, they know just where to turn--the MATADOR. other than possessing this essential kick, the best part about the bold MATADOR experience is the fact that they spell their name IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. as an anti-capitalizationist, i applaud their X-treme willingness to flaunt the rules. that's precisely the kind of attitude i want from a beef stick. as for X-treme skater adam taylor, who's now a member of the MATADOR team that will compete at the dew games...he's "stoked."

nosh nook #49 - thursday, may 21, 2009

in mumbai, it’s mango season (link)
05.20.09 - the ny times - by kavitha rao

after the recent success of the oscar-winning film slumdog millionaire, the indian city of mumbai, with its copious slums, has become sort of a household name. since folks just love seeing the places where their favorite films are shot, mumbai's guided "slum tours" have experienced increased interest. unless you're on some sort of humanitarian mission, there's something very unsettling about taking a trip through a city's slums to gawk at the horrid conditions. if you're going to mumbai, it should be for the tasty mangoes...not for the slums.

ny times correspondent kavitha rao knows a thing or two about mumbai's mangoes. according to her "globespotters" report, it's currently mango season in mumbai (til the end of june) & while you could go pick up some mangoes, bring them home & make something delicious out of them (i suggest mango sushi), it's much cooler if you have somebody else make them into something awesome for you. there are the standard mango drinks--the familiar lassi (a milkshake of sorts), the green mango-based aam panna--but you can also find a wide variety of yummy desserts in mumbai.

since i'm not that big of a fan of pudding, i'd probably pass on the mango shrikhand. of all the treats rao describes, i'd probably have to go with the kulfi (a milkier ice cream) topped with mango slices.  it's not that i wouldn't enjoy mango & chocolate donuts or a big ol slice of mango cheesecake (from a place that madonna likes!).  it's more that you can get the kulfi with mango slices delivered.  i'm amazed that it's even possible to deliver ice cream (even slow-melting kulfi) in mumbai's scorching temperatures & there's something pretty awesome about the idea of hearing a knock at your front door & when you open said door...BAM!  ice cream.  i can only imagine the utter joy that such a delivery service must bring to the people of mumbai.

nosh nook #48 - wednesday, may 20, 2009

sweet smell of success (link)
05.19.09 - the beacon news - by mike danahey

it's candy time, people! in chicago, yesterday marked the first day of north america's largest candy & snack trade show--the all candy expo--hosted by the national confectioners association (NCA). it's a three day event where industry folks gather together & just like at E3 or the north american international auto show, show off their groundbreaking new candies & treats. sadly, i'm not in chicago this month, so i'm not attending. also, i'm not an industry member (yet) and it's one of those industry-only shindigs.

as mike danahey explains, around 13,000 industry folks are expected to descend upon chicago's mccormick place for this year's all candy expo. according to the NCA, it's a good time for the industry. last year, sales figures rose for such delights (sugar-free gum aside) as gourmet chocolate, dark chocolate, sugar-free gum, licorice and gummies/chewy candy. i definitely helped contribute to those gourmet & dark chocolate numbers.

like with any trade show, you have a mix of companies at the expo, from industry giants like mars or hershey to little start-ups trying to make a name for themselves. danahey mentions one start-up in particular--illinois-based landgarten usa--which deals in things made with organically grown soy beans, almonds & pumpkin seeds. it's run by thomas gratz, a man who started the company after the economy started sucking. good for him.  on the flip side, the industry giants use trade shows such as this to unveil new products. as a result, we can finally sleep easy knowing there's now a coconut m&m (barf).

nosh nook #47 - tuesday, may 19, 2009

when twitter met food trucks (link)
05.18.09 - cnet news - by caroline mccarthy

social networking, status updates, shameless self-promotion...is there anything twitter can't do (in 140 characters or less)? as far as i can tell, the answer is "no." in fact, it's become so helpful & totally important that for a number of food trucks in nyc & l.a., it's a key promotional tool, helping them spread the word about their businesses & build a loyal customer base. as a result, the food truck craze is now upon us.

as caroline mccarthy reports for cnet, these mobile businesses aren't just hawkling junk food from the back of a truck. in nyc, the wafels & dinges truck peddles "wafels of mass deliciousness," while in l.a., kogi bbq trucks dispense korean bbq tacos. both have used twitter to let customers know where the truck will be parked, develop a community of customers & even hold little contests & junk. personally, i think it's friggin brilliant (no rent, community building) & apparently, so do a bunch of other people. there are other trucks in both cities, but there are others in other cities. san fran has a truck that sells frog legs on the go & portland, oregon will soon be getting a korean taco truck. yum & yum.

as is usual in this great nation of ours, with its opposing viewpoints & such, there are some who aren't so psyched about the food truck craze. for local business owners, with rent & whatnot, mobile trucks just mean more competition to deal with. here in nyc, a local starbucks in the west village even went as far as to have the iconic orange mud coffee truck booted from sheridan sq...probably because they don't have a twitter page. sorry starbucks, but this is what you get for having a business model that involves jacked up prices, rapid expansion & paul mccartney.

late side note: how crazy is it that cnet has articles like this, articles that are 50 times more in-depth than most major news outlets' output?