31. December 2008 by Jenn.

Postscript: Apparently Piven has said since his story broke that the cause of his mercury sickness was fish twice a week for 20 years, not sushi twice a day. 

Maybe the strangest example yet of our celebrity-food culture: Actor Jeremy Piven bows out of a Broadway play because, his spokespeople say, he has a “crippling addiction” to sushi that has caused mercury poisoning. If this isn’t a perfect-for-our-times example of idiocy and pretension, I don’t know what is. Upon reading the story, I was put in mind of the more pretentious, self-satisfied strain of Whole Foods shopper.

Piven, according to the story, eats sushi twice a day. Is he hitting Whole Foods for his supply, with its McSushi, that is, with its sitting-too-long fish and rubbery rice?  (Sending an intern to a Japanese restaurant would be more in keeping it real with his celebrity, so he might go that way.) This would be beyond offensive. Of course, Whole Foods offers the hip and health-conscious brown, and more recently the ridiculous “multigrain,” rice (it’s apparently multiple rices, not multiple grains, and by the way, aren’t all rices the same grain?), and the opportunity to feel sophisticated and exotic. It is an astoundingly ripped-off group of people.  

So, Wayward Sushi Acolytes, It goes like this: Sushi should be made to order and by the way, should be made with white rice. (Texture is everything here, so you should be looking elsewhere for your whole grains.) Rather than hitting Whole Foods a few times a week and telling your co-workers how much you like sushi, save your money and go to a reputable sushi restaurant once in a while. It’s a much better value. Cheaper does not mean a better value. If you’ve only eaten sushi at Whole Foods, you’ve never eaten it. So there.

More recent food-world related silliness: Rachel Ray is marketing a sleek “garbage bowl” to save people the trip to the trash can while prepping food! This, presuming, I guess, that one can’t use nearly any receptacle in the kitchen for such a shortcut. This contribution is interestingly in line with her cooking abilities, but offensive nonetheless. She’s got around 20 books out at this point, which probably contain two books worth of recipes. How much money does she need? And who will buy such an insult? This should remain a mystery.

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31. December 2008 by Jenn.

December 31, 2008 

As 2008 comes to a close (it’s late afternoon), I’ll issue an appreciation, some of it strictly personal, and by association, some recommendations: 

Fencing (classes and advancing one level; barely scratched the surface of scratching the surface); the people at the Fencing Academy of Phila.; meeting my friend Sarah and discovering that meat substitutes can be worthwhile (Find her Vrapple - “We kick the crap out of scrapple” - at a store near you!); Seeing “Kooza” by Cirque du Soleil in the spring - avoided Cirque for years only to be knocked out by it; a few really fun trips to NYC, including a few rich exhibits at Fashion Institute of Technology (Yeah! I’m a girl!); Labor Day weekend on Fire Island at my then-employer’s lovely, better-than-beach house with work mates and their partners (a town full of vacationing gay men, the most fun place in the world!); the extended tomato season, including the cool black cherry tomatoes with the tasty, viscous juice (Thanks, Fair Food Farmstand!); Indian summer; The Phillies winning the World Series; The Obama win, though he’s just a man, and not King, Gandhi, Kennedy, and last but not least Jesus, rolled into one; introducing myself to the work of Eddie Izzard, George Carlin, and the people behind The Wire; Torchwood (Only enhanced by John Barrowman’s hammy acting - visiting Cardiff, Wales is now on the wish list); hookah/shisha smoking (it was an herb that wasn’t weed or tobacco, apparently); re-discovering how much fun my aunt is through e-mail letters; dad still hanging tough through a serious illness with an iron will and occassionally, his signature wry sense of humor.

Movies: Man On Wire; Hellboy II: The Golden Army, so weirdly different in tone than the first one. Lots of movies, some not released in 2008, including Paprika (anime); Candy; Broken English; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Once (quiet film about an Irish musician and the piano player woman he meets on the streets of Dublin); Flannel Pajamas; Dinner Rush (saw this before in the theater, I believe, but didn’t absorb it); Persepolis (though the girl’s grating rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” stayed in my head for a while and almost made me sorry I saw it); Rounders, finally - it went down like an appetizer, quick and clean and tasty; The Future is Unwritten: Joe Strummer -this is inspirational, in a way that Man On Wire is.

Caught up on several years of TV, on DVD, and was impressed enough to not want cable in my home, lest I stay on my couch for months at a time. Tried The L Word and (in the interest of seeing for myself what all the yelling was about) Sex and the City: unwatchable, both. Why are silly, annoying, and desperate for a man (or woman) so interesting to female viewers? Compelling? Five seasons of The Wire; the latest (and/or all of, on DVD) Arrested Development; Medium, Dexter; Weeds; Torchwood; The Office (US); 30 Rock. There were more - Like Mad Men but was sick of hearing how great it is: Okay, people smoked and drank and littered and thought unhappy women were mentally ill- How clever! Some things have changed, yes, I get it. Hate that secretary with the dumb bangs. Definitely not routing for her. I kept watching because I cared about the Drapers and wanted to see Betty’s dresses. Lots of straight men seem to like this show, which I find strange. Anyway, I’m a season behind and not minding it.

Saw Elf at last! Fine addition to my Christmas movies. 

Missed, but intend to make my movie-watching business: Patti Smith: Dream of Life; Wendy and Lucy; Encounters At the End of the World; A Christmas Tale; Synecdoche, New York; and The Wrestler.

There were books and magazine articles but I don’t feel like listing them here.

Taste sensations 2008: The blend of mayo with sriracha sauce - I’m a genius!; various heirloom and local tomatoes; shitake mushrooms; Uncle Richard’s hot peach salsa; candied fennel by the chef/owner of James, found at a local food-lover’s paradise (except for the annoying “foodies” the place is awash with); the stuffed squash blossoms at Persimmon (seasonal/changing menu) in NYC’s Village somewhere - you think it’s filled with Parmiggiano and bacon, but it’s a tofu-based mixture; the tripe sandwich from George’s window shop in Philly’s Italian Market. Really! A few weeks back I was melancholy for my mother, who had a father from just outside Rome. Passing the window, went for it. Try this offal once, in a spicy red sauce, if you eat meat anyway, and/or before you go vegan. And no, tripe is not cow intestine - find out yourself what it is.  All sorts of roasted vegetables. Bok choy - the salmon of the vegetable world; you can’t ruin it. The pad thai at a joint on Race Street, not sure of name now, but you just can’t get passed great pad thai. Dulse -a seaweed, minerally tasting and somehow addictive.

I’m closing out 2008 with George Carlin: Jammin in New York, and the 2nd season of the Sarah Silverman Program. Maybe some Thai or Thai-inspired food tonight. A party with the aforementioned Sarah, at the home of someone I don’t know. It remains to be seen where I’ll be at midnight, tipping my hat to 2009.

Alright, 2008. Well done. We need big now, though. Glitz, a little drama, maybe New Orleans. Devotion. Raw oysters. The opera. Hunkering down. Some roof-top shout-outs.

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