Erwan Frotin is just 29 years old, but his still life photographs portray his wisdom beyond his years. His use of monochromatic themes is quite beautiful. I especially like the picture above, simply because it is made entirely of cabbages which gives the photograph a ton of texture.

From Toulon, France and educated at Lausanne School of Art and Design, Frotin has shot for Vogue, The New York Times, Wallpaper, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and others. He has also shown his works throughout Europe, mostly in Paris. He currently lives between New York and Paris.

You can check out more of his work at art+commerce. I, of course, would start with the portfolio devoted to food.

photo source: New York Times

Did you know that making a solution of citric acid and water to soak fresh apple slices (or pears for that matter) prevents them from browning? I didn’t, until just a couple of days ago. It’s nothing more than an alternative to using fresh lemon juice, but it is much more effective and longer lasting.

Simply dissolve about a 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid powder in about 1 cup of cold water (to taste, really) add toss your freshly sliced apples into the solution as you chop them. It’s that easy! And depending on the variety of apple, the tartness of the acid can actually help to enhance the tartness of the apple!

So far, my best use of this new trick has been pre-slicing apples for a fruit and cheese platter a few hours before serving it at a party. Another great use is to store the apples in the solution in your fridge, making healthy snacks readily available!

Citric acid is available at Whole Foods, or most likely any shop that carries a large selection of vitamins and supplements.

Hard to believe it, but someone paid $338 for this pancake because it appears to have the images of Jesus and Mary on it. Gotta love Ebay.

When I was in New York last week, I spent my free time in bookstores (culinary of course) and food shops. As I strolled 5th Avenue and dug into a bag of roasted chestnuts, I happened past a Barnes & Noble where I spied a book called “The Gourmet Shops of New York.” What a great resource! The book is filled with 100 gourmet food shops all over the City, great photography, some fun recipes, and then in the back of the book, a listing of the shops with web information. Inside I was pleased to find one of my new favorite shops Kalustyan’s . This place was recommended to me by friends for stocking a crazy number of spices and rices, honey, salts, jerred foods, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The store is a marvel and so is The Gourmet Shops of New York.

A friend of mine recently introduced me to a new book—“Phillip Collier’s Mixing New Orleans Cocktails and Legends.” It is now making it’s way to my top reads list!

The book is part recipe book, part history book and part picture book, as each chapter gives you the background on famous local liqueurs and legendary watering holes, recipes for some of our city’s most classic cocktails, and lots of neat old photos to go along. It is even peppered with tidbits of history about various celebrities’ favorite drinks!

While many of the drinks are familiar to New Orleanians and are readily accessible on any given night in the French Quarter, this book still makes a great gift for a local lover of libations or for any out of town cocktail enthusiast. The recipes are accurate and authentic as they are sourced from the locations where the drinks originated. And although you may already be well acquainted with some of the drinks (the Screwdriver, for instance), I am certain that you will find a new addition to add to your repertoire.

Note: I had a bit of trouble tracking this book down, as it seems to have been published and distributed locally (Philbeau Publishing, Inc.). However, I did find a copy of it at one of my favorite local bookshops—Octavia Books. It is a small shop, so I would suggest giving them a call first to find out if they have it in stock; if not, I’m sure they will happily order it for you!

On October 21st, I was in Phoenix for an event called Pleasures of the Palate—an annual art auction and dinner held at the Biltmore Phoenix, which helps to raise funds for a local charity—Casa: Center for Abuse and Prevention.

I love participating in off-site events, especially those that benefit charities. Most times, I will make a dessert that will be the last course of a dinner, or be responsible for little bite-sized sweets to be passed as hors d’ouevres. But, for this event, I did something completely different. I created and operated an “interactive food station!”

This meant that I spent the evening entertaining guests with my idea of dessert-related activities after the auction and dinner. As several other pastry chefs were assisting guests in learning how to decorate cakes, make new dishes, etc., I decided to go in a completely different direction—my interactive station was entirely about challenging the guest to try new flavor combinations!
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Chef Michael Symon was named the next Iron Chef in the big finale that aired this evening on The Food Network. The Kitchen Stadium battle was fierce, the dishes all top-notch and the judging was mighty close, but Symon came away the winner.

I attended my son’s Middle School “Coffee House” (he sings with the Chorus) on Friday. His school is an Arts Magnate and the walls, window sills and most available spaces, are filled with phenomenal pieces of art, in a slew of mediums. As I reached the 3rd floor, I discovered an installation of 6th graders’ paper mache pop food-art. These kids are so talented and it’s interesting to see what foods inspire them. Interesting, but not so surprising, was that almost every piece was a local food icon. There were several paper mache po-boys, a shrimp cocktail, a plate of raw oysters with lemon wedges, and this box of Popeye’s fried chicken with a biscuit. How cool is that??

According to scientists, Supertasters “experience taste with far greater intensity the average person. About 25 percent of the Americans are supertasters, a group with an unusually high number of taste buds. If you love food more than most, you may have inherited supertaster genes.” If you’re curious about how the test works, check out this hilarious Quick Fork video with food blogger Marisa and the newly single Scott.

I know this isn’t quite the norm, but I love this campaign from Taco Bell - a stolen base during the World Seried means a free taco for America. Collect one freebie taco on Tuesday, October 30th, between 2pm - 5pm. If you miss out, make your own. These are great - CARNITAS SOFT TACOS WITH GUACAMOLE AND PICO DE GALLO