News from Gen's Kitchen (Cue the Food Geek)

Ok, so I mentioned awhile back that this format is getting boring (for me, and probably for anyone else reading). After some thought about what might make this more interesting, especially in light of the billion-and-a-half "look at what I ate!" blogs out there, I've decided to go educational. But creatively, and hopefully not too obnoxiously.

Why educational? I love reading cookbooks that explain techniques, rationales for a particular process, and unusual ingredients in-depth. I'm also obsessed with vintage cookbooks, for what they say about food, but also culture and how it's changed over time.

I'd like to think all this semi-arcane knowledge is useful. I find having a fuller understanding of ingredients and techniques makes it much easier to spot issues in my cooking, and take into account factors people who don't read a lot of cookbooks might not notice. That's why I do so many odd and crazy things, and yet generally come out with an edible result. And, of course, there's always more to learn- sometimes it's fun to see how I fail, and to explore why.

And maybe there will be a lazy What Gen Ate post sometimes. I still have to eat, after all.

(I also apologize for the lack of visual interest in this post. I was going to do some cool MS Paint thingy like all those other cool blogs out there, but I discovered it's actually really hard. Computer artist, I iz not.)

Calling Jason Sheehan: Please Move to Houston!

This post is not about what I had for dinner. This post is about bad food writing.

The Houston Press food critic, Robb Walsh, is illiterate and I am sick of it. Apparently, he also writes cookbooks, but he must have a damn good editor to combat his poor writing skills. Seriously, check out this tangled paragraph from his latest review:

"The ginger-scallion preparation is a favorite with live seafood because of its simplicity. The idea is to savor the incredible freshness of the seafood that was swimming around a few minutes before you ate it. But unfortunately, East Wall messed up on the lobster, as far as I am concerned. It was cut up and stir-fried in oil with the green onions and chunks of ginger as usual, but then the chef coated the lobster pieces with cornstarch."

Okay, so it sounds like something I wrote. Badly. But I'm not getting paid to write about food, and he is. It makes my inner grammar nazi all twitchy just thinking about it. I realize that Denver is the most highly educated city in the country, and that perhaps Houstonians would be unable to grasp the subtle wit that is Jason Sheehan. Regardless, it's sad that the Houston Press is lowering the intellectual caliber of discourse in this country via its shitty food writing.