Blogs With Bite

Blogs with Bite is our occasional omnivorous sampling of food blogs and websites we find particularly tasty (the first two courses are here and here).

Happy New Year. 2009 will be tough but not indigestible. As the year starts, food writer Mark Bittman is a migrant worker, laboring at bookstores and public radio stations across the country, following the harvest behind his new book Food Matters. We will discuss the book here soon, but readers may sample fresh first-crop reviews and interviews from B&N, Eats.com, Epicurious, Salon, and Time. Not all at once — don’t spoil your appetite. Hunger is the best pickle. [Full disclosure: Mark’s a boyhood chum.]

This month’s menu of Blogs with Bite:

CarryOnCurry.com — Virginian Shashi Bellamkonda combines two loves, food and social media, on this good-looking, well-edited blog featuring worldwide reviews and food notes from Shasi B. and selected contributors. Food fanciers with tunnel vision should use the right-hand “Labels” navigation feature, but the discussions of social media are tasty in their own right, quite non-techie and pragmatic.

Mastering the art of the all-you-can-eat buffet — A gut-busting look at an American institution by the remarkable blog 1000 Awesome Things (this post is Thing #864). 1000 AT is not a culinary weblog but you may ingest entertaining entries on chicken wing wisdom, soup-slurping, bakery air, the milk-to-cereal ratio, and more.

The Food Museum — A web site by a nonprofit of the same name which sprouted from the venerable Potato Museum. TFM presents agriculture and food as culture: Food heritage and history, policy and news, entertaining exhibits and features (some interactive) as well as recipes and gardening tips. See the amazingly ambitious Global Food Heritage Project and a thought-provoking blog. Don’t let the educational aspects scare you; The Food Museum is good, not just good for you.

Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide— You don’t have to be a Fiscal Conservative to value economist Tyler Cowen’s restaurant reviews. The weblog’s motto is your assurance of quality: “All food is ethnic food.” Worldwide coverage of restaurants and neighborhood joints, with understandable emphasis on Northern Virginia — Dr. C lives and works there, and NoVa boasts some of the best Global Grazing in the known universe. Tyler Cowen is an original thinker who writes well. TCEDG has a well-conceived category structure, so use the right-hand navigation as well as the search features.

USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection –A feast for the eyes from the USDA’s National Agricultural Library. A fruitful source of Vegan visuals. Order quality prints and gifts for Foodie friends or just enjoy the 300 images.

Yours for Good Fermentables  — A yeasty beer blog brewed fresh daily by Thomas Cizauskas of Annandale, VA. Thirsty for beer knowledge? YFGF has something on tap for all tastes, with wide-ranging entries on brewing esoterica and the business of beer. DC-area drinkers will welcome the timely tips (and Tweets) on tastings. Cheers.

Image: “Take-Out in the Dining Room, after Paul Signac,” by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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