Category: General News

There are a couple changes to the Portland food blogging landscape to announce:

• BeerBloggers.com has decided to call it quits and has put out a Last Call post where he explains that “My own enthusiasm for beer has not waned, but my time to blog about it has been near non-existant for over a year now. I’ve been thinking about what to do with this domain, as having it sit idle for months at a time seems pointless. I was approached about an opportunity to donate the domain name to a worthy cause, and I’ve decided to take it.”
• A video food blog called Parsley, Sage Rosemary and Tim has recently launched. In the initial episode, the blogger uses an innovative mix of interviews, cooking demos,  and real life situations to explain how to put together a meal featuring Brown Butter Sage Sauce, Goat Cheese, and Beet Pizza.

Chubby Werewolf has posted a detailed and critical commentary on Anthony Bourdain and the No Reservations episode filmed in Maine.

…What I do have a problem with is people who say shitty things about others under the veil of criticism and then can’t even be bothered to qualify their remarks. Take, for instance, the monkfish dish that Mr. Bourdain “didn’t love so much.” What did he dislike about it? Was it not fresh? Was it the taste of one of the components? Was it the pairing of the leeks and red pepper with the monkfish liver? A little bit of information would go a long way here. Ditto on the comment about Mr. Street’s “watery-looking sauce.” Did you taste it, Anthony? Or did you just decide that because you saw something that looked “watery” that it was bad?…

The Blueberry Files and Delicious Musings were at El Rayo yesterday for an appearance by the Cabin Cove Oysters shuck truck and have both posted some photos from the event.

Oysters were briny, served with a salt-cutting red wine migonette.  Sold out fast, but the Shuck Truck will be back.  And hopefully we’ll be seeing all manner of food trucks all over Portland soon anyway.

Edible Obsessions has published an editorial in favor of food trucks.

Now, because of the combined efforts of Creative Portland Corporation, along with the input from those in the community who support or wish to operate a food truck in the city, we are no longer asking if food trucks will finally come to Portland but, rather, when.

Across the board, the recommendations from CPC are more than agreeable and address everything from location to sanitation…

Who I Met published an interview with Sarah Sutton, co-owner of the food truck Bite into Maine which is located in Cape Elizabeth.

Sarah and her husband have become “the reference point” for a local issue that is gaining attention. A town that closely guards local food and business, food carts are denied business permits in the metro Portland area- mostly for fear of competition. Despite that, their cart, “Bite Into Maine” is thriving- it even placed highly in the Food Network’s “America’s Favorite Food Truck” contest after being open for only three months.

Portland Daily Sun columnist Bob Higgins recalls some recent exceptions to the current prohibition.

Just about six years back, I worked down at Tartan Textiles down in West Bayside. Every day, a food truck arrived to dispense wares of hot coffee, pre-made wrapped sandwiches, fruits, donuts, and all other manner of tasty snackery.

Organizers of the campaign to allow food trucks in Portland have set up a Facebook page. There’s a growing collection of links to news articles on the issue and a survey to gauge public opinion on whether food trucks should be allowed to use street parking.

If you’re a fan of food trucks and want to see them come to Portland “like” the Bring Food Trucks to Portland profile to show your support.

Friday’s Press Herald has published an editorial encouraging the City Council to legalize food trucks.

The Creative Portland Corp. did the right thing Wednesday and recommended lifting the city’s ban on food trucks. The City Council should follow that recommendation and open the door to a new kind of small business.

The effort to allow food trucks to operate in Portland took another step forward yesterday. According to an article in the Press Herald a proposed set of policy recommendations were approved by the Creative Portland Corporation board by a vote of 6-1. The recommendations will now be forwarded to the City Council Health and Recreation Subcommittee for review.

If the committee likes what it sees, it will place the recommendations into an ordinance, which it will send to the City Council for final approval.

“A lot of good work has been done in a very short period of time,” said Christopher Campbell, a Creative Portland board member, before voting yes on the recommendations.

For additional reporting read the food trucks in Thursday’s Portland Daily Sun.

Food photographer Stacey Cramp has posted an entry on her blog about mushroom foraging,

This isn’t to say that you should go about foraging without a care in the world. If you’re thinking about mushroom hunting get several books (I find it useful to consult a variety of guides as the information and pictures they provide vary), study specimens carefully before even thinking about eating them and seek someone with mushrooming experience to take you on a guided walk. As Marley says, “Nothing can boost confidence better than seeing a mushroom in the hands of a knowledgeable person.” Starting with one or two easy-to-identify varieties is a good idea and then, if you like, you can try to expand your list each year.

MPBN aired a news segment today that warns about the risks of eating wild mushrooms without adequate training to identify those that are safe to eat,

The damp weather in recent weeks has led to a bumper crop of wild mushrooms. They’re sprouting everywhere from remote woods to the side of soccer fields. And for recreational foragers the temptation to pick from the bounty is overwhelming. But Maine public health officials say amateur pickers are taking a serious risk.

and the Urban Farm Fermentory has posted some photos from their recent guided mushroom walk in Gorham.

According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, the Portland City Council’s Health and Recreation Committee met earlier this week to consider a change to the Farmers Market ordinance to allow hard cider to be sold. While not on the agenda the discussion also considered whether to allow raw milk to be sold at the market.

On Tuesday, the committee was slated to discuss adding hard cider to the list of products that can be sold at the farmers market. The proposed change comes in part in response to the recent passage of a state law that allows permitted farm winery operations to sell certain alcoholic beverages at farmers markets statewide.

David Buchanan attended the meeting and told the committee he plans to team with Eli Cayer of Urban Farm Fermentory to sell hard ciders at the farmers market and he thinks the allowance of the alcoholic product could be a further boon for the market.

For additional commentary and reporting see articles from in the Portland Daily Sun and from The Golden Dish.

Today’s Portland Daily Sun provides some advice on bringing children to restaurants.

Generally, if there is mac and cheese listed (the kind without lobster and truffles) or any variation of deep-fried Twinkies, the place tolerates toddlers and stoned college students. If you can’t pronounce the majority of the gilded menu, Open Table it someplace else.