The Feed: February 19, 2014

I love maple syrup, but a young Chelsea Clinton didn't--one of the amusing tidbits Tim Carman shares in his Washington Post profile of a former White House chef.

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

Washington Post: “Farm bill: Why don’t taxpayers subsidize the foods that are better for us?,” by Tamar Haspel.
Haspel’s article asks a really great question that I’ve asked myself many times: if we know that as a society we should be eating more fruits and vegetables, why are we using our tax dollars to subsidize corn and soy—crops that are used as feed for meats and processed into all sorts of junk foods? Turns out the answer isn’t what I expected, and I was surprised to learn that many specialty growers—the ones that grow the “healthy” vegetables would rather not have the subsidy and its accompanying strings.

Washington Post: “Collards, the new kale? For an old favorite, trendiness seems beside the point,” by Joe Yonan.
I like kale just fine, but there are a lot of other greens in the garden. I’m glad Yonan highlights collards this week, which is a fantastic green—must easier to prep than kale since its leaves lay flat, making it easy to slice out the ribs. He shares a recipe for Stir-Fried Spiced Collards and Chickpeas (check out my own recipes for Miso and Honey-Braised Greens and Collard Greens with Bacon).

Washington Post: “White House memories: chef John Moeller on pretzels, maple syrup and calorie-counting,” by Tim Carman.
I know this is starting to look like Food (Section) Fight! (three Post stories!), but I just couldn’t resist including Carman’s profile of former White House chef John Moeller. My favorite part is the story about a new head cook who tried to serve Chelsea Clinton real maple syrup against Moeller’s objections, knowing that she preferred maple-flavored corn syrup.

Wall Street Journal: “Is Your Wine Lousy or Simply Having a Bad Day?,” by Lettie Teague.
“Corked” is a common expression associated with wine that’s gone bad (an important distinction to bad wine). But what does it really mean? Teague offers an excellent examination of the various wines good wines can go bad and how to identify if your bottle is one of them.

Wall Street Journal: “A Winning Schnitzel,” by Rob Mifsud.
Mifsud’s article on wiener schnitzel really put me in the mood to try to make the European breaded veal cutlet, which I haven’t had in years. I’d never thought about how tonkatsu (Japanese breaded cutlet) is basically the same dish.

Associated Press: “Movie cocktails that leave us shaken and stirred,” by Michelle Locke.
Probably because I have my Oscar Cocktails series running now that I was attracted to this story about the history of cocktails in movies from the silent film era to Die Another Day’s mojito.

Huffington Post: “8 Delicious International Cuisines You're Probably Missing Out On,” by Huff Post Taste.
Cuisines from Thailand and Vietnam are both very popular in the U.S. But that country between them—Laos—hasn’t generated much heat in America. It’s a shame, as Huff Post Taste describes it as a cross between Thai and Vietnamese influences, which sounds amazing. Here is a profile of Laotian and seven other international cuisines yet to catch on in the U.S.

New York Times: “Stuffed Dates to Remember,” by Melissa Clark.
My mouth started watering as I read about Clark’s spin on bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo and served with silky tomato and piquillo pepper sauce.

New York Times: “Riding a Chef’s Twists and Turns (Restaurant Review: Mission Cantina on the Lower East Side),” by Pete Wells.
Danny Bowien made a name for himself with Mission Chinese Food, his Lower East Side Chinese outpost that become one of New York’s hottest meal tickets. While Wells awarded that restaurant two stars, he gives only one to Bowein’s foray into Mexican, which he calls “curiously unsatisfying,” but notes that “the disappointment does not sting the way it would if the prices were higher.”

Thrillist: “Testing The Secret Menus At 8 Chains, From Chipotle To Shake Shack,” by Liz Childers.
I’ve never eat a Quesarito—the secret burrito at Chipotle made with a quesadilla instead of just a tortilla—but I’ve been tempted to ask for one to see if it’s a possible. I read about it awhile ago, but it’s not on the menu. Childers went around to eight fast-food chain restaurants asking for their notorious “secret” items and chronicled the results.

CNN Eatocracy: “Dark, light, sweet, creamy: 12 chocolates to know,” by America’s Test Kitchen.
I’m kind of a sucker for a food guide, especially if it’s about a food I like. And who doesn’t like chocolate? I’ve only ever heard of one such person in my life. America’s Test Kitchen has put together a concise and informative primer on the dark brown substance (including its ghostly imitator, white chocolate).