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28 April 2007
Few things on the Internet bore me more than food blogs. And I love cooking, and I love to eat. Why?
I know what you mean, probably just general lack of authority. Considering I like to read recipes in print, and do read reviews of cooking books, and would probably read a review of a book reviewing cooking books. It's the whole "yum! pigs is a blanket!" thing, I guess.
I think it's probably hard to do a food blog "right" and I generally don't like them either. Here's one I do like: Restaurant Widow. I like it because:
1) It's local to me
2) The photography is amazing
3) The writing has personality
So it's a rare combination that would make a food blog a must read.
ico: I don't know, I like to read cookbooks, and I watch some food network shows, and Bourdain amuses me even if his shtick is wearing thin (Nigella is no chef but I like her too, and watch her when I catch her show)
Otis, StickyC: now that you make me think about it: really excellent food photography, as you know, is made with basically fake food, unedible food -- painted, kept together with special plasters, and after that photoshopped, etc
most food bloggers photograph the food they cook -- and, hopefully, they eat. it just doesn't look as good as in the glossy magazines
matteo: I'm the same way; I like cookbooks, and I like watching/reading Bourdain (though I, too, am growing a bit wearing of the schtick -- which was why his work that came out of when he was in Beirut last year when the shelling started was so good; it forced him to drop the Monster of Cool act). Food blogs do nothing for me, either; maybe it's the fact that they're missing a certain narrative (which other food writing can supply).
Also, there are certain things where I find reading them online is always a poor substitute for reading them in a physical book or magazine -- and recipes, for some reason, are among them.
For the most part, food and wine bloggers are mediocre writers, or have no idea what they're talking about, or both. There are some exceptions, but they are few.
And many suffer from what I call the Splendid Table dilemma: Access to talented experts is not the same thing as being a talented expert, and eating a foodstuff does not impart intimate knowledge of it.* The call-in segment, where the host provides recipes and solves problems, is cringeworthy. It's especially a shame because she is articulate and knowledgeable about Italian cuisine, but that does not give her a pass to improvise a kimchee recipe on-air.
Incidentally, one of the quickest ways to make me give up your food blog is to use 'decadent', especially when describing chocolate.
* Excepting maybe if you were M.F.K. Fisher. But she'd still have done her research before saying anything.
It often has the feeling of someone writing about looking at pornography— it's too removed from actual experience. The other problem I have is that it often seems to devolve into fetishizing minutiae that I tend to find unimportant. It may matter to you that you've got single-origin estate mexican oregano, but it seems silly (especially since I try to cook local and fresh). Or reading my girlfriend's sister's food blog— it's insufferable pretension dressed up in foodie clothing.