Bestselling author Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements: fire, water, air, and earth, to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink.
Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan's effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse--trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius ""fermentos"" (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The reader learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships.
Cooking, above all, connects us. The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume large quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.
Rarely has there been a time when food has divided society into two major warring camps. But that is the situation regarding genetically modified food (aka genetically modified organisms or GMOs). One camp proclaims that genetically modified crops represent the future of food. The other camp believes it is a corporate conspiracy that will contaminate and endanger the world's food supply. Can science bring us closer to the truth about GMOs?
Many of us are familiar with milk as a food in our supermarket aisles, whether as a beverage that pairs well with cookies, or as the starting ingredient for cheese and yogurt. But milk is also part of what makes us mammals, a class of animals that produces milk as the first food for our young. Our lecture will begin with a discussion of the "recipe" for milk and investigate why the recipe may vary among species. We will also take a closer look at how different parts of milk support the growing infant. Next, we will dive deeper into how milk supports an infant's immune system. Finally, we will conclude by discussing current and future applications of milk as medicine.
Boston Day & Evening Academy celebrates a new garden with a ribbon cutting ceremony and several speeches. Speakers included Beatriz Zapater, Head of Boston Day and Evening Academy; Sheila Dillon, Chief of Housing for the City of Boston and Head of the Department of Neighborhood Development; David Price, Executive Director of Nuestra Comunidad; Felix Arroyo, Chief of Health and Human Services for the City of Boston; Cassandria Campbell, Cofounder of Fresh Food Generation; and Jamiah Tappin, Community Organizer with the Boston Alliance for Community Health.
Can 'diseases of affluence' ' cancer, diabetes, heart attacks, and obesity ' be controlled, or even reversed, by your diet? A panel discussion about the film *Forks Over Knives* explores the power of plants as medicine.
Chef-extraordinaire Chris Kimball and the cast of America's Test Kitchen discuss the new *The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook*. With the 2010 season, *America's Test Kitchen*, the beloved public television show, will have been on the air for 10 years, offering up fool-proof recipes, tips on what equipment and ingredients to buy, and solutions to the most vexing of kitchen-related mishaps. The cast looks back on the years so far with the entire cast, mentions a little about the upcoming season, and talks about the new definitive cookbook, featuring every recipe to have appeared on the show. *The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook* brings back all the great recipes from previous seasons, and gives an inside look at what we can look forward to in 2010. Recipes include Blueberry Muffins, Crisp Skinned Roast Chicken, Baked Ziti, Ciabatta, Roast Beef Tenderloin, Old-Fashioned Burgers, Grill Roasted Turkey Breast, Hearty Italian Meat Sauce, Mexican Pulled Pork, Fresh Berry Gratin, Super Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, and many more.
Journalist Paula Butturini talks about her new memoir *Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy*. Paula and John met in Italy, fell in love, and four years later, married in Rome. But less than a month after the wedding, tragedy struck. They had transferred from their Italian paradise to Warsaw and while reporting on an uprising in Romania, John was shot and nearly killed by sniper fire. Although he recovered from his physical wounds in less than a year, the process of healing had just begun. Unable to regain his equilibrium, he sank into a deep sadness that reverberated throughout their relationship. It was the abrupt end of what they'd known together, and the beginning of a new phase of life neither had planned for. All of a sudden, Paula was forced to reexamine her marriage, her husband, and herself. Paula began to reconsider all of her previous assumptions about healing. She discovered that sometimes patience can be a vice, anger a virtue. That sometimes it is vital to make demands of the sick, that they show signs of getting better. And she rediscovered the importance of the most fundamental of human rituals: the daily sharing of food around the family table.
Lidia Bastianich, host of the *Lidia's Italy* television series and best-selling author discusses her latest cookbook, *Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy*.
Fellow Les Dames D'Escoffier members Gena Berry and Virginia Willis talk about Willis' book, *Bon Appétit, Y’all! Three Generations of Southern Cooking*. French-trained chef Willis shares her recipes and culinary tricks.
From the Upper East Side to the East Village, Manhattan seems to have infinite choices of where to eat. Edible Manhattan is a new quarterly magazine that investigates this diverse food culture--more investigative journalism than food porn, more historical profile than restaurant gossip. Luis Jaramillo, associate chair of The New School Writing Program, moderates a reading from the inaugural issue of the magazine. Participants include Brian Halweil, executive editor of Edible Manhattan and senior researcher and John Gardner Public Service Fellow at Worldwatch Institute; Gabrielle Langholtz, editor of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, faculty in NYU's Food Studies program, and publicity manager for Greenmarket; and Michael Harlan Turkell, photo editor for Edible Manhattan. This event was held by The New School.
