Germany Challenges Turkey’s Protected Status Claim To The Döner Kebab
Image Source: Tolga Ildun/Getty Images
In April, Turkey applied to register the name "döner" as its "guaranteed traditional speciality" across Europe. Specifications include that döner must consist of beef or lamb “horizontally sliced into cutlets 3-5 mm thick” or chicken cutlets sliced 1-2 cm thick; ground meat is banned entirely; and the age of the animals and knife used to slice the meat must meet certain requirements. Germany filed an appeal filed last month, arguing that the new rules would have “catastrophic consequences for gastronomy businesses as well as consumers,” driving up prices in the massive German döner kebab market, which is worth €7 billion a year. Who will win the döner wars? If the two countries can't find a compromise within 6 months, the European Commission will issue a ruling.
Japanese Research Organization To Release Rice Lexicon
Image Source: Miyuki Meinaka
This one's for food writer nerds—or anyone who communicates about food. Ever feel like the subtleties of rice can be hard to describe? So does Japan's National Agriculture and Food Research Organization! So they've tasked their senior researcher, Fumiyo Hayakawa, with creating a definitive rice lexicon. After scouring food articles and research journals, surveying sensory analysts, and reading rice cooker catalogs, Hayakawa and her colleagues set about whittling the 7,000-odd Japanese descriptors for white rice down to 100+ essential terms like tsubukan (individual grains), fukkura (plump), nebari (springy), amai (faintly sweet), hoka-hoka (piping-hot), tsuyayaka (shiny) and shiroi (pale). I hope the new rice lexicon is published with English translations!
Why Mise En Place Is Overrated
Fresh Spring Cookbooks Satisfy Every Culinary Craving
Image Source: Andrea D’Aquino
Feel like enjoying a plate of tropical island food? Or a tray of Italian appetizers? Whether you dream of recipes for hot pasta or cold pasta, for sauces or dips, for cooking with bourbon or cooking on your sheet pan, for preserved food or neo-hippie food, for Palestinian food, Jewish or Korean food, for cakes and other desserts, or for a sneak peek behind the curtain of #FoodTok, you'll find everything you hoped for in this spring's crop of inventive cookbooks. Food & Wine picks their top 24, while Epicurious widens the lens with 80 all-inclusive selections.
Algae Yields Highest Smoke Point Cooking Oil
Image Source: Algae Cooking Club
Algae oil has been around a few years, but a new iteration has a super high smoke point of 535ºF. That's higher than previous algae oils (485ºF) and higher than previous chart-topper, refined avocado oil (520ºF). Why do you care? You'll get better searing at high temps before the oil starts to degrade and emit noxious smoke. Does it taste like pond scum? No. Algae oil is practically flavorless and clear in color. It also has a lower carbon footprint than other oils. The only downside is price, similar to fancy olive oil.
Why Hot-Climate Countries Cook Spicier Food Than Cold-Climate Countries
Image Source: Getty Images
Bored by holiday cookbook roundups, I came across this review of research into why people eat spicier food in hot climates. The hypothesis? It's an adaptation to increased risk of foodborne illness in those regions. The researchers examined 33,750 recipes from 70 national and regional cuisines containing 93 different spices. Conclusion? There's definitely a correlation, but preventing foodborne illness doesn't appear to be the cause. Maybe it’s because spicy-hot food helps cool you down when temps climb, or because spices help preserve food, or because spices grow better in hotter regions? Not according to the data. Nonetheless, the American South occupies a position that is virtually identical to Lebanon and Iran on the climate/spiciness spectrum. Curious, indeed.
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IACP Announces 2023 Cookbook Award Winners
Image Source: Eat Your Books
Every year, the International Association of Culinary Professionals recognizes excellence in cookbooks and other food media with its prestigious culinary awards. I was lucky to attend this year's award ceremony in Brooklyn, where Rick Martinez's book Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico, won both Book of the Year and best International Cookbook. Other winners include Reem Assil's Arabiyya, which won in the Chefs And Restaurants category, and Kristen Miglore's Food52 Simply Genius, in the General category. Check the full list of cookbook winners at the link here. Congrats all!
