Scrapin' Up the Bits... Vote for Me style!

Oh, just kidding about that voting stuff. I mean, somebody went and just posed the simple question on the Chowhound Pennsylvania board: what are the city's best food blogs?

Now, I realize that LBoN, despite its huge number of readers (tee hee), may not be the most popular Pittsburgh food blog, but I'd like to think that it's somewhat... unique. Do other Pittsburgh food blogs have:

• giant chocolate bunnies?
• Cleverly written recipes for dinners like ancho-chocolate rubbed pork tenderloin?
• Interesting and sciencey posts about nutrition and obesity?

• 
  

I'll let the public decide whether LBoN is worthy of an honor such as this. 'Til then...

I've been trying to do a better job of eating fish in a more sustainable fashion. In other words, avoiding overfished fish, such as tuna, or fish whose pursuit and capture involves a whole lot of by-catch, well, like a lot of fish. But it's very hard. And it's good to know that others think so. Others like Casson Trenor, who wrote a freakin' book on the subject, and who talked with Mark Bittman about the subject recently.

“I myself can barely keep up with this stuff – it’s changing all the time, and it’s really complicated – and I look at the issue every day all day.”

So you think you're a food-lover, eh? Not a "foodie," who I define as somebody who likes to eat good food but doesn't really seem to care about where the food came from, the impact it has on the environment, public health, etc. (which, IMO, is a pretty important factor in determining whether the food I'm eating is "good.")

Then maybe you should look into a masters degree in "food studies" at Chatham. You get to work on a farm and everything!

I don't think they have any grass-fed beef on that Chatham farm. But NPR looks at whether there is a difference between grass- and corn-fed beef. But for the taste test, she did not even season the meat. Not even some salt and pepper, for udder's sake. That seems like food reporter malpractice, no

Of course, if the feds aren't careful, they might just put an end to the burgeoning movement for grass-fed beef, reports the Des Moines Register.

Federal regulators are proposing new meat testing requirements that small processors say would impose staggering new costs and force businesses to drop products or go out of business. ...

The proposed rules risk running afoul of the Obama administration's campaign to promote locally grown foods and small producers. Small-scale processors represent a tiny slice of total meat sales, but they see growing demand from consumers, chefs and grocers for locally produced meats and other foods."You can regulate somebody to the point that they can't operate anymore," said Phil Barber, who sells beef, pork and chicken to restaurants, country clubs and other businesses in the Des Moines area.

Here-in lays a perfect example of regulation run bad. I believe regulation is a good thing. It prevents things like, I don't know, massive bank failures and infectious diseases running rampant through the nation's blood supply.

The key is how those regulations are constructed and applied. Often, they do not take into account differences between large and small businesses. And, let's face it, often, it's the large businesses who have the political influence to get legislation passed and regulations written that, while they may govern their business and be a pain, they have a far greater impact on the little guys, which only serves to help the big guy.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and there will be exceptions and exemptions for small processors.

Sushi in 'Da Burbs

For whatever reason, I've eaten out more often than usual over the last two months. One place I've returned to several times is Yama Sushi on Rt. 228 in Cranberry/Seven Fields. Overall, the quality of the sushi and entrees we've had has been quite good.



First, the raw stuff. It's always been respectable, and at times has bordered on excellent. The yellow tail has been the most consistent performer. The tuna and salmon have been uneven, really enjoyable on one or two occasions and unremarkable on others. The fluke was particularly tender and tasty. The few rolls we've had have also been well prepared and fresh.

The apps and entrees. Again, these have been consistently good. The do bin mushi soup was really enjoyable: good portion of seafood and fresh, bright but tame flavors. Same for the nabe yaki udon noodles. Neither bowls you over, but simple and welcoming to eat.

I went for lunch one day and, for some strange reason, got the salmon teriyaki bento box. I say strange because I long ago stopped ordering salmon -- well, cooked salmon -- in restaurants. It's like there is a rule that salmon must be overcooked and underseasoned. And teriyaki just has come to be synonymous for overly sweet and sticky.

But, for whatever reason, on this day, teriyaki salmon sounded good. And it didn't disappoint. The salmon was moist. The teriyaki had a nice balance of tang and savory, and it really complemented the salmon instead of overwhelming it...

Food dork alert: On the Top Chef finale, Stefan just used a curse word and it was not bleeped out. I assume that will be edited out when it's replayed later this week in the middle of the afternoon. OK, back to your regularly scheduled food blog...

Accompanying the salmon were some perfectly steamed veg and a large "cup" of miso soup. An enjoyable lunch, indeed.

There aren't many options for sushi out this way, and Yama Sushi does its sushi and nonsushi offerings pretty darn well. Unfortunately, I've never seen it overly busy, so I hope it survives. I'll be one sad puppy if it doesn't.

Scrapin’ Up the Bits, Hectic Style

A whole mess of things worthy of a mention.

First, starting with a local item. It looks like the Soup Nazi is coming to the ‘Burgh. Can’t wait to try the lobster bisque.

Next, and this is old news by now, but for anybody who missed it, particularly sushi fans, you might want to think twice about getting that spicy tuna roll the next time you’re looking to get some of those good fats. As the New York Times reported last week, mercury levels from sushi the newspaper purchased at 20 different places throughout Manhattan had scary-high mercury levels.

“No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples more than about once every three weeks," said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.

So, not only is bluefin tuna – often the tuna of choice at many sushi restaurants – way overfished and starting to become dangerously depleted, but it’s also warehousing the mercury from all of that wonderful industrial waste finding it’s way into to the ocean. What an unexpected two-fer!! Listen to this guy – for the time being, skip the tuna sashimi and try the mackerel.

Sticking with the good news (and New York Times) theme, Mark Bittman leaves behind his “Minimalist” persona for a day to become the food eco warrior. While I would never say this is scintillating narrative, it is a collection of some scary facts. Here are some of the highlights, but do be sure to check out the whole article, if for nothing else than the disturbing picture of a factory cattle farm.

Just this week, the president of Brazil announced emergency measures to halt the burning and cutting of the country’s rain forests for crop and grazing land. In the last five months alone, the government says, 1,250 square miles were lost.

And

The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period.

And

an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

And

Though some 800 million people on the planet now suffer from hunger or malnutrition, the majority of corn and soy grown in the world feeds cattle, pigs and chickens.

Next up, some interesting stuff coming out about folic acid — some of the stuff added to cereals and pasta and other foods to “fortify” them. Well, there are some concerns that maybe all of this fortification isn’t a risk-free proposition.

As many as 1,000 newborns a year in the United States - and many more elsewhere - have been spared so-called neural tube defects because their mothers got a crucial infusion of folic acid before they even knew they were pregnant.

But now some scientists are asking whether there have been unforeseen trade-offs for the population as a whole - including thousands of additional colon cancer cases each year, a somewhat smaller bump-up in prostate cancer, and an increase in cognitive impairment among the elderly.

This is all very preliminary stuff, but it’s something that hopefully will be further investigated.

Finally, once the weather breaks and the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming and the Pirates begin their glorious march toward their 16^th straight losing season, we’ll be transforming our garden into a Victory Garden.