at-risk ingredient: "bintje"

For les belges, the "bintje" is not just the runt of the potato litter.  With it's uncompromising crunchiness, this traditional tuber is an undisputed symbol of Belgian national heritage (in a country plagued by an ongoing identity crisis). The Wall Street Journal recently chronicled the unsteady future of this edible edifice of cultural unity, and a number of different foodie publicationshave started to spread the word about the "bintje" cause.

So why am I joining the pro-bintje masses?  Because (1) bintje is just really fun to [attempt to] pronounce, (2) I have a personal connection with the french-speaking Belgians of Wallonie and (3) the bio-diversity of ingredients  available to us directly affects our health, longevity and creativity.  That means that our access to different varieties of an ingredient - such as the potato - provides us with a dramatic increase in nutritional benefits (not to mention varied flavors, textures and other advantages).

I do not want to live in a world where we are restricted to 4 or 5 of the most common potato varieties.  The future of all heirloom potatoes - and heirloom products in general - hangs in the balance of our support of causes like that of the bintje.

...not to mention the future of our ever-curious taste buds.

seen and heard : Morgan O'Kane

If the market culture is fully a lifestyle, a perspective, a way of being - then in my world, it deserves a soundtrack.  And Morgan O'Kane is definitely on the top of my comme au marché playlist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYYziJkW35E&feature=related

I came across him on a bikeride past Washington Square Park, and he's been sighted in Union Square and on the L-train platform as well.  Now I don't know why this man cannot seem to get a gig indoors, but I am oh-so-very-happy he can't.  I definitely threw a little love in his basket that day, and would again.

catch of the day: kinfolk

Kinfolk Magazine calls itself a "guide for small gatherings". Otherwise known as a guide to all your [Little House on the Prairie meets Martha Stewart clad in Anthropologie] fantasies.  The first printing of the first issue sold out faster than a batch of fresh biscuits, but you can read it online.

And since the "market mentality" is pro-technology these days, the very trendy-without-trying folks at Kinfolk have come up with some gorgeous videos that will make you swoon and want to quit your job immediately, just so you can film yourself peeling apples in slow motion.

http://vimeo.com/25385248

If the water dripping off that asparagus isn't the most

a) beautiful b) sensual c) tantalizing

thing you've seen in food in a good long while...

...well then, you must be living in sepia tone and slow motion every day - and I'm jealous.