Food Historian, Sandy Oliver, has authored a splendid new cook book, Maine Home Cooking. The book is packed with classic and more contemporary recipes as well as bits of food history, and guidance Oliver has gathered from home cooks all over the state. The publishers sent me an advance copy, and I had a lot of fun this weekend making the recipe for salmon in peas found in the chapter on classic Down East dishes.
For more information see this article in the Portsmouth Herald.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of the Cockeyed Gull on Peaks Island.
Chief asset is its waterfront location, with indoor and outside deck seating affording a spectacular view of Portland’s cityscape. For those wanting an easy evening (or brunch) adventure year-round, the trip to Peaks is fun — with the right attitude and the right company. Approach the menu with caution, and know that the results can be uneven.
This afternoon Hugo’s is preparing the meal for a sold out 100+ guest dinner at Green Spark Farm in Cape Elizabeth. The meal is part of the Outstanding in the Field program which organizes similar farm to table events all around the country and internationally.
The latest A Slanted View column in the Press Herald explores the ethnic markets that line Forest Ave.
Which brings us to the Woodfords Corner section of Portland’s Forest Avenue. Clustered along a three-block stretch is a culinary profusion of Iraqi markets, Vietnamese restaurants (two across the street from one another!), an African supermarket, an Eastern European shop … it’s a United Nations of food. Even Haggarty’s, the Brit-Indi specialist, is now also serving “Middle Eastern Cuisine.”
Last week, illustrator Katie Wilber and I purchased samples of exotic delicacies from some of these venues. Then we made a buffet dinner, with my family joining in. Here’s some of what we enjoyed.
The Press Herald blog Maine a la Carte interviewed Steve Corry about the upcoming L’Espalier dinner at Five Fifty-Five.
There’s an article in today’s Press Herald announcing Bunker Down Fest, a party/fund-raising effort to keep to the credit/debit/EBT card program at the market up and running.
The gathering at the East Bayside brewery will include the chance to eat well, rub elbows with local farmers and chefs, play games and listen to local music. Farmers are donating fresh vegetables, cheeses, chickens and whole pigs for an omakase-style spread prepared by some of the town’s best culinary talent. The protein on the menu will include smoked and roasted pork, charcuterie and spit-roasted local broilers.
The event is scheduled for September 29, 2-8 pm at Bunker Brewing in East Bayside.
Love & Lobster has published an interview with Grace.
L&L: We love your fun cocktail names and Maine-themed menu. Does your menu change often? Do you take special requests for rehearsal dinners and weddings as well?
GRACE: Our menu changes constantly. We try to utilize as many local ingredients as possible and work with farmers and other local purveyors in order to do so. We do have a lot of special requests, from signature cocktails to cakes in the shape of a stack of pancakes for one couple that got engaged over a special breakfast.
The Portland Phoenix has published a review of Portland’s newest coffee shops, Speckled Ax and Tandem Coffee Roasters.
The Speckled Ax is run by Maine’s longest tenured new-wave coffee freak: Matt Bolinder of Matt’s wood roasted coffee. The café is named for a fable mentioned in Ben Franklin’s autobiography about the dangers of perfectionism — a fable Franklin mentions only to reject. Bolinder’s café strikes a balance between Franklin and the fabulist, since his café offers all the trappings of the new trends, but does so with a light touch.
Jennifer Yu from Use Real Butter has published part a two part report on her food filled trip to Maine. Part 1 deals with with the dinner at El Rayo, and an eating tour in Portland and the Midcoast. Part 2 is about a sailing trip aboard The Schooner J. & E. Riggin.
There is a special love I have for the state of Colorado – the place I call home. You can probably sense that from the way I photograph and write about Colorado in this space. It is not unlike the adoration that Mainers have for Maine. Before last week, Maine was never much on my radar except when good friends of mine waxed nostalgic for it (my pal in graduate school always referred to her as, “Maine, the great state”). But my western-centric attentions were pointed East when my friend, Sharon (who I met at IFBC Seattle in 2009 on a chance shared cab ride), invited me out on behalf of The Maine Office of Tourism and The Schooner J. & E. Riggin for a trip to explore some of their fine state. So yeah, I was in Maine last week and it was… AWESOME.
Jen’s visit was part of a public relations effort for the state by Sharon Kitchens from Delicious Musings and the Maine Department of Tourism that brought 3 prominent bloggers from Colorado, California, and Tennessee to Maine.
Today’s Press Herald includes a front page article that examines why people buy organic in light of a recent study that found no difference in nutritional value,
“I tend to buy organic because of the impact conventional farming has on the environment and the pesticides that are in a lot of conventionally grown food,” said Anna Korsen of Portland, who shopped Wednesday at the farmers market in Monument Square with her 2-year-old son, Arlo Korsen-Cayer. “I don’t want that in my body or my family’s bodies.”
Today’s paper also contains a report on last week’s Portland Brew Festival, and a review of Joe’s NY Pizza.
For additional reporting on the organic foods study listen to this report from MPBN.