It’s true that I’ve expressed a good deal of skepticism in these pages about the gluten-free mania that has swept the nation in a tide of rice flour and potato starch. I still see it largely as carbo-phobia in sheep’s clothing, but since I’ve been on a doctor-mandated “allergy free diet” for the past few weeks, I will humbly grant that it can sometimes be an actual health issue. I will also grant that I’ve discovered a few rays of culinary sunshine in an otherwise dark world of atrocious gluten-free toast and endless tortillas. This allergy-free diet also has me off soy and dairy (no cheese is so much worse than no bread), which has required me to get creative in the kitchen, particularly at breakfast. These dairy- and gluten-free blueberry corncakes are inspired by a New York Times recipe, and go gorgeously with maple syrup and bacon. (Gotta get my kicks where I can…)

Serves 2
(Can be doubled) Read on… »

Some prime tidbits from the news in food: a goat conspiracy in Southern California, frozen pork bellies go the way of the dodo (bellies), Danny Meyer will soon open a restaurant in your living room, and Cargill is number 1 (and wishes they weren’t)!

* On Thursday, L.A. sheriffs arrested the owner of Rawesome Foods, a raw-foods co-op in Venice, for selling unpasteurized goat milk products, Read on… »

The biennial Slow Food Italy Cheese summit is back the Piedmont, for its 8th edition. Everyone from shepherds to ultra-small-scale cheese producers to chefs from all over descend on the town of Bra to talk dairy products. This year’s summit will focus on encouraging young people to become artisanal cheese makers–Bra will be renaming one of its piazzas the Piazza della Resistenza Casearia, the “Cheese Resistance Piazza,” to get young cheese revolutionaries excited–and, less  stirringly, on the issue of proper labeling. (Every revolution has its bureaucrats…) For attendees, there are “Milk Workshops” on topics like “Evolving Trends in Cheese Consumption” and “Counterfeit Cheese,” a master class on mozzarella, and 13 “Dinner Dates” in nearby villas and wineries.

When: September 16 to 19, 2011

Where: Bra, Italy

Visit the Cheese 2011 website for event information and to book online. (Workshops range from 15 to 40 euros, Dinner Dates from 45 to 90 euros, and the mozzarella class is 35 euros.)