The Maine Farmland Trust has launched a new quarterly publication.
Through Maine Farms, we aim to convey some of what’s happening here, both on the farm and off. Maine is a national leader in the “local foods” movement that is revitalizing farms and communities. Today, farming in Maine is growing and is poised for further growth. It’s a time of experimentation, change, and promise.
The Golden Dish has reviewed Dancing Elephant in Westbrook.
But here’s the good news: The food is actually pretty good and probably the best example of Indian cooking in Greater Portland.
The review also reports a bit of unrelated news about Empire.
Empire Chinese, known for its dumplings and Cantonese stir fry, has announced the hiring of a new stir-fry master, Wei Sook, who hails from the world-class kitchens of Hakkasan MGM Grand in Las Vegas…New stir-fry dishes will be introduced in the coming weeks at Empire Chinese. This is truly exciting to have such a master Chinese chef cooking in Portland.
The inaugural Maine Seaweed Festival (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) is scheduled to take place later this summer at SMCC on August 30, 2014.
Maine seaweeds are poised to play a major role in the growth and sustainability of our local economy and global health. The Maine Seaweed Festival will highlight the diverse uses and benefits of seaweed, while celebrating all of the dedicated harvesters, farmers, fishermen and processors that continue to invest their efforts in creating a viable and vibrant seaweed industry, here in Maine.
The Festival will include a seaweed focused dinner. “Dishes served will all revolve around sustainability and restorative practices of the sea and focus heavily on locally sourced varieties of Maine seaweeds”
Eat Maine has published an article about Vignola/Cinque Terre.
This fall will mark Skawinski’s twentieth journey to Italy to visit Vignola’s purveyors. On each visit, he is accompanied by a small contingent of his cooks and servers. Skawinski started the trip to show his staff a good time, but also so they could be armed with knowledge of the region and could maintain relationships with the family-run operations they work with year round. Maintaining a strong connection to regional origins is a very important element of Italian cookery.
Today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Anapurna’s Thali, a vegetarian food cart in East Bayside.
At the new Annapurna’s Thali vegetarian food cart in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood, the flavors have roots in the Himalayas.
Owner Gloria Pearse spent part of last summer on a vegetarian farm in Kotabagh, India. The farm sits in the foothills of the famous mountain range near the border with China and Nepal. While there, Pearse, a long-time vegetarian, was able to learn traditional vegetarian recipes from the cook.
Today’s paper also has an article about the Thai Culinary Arts Studio in Yarmouth.
Limanon, a native of Bangkok, is an environmental lawyer embarking on a new path in life, one in which she will teach traditional Thai cooking to Mainers. She’s calling her new business the Thai Culinary Arts Studio. In addition to regular cooking classes, Limanon plans to offer group dinner party classes and, eventually, culinary travel to Asia.
Piccolo will be holding a beer dinner on July 21st in collaboration with Oxbow and Italian brewer Birrificio Del Ducato. The 6-course dinner will feature beers from both brewers including a set of limited releases from Oxbow.
Del Ducato’s brewer, Giovanni Campari, will be attending the dinner. He’s visiting Maine to work with Oxbow on a collaboration beer.
The dinner is $100 per person, call Piccolo at 207-747-5307 for reservations.
The new issue of Maxim includes an article about visiting Portland. It recommends Eventide, Fore Street, Hunt & Alpine, In’finiti and The Great Lost Bear.
Maxim also checked in with Joe Ricchio who suggested a day of noshing that starts with Saigon followed by stops at Miyake, Central Provisions, Hunt & Alpine and the Snug.
The article isn’t yet available online.
The Bon Appétit article about Maine is now online, expanded to include some additional destinations as well as recommended Maine beers and recipes from restaurants.
Chubby Werewolf has continued his excellent coverage of the Blue Rooster guest chef series with a review of the Vinland hot dog.
The surprisingly substantive corn tortilla—the first departure from a standard hot dog bun in the Summer Chef Series—gets points not only for being locally sourced, but also for originality. Bun substitutes can sometimes turn out to be gimmicky failures, but not here. As a vessel for transporting meat and toppings, it was more than up to the task, staying intact right up until the last bite. And while I love my hot dog buns, I’d argue that the tortilla functions better than the regular bun in that it lets the meat itself play a larger role in the sandwich, which is great when you’re using a premium-quality hot dog.
The American Journal has published an interview with chef David Turin.
Turin is about food, not flamboyance. Following a couple of years as executive chef at Boston’s Bay Tower Room, which at the time took in the 13th-largest dollar volume of any restaurant in the country, Turin turned to the Massachusetts coastal town of Newburyport. He then ventured north to Portland in 1994. In the city’s arts district, Turin began creating what he calls “refined comfort food” at his eponymous restaurant.