gourmet

17 Stories

Expensive Cupcakes: A Fading Fad?

'Wall Street Journal' thinks the market is crumbling

(Newser) - Hard as it may be to believe, the popular fad of paying dearly for a fancy cupcake might be fading at last, reports the Wall Street Journal . The paper sees all kinds of signs of trouble for the once-booming gourmet cupcake market, starting with the fact that shares of industry...

Forget Kibble: Today's Pets Eat Gourmet

Lobster consommé, salmon soufflé: dogs, cats are the new foodies

(Newser) - At least one demographic isn't feeling the burn of a tough economy: pets. Instead of cutting back, dogs and cats are living large—at least when it comes to fine dining. Pet food companies are offering meals fit for a king, such as egg soufflé for cats; a lobster...

5 Posh Culinary Vacations to Book This Fall

Learn to appreciate food, wine, and bread in style

(Newser) - There's no better time than autumn or winter, the harvest seasons, for foodies to embark on a luxurious gastronomic adventure. Consider these premier gourmet trips, rounded up by the Wall Street Journal :
  • Wine: Spend 3 days refining your palate as you learn to taste, select, and pair top wines
...

Why White Truffles Cost $2K a Pound

It's surprising, considering they smell like 'a locker room'

(Newser) - Truffles: They’re a featured ingredient in a $1,000 bagel or the similarly priced “Golden Opulence” ice cream sundae . So what is it about these mushrooms, the white truffle in particular, that make people willing to spend $2,000 a pound on them? They’re rare—only available...

Chefs Fly High With Gourmet Pot
 Chefs Fly High 
 With Gourmet Pot 
GANJA CHEESECAKE, ANYONE?

Chefs Fly High With Gourmet Pot

Munchies meet pot in tasty marriage

(Newser) - Potheads no longer have to inhale their drug or gobble pot brownies—they can eat it oh-so-properly with a fork and knife, thanks to the growing number of marijuana-laced gourmet goodies. Ganja Gourmet serves cannabis-infused specialties such as pizza, hummus, and lasagna in one medical marijuana dispensary in Denver, and...

The 19 Personalities You Meet on Facebook

From the 'grudge holder' to the 'Erin Brockovich'

(Newser) - Like any community, Facebook is home to a diverse range of personality types. The Boston Phoenix identifies 19 distinct varieties:
  • The failed model. "Poses repeatedly in front of a computer and pouts in emo fashion." Giveaway: the "Warholian or sepia-toned" profile photo.
  • The archivist. The
...

Nowadays, Everyone's a Foodie
 Nowadays, Everyone's a Foodie 

Nowadays, Everyone's a Foodie

What does the term 'food snob' mean anymore?

(Newser) - Trends being what they are, the definition of "foodie" has always been a moving target, and these days, the term seems broader than ever. “You used to be a food snob if you knew all the different kinds of truffles and foie gras,” one expert tells...

Best Sites for Foodies
 Best Sites for Foodies 
OPINION

Best Sites for Foodies

Whether you're looking to buy, cook, or just eat, the Internet has something for you

(Newser) - Aspiring foodies have thousands of resources available to them on the Internet, and Mashable lists 15 of the best sites for buying, cooking, and eating food:
  • For locavores: Foodzie and Foodoro are online marketplaces for small, independent producers. Local Harvest connects users with farms in their area, while the Locavore
...

Haute Cuisine Hides Out in Uruguay

Celebrity chef launches ritzy restaurant in the middle of nowhere

(Newser) - Nine hours in a plane from Miami, 125 miles through the Uruguay countryside, and 15 minutes down dirt roads will bring you to the ritzy restaurant Garzón, where a plate of ravioli will set you back $48. Garzón, in the village of the same name, is Argentinian celebrity...

The New Gourmet Greens: Weeds

Experts tout health benefits; consumers pay top dollar

(Newser) - One man’s weeds are another man’s delicacy. The bane of American gardeners has a new home on gourmet dinner plates, the Wall Street Journal reports. “These are as good a yuppie green as you can get,” said one buyer who paid $9 a pound for dandelion...

Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba
 Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba 
OPINION

Big '09 Trends: Ice Cream, Cuba

Goats, yogurt, and ecologically friendly travel also expected to surge

(Newser) - Closing the wallet and opening the palate are set to be big in 2009, says Gourmet, which has served up its predictions of next year's hottest food and travel trends:
  • With the economic slump, home cooking is hot, hot, hot. Learn to cook a casserole and take mom’s advice—
...

Mix Masters Stir it Up in Cocktail Contest

Four special drinks, one judge and lots of jitters

(Newser) - Bartending is a serious business—just ask the four finalists at the US Bartenders’ Guild National Cocktail Competition held in Chicago this year. All four "mixologists" suffered stage fright while preparing their signature drinks for the judge, reports Gourmet. Despite sweating buckets, Las Vegas native Anthony Alba took first...

What to Do With That Skin? Get Crackin' on Cracklins

Perhaps not so health-conscious, but surely cost-conscious—not to mention yummy

(Newser) - Faced with a heaping pile of chicken skin and fat after using the rest of the bird in some healthy dish? Those squishy, sallow leftovers, Francis Lam writes in Gourmet, present the perfect opportunity to cook up "the noblest form of chicken byproduct": cracklins. With that extra skin and...

Cooks Dish Up Recipes for Distress
 Cooks Dish Up
 Recipes for Distress 
COMMENTARY

Cooks Dish Up Recipes for Distress

Culinary types find some foods too daunting to dish

(Newser) - Obscure ingredients, tedious techniques, and absurdly complex prep—cooks say some recipes push them to the boiling point. Any step too impractical, time-consuming, or just plain unpalatable can make even the most accomplished cooks hang up their aprons, writes Kim Severson in the New York Times. Even food critics balk...

New Food Blogs Take Devotion to a New Level

So-called 'cook-through' bloggers go through cookbooks recipe by recipe

(Newser) - Food blogs are usually simple things, fun and easy to create, writes Lee Gomes in the Wall Street Journal. And then there are the increasingly popular "cook-through" blogs, in which devoted chefs of all skill levels pick a book, say the French Laundry Cookbook or the Gourmet Cookbook, and...

Gourmet Tea: The New Coffee
 Gourmet Tea: The New Coffee 

Gourmet Tea: The New Coffee

$300-a-pot brews not uncommon as Americans get back to their roots

(Newser) - Cappuccinos are commonplace, but new gourmands get their caffeine fix from tea. After falling out of favor during the Revolutionary War, tea is experiencing a comeback in the US; sales have tripled since 1990 and gourmet tea can cost thousands per pound. Portfolio pours a cupful of tips for would-be...

10 Gourmet Restaurant Swindles
10 Gourmet Restaurant Swindles

10 Gourmet Restaurant Swindles

As eateries cut costs, watch out for cheap shortcuts

(Newser) - As the price of food goes up, what cost-cutting measures at restaurants might end up on your plate? The Independent lists 10 shortcuts, swindles and downright lies you should be wary of.
  1. Lookalike fish species
  2. Supermarket-bought salads
  3. Instant powdered eggs and potatoes

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