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The Pollan-ator

Posted March 13, 2009 by Sharon 1 Comment

chives

As I sprinted by my herb garden this morning, shivering and mentally cursing the weather because the temperature was still in the 20s, a perky little voice caught my attention. “Psssssst. Down here. Look at us. We’re coming to save you.” It was my chives, always the first green volunteers in the barren brown soil patch between the garage and the sidewalk.

My spirits warmed as I remembered my intention to spread the word about a brilliant book I just finished reading: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan, the award-winning journalist (and for you celebrity buffs, brother of actress Tracy Pollan, Michael J. Fox’s wife).

indefenseoffood Pollan, a contributor to the New York Times and professor of journalism at UC Berkeley’s graduate school, has been writing about food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture, for the past 20 years.

That Pollan felt compelled to write a book to convince us to eat real foods is, well, an indication of just how ludicrous and anxiety-ridden our relationship with food has become.

He fearlessly challenges the scientific-governmental-journalistic triad of “nutritionism” which is adept at isolating nutrients from food and  preaches to the public that mere humans are not capable of feeding themselves.

And, at the risk of disappointing Mr. Pollan’s literary agent, I doubt that he’ll be able to sell foreign publication rights to the Italians. They already eat . . . no, make that savor and value . . . real food and have been doing so for thousands of years.

I hope that after you read Pollan’s sensible, good-humored, well-researched advice, you’ll feel as I do. We, the earth, our food crops and domesticated animals are all parts of a whole.

No one part can be healthy without the others.

You may just find yourself wanting to stick some chives in your garden-whether that’s an acre, a patio container, or a windowsill flowerpot.

Filed Under: Food, Gardening Tagged With: Food, Gardening, Italian cooking, Michael Pollan

Bravo, Gourmet

Posted January 14, 2009 by Sharon 1 Comment

press-01-09-gourmet-high-res-cover576

Sure, times are tough and the weather’s downright cruel. But, when I wrapped myself in the January 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine, celebrating “all things Italian-American,” I felt as warm as the summer sand on a Sicilian beach.

From the greats of Ital-Creole cooking (leaving me seriously craving broiled oysters with pancetta at Irene’s Cuisine) to Gourmet editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez’s Calabrian heritage recipes (such as Marinated Eggplant, Polpette , and Sweet Ricotta Pastries), to an ambitious recipe for making fresh mozzarella at home, Italian American cooking is receiving the respect it deserves.

As editor in chief Ruth Reichl observes, “Italian-American food is not pseudo-Italian, and it is neither the food of the north nor the food of the south. It is the food of the Italian diaspora, an authentic cuisine that has been joyfully embraced throughout the United States.”

To learn more about the Italian-American issue, visit your newsstand, library or www.gourmet.com

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: Food, Italian cooking

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