Food (Section) Fight!: Week 17

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.


Washington Post
Great variety of stories on the front page today: Tim Carman looks at the (rather disturbing) trend of all-you-can-eat seats in sporting arenas and Bonnie Benwick has an inspiring profile of an underprivileged but talented teenager who will soon be realizing her dreams of attending culinary school thanks to the Careers through Culinary Arts program. My favorite front-page story though is Valerie Strauss's feature on the joys of red wine vinegar, which she explains can be used for more than just salad dressing, such as Noodles with Spicy Sauce.

Some great recipes this week, too. In addition to the aforementioned noodles, another vinegar tie-in, the Warm Salad of Slow-Roasted Tomatoes With Almonds, sounds quite good. Thanks to Stephanie Witt Sedgwick, I have the skewered chicken recipe I've been looking for this week, specifically Cilantro-Lime Chicken and Pineapple Skewers. And Bonnie also provides an interesting Dinner in Minutes recipe, Pan-Seared Shrimp With Sweet Soy-Ginger Glaze, which features kecap manis, a type of sweet soy sauce (during today's chat, she said hoisin is an acceptable substitute).

New York Times
Dining had two great stories on the front page today. Jeff Gordinier did a captivating piece on how Chef Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 is completely remaking the menu of his Lower East Side molecular gastronomy mecca. Someday I hope to try some such cuisine (as well as try my hand at making it).

There's also a nice story from David Tanis on the joys of seasonal asparagus. The accompanying recipe for Asparagus With Mustard Vinaigrette served with hard-boiled eggs sounds really good; I think I will be adapting it for breakfast soon.

Verdict
Washington Post. Close this week. Nothing blew me away, but both sections had good stories. On balance, I think the Post had a few more.

Score
The New York Times: 9
The Washington Post: 8