As the end of the year approaches, I find myself wishing I were one of those people who spent the year taking digital snaps of every meal I ate. All I've really got to show for the year are eight extra pounds, a fat stack of receipts for my accountant and, well, those 50-odd installments of "Total Pig." Here's a highly selective and totally biased year-end review of my favorite food stories:
SCHOOLS CRACK DOWN ON JUNK FOOD
New Mexico jumped to the head of the class this year as the Public Education Department enacted sweeping changes on the availability of junk food in schools [Total Pig, Jan. 4: "
" and Feb. 8: "
Foie Gras and Flamin' Hot Cheetos
"], leading the Center for Science in the Public Interest to rank our school food rules fourth best in the country. Woo hoo! Sugary sodas, candy bars and even the kids' beloved Flamin' Hot Cheetos were gone from most vending when students went back to school in August and, for the most part, the transition was smooth [Cover story, Sept. 20: "
"]. In the coming year, schools will evaluate how the changes affected their fund-raising efforts. Will they have lost money because of lower vending machine sales? Will the cheerleaders have to go without new bloomers? Will the Guv call it good enough or push through funding for PE and nutrition classes? I'll be watching.
E. COLI TAINTS SPINACH, THEN GREEN ONIONS
The entire nation decided to bag the bagged spinach this fall when an outbreak of E. coli killed a handful of people and sickened hundreds more [Total Pig, Sept. 27: "
" and Oct. 11: "
"]. Restaurants scrambled to substitute arugula, iceberg-anything-for fresh spinach, while the source of the contamination was traced to a cattle farm upstream from the lettuce fields. Then, in early December, just as the scare had died down and we were back to spinach salads, another E. coli outbreak struck and dozens of Taco Bell patrons headed not for the border, but for the hospital. Although initial suspicion focused on green onions, it was eventually determined that lettuce was the likely cause of the Taco Bell contamination. The lesson here? Don't eat anything green. Just kidding! Local growers, sustainable agriculture proponents and yours truly all enjoyed the opportunity to explain, once again, how industrial agriculture will be the death of us all.
THE NEXT SPECTER: TRANS FATS
This fall, as New York City was considering a ban on artery-clogging trans fats, I warned that a successful ban in New York had the potential to spread to other communities, even Santa Fe [Total Pig, Oct. 4: "
"]! Tamales, tortillas,
bizcochitos
…all of our favorite foods seem to be made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (read: Crisco). Back in October, I took the opportunity to try convincing everyone to cook with lard again. Like that's gonna happen! In December, the ban passed, and now cities like Chicago are considering similar measures. So could it happen here? Sure, why not? Some of the country's biggest deep-fryers, like Wendy's, have moved to trans fat-free cooking oils. I think it's safe to predict that as demand for trans fat-free oils increases, prices will come down and it won't be long before trans fats are phased out voluntarily.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN TRAPPED IN BEIRUT
One of the most fascinating first-person accounts of the Israel/Lebanon conflict came from Anthony Bourdain, the chef, author and host of a Discovery Channel show called
No Reservations
. The self-proclaimed "gastronomic Indiana Jones" was in Beirut with his camera crew when the bombs started falling, and he spent days trapped in his hotel, watching helplessly as the country burned. On July 28, he filed a report with www.salon.com that reminded me why I fell in love with him the first time. He recounted how, the first night of the conflict, the crew was persuaded to go to the opening party for a posh rooftop club where "moneyed Beirutis-all of them, it seemed, young, sexy and ridiculously beautiful-drank vodka and Red Bull, and swayed (if not exactly danced) while Israeli jets flew menacingly low overhead. Were it not for the warplanes, it could have been Los Angeles or South Beach, Fla." His account is tense, emotional and loaded with anger and bitterness at the insanity of war. The chef taught us all a lesson with that one.
I EAT THE WORLD'S GREATEST HOT DOG AND A $58 BURGER
As a counterpoint to all the hours I spent writing self-righteous lectures on trans fats and junk food, I managed to indulge in two extremely memorable meals this year. The first was the World's Greatest Hot Dog, which I discovered at Pepe's Tacos (1945 Cerrillos Road, 982-3548). Pepe's dog is totally covered in grilled onions and chiles, then drizzled with ketchup, mustard and a thin mayonnaise or sour cream sauce (I couldn't tell which). It is a fiesta in a bun! Most important, the dog is wrapped in bacon. You must try this hot dog.
The second most notable meal of the year was the $58 burger at the Staab House at La Posada (330 E. Palace Ave., 986-0000). Their version of the gourmet burger is made with ground Kobe beef, topped with Persillé de Malzieux cheese, Neuske's bacon, Kobe beef cheeks, black truffles,
foie gras
and herbed aïoli. Of course, each of the toppings is individually priced and I don't think they really expect you to order them all together. I did, of course, and found that while the individual ingredients are all great, when combined they make an ugly cacophony in the mouth. This burger is worth trying (preferably on somebody else's dime), but I strongly suggest you pick only a couple of toppings-and avoid the distractingly strong cheese.
Tell me where to eat! I need your input. Send all of your tips, gripes and raves to
.