“My father told me once that there are three things in life that we must do: Work hard, be honest and make beautiful things” With these words John Van Der Lieck plunged his hands into a dark, shimmering paste of pork liver to the reverent, nodding ascent of a roomful of chefs.
We were in the spacious commercial kitchen of North Island College’s Culinary Arts department for the NVICA Charcuterie Workshop; a two-day journey through the world of salting, curing, pressing and preserving meats. There were twenty or so of us foodservice pros gathered around John as he guided us from whole hog (literally!) to finished product and every critical step in between. (more…)
The first time I remember anyone mentioning Dr. Hunter S. Thompson to me was in college. It was an art school so of course every conceivable image of the counterculture from the 60s to the ‘aughts where plastered on every kid’s dorm room walls and sleeves. A curly-haired rave kid who reminded me too much of myself cornered me during a smoke break and demanded to know how much I knew of his idol, the good doctor.
Many years ago on a whim I purchased a rather strange cookbook by Lois Anne Rothert dedicated entirely to the various 
It’s 3:00am. I’m still sick and can’t sleep. I know this routine pretty well by now and I’ve given up any hope of rest in favour of getting house chores done. I’ve already washed all the dishes, sharpened all my knives, watered the house plants and now I’m going back through my lists of old Foodblogs and clearing out the deadwood. *sigh*