Slashfood

• Recession Cuisine - The Plummeting Prices of Former Luxuries
  

  Filed under: America, Shellfish, Ingredient Spotlight, Head to Tail

  One of the great things about delicacies is that, while they may be rare, they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. For example, sturgeon eggs may be a taste treat, but if nobody is willing to fork over the a small fortune, then they are, essentially, just bait. Recently, this simple fact has become quite important as lobster, which was once priced well out of the range of the average person has started to come within reach. The freakish crustaceans are now going for about $2.50 per pound wholesale, down from a high of...
  



• The Rainbow Room Plans to Shut Down
  

  Filed under: Restaurants, On the Blogs, America

  
  
  Does the end of the Rainbow Room signal the end of an era? Just yesterday, MSNBC reported that the Rainbow Room, the renowned Manhattan landmark and restaurant, is going to shut down. John Higgins, the Chief Operating Officer of Cipriani, announced that the close is due to the current economic crisis and an ongoing dispute with their landlord, Tishman Speyer. Our sister blog, Luxist, explains that despite the definitive close on January 12th, they will continue to operate the bar, banquet space, and the weekend dinner-dancing sessions on the 65th floor.
  
  The Rainbow Room...
  



• Would You Let this "King" Serve You Cereal?
  

  Filed under: Breakfast, On the Blogs, America

  
  Ah, the good old days when cereal boxes were blatantly wacky! I'm curious what cereal advertisers in the '70s were thinking? Now, you can check out campy, ridiculous, slightly freakish cereal boxes from the '50s, '60s, and '70s on The Imaginary World's archive of cereal boxes. Fellow blog, lemondrop, comments on several of the boxes of cereals that no longer exist, such as Fruity Freakies, Crazy Cow, and King Vitaman (to the right).
  
  The names of these cereals alone leave plenty to the imagination. Or do they? The box of King Vitaman...
  



• Merlot - Wine of the Week
  

  Filed under: Wine, West Coast, America, Europe, France, Wine of the Week

  With the exception of White Zinfandel, Merlot may be the most-maligned wine in a couple of decades. In the 2004 movie Sideways, Miles, the main character and Pinot Noir lover, repeatedly trashes Merlot as the Worst. Grape. Ever. Somehow the wave caught on, and Pinot Noir sales soared while Merlot staggered along.
  
  Of course Miles was right, to a point. The U.S. was awash in mediocre Merlot, most of which didn't even come close to realizing the potential of the grape. (Now we have the same problem with Pinot Noir, but I...
  



• New Amsterdam Gin
  

  Filed under: East Coast, Gin, Raves & Reviews, New Products, America, Celebrations, New Year's, Winter, Cocktail Hour

  New Year doesn't just mark a clean page on a new calendar -- it evokes nostalgia for the times that led to that point. For many, New Year's Eve is a clash of impressions of confetti, champagne corks, standing in the freezing cold (18 degrees in Times Square this year) in hopes of jockeying for a couple of seconds of nationwide camera time. But for some, the best New Year's Eve is not...
  



• Flavored Tequila, Anyone?
  

  Filed under: East Coast, Newspapers, Stores & Shopping, New Products, America, Tequila, Mexico

  How seriously do you take your tequila? What champagne is for France, tequila is for Mexico. Mexicans drink it to celebrate national holidays, weddings, and anniversaries. It even has a government protection similar to the French AOC. The Consejo Regulador del Tequilo states that the drink must come from a region in central south Mexico: the state of Jalisco. Drinking tequila straight from a small glass is the most traditional way to drink it.
  
  So, what does it mean that companies, such as Tanteo,...
  



• North Carolina BBQ Slaw
  

  Filed under: Vegetables, Recipes, Barbecuing, Southern States, America, Guilty Pleasures

  
  I'll certainly admit to having one heck of a lot of 'cue country exploration left to do in my lifetime, but thus far I've yet to encounter any venue outside of North Carolina slinging BBQ slaw alongside their meat. It's an essential side for Lexington style, vinegar-kissed chopped pork, and gets its characteristic pink tint from a dollop of ketchup or barbecue sauce. Also -- it's pretty darned delicious, and provides a pleasantly crunchy textural contrast with the rich, soft strands of slow-cooked shoulder.
  
  From Searching for the Dixie Barbecue,...
  



• Screen Doors and Sweet Tea - Cookbook of the Day
  

  Filed under: Recipes, Books, Raves & Reviews, Southern States, America, Slow cooking, Cookbook of the Day

  

  What could be more Southern than eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day? How about sweet tea, deviled eggs, pimiento cheese, ambrosia, three-bean salad, shrimp boats, red beans and rice, corn pudding, fried okra, red eye gravy, cream doughnuts, cup custard, lemon icebox pie and divinity? If your mouth is watering from that recitation of down-home specialties, you'll like Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, a Southern cookbook which escalates the competition in a crowded field.

  According to her...
  




• Peanut Butter Moon Pies
  

  Filed under: Snacks, Southern States, New Products, America, Guilty Pleasures

  
  
  The good folks at Chattanooga Bakery have seen fit to re-release their previously discontinued peanut butter permutation of the traditional choco-coated cookie, and not a darned second too soon. I'm here to tell ya, this li'l fella is some seriously good -- if nigh on violently sugary -- eating. With a crunchy, fudgy cookie as the foundation, a hearty slathering of extra-sweet peanut butter in lieu of the standard marshmallow and a silky chocolate coating, the confection bears an astonishing texture and flavor resemblance to the perennial Girl Scout vended fave, Tagalongs(R), a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties(R)....
  



• New Year's Day Hoppin' John
  

  Filed under: Recipes, Pork, Southern States, America, Comfort Food, Celebrations, Holidays, New Year's, Guilty Pleasures, Winter, Festive Family Feasts

  
  Happy New Year, all! Hope everyone had a warm, festive Eve and is relatively headache-free and rested post-revelry. Now, there are as many ways to prepare the cowpea and rice concoction of Hoppin' John as there are squares on a calendar, but in many parts of the American South, the definitive date to simmer up a big ol' pot of it is New Year's Day. While the name's origin is still the subject of some...