I've hand-picked some of my favorite up and coming writers to keep niche, culinary journals focused on what they're passionate about-- whole grains, whole hogs, and over time - just about anything in between. [journals rss - xml]

It's not that often that food scares me. I mean, really concerns me. I eat just about anything put in front of me, with the single caveat that it's not still moving. And even then, I might be convinced to close my eyes and just swallow really quickly with enough encouragement. So, when friends decided to order Blood Pudding at the annual Whole Hog dinner at Oliveto's I put on...(read)

I was at the library looking at cookbooks with a friend and I thought of Laurel’s Kitchen which I don’t (well, didn’t) own, but had flipped through a few times. I remembered it to be not just vegetarian but with an emphasis on whole foods, and a distinctly hippie flavor. I tend to like my food a bit lighter and less sweet than your typical 70s hippie cookbook, but I’m...(read)

Parts of pig used: 1.5 pounds ground pork Remember the nursery rhyme about four-and-twenty blackbirds flying out of a pie? It actually used to happen—in the 16th century, cooks would bake immense pie shells, cut a hole in the bottom and stuff the inside with birds, animals, or…and this is completely true…midgets. To everyone’s delight, the sneaky filling would suddenly pop out of the pie and flutter, hobble or...(read)

I'm not much of a sweets person. I'll take a strong goat cheese over chocolate any day of the week. My love affair with the pungent and skanky probably started with sourdough bread, but it really took off when I started making kimchee. Kimchee is sour, salty, and garlicky, and it has a lovely juiciness when you bite into it. Autumn is the natural time for fermented and preserved foods....(read)

I’ve gone a little apple crazy this week—the first nip of fall tends to do that to a girl. Braeburns, Jonathans, Golden Delicious…pounds and pounds of them are sitting on my kitchen counters, filling the air with their flowery, autumnal perfume. Ahhh, apples. It hit me last week during a trip northward to Mendocino County. Though the weather was blistering, the apple and pear orchards of Anderson Valley were...(read)

(Pig parts: Let's not think about it too much, shall we?) Have you ever thought about what possessions you value most in the world? Don't worry, it never really occurred to me, either, except as a sort of existential idea in the back of my mind. But sometimes you get a weird hand. A few years ago, I found myself standing at the doorstep of an apartment I once shared...(read)

I've been experimenting with raw cacao nibs for the last month or two. The first time I saw them at the grocery store, I opened the jar, stuck my nose in, and took a big sniff. Then I nearly fell over. The scent is incredibly strong - winey and slightly sour in addition to the familiar heady chocolate. Cacao, like basically everything else tasty, is fermented, and you can really...(read)