#118 - bacon bacon bacon!

back at the beginning of june, upon the exciting announcement of an amazing new bacon jerky, i opined about how the popularity of bacon was seriously spiralling out of control. there were bacon tattoos & bacon donuts & bacon dresses & bacon salt & bacon bacon bacon! since then, peeps' bacon obsession has continued to get more & more insane. bakon (the bacon flavored beer) has hit the market. andy richter did not approve. brooklyn brewery is working on a bacon beer. they even have a bacon exhibit at the met (for three more days). it's everywhere! don't take my word for it though. take baconbaconbacon's word for it...or maybe bacon unwrapped's. they've both sort of got a thing for bacon.

seriously, what's the obsession with bacon? how did it get elevated to such a status, something that's gone way beyond an ironic hipster fad? i have three possible theories as to why:

theory #1 - after years of the national pork board's attempts to woo the average joe pork-eating crowd with their "the other white meat" ads, the national pork producers' council (whose website appears to be porked at the moment...oh, back up! unporked!) decided to go after the hip crowd by going all viral. bob in marketing decided it was time to think big & think big he did. he & his team slowly inserted bits of bacon into the culture & folks started to be all "oh yeah, bacon. let's grab hold of that bus for a while." economic downturn & all, they've since laid bob off & he's been laid off for some ten months now, but that ad campaign that was his bacon baby has already been born. in fact, that bacon baby is now all grown up & driving that bus himself, speeding around town & doing blow off the chests of hookers as he does. the law's helpless to do anything. some drunk guy on the corner in the village once told me that cops love bacon, so i guess that could have something to do with it too.

theory #2 - hipsters were desperate. the yeah yeah yeahs & strokes had become lame & heroin was so passe & moustaches itch! & bushwick was becoming "too yuppie" & hipsters tried to fill the void with skinny jeans & big sunglasses & keffiyehs & trips to IKEA, but it just wasn't enough. we were living in a post-9/11 world & they needed to turn their irony toward america in order to heal. american food felt like a funny target. hamburgers were too boring. tv dinners were too cold. apple pie was too cumbersome. coca-cola was too evil...so they went with bacon. now they're just keeping it up to slight the cupcake people.

theory #3 - it's a combination of the two.

win rosenfeld (who worked with nova sciencenow for a while) seems to think that the bacon craze is finally over...



...i respectfully disagree.

#118 - bacon bacon bacon!
snack: vosges mo's dark bacon bar
drink: black sheep riggwelter yorkshire ale



last month in chicago, ms allison introduced me to the wonder of vosges, a line of gourmet chocolates with retail locales in chicago (we visited lincoln park), nyc & vegas. while there, it was revealed to the extremely friendly girl working there that i dabble in snack blogging, so she offered me some badass, probably expensive truffle. it ruled my face. super chicago friendly customer service! since we were en route to the pitchfork festival & they had a no entry with drink/food policy (although allison managed to smuggle in an avocado like a ninja), i had to forgo getting one of their crazy-ass chocolate bars for the time being. luckily, much to my surprise, during her travels the next day, allison picked up one of their black pearl bars for me. yay good host! it ruled my face.

since returning to nyc, i hadn't found the time and/or energy to travel to a vosges, but the other night, at a random park slope fancy bodega, they had a rack of gourmet chocolates. among them was the vosges mo's dark bacon bar. i'd sampled it in chicago & was completely intrigued that bacon & chocolate could taste so good together. i suppose reese's peanut butter cups got started in a similar "should we?" sort of way. i couldn't resist, especially after that sample. it's so good. since the bar ran me six & change, i've been taking my time with it, treating myself to a square or two at a time. tonight, the bacon bar comes to an end...a chocolatey, salty, occasionally crispy end. don't hate, people. this is one of the few good things to come out of the bacon craze.

one night this weekend i took in a pint of black sheep riggwelter yorkshire ale with a few squares of the bacon bar. the black sheep comes to us from the u.k., an area where folks have historically been huge fans of sheep...meadows & whatnot. it sort of explains why they also brew a monty python's holy grail ale. those blokes loved sheep. according to the back of the bottle, riggwelter is "from the old norse; rygg - back and velte - to overturn. when a sheep is on its back and can not get up without help, local dales dialect says it's rigged or riggwelted." silly helpless sheep...just like the ones i see while i fall asleep...but with less blood.

the flavor apparently contains "hints of coffee, bananas and liquorice." i tasted the coffee. not so sure about the other two. since the beer's a brown ale, it had a fairly typical english brown ale flavor, sort of like a newcastle but not really. it made for a rich & filling pint of ale, a nice complement to the bacon & the chocolate...which makes me wonder about the combo possibilities. can you make bacon out of sheep? yep. apparently you can...& when you're done, you can coat it in chocolate. done & done. bacon...is there anything you can't do?

nosh nook #109 - thursday, august 13, 2009

latin corn snack in midst of a makeover (link)
08.12.09 - chicago sun-times - by lisa donovan

here in brooklyn, there are a ton of latin street vendors scattered around the borough. the ones i'm most familiar with are near the parks--prospect park, sunset park, the red hook ballfield--and they're out hawking roasted corn & icees & churros to passers-by. of course, other cities have their fair share as well. in chicago, the big thing for latin street vendors is something called elote. what the f is "elote," you say? that's a damn good question. at first, i had no idea what it was. in fact, neither did the puerto rican/dominican guy i share an office with. isn't that latin?

according to the chicago sun times' lisa donovan, elote is some sort of "dressed-up and delightfully messed-up corn-on-the-cob snack." apparently you can pull down the husk to form a handle & eat it like a popsicle or cut off all the corn like a wuss & eat it out of a bowl like you're at KFC or something. you've been able to get it at white sox games for ten years now in bowl form & this summer "a few local chefs have re-invented the traditional mexican street food." at their brewpub, goose island (official beer of the pitchfork festival) serves a "blanched corn (that) is tossed on the grill with a bit of butter and dressed with cilantro-lime aioli, cotija cheese, smoked spanish paprika and a lime wedge on the side." fancy!

john manion (goose island's chef) has created a recipe that pays "tribute to the wicker park and ukrainian village neighborhoods circa 1995," specifically "the stretch of ashland avenue between division and north," which he & friends have dubbed "corn cob alley." corn cob alley! anyway, it's a corn snack that i pretty much have to try now. luckily, i've discovered (after some quick internet research) that there's a place in williamsburg right near the lorimer stop that's called "elote." you bet your ass they have it on the menu. maybe i could get some closer to my apartment & maybe i could even get it from one of those vendors i've seen selling roasted corn. they don't have a website or a back garden though, so they lose.

#116 - i dare you to date me.

ladies! let's you & i have a chat. dudes! lean back & pay attention. this is about ladies first & whatnot. maybe you could learn something. so ladies, who wants to enter into some sort of mate/partner in crime/random sex partner/ridiculous conversationalist arrangement? btw, sorry to exclaim at you like that at the opening. it's just that i'm a bit short & sometimes have trouble attracting attention, so i figured i'd give a "!" a shot. i'm actually fairly mild mannered, but have my moments if i don't feel weird around you. anyway, enough about me...let's hear about you, specifically what i'd like you to be like.

you: 5'6" or under, in possession of cool hair on top, flat shoes on bottom, random stories in your brain & a sense of nerd cool on your lips. you can pick a good beer & a good wine & a solid five-song string of jukebox awesomeness. you know why dan savage is just as cool as fred savage & why michael savage is ruining the good savage name. you'll remember that my favorite stuffed gorilla for much of childhood was named george, but he wasn't curious. when i've told you a story about that before, you'll have maybe listened the first time & will recognize which parts of my story have changed, but keep them to yourself & wonder what else i'm making up, because you're SUPER DEVIOUS...& you're so cute when you're being devious.

& you're so pretty when you're faithful to me, so since i'm a serial monogamist, if i'm paying attention to you, that's because you're pretty friggin awesome, so i'm only paying attention to you...something to keep in mind. why are you awesome? well, you're fine with the fact that you've hit 30, because you've got tons of time & you know so because you totally know stuff about genetics...although the future of social security sort of worries you. plus, you're cute, so f "age ruins cute." attitude helps. i seem to get along best with L.W.A. (ladies with attitude), so i might as well keep that streak alive until i get stabbed or something. heat of passion! bring on the attitude ladies. also, your making out & hand-holding skillz must be up to snuff. gross skinniness discouraged. food appreciation a must. wordperfect a plus. apply within. new yorkers preferred. those from other locales with ready access to travel also accepted. EOE.

me: 5'6" or under, mid-30s but looking (mostly) mid-20s. cougar bait. from NH with stints in boston. been in brooklyn since five months before 9-11, which, as the bumper sticker says, i will never forget. thought i was going to be a baseball player & then an architect & then a filmmaker & then around music. currently on the last one, but thinking of going into sexy international corporate espionage. ooh! you must be good at spying, but not on me, ladies. i want a house, a pet could be interesting, a kid might be cool. since we're both super smart, that kid'll have a good chance of curing or running something. before that happens though, i like traveling, but don't do it enough. you probably should want to escape to places as well. we'd go on adventures! i'm comfortable doing stuff by myself, but it'd be cooler with you, madame.

my favorite author is reinaldo arenas, although it's been a while since i've read him, so all his books have blended into one mess in my head. i haven't read a full book in almost two years probably. it's sort of a shame, but i watch & listen instead to get the stimuli. often, when we're out in large groups of people or even when we're alone, i'll be all quiet. it's all good. no need to freak, although since i'm asking for some attitude, i won't fault you for it entirely if you do. i just like watching people interact. i promise it's not creepy. not to get ahead of myself here, but if we hit it off & can manage to hold it together for a good enough period of time, i've always wanted a home sort of like my parents' place, 45 minutes from a major city, but with a ton of trees all over the place, something preferably with a cute downtown. date me! i dare you! you could also tell your friends or your sister or your sister's friends. i dare them too.

#116 - i dare you to date me.
snack: chevre du miel (goat's cheese), pitted dates & dare cracked pepper water crackers
drink: two brothers domaine dupage french style country ale



when we're having a night where we hate people (but are cool with each other, of course) we will sit in your/my apartment (yours if you have cable) & snack on chevre du miel (goat's cheese), pitted dates & dare cracked pepper water crackers. i'm doing it tonight whilst tangentially watching mister lonely, but it's just not the same without you here. you could be my missus lonely! oh! btw, i have netflix again. we could watch movies & break out some soft belgian goat cheese & slice off a piece for you & a piece for me & then we'd sit there with a knife each, watching breaking bad & doing crosswords & spreading cheese onto dates & dare all natural cracked pepper water crackers. it will be the classiest thing we'll do all week other than your friend's art opening, but i refuse to think of reading from the bible whilst naked as art, so that doesn't count.

you'll really like the goat cheese. you'll have to or i'll ask you to leave. it's got hints of honey mixed with products from the teat of a goat (chevre for the classy lassies) & like i mentioned, it comes from the same country as the guy who created the smurfs. you'll find that fact HILARIOUS. you might even have a coincidental t-shirt on hand that takes it to the next level. oh how we'll laugh about your t-shirt. we'll also dare each other to eat the crackers, but that'll end quickly when one of us takes the dare & soon after takes a header off a chair. then we'll laugh...limp & laugh.

we'll drink some beer along with it & it'll be two brothers domaine dupage french style country ale, since that's what i randomly drank a few nights ago & then blogged about today. it'll be how we first started dating, so it'll be memorable to the max, but in french. it'll be like a john cusack film, but with less big hair & more big boombox. you'll call me out on the fact that the beer's not really french. you'll mention that it's from warrenville, IL, in west chicago right near the fermi national accelerator lab. you'll explain to me what the fermi national accelerator lab is. i'll remember "protons." we'll laugh & both wonder where the cat is for a brief moment. then we'll laugh some more.

we'll finish our beers whilst washing down the cheesy date dares & you'll give the two brothers french style country ale a 7.3, but i'll give it a 7.7 just to feel like i'm in charge. we might as well make out by this point, because we're getting along pretty well & you're obviously everything that i'm looking for in a prospective mate/partner in crime/random sex partner/ridiculous conversationalist. do you feel the same?

if yes, let's definitely make out.
if maybe, we should probably make out to break the tie.
if no, we should probably make out anyhow.

who knows? what if one of us gets smooshed by a truck tomorrow & we never get to find out? seriously though, don't get smooshed by a truck tomorrow. you'd be dead & i'd be scarred for life through coincidence & nobody wants that...not even glenn beck. you think he's an ass too? we should definitely date.

nosh nook #101 - monday, august 3, 2009

candy or food? confusion grows as new tax looms (link)
08.02.09 - chicago tribune - by ameet sachdev & bob secter

so you think you know what "candy" is? is it food? is it a sugary treat? is it anything you can find in the candy aisle? if you think you know, you might want to slow down there & think again, fair consumer. for years, scientists have devoted hours upon hours of lab time to defining what exactly makes something "candy," with little to no success. luckily for them, the state of illinois has come up with a definition, allowing the scientists to finally put down their bunsen burners & pocket protectors & relax with a candy bar or two or three.

as the chicago tribune reports, as part of revisions to the state sales tax, illinois has established a definition for candy, one that "demote(s) candy and soft drinks from the food group," allowing them to tax certain items at the higher, non-food rate. the revisions, which go into effect on september 1st, are designed "to help pay for a $31 billion public works program gov. pat quinn recently signed into law." with these changes, "sweets containing flour as an ingredient--and there are a lot of them--are not legally deemed to be candy, even if common sense and common taste say otherwise." oh arbitrary government regulation.

so what's considered candy? the tribune provides a few examples...hershey's bar? candy. hershey's cookies 'n' creme bar? nope. butterfinger? yep. butterfinger stixx? not candy. you put yogurt on fruit...you've got candy. you put it on a pretzel...not candy. for mom & pop stores, this causes a bit of a nightmare. whereas chain stores like wal-mart have a team of people who can easily determine which items to tax which way, the mom & pop stores have to have mom or pop do it. arthur paris, owner of lincoln park's carnival foods was quoted as saying "i anticipate having to make some arbitrary choices about what a high tax is and what a low tax [is]. it is virtually impossible for a one-horse shop like me to get this right." good luck, arthur! may the fair winds of chicago blow through your store!

#112 - fork n stick goose berry.

...so after much chatter & anticipation on my part, last thursday, i finally took myself a lil vacation out to chicagoland for three days of city-roaming adventure & festival music & hanging with ms allison, lover of sparks in moderation & owner of a much better camera than i. the festival--the annual indie rock shindig put on by pitchfork in union park--began on friday night & since she was doing the working thing during the day, i decided to do some exploring. basically, i walked from lincoln park down to wrigley, trained it down to millennium park for a bit & then trained it up a couple stops on the red line to chicago ave & along the way, hit a record shop, a taco joint, a CVS & a mostly empty cafe (inspired by a nyc joint) for a few 4pm beers.

the first night of the festival featured sets from a lineup of old-timey indie rockers--tortoise, the jesus lizard, yo la tengo & the headliner, built to spill. it was a "write the night" day (the fans voted on the setlist) & it was also apparently "thirtysomething indie rock fan night." we missed tortoise, but got there in time for the jesus lizard, which, as expected, was a bunch of chugga chugga guitars & a sweaty dude jumping into the crowd. i've had my fill of yo la tengo, so they were background music. as it got dark, built to spill closed out the night. i'm only vaguely familiar with them, but seriously enjoyed their set & even recognized a few songs here & there.

on saturday, we arrived at the park mid-afternoon, just as fucked up were finishing up & i did three hours straight of hopping between the three stages, catching a little bit of every act playing during that time--the pains of being pure at heart (solid fuzz), bowerbirds (folky), final fantasy (twee), ponytail (bouncy), yeasayer (yawn), wavves (eh) & DOOM (lots of white boy dancing & head bopping). after that string, i ran into a chicago-based friend who i know from nyc & we waited in line for the bathroom for 40 minutes, catching up before we headed over to watch beirut. she was there to see them & pretty much nobody else, but i wasn't all that impressed with them. the night ended with the black lips on one stage & the national on the main stage & we hung out & watched the national. my assessment: weird headliner, too slow at times, quite good when they actually rock & fall into garbage cans & whatnot.

the final day started pretty early. i'd considered heading in at 1pm to check out the mae shi (who apparently played their last show before all but one band member left the band), but decided to pass on them & instead began the day around 2pm with scotland's frightened rabbit. i expected them to be boring, but they sort of rocked & are now my 2nd favorite rabbit named musical act. sorry, eddie. when they finished up, we moved on over one stage to check out portland's blitzen trapper. i don't know much by them, but that furr song (live/video) rules. from there, we caught a few songs by women before heading to the main stage for the thermals. i friggin love them. in addition to their own rockin ass, jumping jack inducing songs, they played covers of sonic youth's "100%" (which i missed), nirvana's "sappy," the breeders' "saints" & green day's "basket case." SO GOOD. after them, i caught parts of sets by the walkmen, japandroids, m83, grizzly bear & mew. very impressed with the first two, not at all with the last three.

the flaming lips were on the main stage to close out the festival, with the very best playing opposite them on the schedule. for the lips, we were so far away from the stage & removed from the spectacle that we decided to check out the very best instead. three words: nighttime dance party. we boogied for a bit & they finished up with an actually slightly touching remix of michael jackson's "will you be there." the lips were still on, so we headed back to catch the end of their set. we got to hear "yoshimi" & "she don't use jelly" before they closed up with "do you realize?" as we left the park with the lips still playing, wayne coyne was still repeating, over & over again, the words "do you realize?" i don't think he realized the festival was over & it was time to go home. i hope somebody eventually told him.

#112 - fork n stick goose berry.
snack: the chicago diner corn dog
drink: goose island brewery 312 urban wheat



my eating strategy for the festival was essentially to eat beforehand & then subsist on beer & cigarettes all day long. classy. although there were a ton of vendors there, i only ended up getting food on the last day. my twice-tasted delicacy of choice that day was a corn dog from the chicago diner, who had a booth set up along the main strip of vendors. since the chicago diner's been "meat free since '83," it was one of them veggie-type corn dogs. side note: this girl also came from new york to eat both corn dogs & (weirdly coincidentally) the jerk seitan sandwich at earwax cafe in wicker park--my saturday pre-concert meal. i didn't even notice that i was being followed.

the veggie corn dogs...you can't go wrong with a corn dog, especially since it comes on a stick. these chicago diner dogs came on a spear, which was pretty cool, because after i finished sliding the corn dog into my mouth & sucking the remaining corn dog juices & batter from the spear, i could jab it into the ground to mark my territory. i spaced & forgot to add condiments the first time around, but wised up & lathered that dog up with a zig-zaggy line of ketchup the second time. mmm veggie corn dog.

goose island was the official brewer of the festival & when i approached the beer booth for the first time, i didn't realize that they had two kinds on tap--the i.p.a & the 312 urban wheat, so i asked for a "goose island." the women looked back at me with scorn & said "goose island is a brewery." oh really, lady? thanks for the enlightenment. since i'm all about tasty wheat beers, i opted for the 312 & stuck with it throughout the weekend, since i was scared of the other alcoholic choice--sparks.

goose island has been brewing for over twenty years & they put out a ton of tasty beers & sodas. the brewery's named for the only island in the chicago river & the 312 urban wheat is named for the downtown chicago area code. throughout the weekend, i gained immeasurable pleasure from asking for a "three-twelve" instead of a "three-one-two." oh the "oh dumb kid from some other place" looks i got for that. priceless. i'm sure they got that all weekend long, but them cats need to chill. i've got the 4-1-1 on the 3-1-2, yo & even if i didn't...no need to stress over it, chicago. i tell you what...if you promise not to stress over it, i promise i won't make fun of you when you come here & mispronounce "houston st." deal? deal.