Assignment #7: Family Recipe

Here is the recipe for chicken en croute and the mushroom gravy that accompanies it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show you, and none of the pictures of this dish online look close enough to my mom's recipe. This is a recipe my mom makes only for special occasions like New Year's Day and birthdays, mainly because it's so time-consuming. However, it's definitely worth the wait for this savory dish (although I would eat this all the time if I had my way). This recipe is a keeper in my family because it's so incredibly good... plus my two favorite foods are chicken and mushrooms! We usually serve this with salad and twice baked potatoes, although you can serve it with anything you'd like. For the lighter eaters (like my 101 lb. mom), 1/2 piece of chicken is enough for dinner. For the rest of us, 1-1 1/2 pieces of chicken is the perfect portion. I slightly alter the recipe by adding mushrooms to the spinach. Most people are satisfied with the amount of mushrooms mixed into the gravy, but I'm a mushroom fiend!

Chicken En Croute

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth (10 oz)
1/2 pkg spinach (5 oz)
2 oz. mushrooms, sliced thin (optional)
1 sheet puffed pastry
salt
pepper
1 egg (beaten)
1 tbsp water

1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper (lightly sprinkle). Place chicken on a foil covered baking sheet, and put in preheated oven at 350.

2. Clean, peel, chop, and cook spinach. Drain well. Divide spinach into 4 equal parts. Pour some broth on top. Stir together.

3. Cool chicken breasts while allowing them to marinate in the rest of the chicken broth. Cut each chicken breast across the middle horizontally to form a pocket. 

4. . Fill each pocket of chicken with a half section of spinach. Place the other half section of spinach on top of each chicken breast.

5. (Optional) Sautee 2 oz. thinly sliced mushrooms in butter, and divide into 4 equal parts. Add them to the spinach.

6. Defrost puff pastry for 20  minutes. Then 30 minutes before serving, cut the sheet into 4 equal parts. Wrap squares around each chicken breast. Pinch ends closed, using beaten egg and 1 tbsp. of water to hold the ends shut. Place in preheated oven at 350 for 30 min. Serve immediately.

Mushroom Gravy

1 can chicken broth (10 oz)
8 oz container of whole mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp corn starch

Slice mushrooms paper thin. In a small saucepan, heat butter on low until completely melted. Stir in mushrooms. After they are completely cooked, add corn starch and broth. Keep stirring until the gravy is smooth. (Serving the gravy on the side is recommended so everyone can add as much or as little as they want.)

Assignment #6: Food and Nostalgia

Johnny Rockets Brings the 1950s to Life

I always loved 1950s decor since I can remember. There is something artistic about the cars (especially the red and white 1957 Chevy Bel Air) that is missing from any car I have ever seen in my lifetime. The dresses and the shoes from that era are also eye-catching, and these styles are currently the most popular retro clothing sold today. But it isn't just the styles or the cars that have always caught my attention. It is also the old Coca-Cola advertisements, the jukeboxes, and the music itself. From doo-wop to rockabilly, to Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker, and Little Richard, the 1950s always represented simple Americana nostalgia to me.

When I was a kid, my family always went to a neighborhood Italian restaurant called Esposito's. It was a casual family place, but what always sticks out in my mind is my memory of the mini jukeboxes at every booth in the restaurant. The first time I ever saw mini jukeboxes at restaurant booths since my childhood was at Johnny Rockets. Suddenly my memory of Esposito's, their mini jukeboxes, and my love for 1950s Coca-Cola ads merged into one!! It was (and still is) one of the most exciting visual experiences of my life, and I could sit there all day taking in the atmosphere if I had my way.

When the waitperson arrives to take your order, he or she gives you a nickel for the jukebox which is supposed to include 1950s songs, but the Johnny Rockets by my house includes songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. This removes the nostalgia of the 1950s for me, so I try to ignore the songs like "Oh, What A Night" that are out of place. I can understand early 60s songs like "Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes, "Runaway" by Dion and the Belmonts, or "Johnny Angel" by Shelly Fabares, but anything post-British invasion is really pushing it. Most 1950s diners cross the line when it comes to the music, and the people working in the restaurant have no idea that it destroys the very nostalgia the restaurant is attempting to create.

Even if the musical ambience needs fine-tuning, at least the decor accurately replicates the era. Johnny Rockets is decorated with white tables with red chairs (or booths with the same motif), black and white checkered floors, and an old-fashioned counter with seats for customers. Just like in some of the old movies from the 1950s and 1960s where people sat at the counter at a diner, Johnny Rockets brings those movie scenes to life. In addition, the food servers and wait staff dress like old time soda jerks.

I drool at their Coca-Cola decor because my entire kitchen collection (which is currently in my storage space because I don't have my own place at this time) is 1950s Coca-Cola motif. There is an entire following of collectors from all over the country who decorate the kitchens in their homes like a 1950s diner centered around Coca-Cola merchandise like tables, (some even have diner-style booths), napkin holders, straw holders, dinnerware, silverware, containers, cookie jars, glassware, mugs, wall decorations, mini collector's mugs, figurines, etc. The possibilities are endless! I am one of those collectors, and Johnny Rockets brings my future kitchen into reality for me with some of their Coca-Cola signs that make me envious!!

The atmosphere, the decor, and the music are my favorite aspects of Johnny Rockets. The food is secondary. Basically, their main staples are standard diner fare like burgers, fries, Cokes, and shakes. Their burgers are mediocre, their grilled cheese, blt sandwiches, chili, hot dogs, tuna salad, chicken salad, and onion rings are very basic, but their fries, cheese fries, and shakes are phenomenal.

In addition to the standard diner fare, Johnny Rockets also caters to a modern day crowd with options such as Boca Burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, sliders, entree salads, Oreo shakes, and Butterfinger shakes. Instead of a burger and fries, I usually order the chicken club salad. You get to choose between grilled or breaded chicken, and the salad includes bacon, tomato, cheddar cheese, two types of lettuce, and choice of dressing. I don't order any type of creamy dressing like the one in the picture below, however. I only order viniagrette-based dressings.

According to my parents, the 1950s represented simpler times in American culture, stemming around basic family values, sock hops, the phenomenon of a new musical culture, drive-in movies, and colorful cars. But the 1950s was abundant with poverty. Back then, most people could not afford going out to the malt shop every day, so going out for a shake or a malt was a special treat reserved for date nights or family celebrations.

Johnny Rockets simulates the look of the malt shop shake that soda jerks would build from hand-dipped scoops of ice cream (not softserve like McDonald's or Portillo's), then served in a bell-shaped glass which was placed in a little metal holder with a handle. The portion of the shake that didn't fit into the glass would be served right out of the metal cup from where it was mixed. Johnny Rockets preserves these memories for people who were around during that era, as well as creating nostalgic memories for people like me who have only seen pictures and/or movies from that era. Most of the time I go there, I go to sit with a friend and have a chocolate milkshake. It's a simple pleasure in life that creates the image of 1950s simplicity my parents described to me. As much as I love Butterfinger shakes, I would sooner go to Steak-n-Shake for that. A Butterfinger shake at Johnny Rockets would defeat my purpose of experiencing the nostalgia of an era from before my time.

Assignment #5: Restaurant Review

A Modern All-You-Can-Eat Concept at Fogo De Chao

If you have never been to a Brazilian steakhouse, then be sure to show up with your appetite when you walk into Fogo De Chao at 661 North LaSalle Street. When I walked into the busy but welcoming atmosphere, I was relieved I made reservations first. Otherwise, I would have been waiting from anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour. Although Fogo De Chao has all of the ambience of a fancy, upscale restaurant, there is no need to show up in an evening gown or a suit and tie like so many tourists seemed to be wearing. We were immediately seated and given salad plates after placing our drink orders. They have an extensive wine list, but I ordered the caipirinha. It's a traditional drink made from sugar, limes, and a clear Brazilian alcohol made from cane sugar. The balance between tart and sweet is mere perfection.

Next I approached the seemingly endless salad bar, which is the centerpiece of the restaurant. Fogo De Chao's salad bar offers more options than most, including huge stalks of asparagus, artichokes, hearts of palm, red and yellow peppers, and a variety of cheeses, including fresh parmesan. There are also some meats like smoked salmon and Italian salami, but since my friends and I have been here before, we knew that it would be a bad idea to fill up on the salad bar with all the meats available at the table.

This is not the traditional restaurant where you sit down and choose your entree. Instead, you simply flip up your green card at the table which signals the food servers to start bringing the vast array of meats. Although customers mainly come here for the endless cuts of meat, my vegetarian friend found plenty of options between the endless salad bar as well as various side dishes like the succulent cheese biscuits (which can be addicting), highly filling but delicious fried banana slices, garlic mashed potatoes, rice, beans, and polenta. The cheese biscuits and the fried bananas are very easy to fill up on, so I was cautious to hold back long enough to enjoy my favorite meats the servers provide. Although their signature meat is the picanha (a garlicy Brazilian prime sirloin), my favorites include the bacon wrapped mini-filet mignon, juicy sliced filet, and the bacon wrapped chicken breasts. Their filet mignon was as tender as I remembered it from my last visit over a year ago, and the chicken was moist and flavorful.

Picanha

The food servers paraded around to our table in the fashion of a non-stop well-oiled machine to slice meat off their 2 foot high skewers. The service is outstanding, and the wait staff is highly attentive to one's needs. For example, if your drink is getting empty, the waiter is there like clockwork to ask if you'd like a refill. The same holds true for the side dishes on the table. If the plate of garlic mashed potatoes is low, the waiter promptly asks if you would like more.

Finally when I was ready to throw in the towel, I turned my green card around to the red side. This signals the servers to stop bringing the various meats to the table. During this visit, I ate less meat than usual because I wanted to save room for dessert. I ordered the papaya cream, which is considered their signature dessert. It is a vanilla bean ice cream that is softened and blended with fresh papaya. Previously I tried their chocolate molten cake, and although it was good, it was not worth the price. The serving is the size of a child's portion, and the cake itself is no better than any other chocolate molten cake I have tried anywhere else in the Chicago area. However, the papaya cream was satisfying in both flavor and portion. It was a creamy and refreshing treat on a hot summer evening.

Overall,  Fogo De Chao is truly a meat lover's heaven, so if you are thinking about going out for a good seafood dinner, this is not the place. You may want to forget about seafood for just one night though because there is not a single meat option here that you will regret sampling. The rest of their meats include: tender leg of lamb, lamb chops, broiled Brazilian pork loin, tender roasted baby back ribs, flavorful cuts of top sirloin and bottom sirloin, beef ribs marinated in their natural juices, charbroiled chicken legs, and slow-roasted pork sausages. I remember how pleasantly surprised I was during my first visit several years ago, when I learned there was no limit to the amount of meats you can be served. If I want more of my favorite meat, a food server will arrive shortly with another skewer without any need to ask.

While tasting the delicious cuisine at Fogo De Chao, I thought about what I had read so far in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. When Bourdain first discovered new varieties of food during his childhood trip in France, he discovered that: "Food had power. It could inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight, and impress. It had the power to please me...and others" (17). Fogo De Chao definitely pleased me and the two friends I was with. It definitely did not fail to excite, delight, and impress! I highly recommend their entire fare, but steer clear from their overpriced, overrated wine list.

Fogo De Chao:
****
661 North LaSalle Street, Chicago IL
(312) 932-9330

Menu

Price Range: $$$$
Ambience: Classy
Noise Level: Average
Service: Excellent, pleasant
Outdoor Seating: No
Full Bar: Yes
Parking: Valet ($12)

Specialites:
Meats-Picanha (garlicy Brazilian prime sirloin), Alcatra (top sirloin), Filet Mignon, Beef Ribs, Cordeiro (leg of lamb sliced of the bone)
Drinks- Caipirinha (a traditional drink made from sugar, limes, and a Brazilian alcoholic beverage made from cane sugar)
Dessert- Papaya Cream

Reservations: Yes. Although the wait is short during lunchtime and weeknights, you'll definitely want to make reservations during the weekend.
Overall Dining Experience: Remember to clear your schedule for the evening. This is anything but an eat-and-leave restaurant.

Assignment #4: Julia Child and Food

French theorist Roland Barthes writes, "When he buys an item of food, consumes it, or serves it, modern man does not manipulate a simple object in a purely transitive fashion; this item of food sums up and transmits a situation; it constitutes an information; it signifies."

Julia Child’s Experiences with Food:

In “My Life in France,” Julia Child writes about how France was where she began to “experience” food. Just the taste of a simple chicken in France changed Julia’s perception of food. She described the process of how “a waiter would baste it with the juices that dripped down into a pan filled with roasting potatoes and mushrooms” (48). Just the thought of the chicken basting in its natural juices had my mouth watering as a reader. After that enticing description of the process of how the chicken was cooked, Julia writes, “I realized that I had long ago forgotten what a real chicken tasted like!” (48). From the segment of her memoirs that I have read so far, I concluded that Julia Child became fascinated by how delicious food can actually be.

She discusses several of her experiences with the food she was accustomed to in America, and she compares it to the same foods in France. For example, the oysters she ate in Washington and Massachusetts were bland. But when she tried oysters in France, it was like eating an entirely different food. Both the flavor and the texture surprised her. From her discovery of the new tastes Julia was discovering in Paris, she explained that her tastes were growing bolder. For example, she never even considered eating snails before she tried various foods in Paris. After trying them in Paris, she learned, “Tender escargots bobbing in garlicky butter were one of my happiest discoveries!” (43). Whenever Julia described any type of food she was passionate about, she ended the sentence in an exclamation point to share her excitement with her audience.

What Food Signified for Julia Child:

I think that overall, food signified several things for Julia Child. It was a new adventure, a learning process, and a form of empowerment through her pure passion and enjoyment of food.

Similarities and Differences Between Julia Child and Ruth Reichl:

Unlike Julia Child, Ruth Reichl discussed her discoveries with food at a very early age. Julia did not have the same issues with discovering food out of bad experiences from a mother who served uncooked steak and moldy concoctions. Instead, Ruth learned about food as necessity in order to combat the lack of good food in her own home. Also when Ruth described the foods she tried in Montreal, Paris, and Tunisia, she discussed the tastes of foods she enjoyed. However, she did not compare them to the same foods she tried in America and the differences in taste. She simply wrote about how various foods were prepared and how they sang in her mouth. Also, Ruth showed the recipes and described the cooking process for most of the foods she discussed in her book where Julia merely described the taste.

The similarities between Julia and Ruth entail their pure passion and enjoyment of food. They both found food empowering in different ways, yet they both ended up becoming cooks. Both Julia and Ruth experienced food as a learning process, and they both described the texture, appearance, smell, and taste of food with such vigor that their readers’ mouths begin to water. For example, when Ruth discusses the raspberry tart from the cheesemaker in France, she states, “It was magnificent. The fruit was intoxicantingly fragrant and each berry released its juice only in my mouth, where it met the sweet, crumbly crust” (101). Through this example and several others in the text, I inferred that French cuisine was both Ruth Reichl’s and Julia Child’s favorite food.

Assignment #3: Food Inventory

Friday 6/3

2 poppy seed mini bagels

bowl of Frosted Flakes (w/ milk)

3 slices of cheese pizza

fruit salad

1 small piece of vanilla cake w/ vanilla buttercream frosting

1 cup of apple juice

2 Vanilla Coke Zeros

6 Diet Cokes

Overall Thoughts About Friday's Food Choices

This was the day of my nephew's graduation party, where my brother and sister-in-law served pizza, cake, antipasto, fruit salad, and a sundae bar. I am usually not a big fan of vanilla cake, and I would have eaten something more substantial than cheese pizza if I wasn't afraid to try the Chinese food my brother bought for the adults at the party.

Saturday 6/4

bowl of Frosted Flakes (w/ milk)

chicken Caesar salad

2 pieces of French bread

2 florentine cookies

1 red velvet donut

1 cup of apple juice

6 Diet Cokes

1 Vanilla Coke Zero

1 bottle of water

Overall Thoughts About Saturday's Food Choices

For the most part, I ate healthy on Saturday until I gave into one of my weaknesses: the red velvet donuts from Bennison's Bakery in Evanston. I have never encountered red velvet donuts until I saw them at Bennison's, and it was love at first sight! I'm not even into red velvet that much, but these donuts are possibly the best donuts I've ever tasted in my life! Also, the florentine cookies were an experiment. Florentine cookies are paper thin wafers made from a layer of peanuts, a thin layer of chocolate, and a piece of candied cherry in the center. They are so light that you can eat about 6 of them and not even notice you ate so many. I wanted to see if these were better than the ones from Tag's Bakery (also in Evanston). I think it's a tie.

 

Sunday 6/5

3 pieces of French toast

4 pieces of bacon

1 red velvet donut

turkey sandwich on rye (w/ tomato and no condiments)

2 spoons of cole slaw

fruit salad

1 brownie

8 Diet Cokes

1 bottle of water

Overall Thoughts About Sunday's Food Choices

I went to my other brother's house for dinner to celebrate my other nephew's graduation. It was just a family gathering, and he served a cold cut tray with potato salad, cole slaw, olives, chopped liver, rolls, and bread. For dessert there was fruit salad, pistachio cake, and a tray of frosted brownies with graduation decorations. I sampled the chopped liver, but it was gross. It was made strictly from chicken livers, which made the taste too strong. I generally do not like cole slaw from most places since I hate the taste of mayonnaise, but it the cole slaw is the type that isn't creamy, I'll try it.

Monday 6/6

banana

bowl of chicken noodle soup

roast chicken

corn

sliced tomato

7 Diet Cokes

1 Fuze Diet Fruit Punch

1 bottle of water

Overall Thoughts About Monday's Food Choices

I'm not sure why, but on Monday I didn't eat any sweets. Also, I am one of the few people I know who can eat soup any time during the year. It seems that overall even though it's crazy to eat hot soup on a hot day, it was still something very light on the stomach. I especially like the Lipton Extra Noodle Soup. It seems that I don't eat as much during oppressively hot days.

Tuesday 6/7

bowl of Banana Nut Cheerios (sans milk)

1 Tky (the small turkey sandwich) w/ bacon from Potbelly

roast chicken

6 Diet Cokes

1 Vanilla Coke Zero

1 Fuze Diet Pomegranate Acai Berry

1 bottle of water

Overall Thoughts About Tuesday's Food Choices

This was another day for me without eating sweets, and I think I ate less on this day than on any other day in this inventory. I barely had any appetite at all on this day.

Wednesday 6/8

filet mignon

peas

wild rice

3 Parisienne macarons

1/2 pistachio eclair

7 Diet Cokes

1 Fuze Diet Blueberry Raspberry

1 bottle of water

Overall Thoughts About Wednesday's Food Choices

Wednesday isn't over yet, so I'm sure I'll have more to drink between now and when I finally go to sleep. Generally I'm not that interested in eating much red meat, and it especially doesn't appeal to me on such a hot day. But when I got home from work, that is what my mom made for dinner. She loves steak, and it's been a long time since she made any steak. Up until dinnertime, I had nothing in my system but beverages because I had no appetite whatsoever.

However, I did decide to take a trip to a bakery that is supposed to have some of the best Parisienne macarons in the city: Vanille Patisserie. I was intrigued w/ their website and wanted to see what else they sold. When I walked in, they had more flavors of these bite-sized filled meringue treats than I even anticipated, but ultimately the flavors I bought were orange chocolate, regular chocolate, nutella, raspberry, pistachio, and red velvet. The red velvet one sounded intriguing, and I had to try the pistachio since the ones I tried last month from Bennison's (who are supposed to be known for these particular items) were horrible. They tasted like they were filled with almond paste instead of pistachio flavored cream. While looking at their Parisienne macarons, another item intrigued me. It was a green eclair. I asked it if was pistachio, and I was correct. So I split it with my mom. I have never heard of a pistachio eclair before, and although it looked weird, it was delicious!

 

Why Certain Foods in this Inventory Are NOT Indicitive of What I Eat:

I do not generally eat much steak in the summer. I also don't usually eat plain vanilla cake, bad pizza, or fancy French pastries on an everyday basis. However, most of these foods were eaten due to the circumstances surrounding the food choices. I ate the food that was served at my nephew's party, and I also ate the steak because my mom worked hard to make a nice meal for me. I didn't want to disappoint her by turning it down, especially since filet is so expensive. Cole slaw is another food I don't usually eat. If it's the type of cole slaw that is drenched in disgusting mayonnaise, I'll steer clear of it. If the cole slaw is not very creamy, I'll at least try it.

I also love to eat Mexican food every chance I get, but there are is no good Mexican food in my neighborhood. Chipotle does NOT count because it is not authentic Mexican!! I eat dinner with my mom on most nights because I don't want her to eat alone, and I have a responsibility to make sure she eats (she is underweight). Ever since my dad passed, I make sure that I am there for my mom as much as possible. She is also not thrilled about deep dish, even though she was born and raised in Chicago. So I generally don't get to eat much Mexican or deep dish unless I go out with my friends. I also love vegetable stir fry, but my mom seems to have such a huge meat fetish. Otherwise I would cook vegetable stir fry every week, but it's no fun cooking for just one person. Also, the French pastries I bought today were purely something I wanted to sample. From time to time, I have my mind set on trying certain places (whether it's a new restaurant I'd like to try, a particular item at a bakery, etc.), and I don't wait very long to satisfy my curiosities.

Why Certain Foods in this Inventory ARE Indicitive of What I Eat:

My friends generally give me a hard time for drinking so much Diet Coke, but what can I say? It's good stuff, and it beats getting drunk. Plus, I am generally always thirsty in the summer. I think that for the most part I drink more than I eat. I also make sure that I drink one bottle of water a day since water is healthy. I don't really like water very much, so that's why I don't drink more of it. Chicken is also indicitive of what I eat because it is my favorite type of meat, and basically I would eat chicken every day of the week if I had my way. I also don't like most fast food places because of all the fried, greasy foods and the substandard meats, so when I need to grab a quick bite, I generally pick up a sandwich or a salad from Potbelly, soup and a Caesar side salad from Corner Bakery, a breakfast sandwich from either Corner Bakery or Subway, or a salad from Portillo's.

Assignment #2: Evaluating a Food Blog

About the Blog:

I chose to post about the blog from Bennison's Bakery in Evanston. It's a busy bakery that has been around since 1938, and it's one of the most popular bakeries on the North Shore. The blog is written by the owner of Bennison's, Jory Downer, who is also a pastry chef. The last time he posted on the bakery's blog was last July because he keeps his Twitter posts current, and they all appear on the blog.  Here's the link to the Bennison's Bakery blog:  http://bennisonsbakery.blogspot.com/

How the Blog is Organized:

The blog is organized similar to most of our blogs for Eng 357/457 on blogspot, but there are extra features included. There is a link to Jory's twitter posts to the right of the main blog, and all of his Twitter posts are readily seen on the blog. There are even links to the pictures he posts on the bakery's Twitter page. The Bennison's Bakery blog  also includes links to several other food blogs.

The Blog's Content:

Jory talks about the activities of his baking team, including their travels to various locations where they practice baking techniques. He also discusses their activities in the community such as the various farmer's markets where they sell their breads and their baked goods made with fresh fruits, participating at the green market at Lollapalooza, the goings-on in Evanston, certain baking techniques, the people on his baking team, certain items they are baking on a particular day, and important events going on in his life like his daughter's graduation from college in California. It seems that out of all the items the bakery sells, there is a huge focus on discussing how well the Parisienne macarons are selling.

Purpose of the Blog's Content:

This detail is not easy to pinpoint. Some of the content seems to focus on informing customers and potential customers about what the bakers are working on, the ingredients they are using, and new items they have created. Other parts of the content are included for the purpose of connecting the bakery and its staff directly to the community through discussions of their community involvement and talking about what is going on in Evanston. This is another way to relate to current customers and to draw in new customers. I also think his discussion of his family is another way of relating to everyday people because a good percentage of the customers at Bennison's are people who bring their children into the bakery to buy cookies and cupcakes.

The Twitter posts that appear on the blog discuss items that are on sale, what is going on at Bennison's, and baked goods that the baking team is working on right now. For example, yesterday's Twitter post talked about the 2 for 1 specials on donuts, and it included a Twit pic of the freshly baked donuts to make people's mouths water.

However, some of the posts get very technical about topics like the best baking technique for sourdough bread. Jory talks about the refrigerator equipment, the exact temperature that is best for storing sourdough, and about the perfect texture, crust color, and flavor of the bread. This information would be useful to people who are proofing dough before baking bread, but otherwise it would not relate to a customer who is just interested in purchasing and eating bread. From the way these portions of the blog are written, it seems to me that part of the blog is written for Jory's baking colleagues and to aspiring bakers.

Finally he mentions sales trends on items such as the Parisienne macarons. Again, I think these discussions relate more to people on the business end of things. Maybe customers are interested in knowing how well an item is selling, and this part of the discussion may even intrigue a customer to try a particular item that seems to be such a popular seller, but this part of the conversation seems more business-related than customer-related to me.

The Blog's Language:

Most of the language is really casual, and is meant for everyday people. For example, the most recent post starts out by saying, "Man it's hot in Chi town!" This instantly relates to the community. Certain parts of the blog are written in a way that entices customers to purchase certain items. For example, in one post Jory talks about how they are making items for the farmer's market with fresh blueberries. In another post, he talks about how the bakers spent the morning pitting sweet cherries that just arrived. The language is used strategically to appeal to the senses because fresh fruit in the summer always sounds so good to people. We as readers can taste the fresh blueberries and smell the fresh blueberries by just reading about them.

But other parts of the blog get very technical. I think that Jory stopped blogging on the page a year ago and instead turned to Twitter because it is much easier to communicate shorter bits of information to potential customers. All of the technical baking discussion and the name dropping of his colleagues relates to his colleagues, but I think he decided he should concentrate on relating to his clientele.  

What Can I Learn About the Writer?

Besides the fact that the blog tells us the writer's name and the fact he's the owner of Bennison's Bakery, from reading the blog itself I learned that Jory is very active in the community outside the bakery, he is family-oriented, he is genuinely passionate about baking, he enjoys traveling to learn more about the European baked goods he bakes and sells at Bennison's, and he loves the Chicago area. Quality of the product is important to him, and he strives to make Bennison's the best it can be.

WWBS (or What Would Bourdieu Say)?

(disclaimer for my friends reading this who are not in my class: Pierre Bourdieu is a French old school theorist who relates food to both class and gender with a highly rigid set of rules)

Being the pretentious Frenchman that he is, I think Pierre would say that Bennison's Bakery caters to the middle class because so much of the blog relates to how things taste. He may also say that many of the hearty breads, the light bite-sized Parisienne macarons, and the fruit-based pastries discussed on the blog are foods for women and children because sweets are satisfying to the palate, but they are not the "nourishing food par excellence" like meat: the man's food. Since women and children don't have a taste for "a man's food" according to Bourdieu, women and children prefer sweets and savory breads to supplement their salads and other trite fare. Pierre may also say that Jory is smart for selling light meringue French biscuits for women since the items of substance (such as heavy, dense cakes) are most likely more for men.

Assignment #1: Day One Survey

My Experiences with Food Writing

My only experiences with reading about food thus far have been through following recipes in cookbooks and through reading restaurant reviews and restaurant descriptions in publications such as Chicago Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Food and Wine Magazine, and on websites such as Yelp, Dining Chicago, Epicurious, and Metromix. These various searches have fed my curiosity about various topics from anywhere between the best Mexican food in Chicago to the best ice cream in America.

As far as writing about food is concerned, I have held multiple online discussions/disputes over Chicago pizza versus New York pizza, and Chicago hot dogs versus New York hot dogs. In some of my creative writing, I have occasionally discussed particular foods or restaurants. One of my earliest memories was a story I wrote that was based on my junior high English teacher. She was haughty and a little too well-dressed for someone on a teacher’s salary. In the story, I described her as the type of person who was so prim and proper that she even ate McDonald’s French fries with a fork. Generally when I mention food in my writing, it is usually a descriptor for a character’s personality or it involves a particular setting.

The Role of Food in My Life

Food plays various roles in my life. For example, I do not really think about food when I first wake up. I only think about grabbing a glass of juice or a Diet Coke. When I am working all day, food becomes merely a necessity. I need to put something in my system to get through the day. I don’t want to eat junk food for lunch, but sometimes I have limited time to stop somewhere to pick up something to eat. When I do bring my own food to school or to work, I usually bring snacks like baby carrots and grapes, but I combat such health-conscious decisions with a bag of M&Ms. Otherwise food plays a significant role in my home life. I currently live at home, and when my mom prepares a meal, she spends a good portion of the day cooking. During holidays the entire week is centered around food prep.

To me food is important during holidays because my mom’s meals bring people together. Unfortunately I’m the one who gets stuck on cleanup duty simply because I live here. Food is important during the day when it becomes important to put nutrients into my system to get through the day. Otherwise food is just something that is always around. It is in front of me at home, it is on billboards, in commercials, on every downtown street, all along the main streets of the suburbs, and that is why food is unavoidable. It is all around us at all times whether we think about it or not. This is one aspect of how food becomes complex.

Food is complex in the respect that there are so many choices. Food offers endless possibilities because there are so many different types of food to choose from. However, it really gets quite complex when I am invited to most ethnic restaurants or when I am invited to someone else’s house for dinner. This is because I like what I like, and my tastes are extremely limited. I do not eat any type of seafood, cream sauces, cream dressings, cream soups, cream cheese unless it is mixed into a recipe like cheesecake, condiments other than ketchup, most red meats, dark meat chicken, meat sauces, most ethnic foods, meat substitutes, pork sandwiches, pork chops, pulled pork, or plain pork (only ribs, ham, or bacon), cucumbers, pickles, ground turkey, or ground chicken. I only eat chicken pot pies if they are made with yellow sauce (not the disgusting creamy white sauce that some are made with). So basically the list would be much shorter if I share what I do eat:  white meat chicken, turkey, pizza, soups made from broth, cereal, salads with vinaigrette-based dressings, ground sirloin or ground round (but no ground chuck), steak or meat as long as there is no fat on it, ribs, baked ham, bacon, kosher hot dogs only, most vegetables, and most sweets (especially chocolate). I feel food is more complex for a person like me who is ultra-picky because I limit myself. For people who can find anything to eat anywhere they go, I think food is much simpler. My nephew can eat burgers 365 days of the week, so he doesn’t have to think about what he’s going to order at most restaurants.

Another way that food is complex today is society’s constant need for diets such as Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. I rarely go through a day without seeing Jennifer Hudson’s commercial for Weight Watchers. Then magazines like People advertise Jennifer Hudson’s weight loss, so it is a constant reminder that society prefers thin people.

How the Role of Food Has Changed Over the Course of My Life

When I was a kid, the Good Humor truck would drive down the street (not the one pictured here. I’m not that old. I just found this picture entertaining). My brothers and I would buy ice cream bars all summer. I didn’t have to think about gaining too much weight or eating too much because I was an underweight kid. But now my brother makes a comment every time he is around me and sees me eating any type of candy, ice cream, baked goods, fries, or even drinking frappuccinos. He is very weight conscious, so he instills his own values on everyone around him. As far as I am concerned, if I have one frappuccino a month, I am not going to put on 10 pounds. If I sat around eating a pint of ice cream in one sitting, then I would have a problem. Where having junk food around the house during my childhood made no difference, it makes a big difference now. I have to eat these types of foods in moderation now that I am older. My body and my metabolism have changed significantly since my childhood.

What Does Food Say About Us?

One example on judgments people make about food is based on my brother’s perceptions of what I eat. Two weeks ago I picked up hot dogs for lunch. My brother wanted a Greek salad, my nephew and my mom had hot dogs and fries, and I had a chili dog and fries. My brother sent me an e-mail later that day stressing how much he is worried over my weight because I eat things like chili dogs and fries. That was the first chili dog I have eaten in about six months. Yet he bases his knowledge on my eating habits by the foods I eat during his visits.

To answer the question about what the food I eat says about me if I was being psychoanalyzed, then I would be closed-minded, set in my ways, childlike, afraid to take risks, and highly predictable. To answer the question in another way, food does shape peoples’ perceptions of others through the choices people make in reference to their weight. If a thin person is eating vegetable stir fry, then others will automatically assume that the thin person always eats healthy foods while they will assume that an obese person eats vast amounts of junk food and fast food.

Other assumptions deal with food and class. For example, there is a stigma that people who eat the types of foods from state fairs (i.e. corn dogs, funnel cakes, and elephant ears) are mostly small town people and trailer trash. In turn, caviar and pate are served at more sophisticated, upper class social gatherings. Wine is considered along the lines of upper class beverages while beer is seen as lower class. Hardee’s is considered the fast food restaurant of Nowheresville, U.S.A. while Applebee’s is seen as the franchise restaurant cuisine of suburbia.

How Food Can Bring People Together and How Food Can Alienate Us from Others

My experience with food bringing people together is through my mom’s cooking. Not only does everyone in my family know that there is never a bad meal at my mom’s house, but they also know that she will cook enough food for twice the amount of people who show up. There is never a shortage of food in our house, especially around the holidays. Usually our holidays center around the meals my mom cooks because she makes her meals into works of art, whether she is cooking for Christmas or Passover (we are Jewish, but my family also celebrates Christmas). In addition to family meals, my mom and I bake Christmas cookies together every year. It is one of the few mother and daughter activities we do together, so it is really meaningful to me.



On the opposite end of the food spectrum, food can sometimes separate and alienate us due to various factors. One of my best friends was a vegan until a year ago. Whenever we would eat at the Chicago Diner (a restaurant on the North side that mostly caters to vegans), my choices were very limited. I felt slightly awkward in there because the one dish I liked in there was not very filling. Some of her friends (and even her boyfriend) did not want to eat at the Chicago Diner with her, and I was one of the few people who went there with her. Also she felt alienated at most family gatherings because her mom always tried to get her to eat meat. Her mom had no idea how to cook for a vegan, so she would make a bunch of vegetables for her. My friend would have to show up with her own tofurky and vegan pumpkin pie. Also she would have to choose restaurants carefully because there are places that do not offer enough choices for vegans.