A Blog’s Year: 145 posts, halal foie gras and reverse sperification

Photo: Kim Long, American Forecaster

Nibbles is a compendium of food, dining and beverage information from the U.S. and the world edited by John Lehndorff.
Nibbles is now a year old. That’s 10 years in blog years. The blog had 5,665 total views of 145 posts that had 434 tags.

The Top 10 search terms that brought readers to the Nibbles blog are a fascinating market study in themselves: (1) “beverage trends 2010,” (2) “dining trends 2010,” (3) “lachlan mackinnon-patterson,” (4) “lachlan mackinnon patterson,” (5) “food trends 2010 canada,” (6) “monk fruit,” (7) “food trends Canada,” (8) “john lehndorff,” (9) “pizza trends” and (10) “john Lehndorff blog.”

Others found info about the usual stuff: smoked lard, halal foie gras, kentuckyaki, lohan kombucha, zombie bacon, reverse spherification, national pie day, salumi, safeway select chimichurri rice, kool aid fun fizz, drink with laughing gas, and monkfruit.

About this blog from www.DenverPost.com:
“Lehndorff’s food for thought: Former Rocky Mountain News food writer John Lehndorff is keeping close track of local and national trends on his blog, Nibbles (johnlehndorff.wordpress.com). He scours the trades and trend reports so you don’t have to. Find out what we’re eating, and what the rest of the country is eating, all through Lehndorff’s winning perspective.”

Nibbles Food Trend Blog is now featured at: http://blogs.wherethelocalseat.com/Foodies/Denver-Food-and-Dining-Blogs.aspx

Nibbles Dining Column: http://yellowscene.com/2010/06/10/nibbles-nibbling-is-3-d/

Radio Nibbles: 8:25 a.m. Thursdays, KGNU – 885 FM, 1390 AM http://www.kgnu.org/

John’s marinade recipes: http://yellowscene.com/2010/06/10/if-you-cant-take-the-heat…grill/

Complaints, tirades, comments, critiques? lehndorffj@aol.com

FOOD TRENDS: Impatient food; Smoked lard; Pricey ice; Sexy chefs; Getttin’ some gnocchi

Reported by The Times of India:

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that the mere exposure to fast food and related symbols can make people impatient, increasing preference for time saving products, and reducing willingness to save. “Fast food represents a culture of time efficiency and instant gratification,” said Chen-Bo Zhong, who co-wrote the paper with colleague Sanford DeVoe.

Reported by foodnavigator.com:

Children as young as three recognize and have preferences for different brands, according to new research published in the journal Psychology and Marketing. The 3 to 5-year-olds in this study generally thought of fast food, for example, as “fun, exciting, and tasty” and thought of cola brands as fun for reasons such as “the bubbles are fun,” and “lots of people like them.” 

From the Puget Sound Business Journal:

Some frozen seafood products may illegally contain the weight of ice in the price, according to a national investigation. Washington state was one of 17 states that participated in the seafood investigation in January and February, which discovered that some companies may be illegally charging up to $23 per pound for ice for those buying frozen seafood products. According to the National Conference on Weights and Measures, more than 21,000 consumer packages of seafood were examined during the two-month investigation. In some cases, the group said, inspectors found ice constituting up to 40 percent of the product weight.

Reported by bizjournals.com:
Five Guys Burgers and Fries ranked as the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the nation in 2009, according to Technomic. Tim Hortons ranked No. 2, followed by Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Wingstop, Noodles & Company, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Chipotle, Firehouse Subs and Potbelly Sandwich Works.

From New York Magazine:  At Bark Hot Dogs, chef-owners Joshua Sharkey and Brandon Gillis get their dogs from an Austrian sausage-maker upstate, and baste them in housemade smoked lard butter. The sauerkraut is aged in oak barrels, and the beans are of the heirloom variety.

Now available at: www.jdfoods.net:

- Bacon-Flavored Mmmvelopes: the glue tastes like bacon.

The company also offers bacon-flavored salt, bacon-flavored mayo, bacon popcorn, and bacon ranch dressing.

Now available at www.gratefulpalate.com:

- Bacon Toilet Paper

The company also offers an artisan bacon-of-the-month club. 

 

 Colorado food news reported by John Lehndorff: 

Denver-distilled Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey won Artisan Whisky of the Year in the Malt Advocate Whisky awards. … Boulder-made Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter was named Best New Vegetarian Product by VegNews Magazine at the Natural Products Expo West. …  Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder was honored as one of the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. according to the Gayot travel guide. Meanwhile, Cosmopolitan’s list of “14 sizzllng hot chefs” includes Frasca’s Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson.  

Popeater.com asked chef Thomas Keller –  owner of the French Laundry, Per Se, Ad Hoc and five other eateries, to name his favorite movie of all time … except Ratatouille on which Keller consulted:

“I would prefer favorite movie scenes. The first is ‘Godfather III’ — when Andy Garcia was teaching Sofia Coppola how to make gnocchi. And ‘Goodfellas,’ when Ray Liotta was teaching his brother how to slice garlic with a razor blade to make the tomato sauce.”

Listen to Radio Nibbles, John Lehndorff’s weekly food conversation and  commentary program,  at 8:25 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU – 885 FM, 1390 AM, and online at  www.KGNU.org.

Comments: lehndorffj@aol.com

Visit: www.johnlehndorff.com