While many among us will spend the day goofing off at our desk jobs dreaming of the enormous meal ahead; shopping for the enormous meal ahead; or languishing in LaGuardia to make it in the nick of time to the enormous meal ahead, today is generally one of the busiest days of the year for most markets–be they Green or Whole. As you wait for those cranberries to caramelize, we’d like to offer some reading materials from posts past.
Maybe we’re just suckers for historical affairs, but one one of the best meals we’ve had all year was the Mark Twain Feast Spectacle at Bubby’s in Brooklyn. Seriously, the spread was so bountiful, a Thanksgiving buffet table is practically bare in comparison. And when the original Bubby’s in Tribeca (now celebrating it’s 21st year) sent us the menu of what they’ll be serving at brunch and dinner next Thursday–it’s pay what you want, and all proceeds go to the New York City Rescue Mission, the homeless shelter nearby Bubby’s in Tribeca–we happily noticed some similarities.
You might recall that way back in April–when Spring foods were just beginning to appear–we…
Be sure to take a peek at the current Edible segment airing on NY1 today and Sunday. (And online right here in perpetuity.) Based on a story in the current issue, it’s on Inside Park chef Matt Weingarten’s take on the Native American snack called pemmican, which has historically made use of both fall harvest foods on the Great Plains and a successful hunt for buffalo. It’s kind of like a cross between a granola bar and beef jerky.
Our publishers just alerted us to a sweet deal, especially for those currently struggling on their holiday gift lists, double especially for those of us who haven’t even started. If you order a new subscription to Edible Brooklyn (only $28 a year!) before December 1st–or to Edible East End or even Edible Manhattan–they’ll kick in a free copy of Edible Brooklyn: The Cookbook. Here’s what to do.
In case you missed last week’s Edible episode on NY1–it’s on the spiked Scandinavian winter warmer called glögg–we wanted to point your attention both to the television segment (which you can find here online) as well as the Edible Manhattan article that inspired it, which includes the recipe for the drink, a heady, dangerously drinkable blend of sweet red wine heated up with a spike of citrus and some gingerbready spicing. We procured it from Morten Sohlberg—the Norwegian-born CEO of Smörgas Chef’ Restaurant Group, which runs three Smörgas Chef’ restaurants in Manhattan, including the one inside the Scandinavia House cultural center where we shot the piece for NY1.
No self-respecting lover of refined brine or fan of the fermented is going to be anywhere but New Amsterdam Market tomorrow, when the first annual Peck Slip Pickle Festival brings nearly two dozen producers of pickled and fermented foods to South Street Seaport between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.. The day also includes a competition for amateur picklers–judging at 4:30–and as luck would have it, we happened to stumble into a sneak peek of the entries as they were laid out for tasting by a special panel of judges that included Rick Field of Rick’s Picks (the city’s prince of new pickling) Harry Rosenblum of The Brooklyn Kitchen (where you can take a class taught by Field and then buy everything you need to practice what you learn at home) and Robert LaValva, who spearheads New Amsterdam Market and the blossoming food, farm and market scene near South Street Seaport.
Over the past few years we’ve watched as parents and teachers which a knack for turning parking lots into produce launch a slew of mini farm projects at New York City public schools. Launched last year with help from The Mayor’s Office and GrowNYC, The Citywide School Gardens Initiative hopes to help them, providing not just supplies and expert advice from the community gardeners at the GrowNYC Greenthumb program, but literal seed money. They call the program Grow to Learn, and until November 30 you can apply for a $2,000 grant to start or enhance a garden for schoolkids.
Dig this helpful guide from the folks at GrowNYC, the non-profit group behind city Greenmarkets. It’s a list of which of their farmers citywide are selling turkeys, plus how to order them and where you can pick them up. Don’t forget the butchers at Dickson’s Farmstead Meats in Chelsea Market or your mail-order friends at Fleisher’s and Heritage Foods USA. (The latter will probably let you order from their new Heritage Meat Shop in Essex Market, too.)
Many of us might have heard of Sakura Matsuri, the Japan-centric spring festival the Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosts each May when the cherry blossoms bloom. But you can have a Matsuri in fall too, and that’s exactly what’s going down at Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg on November 10, thanks to the Gohan Society, the Manhattan non-profit that promotes Japan’s culinary culture here in the States. The you-must-go-if-you-like-Japanese-food shindig–their biggest fundraiser of the year–is called Aki Matsuri.
Even as the November/December issue of Edible Manhattan starts to hit the streets, we still can’t stop thinking about our travel issue, especially the article contributor St. John Frizell filed on Austria. He followed Manhattan chef Kurt Gutenbrunner on a trip to his homeland near Vienna, where the pair ate, drank and made their way to farms and fields in the Austrian countryside. If you happen to be inspired by the story to make the trip to Vienna, we recommend the beautiful boutique hotel filled with contemporary art where our writer laid his weary head (and full belly) each night.
This Week on Heritage Radio Network: Hear Marion Nestle Speak at Last Week’s Occupy Against Big Food
We’re sure you listen to every single episode of the two weekly Heritage Radio Network shows hosted by Edible Manhattan staffers. Both are produced by the amazing Jack Inslee (we like to call him Jack in the booth), who also hits the streets in rain sleet and last Saturday’s snow to report on behalf of the network. Here’s his reportage from the Occupy Against Big Food rally held at Zuccotti Park last weekend, where Marion Nestle and Anna Lappe spoke to the crowd.
