Articles by Tom Philpott

Early indication: Agribiz still rules the Hill

There's no denying the joy of seeing such confirmed villains as Pombo, Santorum, and Rumsfeld on ice. (It will be interesting to see which energy/military conglomerate beckons home the latter after his brave tour of duty.) But having delivered a decisive boot to the hindquarters of the GOP-controlled Congress, it's time to turn a critical eye on the new leadership.

A revolutionary bread-making technique, and two new foodie blogs

"Edible Media" takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism on the web.

This edition of Edible Media will round up several choice morsels.

Well bread

Mark Bittman, the great cookbook writer and author of the indispensable weekly column "The Minimalist" in the NYT, has a provocative one this week on breadmaking.

Bittman reports that Jim Lahey, owner of Manhattan's terrific Sullivan Street Bakery, has taught him a new method for making bread that delivers professional-quality bread with no kneading or special equipment necessary. The result sends Bittman on a decidedly non-minimalist rhetorical jag. The bread is "incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that is produced more easily than by any other technique I've used, and will blow your mind."

There's even a sustainability angle: the technique "may yet change the industry. Mr. Lahey is experimenting with using it on a large scale, but although it requires far less electricity than conventional baking, it takes a lot of space and time."

I will be trying this at home; I'll report back.

Why everyone should be allowed to love food with unrestrained glee

I spend hours at a time in the kitchen, I approach my morning coffee with a quasi-religious fervor, and the attention I grant beer and wine selection can border on the Talmudic. Am I a food snob? Diverse authorities — including my mother, a certain Grist writer, and several friends — have claimed as much. […]

Worldwatch releases a hopeful plan for saving the world’s fish.

There's no shortage of reasons it would really suck if present trends continued and the world's oceans stopped supporting a robust fish population.

For one, it would deal a devastating blow to human nutrition and cuisine. The sea provides us with high-quality protein and many other valuable nutrients. Poof? Gone? (Don't be smug, vegans. Fish emulsion -- ground-up fish -- is a common and valuable input for organic vegetable farming.)

As for cuisine, can anyone really bear to contemplate Southeast Asian food without fish? Then there's Italian. No spaghetti alle vongole (clams)? Or that immortal Sicilian dish, pasta con sarde (sardines)? What, the southern French won't get to make bouillabaisse, the Basques will be robbed of their cod, the coastal Mexicans can no longer do hauchinango al mojo de ajo (garlic-crusted red snapper)? What will become of Vera Cruz? Of New Orleans?

No. This is wholly unacceptable. It won't do. Such a world does not interest me. Present trends must not continue; they must end immediately.