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Food News Daily: August 31, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Permalink 0

Mainstream Anglo Media and Press

Ladurée Brings Its Macarons to New York, The New York Times

: Lemon Pepper Macarons, by Meeta Khurana Wolff

Sesame crusted chilli and mint fish cakes with melon salsa, New Zealand Herald

China arrests 2,000 over illegal food additives, Irish Times

Dan Lepard’s nectarine strudel recipe, The Guardian

Making a brew, South American style, Irish Times

Wolfgang Puck picks London for his first venture in Europe: The US celebrity chef is scarcely known in Britain – and that’s good, he says, The Independent

The return of the fixed-price menu, San Francisco Chronicle

The palate’s Prozac, Brisbane Times

The Antibacterial of Coriander Oil, Journal of Medical Microbiology

How to make blackberry wine and whisky (to help us forget it’s the last day of ‘summer’), The Guardian

Best of the Anglo Food and Travel Blogs and Sites

A Beef With New Age Vegetarians, Zester Daily

In a Pickle: Pickled Red Tomatoes, Serious Eats

Freezer Tomato Sauce, Leite’s Culinaria

Sautéed Pork Medallions with a Ginger-Infused Balsamic Reduction, Feast on the Cheap

Alternative Press/Sites

How to Stay a Foodie Family on Food Stamps, Civil Eats

Sourdough Biscuits, Mother Earth News

Eating Sustainable for $5 a Meal (podcast by Josh Viertel), Edible Communities

Don’t like bothering with food safety rules? Sue the FDA!, Food Politics

Stumped in the produce section? No fail tips for picking perfect summer veggies, Eating Well

World

Lingonberry Dark Chocolate Buns, What’s for Lunch Honey

Chutney Surkh-e-Murch: Red Pepper Chutney in the Afghan Manner, The Spice Spoon

Ganesh Chathurti Recipes, I Love India

Butterscotch Pot de Creme, Dulce de Leche & Brown Sugar-Cumin Roasted Pecans, Eggbeater

Feuilles de brick – la recette en vidéo, Christophe Certain

Los Pedroches: por la ruta del jamón ibérico, A Table

News flash: Russia bans raw vegetables from EU

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, June 2, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Reuters has just reported that Russia has banned raw vegetables from the E.U. in relation to the E. coli outbreak which seemingly started in Germany which has killed 17 people and made more than 1,500 others ill in 8 European countries. They had already banned imports of vegetables from Germany and Spain after German health authorities blamed Spanish cucumbers for the outbreak.

Spain is preparing the way for legal action over this accusation, claiming compensation for the loss of 200 millions euros (US$287 million) in a matter of a week, putting tens of thousands of people out of work and tainting the image of Spanish produce.

The Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, under pressure to adopt E.U. sanitary legislation, cites this case as demonstrating that the E.U. system is not efficient.

I’m Spanish, and I DO give a darn about Spanish cucumbers!

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, June 2, 2011 Permalink 0

by SandeeA

Cucumber crisis and E. coli outbreak in Spain? The Spanish defense

The German health authorities finally recognized their error, albeit a week too late. After confirming the results of two out of the four laboratory tests carried out, it was announced that the variant of the Escherichia coli bacteria, commonly known as E. coli, responsible for the deaths in Germany is not the same as the one found in the Spanish cucumbers originally blamed.

What? The Spanish cucumbers are “no longer” the cause of the infection? After all the jokes that went around about them on Twitter, Facebook, and the like. And that’s not even the end of the story: the same social networks ended up condemning the entire agricultural production of a country, i.e. Spain.

But in a country like Spain, in the midst of a dire economic crisis, declaring its cucumbers and then its produce contaminated is no laughing matter, especially when such allegations are far from being proven. Almost all European countries closed the door on Spanish produce. The E.U. ordered that all imports of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce coming from Spain be inspected.

How is the Spanish produce industry going to recover these losses? Will it ever be compensated? After a week of being blamed for several deaths due to our cucumbers, boldly proclaimed on the front pages of newspapers around the world, it will be difficult. There is no way to repair the damage, not even the damage done by social networks, where “news” spreads as quickly as unfounded rumors.

The E.U. is now analyzing how to compensate Spanish fruit and vegetable producers for the economic losses caused by this infectious outbreak the Germans attributed to a batch of Spanish cucumbers. The worry is that there are times that nothing can compensate for a loss.

The sad thing is that the innocent Spanish cucumber was never given a chance. German officials hastily proclaimed its guilt before even giving it a fair trial.

Me importa el pepino

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Permalink 0

by SandeeA

Una semana después, las autoridades sanitarias alemanas han rectificado. Tras comprobar los resultados de dos análisis (de los cuatro) que se van a realizar, se demuestra que la variante de la bacteria Escherichia coli responsable de las muertes en Alemania no es la misma que la que se encontró en los pepinos inculpados. Vaya hombre, ahora resulta que los pepinos españoles no van a ser los culpables de la infección. Con lo bien que lo estábamos pasando haciendo chistes sobre pepinos españoles en Twitter, Facebook, y demás… sí, esas redes sociales que lo mismo acaban con gobiernos que con las exportaciones hortofrutícolas de un país.

National Sustainable Development Week in France, Paris AMAPs in Full Swing

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, April 8, 2011 Permalink 0

by Eric Burkel

Without actually achieving that holiest of grails, sustainable development, and without going doing the path of ascertaining whether Mother Earth really needs more development, sustainable or otherwise, a world-leading auditing firm outside Paris opened its doors yesterday at lunchtime to host an event to offer up a few solutions that might help its employees reduce their environmental footprint.

Switzerland has its own AOCs!

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, February 27, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

When it comes to wine and food, a name is not just a name

Switzerland has had AOCs for a while now, but on 14 January 2010, the Swiss federal agriculture office, OFAG, published an official bulletin containing a list of approximately 800 appellations of origin and geographical indications, roughly the equivalent of the French Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). These were voted in in the context of a reciprocal agreement with the EU, and are to be protected and respected throughout the EU.

GruyereAOC-Switzerland-the rambling epicure-jonell galloway-genevalunch-cheese

Germy Stuff Cooks and Diners Should be Aware Of

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, February 2, 2011 Permalink 0

contributed by Louise McGee Cook

This article appeared on Shine from Yahoo, and is from the Editors of Prevention. This material is not original material belonging to The Rambling Epicure and we do not take credit for it. We are passing it along as information for the good of the public.

You touch germy stuff all day. In fact, the average adult comes in contact with as many as 30 objects within a minute, including germ-harboring, high-traffic surfaces such as light switches, doorknobs, phone receivers, and the remote control. While most of us are aware that these surfaces aren’t bastions of sanitation (and why we wash our hands accordingly) there are, unfortunately, places many of us visit regularly where germs abound. Here, 7 of the most common, and how you can stay (mostly) germ-free.