All summer long, I’ve been reading, re-reading and recommending Gustavo Arellano’s book Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. I was immediately hooked on page one, as it describes astronauts preparing breakfast burritos in space. Breakfast burritos in outer space! What’s not to love? In turns out that tortillas have been taken into space since [...]
Food Truck Wars on Wilshire
Long-time readers of this blog know that I continue to maintain a keen interest in the culture of Los Angeles, since I am a former Angeleno. Being a bit of a foodie, I have also followed the growth of the food truck phenomenon in recent years, with such business offering better food and promoting their [...]
Do not worship false dichotomies
I’ve mentioned many times before of my keen interest in the culture wars (e.g. see here). But something has changed. For example, in the Fifties, the lines were clear. Rock ‘n’ roll was the devil’s music and a tool of anti-American forces. Patti Page and Perry Como were on the side of goodness and patriotism. [...]
Cheesesteak Challenge
This past Sunday, we were driving on the Jersey Turnpike when, on a whim, we decided to take a detour to Philadelphia and have a cheesesteak taste-off. Since I had a video camera with me, I decided to turn this into my first video report, which you can see below. The whole thing was done [...]
WebbyConnect: Poppies, Pups & Profanity
There are other very interesting things I learned at the WebbyConnect conference. Global cultural things. The Tall Poppy For example, I was talking to an Australian guy about how sports figures are treated down there and he introduced me to the concept of the tall poppy. It sounds like the equivalent of the Japanese expression [...]
Radio and Salad
Here’s another excerpt from Fred Allen’s 1954 account of his time in radio, Treadmill to Oblivion, referenced below. He is describing his next venture after his first radio show, The Linit Bath Club Revue. I believe these events took place in 1932. This led to our next radio venture, the Salad Bowl Revue, which was [...]
Tasting Panel: Pineapple Soda
Recently, I had a hankering for pineapple soda. When I was a lad in high school, there was this Italian deli in town that made fantastic meatball subs. I used to wash ‘em down with Crush pineapple soda. (I can’t be sure, more than twenty years later, but it might have been this place.) Good [...]
Round-up: Spots
I have seriously fallen behind on linking to my Spot-on columns. I love food, but I love food culture even more. I love exploring past food fads, cultural variances in certain dishes, new exotic trends. So, last week I wrote a piece entitled Eat to Live? Live To Eat? which tied together the new Pixar [...]
Der Bürgermeister der Burgerstadt
There’s something satisfying and elegant in a basic hamburger. Cooked ground beef in a bun. What could be easier? And yet, so much can go wrong. Lately, I’ve come to fully appreciate my deep abiding love for a good burger. On my recent trip to L.A., I landed at LAX only to find that my [...]
Men in Manhattan
I was extremely fortunate that be able to spend an afternoon during the holidays hanging in Manhattan with my old pal Dave (mentioned occasionally on this blog). We wandered, we ate, we talked. Most excellent. I’m from L.A. originally; Dave is from the Bay Area, but now lives in the Valley. I’ve been on the [...]