The Food Seen

Do you what a “jellymonger” is? Let Bompas & Parr explain. On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Sam (Bompas) and Harry (Parr) bring a mainstay of British cuisine across the pond to discuss it’s royal and humble legacy. But don’t think these boys are just about jellies and things that wobble. Their multi-sensory events are becoming things of legend; from a five ton walk-thru Chocolate Waterfall, a Rabbit Café filled with the albino pets, to a scratch and sniff ode to Peter Greenaway’s food-studded film, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover, it all makes you want to stop and sit in a breathable cloud of gin & tonic (which they’ve also concocted). This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch. photos by Chris Terry

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, we have Tattfoo Tan, Michael Pribich and Jorge Rojas, contributing artists to Project Row Houses’ “Matter of Food” exhibition. From Tattfoo’s “S.O.S. + Greenhouse Collective” which serves as a incubator of ideas through community collaboration, to Michael’s “Sugarland” that deals with the labor practices in sugar harvesting, to Jorge’s “Gente de Maiz” looking at corn as an ingredient of worship (includes the “Tortilla Oracle” readings), see how their projects inform how societal beliefs and practices effect our food systems. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch. For more information visit HearstRanch.com

Oh the joy of baking, not the book, but the prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection (according to Wikipedia). The roles of bakers and pastry chefs have been blurred over the years, so on today’s THE FOOD SEEN, we have Shuna Lydon, the pastry chef at Peels, and Jeremy Shapiro, bread baker extraordinaire, to help us redefine the roles of bakers and chew over the current state of baked goods and grains. p.s. read both Shuna’s and Jeremy’s blogs for wonderfully inspiring writing and recipes! This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch-the nations largest single source supplier of grassfed and grass-finished beef. * photo by Erin Gleeson

Did you know there was a Canadian dining scene in NYC? Do you know of the Mile End section of Montreal? Find out more on today’s episode of The Food Seen about these two phenomenons and how they’ve amalgamated to bring back Jewish cuisine to the haute forefront, not to mention some of the best smoked meat in the city! Mile End Delicatessen owners Noah Bernamoff and Rae Cohen, plus Chef Aaron Israel, talk bagels to borscht, their upcoming Passover Sedar menu, and all served with a side of schmaltz and gribenes. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods market celebrates Earth Month with the “Do Something Reel” Film Festival, a collection of six provocative, character-driven films focused on food, environmental issues and everyday people with a greater vision. Come see one of the six features at City Cinemas Village East from Saturday, April 16th through Thursday April 21st, every night at 6pm. Learn more about the films and special events at www.DoSomethingReel.com

Restaurateurs Gabriel and Gina Stulman, of their West Village trifecta: Joseph Leonard, Jeffery’s Grocery, and Fedora, come on today’s THE FOOD SEEN to talk on how heritage, family, and friends, play an utmost role in creating each establishment. Could they be the next Keith McNally? Sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. For more information visit www.SurryFarms.com

This week on The Food Seen, Michael Harlan Turkell is joined by two true food visionaires, Alison Attenborough, a master stylist, and John Kernick a photography maven. Hear about their worldly works, creative collaborations, and how their aesthetic ideals relate to their eating habits. This episode was sponsored by WholeFoodsMarket photo by Tina Rupp

On THE FOOD SEEN today, Yael Raviv, director of the Umami Food and Art Festival, is joined by the event’s curator, Ame Gilbert, and participating artist Terri Hanlon, as they ready themselves for Edible Architecture: Umami 2011 Gala Event on Monday, March 28th, a fundraiser to support future Umami projects. “ The Umami Food and Art Festival, was created in 2008 as a non-profit biennale event. It offers a meeting ground to people who use food as a medium and who present their audience with a multi-sensory experience in the dining room, or gallery space. The festival’s objective is to open avenues of collaboration between these artists and culinary professionals and expose them to new audiences from both the art and the culinary worlds. Choosing food as a common thread allows Umami to present new ways to look at art and to integrate art into daily life. Umami offers an environment for non-commercial, time-based art and encourages artists who work with non-traditional mediums and forms.”

Mara Trachtenberg, a fine art photographer, constructed a series of fantastical 4×5 photos images for “A Decadent World” with sugar as her sculptural medium. Feeding off an early fascination with food, from her Nana’s eastern-European Jewish kitchen (blintzes, latkes, kasha and kugel), to her father’s garden, Mara’s documented slaughterhouses to explore the connection between animal and human, life and death, and in the same vein, been rapt with Food Network’s Ace of Cakes, the plasticity of sugar, and our societal relationship between the culture of food and the nature of food.

Sazerac, Screwdriver, Sex on the Beach … ever wonder how cocktails got their names? Mixologists, nay, bartenders Ari Form and Matt DeVriendt educate THE FOOD SEEN on the etymology of libations (from serious to sports themed), and how to construct a drink list itself. Also, the legend of Pete LaCock demystified, what came first, the man or the drink. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch – the nations largest single source grassfed and grass finished beef supplier. For more information visit www.HearstRanch.com.

Why not start March off right with a fresh new episode of THE FOOD SEEN at 3PM. Gastronomista founders Jennifer Pelka and Emily Arden Wells, run an art and design blog that focuses on the culture of food and drink, and explain what it’s like to eat like a girl. They’re “the kind of girls who know how to butcher a whole pig, take our bourbon straight-up, build chicken coops in our backyards, and throw an occasional ladylike tea party”. Fellas? This episode was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. For more information visit www.SurryFarms.com

This week on The Food Seen, Michael Harlan Turkell is joined by cookbook designers Laura Palese and Amy Sly for a cover to cover report on how they assemble our favorite tomes. From how they design approaches to their workflow skills, listen in and hear how cookbooks come to life! This episode was sponsored by Tabard Inn. For more information visit www.TabardInn.com

Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge (and her husband Aaron Coles) stopped by THE FOOD SEEN for some design saavy conversation (and post-taping pizza at Roberta’s). From quitting her day job to building her brand, Grace’s journey through Brooklyn’s design boom has led her allowed her to curate design*sponge full-time. She virtually takes us “in the kitchen with” some of her favorite designers, and salivate over their aesthetic recipe offerings, but also hear how she learned from her mistakes, taking in her honest and cool to approaching to practicing business. Wonder what’s on Grace’s covet list? Well, you’ll have to listen in.

This week on The Food Seen, Michael Harlan Turkel has a conversation with the prolific Joshua David Stein, Senior Editor of Eater National. Tune in to hear a recap of the latest Bocuse d’Or and what makes Team USA so unique. Also hear about some of the more interesting experiences Joshua has had with some of the biggest names in food including Mimi Sheridan, Rene Redzepi & Nigella Lawson. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market. For more information visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com

In honor of February, or what I know as “Pancake Month”, THE FOOD SEEN invites Dede Lahman and Neil Kleinberg of Clinton Street Baking Co. to the show. Amongst dishing out the best brunch in New York City, they’ve also recently released The Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook, which boosts recipes from their coveted blueberry pancakes with maple butter, to crave-worthy biscuits and baked goods, not to mention their fanatical fried chicken. Food aside, this is also a love story … of butter.

Prop stylist Francine Matalon-Degni’s “Trends in Food Photography” piece in Gastronomica Summer 2010 V10 N3 spans the last few decades, touching on the political climate and how it effects the societal aesthetic. We’ll be joined in the studio by Francine herself, as well as food stylist Rick Ellis and food photographer Beth Galton. This episode was sponsored by Tabard Inn / Route 11. For more information visit www.tabardinn.com

On today’s wintery mix episode of THE FOOD SEEN, we chat with Jono Pandolfi, whose whimsical tablewares grace the tables of NYC’s hottest restaurants. Joined by Will Guidara, GM of Eleven Madison Park, hear how Jono navigated his potter’s world, and ended up “throwing” together a signature line for elite chef’s amuse bouches. This episode was sponsored by Cochon 555. For more information visit www.cochon55.com.

Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the fabulous baker boys of BAKED, stop by the studio to sate THE FOOD SEEN’s sweet teeth, bearing their best brownies (which are some of Oprah’s Favorite Things)! They tell the tale that you can positively have one’s cake and eat it too, leaving former lives in the ad world to working nights in cafes and take pastry classes, starting from scratch with the notion to get grandma out of the kitchen, and bring the cool back into baking. Matt and Renato have also authored two toothsome cookbooks that are must haves for anyone craving classic American desserts made alive and anew (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking and Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented). This episode was sponsored by 360 Cookware. For more information on their green product line and vapor technology visit www.360cookware.com.

During the holiday season, Michael was lucky enough to tour the Zingerman’s mail order facility with managing partner Mo Frechette on “The (last shipping) Night Before Christmas”. If you don’t know Zingerman’s, you should, it may be one of the best deli’s in the country. Aside from their sandwiches, bakehouse breads, extensive fromagerie (cheese selection), and endless shelves of artisan foods from around the world, their business plan is in a true cooperative spirit. Listen in to hear a first hand account from the belly of the beast after shipping out 10,000 boxes on their busiest day of the year and how Toyota’s car factory influences their efficiency (and sanity). This episode was sponsored by 360 Cookware. Visit www.360cookware.com to learn more about their vapor technology!

On the last episode of The Food Seen for 2010, we have J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, ex-chef, now author of The Food Lab series on SeriousEats.com, “dedicated to unraveling the science of cooking”, as we explores the techniques behind making the best pizza from Neapolitan to New York style, why you’d rather put your hand in a 200 degree oven than a pot of boiling water, and a few other tips included in his upcoming book, “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science” (W.W. Norton, 2012). This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market. For more information visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com

On this episode of The Food Seen, listen to Michael “cook art history”, as Maite Gomez-Rejón of ArtBites.net, takes THE FOOD SEEN on a tour through The MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art), to discuss America’s first “foodie”, Thomas Jefferson. During his time as minister to France, he learned to love French cuisine, brought it’s customs back to the US, introducing many staple ingredients, as well as bringing American crops back to Europe. After our time in the museum, we headed back to the kitchen to recreate “A Jeffersonian Feast”! This episode was sponsored by Tekserve & The Lower East Side Ecology Center’s “E-Waste Events”. Find out everything you need to know about recycling your old electronics by clicking here!