Food waste was one of the main subjects of the recent dispatches from the Mad Feed site. This week, Mad Feed released an evocative take on the subject. Massimo Bottura, the Italian chef of Osteria Francescana writes about the relationship between food waste and traditions and memories.
It is the ninth essay in the series which was published for the Mad Symposium, Bottura touches upon the issue of food waste, speaking about a recipe he has created called Bread is Gold which evokes memories of his childhood. In the essay he also touches upon a project that he is working on together with some of the world’s best chefs in May to turn the food waste that will be generated at the Milan Universal Expo into meals for poor people. He writes about the most valuable lesson of an Italian kitchen which is to make the most of nothing and to never throw anything away. “A ragu is nothing other than a sauce made with scraps of meet or fish or vegetables,” he writes. It is a great essay and therefore one I recommend you read.
There is also another article on food waste. This time it is a recommendation from Michael Pollan to take control of portion size to fight food waste. He argues that supersized portions have become the bane of both our health and the health of the planet. It is a short article but worth reading to think mindfully about the food on our plates.
Jancis Robinson had a great article in the FT Weekend on the future of Burgundy’s vignerons. She says that land in Burgundy is no longer affordable for Burgundians. She writes about a wine grower in Chablis realising that it would make more financial sense for him to pull the cork on every bottle sitting in his cellars and sell the contents in bulk to one of the army of small negotiants who have mushroomed in Burgundy and who sell bulk-wine, given the high prices of these wines.
Gavin Quinney of Chateau Bauduc shares an insider’s summary of 2014 vintage. He says there is a sense of cautious optimism for the year which while not being a great year, could prove to be a really good one for many chateaux.
Tim Atkin has a great article on ‘100 points wine’. He argues that it is silly for a wine to be barely drinkable and still score 80 points. He says that the fastest way to make a name for yourself as a critic is to hand out a slew of 98, 99 and 100 point reviews. He argues that in some cases there seems to be a conscious decision by some wine writers to give over-inflated scores. On the same topic there is an interesting blogpost about points inflation.
Normandy is a great destination for various reasons. Its beaches, Mont St Michel, Calvados, its cuisine and cheese are all great points. So here is an article about Calvados, the traditional brandy from this area of France.
Florence is always a great city to visit so here is what to do if you go for a weekend.
And to conclude there is a great, albeit long article about eating at the end of the road in Alaska.
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