Tsunami Update 2: Race Against More Death

By JULIETTE ROSSANT As the death toll passes 135,000 just before noon EST today, there is a new tension in tsunami headlines. The Guardian this morning reads with a plea " 'Please help. Give us aid' ." The Times of London reads "Indonesia gives up counting its dead." If you recall from a previous article, I expressed fears about politics in aid: who will ever be able to say whether the number of separatist Acehnese dead was acerbated by "delays" from Indonesia's government? Egypt's Al-Ahram says it all, perhaps, with this bold summary: "Swept Away." Web traffic continues to come in from all over the tsunami-effected region -- and small wonder, when a survey of global newspaper headlines reveals such mounting desperation: - BBC: Push to speed up tsunami relief - Economist: The race to aid the tsunami survivors - FT: Relief drive as quake death toll continues to rise - NYT: Many Still in Need as Aid Is Trickling to Stricken Area - LAT: Sumatra's Isolated West Coast Devastated - FAZ: Immer mehr Opfer: 150.000 Tote befürchtet - SDZ: Die meisten Toten kommen nicht nach Hause - Corriere: Tragedia senza fine, sempre piu vittime - Le Figaro: Plus de 125 000 morts, 5 millions de déplacés - El Pais: Indonesia acogerá en enero una cumbre para afrontar las consecuencias del 'tsunami' - La Vanguardia: Se elevan a 145.000 las víctimas mortales del maremoto Food bloggers continued to support relief by furthering news and donation efforts: - le Hamburger et le Croissant referred readers to superchefblog's news-and-donation articles in "Tsunami." - Cheap Recipe listed superchefblog's news-and-donation articles in her own "Tsunami Relief Donations," saying "Send me an email that you donated (any amount to any organization of your choice), and I'll send you my e-book on saving money on your groceries." - Feeding Dexygus Seconds mentioned listed superchefblog's news-and-donation articles in "tsunami aid" As for Donations, Superchefblog continues to ask that you give to both medical and food relief aid agencies and continues to recommend Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for medical aid and UNICEF for food aid: see read more in previous articles (below). Previous articles: Tsunami Update 1: Foodies Help 2004 Tsunami: How Foodies Can Help Baking From the Heart

New Year's: New Orleans Food Incubator

By JULIETE ROSSANT [Note to readers: a 2004 Tsunami is forthcoming.] Incubators in the dot.com boom era weren't for eggs or preemies. They were places where start-up companies could get support, including funding from investors, for their businesses. (Anybody remember the indie movie Startup.com? Read the BBC review.) I have always wondered why their weren't incubators for food products, since it is expensive and risky for a chef to launch a new sauce or chocolate without major funding and advice. And successful food products have the potential to earn chefs more than restaurants or books or other activities. It turns out that out of 800 incubators in the US there are 20 exclusively dedicated to food, according to Charles D’Agostino, executive director of the Louisiana Business and Technology Center at Louisiana State University. Business New Orleans reports that Greater New Orleans Inc. has replaced the former New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce and MetroVision and is spearheading economic development for the ten-parish region. Among its efforts is a food business incubator to help local chefs and restaurateurs grow their dreams. The LSU Food Science Department, in cooperation with the LSU AgCenter’s test kitchen, will provide expertise in recipe development and consistency. Besides startups, some restaurants and chefs have also shown interest in using the incubator. D’Agostino said a number of restaurants that make their own sauces and other products in-house say they want to rent space on a part-time basis to free up their own kitchens. The New Orleans incubator should be up and running with kitchen space somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet by 2005. Will fancy food fairs of the future be stocked with more and more New Orleans food products? Move over, Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, and Susan Spicer. Let's see more incubators all over the country during 2005: Happy New Year, Foodies. Previous articles: Paul Prudhomme Magic Growth World Series Chefs Serve Baseball Motley Fool Mulls Over "Frankenfish" (or Emeril's Notches on B&G Foods)

Tsunami Update 1: Foodies Help

By JULIETTE ROSSANT [Updated in "Tsunami Update 2: Race Against More Death"] First of all, hurray for Foodies of good heart! My website tracking shows scores of people flowing through my previous report "2004 Tsunami: How Foodies Can Help" and out through that page, which indicates to me that they are going direclty to make online donations. BBC has confirmed that blogs are helping. I will thank fellow Food bloggers at the end of this article: right now, I am tracking hits from countries that encircle the region, so we are being effective -- now we need to increase the momentum. News Update: - Death Toll: The Red Cross prediction yesterday was right: the death toll in Indonesia alone shot up to over 80,000 over the past 24 hours, mostly from the core quake region of Aceh. Add 25,000 from Sri Lanka and you're already close to the 114,000 dead proclaimed at this hour by the BBC -- sorry, that's 120,000, just in from Reuters since I started writing. - American Assistance: US Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman announced the formation of an international coalition between the US, Australia, Japan, and India as well as plans to increase financial aid from $35 million -- to an undisclosed amount, according to The New York Times. Links for News Updates: - Tsunami Updates - News Hour updates - UNDP - Tsunami updates - ReliefWeb updates Donations - Start Counting: Several news organizations have contacted me, amazed that Food blogs could leverage the Internet to drive donations. They are asking for donation count, so to prove our effectiveness, I'm asking that when you make a donation, please return to this site and leave a comment about whom you gave to and how much, like this: Recipient - "ABC". Amount - "XYZ." (You need not leave your name or contacts, though you are welcome to -- Muslim victims will admire you all the more for anonymity, as Islam believes that "credit" in Heaven is dependent on humility on Earth.) Don't doubt the need: CTV Canada is reporting that aid workers are already overwhelmed with the extent of destruction, even after the initial outpouring of donations. Donations - Recommendations: The big question right now is whether to send money for medicine or food: I say, send both. Donations - Medical Aid: My personal recommendation for medical remains strongly Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) -- on BBC radio online, I just heard MSF "commandos" talk about landing in one country and heading straight out for the islands to start logistics. MSF are tops, no doubt about it. Here are links to them, again, for immediate online donations: - MSF global donation links - MSF USA donations - MSF Canada donations - MSF UK donations - MSF France donations - MSF Hong Kong donations - MSF UAE donations - Red Cross donations - CARE USA donations - CARE Canada donations - The Economist list - New York Times list - BBC list - ABC World News Tonight list Donations - Food Aid: As for food aid, my experience and observations point toward UNICEF. First, UNICEF targets children, the main victims of this catastrophe. Second, UNICEF has offices all over that region. Third, UNICEF came forward early and so seems eager (if not ready) to channel efforts. Here are links to UNICEF, for immediate online donations. I am listing all UNICEF country offices with online donation sites here, since otherwise you have to hunt around their various sites to do the same: - UNICEF USA online donations - UNICEF Canada online donations - UNICEF Canada don en ligne - UNICEF New Zealand online donations - UNICEF Australia online donations - UNICEF UK online donations - UNICEF Spain donativos on-line - UNICEF Austria Online-Spende - UNICEF Germany Online-Spende - UNICEF Belgium Noodhulp SOS Kinderen van Azie - UNICEF Belgium Urgence SOS Enfants d'Asie - UNICEF France don en ligne - UNICEF Denmark Hjælp katastroferamte børn - BBC list of aid links Victims - How To Contact: Although only 12 Americans are reported dead (though thousands missing) according to CNN, our blogs span the globe via Internet, so here are links to expedite the contacting of victims: - Tsunami Missing Persons - BBC Missing Persons Message Board - TsunamiHelp Thanks - Fellow Food Blogs: Last but not least, the following Food blogs linked back as I requested to superchefblog's previous article "2004 Tsunami: How Foodies Can Help": - Smallbites - Pinkcocoa Tabetai - Pilgrim's Pots & Pans - le Hamburger et le Croissant Other Food bloggers have been posting as well on the Tsunami, and their articles include: - Tsunami help, Forensic experts needed on Chez Pim - Tsunami Help Blog on Chez Pim - Tsunami relief on Chez Pim - Cooking for Tsunami Victims in India on shiokadelicious! - Thank You for Your Concern on shiokadelicious! - South Asia Earthquake And Tsunami Relief on Seattle Bon Vivant - Tsunami Relief on Tomatilla! - Please Help The Quake And Tsunami Victims on Cheat Eat - South-East Asia Earthquake on Via Ritiro N.7 Diary As for you others bloggers, Food and non-Food, and emailers, please continue to link to superchefblog articles and to those carried by others (which superchefblog is linking to reciprocally). As Lucy explains in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, "These five fingers individually are nothing, but when I curl them together into a single unit, they are a fight force terrible to behold!" Let us be terribly effective together, as good men and women. This catastrophe dwarfs 9/11. The situation in Iraq is a silly sideshow compared to the death and destruction wreaked by the 2004 Tsunami. Don't give a lot at any one time, but give often. I will come back on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to update you on the situation in the region and to let you know where help is needed and how. The Media, you can be sure, will drop this news rather quickly, but as a former head of OxFam UK said on BBC radio this morning, the effects of this crisis will continue for weeks, months, and years. If you can imagine that you were one of the victims, then you will understand why it is important to donate -- not quantity from a few, but vast sums from many, which is what superchefblog is trying to help achieve. Please help -- and please do not tire as this issue resurfaces again and again on superchefblog. There is only one long-term strategy for this strategy: give a little as you can, over time. A mere $5 per week -- a bit off of groceries or meals eaten out -- for the next year would cost you some $250 for 2005: what better New Year's Resolution can there be? (By the way, as soon as I posted yesterday, I used my own article to make a donation to MSF USA. And I will be donating weekly, as I recommended. "Practice what you preach.") Related articles: - Tsunami Update 2: Race Against More Death (December 31, 2004) - 2004 Tsunami: How Foodies Can Help (December 29, 2004)

2004 Tsunami: How Foodies Can Help

By JULIETTE ROSSANT [Editor's Note: This article was updated on December 30 and December 31, 2004.] What can we do to aid the victims of the 2004 Tsunami, whose 9.0 underwater quake began offshore of Indonesia on the morning of December 26, 2004? Individually, we can do little -- but together, well channeled, just a little from each of us can do a lot. I am calling on all Foodies to make donations (below) to aid agencies -- online, whatever the amount, right now. I am asking that you also please link this message to any and all food blogs and beyond to other blogs, on and on, in attempt to tell others how they can help right now. Take $10 out of your groceries and/or meals out and send it to one of these groups. Don't doubt that even a few dollars help -- because the world's leading nation, the United States of America, had offered only $35 million in aid as of the close of business yesterday, December 28, 2004, according to a television interview with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The death toll of the 2004 Tsunami has risen daily by the tens of thousands. In case you missed the news, the death toll during yesterday evening's TV news programs was proclaimed at over 60,000 people (News Hour, NBC, ABC, CBS), topping last year's earthquake in Bam, Iran, whose final count exceeded 25,000. This morning, the Red Cross expected the figure to surpass 100,000 deaths. The death-toll lag has come from the country nearest the underwater epicenter of the earthquake, Indonesia. Politics will play a part in aid, since countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka have problems with their effected peoples, e.g., Indonesia's Acehnese and Sri Lanka's Tamils, which are both separatist groups. Put this into perspective: this earthquake was so big that it shifted islands off Indonesia and even made the Earth wobble. Just days after the tsunami, drinking water has hit the top of the needs list of many. Aid agencies and nations are racing to undertake the largest humanitarian relief effort in history (read more from The News Hour). A follow-up crisis is brewing in the form of disease and starvation (read more from BBC). If you're wondering which aid agency to send to -- a good channel -- I recommend Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), based on my on experiences covering Kurdish refugees after the Gulf War. These are the altruist, hard-core elites of aid. When they pulled out of Afghanistan in July and Iraq last month, the world noticed -- it was like Captain Miller having to cancel Saving Private Ryan. MSF's website is so busy that I am listing their specific country bases, of which the most easily accessed (and well targeted) is the MSF UAE page. The Economist of London and The New York Times have some of the best links to effective groups. Links for donations and aid agencies: - MSF global donation links - MSF USA donations - MSF Canada donations - MSF UK donations - MSF France donations - MSF Hong Kong donations - MSF UAE donations - Red Cross donations - CARE USA donations - CARE Canada donations - The Economist list - New York Times list - BBC list - ABC World News Tonight list Links for updates: - BBC News - South Asia - News Hour updates - UNDP - Tsunami updates - ReliefWeb updates You have my permission to copy and paste this message (with its HTML coding, so the weblinks remain), or you may simply link to this entry. Updates to this article: Tsunami Update 1: Foodies Help - December 30, 2004 Tsunami Update 2: Race Against More Death - December 31, 2004 --> back to Superchefblog

Cookbooks: King Arthur Flour, Karen Barker

By JULIETTE ROSSANT My desk is weighed down by the newly arrived King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, October 2004), a thick, luscious volume of cookies both rustic and refined. Among the reams of recipes for cookie-jar staples, I found some fun, off-beat cookies like ANZAC Biscuits (p. 83), Lavender Cookies (p. 284), and a picture of cookies that look just like ones my grandmother used to make, Brown-Edge Cookies (p. 63). This book is a treasure trove of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie recipes. It's an exciting book to have, along with other more personal takes on desserts and cookies, like Sweet Stuff (Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, April 2004). Barker herself recommends a shelf of books at the end of her volume (A Baker's Bookshelf, p. 353), a smart move since most recipes are built on other recipes and to get beyond a primer often takes up far too much of most cookbooks. But even Barker includes a chapter on the basics (A Baker's Building Block, p. 23) if you don't happen to have your own baking bible handy. Her recipes are strongly American for the home cook –- no far-out recipes here, rather a homey warmth with fun takes on the classics like Black Walnut Angel Food Cake with Sorghum Syrup (pp. 226-9) and Blenheim Ginger Ale Sabayon (p. 189-90). Previous articles: Manju Malhi's India With Passion Madhur Jaffrey: Our Lady of India, CBE Rocco DiSpirito Wins TV Turkey Dinner All Hail Alfred Portale Agassi's Star Palate: Celebrity Chefs

Hello, Christmas Island!

By JULIETTE ROSSANT One day not too long ago, I noticed that superchefblog had been visited by someone from a place called Christmas Island, Australia. Now, I have heard of a lot of places called Christmas, my favorite being Christmas Cove, Maine, but not this one. So, I looked for it on the map and found a wonderful relief map (below) in the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas at Austin and even an official stamp (right), the likes of which I had never seen. According to the CIA World Fact Book, Christmas Island was discovered on its namesake day by the Brits in 1643 and held as a British protectorate. Settlement began in 1888, phosphate mining in the 1890s. Britain transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958. Two thirds of the island is a national park of 85 square kilometers (that's just under 33 square miles, or a little over 5 x 6 miles for the math-challenged), according to the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage (now there is a liberal-sounding government department!). Besides the post-industrial phosphate-mining glories of Christmas Island National Park, I was of course interested in the food, so I looked for restaurants and local fruits and vegetables. The Christmas Island Tourism Association (CITA) lists 17 restaurants, which is quite a few for a tiny island that is mostly nature preserve, so, in honor of restaurateurs in remote locations, here is the official list as of May 2004: Golden Bosun (Chinese) Wah-Hoo Cafe Tracks Tavern Rumah Tinggi Christmas Island Club Season's Palace Malay Club Sukaramai (Malay) Poon Saan Club (Chinese) Cla Noodle House (Chinese) Seaview Rockfall Cafe Poon Saan Pool Hall Silver Birch Garden (Chinese) Barney's Crisp Chicken Poon Su Coffee Shop Grubz Up Cafe The famed food is Christmas Island's Red Crab (gecarcoidea natalis), described in 1888. There are millions of them (those are red crabs in the photo above, crossing the street with a bicyclist during migration) and their life cycle well documented, but I see little evidence that they are served cold or hot, if you take my meaning... The vegetation includes 126 species unique to Australia, but again there is no mention of food. Perhaps considering the delicate ecosystem as well as the 28 rare or threatened species, Christmas Island does not want to encourage tourists to gorge on its exotica. I'm intrigued... "ecotourism"? There is also a Christmas Island Internet Administration, though I could not determine whether there is an Internet cafe or availability through hotels. Rates are not cheap, but then one major point in going all the way to Christmas Island would be to get away from it all, right? Not that Christmas Island is unaffected by world events, even the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia -- yes, the recent big news was a Perth judge's conviction of a Pakistani man for smuggling Afghan refugees from Indonesia -- that's right -- to Christmas Island. Let us wish these islanders, online and not, well: Merry Christmas, Christmas Island! (If you want to say Merry Christmas to Christmas Island, just email them at cita@christmas.net.au.

Merry Christmas, Michael Mina

By JULIETTE ROSSANT You know it's been worth the struggle when, after a city-wide strike, one of your restaurant reopens with a flourish, while another makes end-of-year mention in a nation-wide magazine like TIME. This is how much of the year has gone for chef Michael Mina. After he opened the new Restaurant Michael Mina (see previous article, "The Rise of Restaurant Michael Mina") in San Francisco, backed by tennis god Andre Agassi and survived the strike, he reopened Aqua Las Vegas (after retaining all the Las Vegas properties following his fall-out with partner Charles Condy) as Michael Mina Bellagio, thanks to pal Gamal Aziz, long-time admirer -- and president of the MGM Grand. TIME wrote: In Las Vegas, Aqua r