Photograph from Cybele on Flickr
Licking presidential hopeful Barack Obama may seem weird, but if his face tasted like corn syrup, well, American voters might reconsider. Made by Kai's Candy Company, these lollies showcase the dying Japanese art form "kumi ame," or "rolled candy." Obama's lips aren't usually that hot pink, but it's not a bad look. [Via Candy Blog]
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If Obama and McCain Were Food, What Would They Be?
Candidate Ice Cream Flavors
The eight world leaders meeting for the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, scarfed a six-course lunch and then an eight-course dinner before discussing the world food shortage situation. [via Eat to Blog]
The Wall Street Journal's article on extreme environmentalism at the Democratic National Convention includes a list of the Democrats' catering guidelines. Among them: 70 percent of all ingredients must be organic or local; no fried food allowed; and, since colorful food is supposedly more nutritious, each meal must include "at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white." One order of steamed American flag, please?
Progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org will host bake sales across the country this Saturday, June 21, and Sunday, June 22, as part of "Hungry for Change," an attempt to fatten voters with chewy brownies while raising money for Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Already, 713 gatherings have formed. To find a bake sale near you, just punch in your zip code here, and if nothing pops up, form your own.
As a non-partisan site, Serious Eats promises to report when Freedom's Watch or another conservative advocacy rallies together members for bake sales supporting John McCain. Although, given Cindy McCain's baking record, this probably isn't the best strategy.
Previously
Cindy McCain Steals Recipes For Second Time
Cindy McCain First Lifts Recipes from Food Network
Candidate Ice Cream Flavors
Who knew cookies had so much power? Readers of Family Circle have successfully predicted America's next first lady during the past four elections just by judging the presidential spouses' cookie recipes in the magazine's competition. Chocolate tends to win Family Circle readers over, but this year neither Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain contributed recipes for cookies including chocolate; Obama went with shortbread and McCain, oatmeal-butterscotch. Readers' favorite cookie will be revealed in mid-October.
To bake your own Presidential cookies, check out the collection of recipes at the appropriately named blog, Presidential Cookies.
Jones Soda loves holidays and seasonal hoopla, as proven by its Candy Corn flavor during Halloween and (questionably delicious) Wild Herb Stuffing one in November. So it's no huge surprise that it launched Campaign Cola 2008, where three limited-edition colas honor each presidential pursuer. To vote, just click on your candidate's cola: Obama's Yes We Can, McCain's Pure McCain or Clinton's Capitol Hillary. (Though she may not be in the presidential race, she's still in the bottle race!)
The polls as of this morning:
Obama = 2,694 bottles
McCain = 1,170 bottles
Clinton = 996 bottles
Jones Soda adds an educational layer to this marketing approach by linking to voter registration info and important quotes from each candidate, encouraging cola drinkers to make wise decisions when purchasing their $14.99 six-packs.
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Cherries for Change
Candidate Ice Cream Flavors
Will Hot Sauce Sales Forecast the '08 Winner?
No matter who wins the presidency later this year, our country is doomed. That's because it's filled with people who see fit to auction off the remnants of a candidate's breakfast on eBay. In this case, a leftover bite or two of sausage and a little more than a quarter waffle abandoned by Senator Barack Obama at the Glider Diner in Scranton, Pennsylvania. But, Adam, you'll say, it's only one auction. One wayward American among many millions.
Yeah? Well, as of 12:30 p.m. today, 23 morons have bid this thing up to $76. [via MenuPages Blog]
Australian droughts are killing rice fields. Flour prices are up. Hops shortages mean crazy-expensive beer soon. Maybe grocery stores aren't selling milk for $450 a gallon yet, but dramatic food shortages are happening globally, and the backlash is huge. After last week's fatal riots in Egypt, Cameroon, and Haiti, the World Bank stepped up Monday with a 2,500-page report on the growing international crisis, listing 33 countries in serious danger.
No wonder both Slate and the Washington Post ran pieces yesterday on the conflict. And they weren't written by the expected economist or agripolitical writer. Both were food writers who might typically ogle over truffle oil or Anthony Bourdain.
Unsure who you're voting for in a Democratic primary or in the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November? Your grocery shopping cart may give you some direction. In a practice called microtargeting, "the idea is that in the brand-driven United States, what we buy and how we spend our free time is a good predictor of our politics." Pollsters believe they can plumb the depths of your pantry and predict who you'd pull the lever for. The New York Times takes a look at the technique in its main story in the food section today and then comes up with a food profile for McCain, Clinton, and Obama supporters.
Do you fit neatly into one of the profiles? Or is microtargeting based on food prefs the equivalent of a shopping cart with a bum wheel?
Cindy McCain; Giada De Laurentiis
In what it's calling "Farfallegate," the Huffington Post breaks a huge story sure to derail Senator John McCain's bid for the presidency. Cindy McCain has allegedly been lifting recipes from the Food Network site, including those of Giada De Laurentiis:
On a section of McCain's site called "Cindy's Recipes," you can find seven recipes attributed to Cindy McCain, each with the heading "McCain Family Recipe." Ms. Handel quickly realized that some of the "McCain Family Recipes," were in fact, word-for-word copies of recipes on the Food Network site.
At least three of the "McCain Family Recipes" appear to be lifted directly from the Food Network, while at least one is a Rachael Ray recipe with minor changes.
The recipes have apparently been pulled, but you can see them, at least for now, in Google Cache: Farfalle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas, and Mushrooms, Rosemary Chicken Breasts and Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon, Passion Fruit Mousse, Mixed Fruit Tart, Crab Scampi and Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage Slaw. The Huffington Post item has side-by-side screengrabs for comparison as well.
The Bill Moyers Journal teamed up with the PBS series Exposé: America's Investigative Reports to follow the trail of Washington Post reporters who uncovered more than $15 billion in "wasteful, unnecessary, or redundant expenditures" that went from Washington to America's farmers.
With grain prices skyrocketing and the federal deficit out of sight, this would seem the moment to cut back on those tens of billions of dollars that taxpayers shower on milk producers, cotton and rice farmers, and growers of corn, soybeans, wheat, and sugar — subsidies that keep coming whether they're needed or not. Our farm policies frankly are a ramshackle, a costly mess — a monster jerrybuilt by politics. What was supposed to be a temporary financial safety net for imperiled family farmers has become a huge boondoggle for a fraction of wealthy farmers...
Video: Cash Cows and Cowboy Starter Kits (24 minutes)
The Barack Obama campaign is raffling off a chance to eat with the candidate and three other supporters at an "intimate dinner for five." Winners will be chosen from among the pool of people donating any amount to the Obama campaign between now and 11:59 p.m. March 31. Hmm. I don't know if I've ever been to an "intimate" dinner where the guest list numbered more than two. Add the politico element, and you're getting more into "intimidating" territory. At least for me. [via Swiss Miss]
It's not real, folks. Just a nutty mock-up from Slate.
Last we told you, ice cream hippie overlords Ben & Jerry were endorsing Barack Obama and had created an actual flavor in his honor called "Cherries for Change."
Online magazine Slate was apparently not impressed with that name so it held a an Obama ice cream naming contest. So far Slate has endorsed Yes, Pecan as its front runner.
Not bad, but maybe Serious Eats can collaborate and one-up Slate? What would Hillary Clinton's ice cream be? What about John McCain's?
Slate analyzes Hillary Clinton's food preferences, including lamb, red curry, and creamy desserts.
As if the Democratic race couldn’t get any feistier, our favorite tie dye-sportin’, cow-milkin’ Ben & Jerry just got involved. They want Obama, and they've even created a “Cherries for Change” flavor in his honor. We ask—is it just Cherry Garcia with a label slapped over it? And how will lactose-intolerant voters react?
The Illinois Primary will roll around on February 5, and among the candidates, Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) is getting an endorsement nod from the Tribune Editorial Board. The ice cream heir-turned-politician, who asserts that his namesake brand has the highest dairy fat content of any ice cream in the world, has clearly failed to incorporate enough frozen fattiness into past campaigns. He lost a gubernatorial race in 2006 and two Senate races, one in 2002 and 2004. Next week, Oberweis will be at it again, vying for Congress in the 14th district—hopefully with way more butterfat in hand. Who said ice cream can't buy votes?
Newly-minted Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej may be notorious for his irreverent, whatcha-gonna-do-about-it personality—he’s been accused of malfeasance for signing two questionable contracts while Bangkok’s mayor, and is in the midst of a defamation conviction entailing a two-year prison sentence—but Samak still owns the hearts of many. Maybe because he’s basically a Thai Emeril or Mario. Well, sorta. The former host of the Thai cooking show "Tasting and Complaining” (Chimpai Bonpai) explored traditional Thai cuisine on air, always with a side of his fiery rants. When colleagues believed he was too busy in the kitchen instead of doing his real job—leading the people—he was forced to nix the show.
What does this year's new National Press Club chair want at her inaugural dinner tomorrow night in Washington? Popcorn. The reporter for Indiana's Journal Gazette is definitely going beyond Jiffy Pop too. That's where executive chef Jim Swensen comes in, concocting a "Popcorn and Politics" menu for Sylvia Smith and her attendees.
Going on his seventeenth year as chef of Fourth Estate, the National Press Club's historic restaurant, Swenson has dealt with a slew of big enchiladas. Giada, Mario, Rachel, not to mention U.S. presidents, international correspondents and diplomats. But this might be first time he's doctored up popped corn kernels for a garnish on his tomato and corn salad or crispy polenta with creamed corn. Dessert will include a cheese platter with Indiana cheeses of course (mmm, Wabash Cannonball) paired with his chocolate-smothered popcorn. A nod to Harry and David's Moose Munch, perhaps?
D.C.-based political blogger Howard Mortman, the man behind Extreme Mortman, ain't so happy about Giuliani's blintz intake. "Bland Eastern European junk food!" he bellows. Get that junk outta here. He'd much prefer Rudolph noshing on Sephardic fare such as rhubarb sauced-up fish or pumpkin-filled filo roses. When asked about his deep Sephardic lineage in an email just now, Mortman revealed a secret. "My only Sephardic roots is a Sephardic cookbook I once gave my wife with this instruction: I’m hungry. Make this!” (We can only hope Mrs. Mortman complied.)
As announced earlier this week, the Culinary Workers of Union Local 226, mostly Vegas casino and restaurant workers, endorsed Obama. Yet another food and campaign '08 overlap. Beyond just thumbs-upping Obama, the union's secretary treasurer compared their choice to a Baskin Robbins trip: “Maybe you have a certain flavor you want. But you generally look around, don’t you? And you test a few.” Hm, better idea. How about ice cream just runs for president.
I'm as much of a political junkie as I am a food junkie, so for the last week I've been glued to both the television and computer screens, soaking up punditry on the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary tomorrow.
With all the newspaper headlines about food safety and food politics it is interesting to note, as Food Democracy blogger Annie Richardson did here, who, if any, of the candidates actually has an articulated food policy.
Could this be why Barack Obama won in Iowa last night—and why Romney didn't? From an opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times: "... In 2007, the [Hamburg Inn No. 2] served several candidates and their spouses, including Bill Clinton (Swiss, tomato, and green pepper omelet with home fries); Barack Obama (Iowa omelet of ham, hash browns, and American cheese, with sweet-potato pancakes); and Mitt Romney ('It was so crowded,' says [Hamburg owner Dave] Panther, 'that he didn’t have time to eat.')." Bonus: The Hamburg Inn No. 2 menu
Cheeseheads unite! Late last week the Senate began discussing the $286 billion Farm Bill, and reports are surfacing that the current bill includes a plan for increased spending on, among other things, artisan cheeses. The provision, co-sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy of America's artisanal dairyland, Vermont, would help support this "promising new sector of the dairy industry."
Unfortunately, the bill will probably not be passed in its current form, as the White House has threatened to veto it without significant amendments. Republican Senator Judd Gregg (NH) said, "I'm not sure many Americans would agree that stress assistance programs for farmers or artisan cheese centers are a good use of their hard-earned dollars."
Hmmm, I guess he's not counting me!
Hot sauce? Hot air? Both?
Barack and Hillary are tied for 12 percent, and Newt's hanging on, just barely, with 4 percent. Independent candidate Nunov Deabove? He's missing from the mainstream media but has a respectable 9 percent here. These aren't AP polls, but hot sauce sales for the presidential-themed bottles at Dave's Gourmet.
Sometimes, for all the bloviating that goes on in the blogosphere, interesting, provocative stories still go relatively unnoticed. It happened last week when Kim Severson reported on the meal President Bush had in New Orleans at Dooky Chase, the legendary Creole restaurant run by Leah Chase, the 84-year-old "Queen of Creole Cuisine." According to Severson, some people in New Orleans and out took Chase to task for hosting the president for dinner and a photo op. Her crime: By agreeing to host the president, Chase was seen as somehow legitimizing and sanctioning the Bush administration's feeble efforts to rebuild New Orleans.
What hogwash!
In an atypically short piece (at least for him) in the New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan says the current farm bill being formulated in Congress "essentially treats our children as a human Disposall for all the unhealthful calories that the farm bill has encouraged American farmers to overproduce."
What's the answer? "The guiding principle behind an eater's farm bill could not be more straightforward: It's one that changes the rules of the game so as to promote the quality of our food (and farming) over and above its quantity."
There was a fascinating story on NPR that got lost in the shuffle in the days leading up to the holidays. On December 22, the network aired a piece on Bobby Egan, a Hackensack, New Jersey, barbecue-joint owner who for many years has been an unofficial go-between for North Korea and the United States.
According to the story by Adam Davidson, Mr. Egan, owner of Cubby's BBQ Ribs, fell into the role in the 1980s, when some friends of his, Vietnam veterans, asked for his help in dealing with POW-MIA issues. Mr. Egan began assisting them, traveling to Vietnam several times and eventually making friends with the country's Communist officials. The Vietnamese took a shine to Egan and mentioned him to the North Koreans, who sought him out as a liaison.
The North Koreans only rely on him when talks between it and the U.S. have broken down completely, the story says, but Egan hasn't been as influential during the George W. Bush administration as he was during Clinton's. Still, the government of Kim Jong Il has "twice authorized Mr. Egan to offer a full end to their nuclear programs in exchange for money and diplomatic relations with the U.S." The reporter says Egan often takes calls from the North Koreans while working the front counter at Cubby's.
Says North Korean U.N. representative Kim Yong Il, "Bobby Egan is one of our good friends. He's trying to make bridges between the people of my country and the people of the U.S."
CUBBY'S BBQ RIBS
Address: 249 South River Street, Hackensack NJ
Phone: 201-488-9389
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