Oh. Ugh. Burger King acknowledged a few weeks ago that some of its burgers sold in Britain and Ireland had unfortunately included a percentage of horsemeat. Some patties sold at British supermarket chain Tesco included up to 29-percent horsemeat. Worst of all, some crappy frozen lasagna included ground horsemeat, as well. If you’re a Kentucky-American, do you feel a certain sense of outrage and disgust?
Continue reading The Great Horsemeat Scandal of 2013
Category Archives: Marsha Lynch
All the good headlines are taken
When the announcement came that Lynn’s Paradise Cafe had closed, I considered writing a column headlined “(Lynn’s) Paradise Lost,” but before my monthly column’s week rolled around, there was already an article titled “Paradise lost” – in this very paper.
Continue reading All the good headlines are taken
Happy New Year, foodies!
Nearly two years ago in this column I made a “Louisville food industry wish” for the new year, calling for relaxed rules and clarity in food-truck regulations for Metro Louisville. And while we’re not 100 percent where we need to be, I commend Mayor Greg Fischer and his crew for enabling our local food-truck explosion. Well done. We now have a Louisville Food Truck Association, headed up by the ever-entrepreneurial Leah Stewart of Louisville Dessert Truck and Louisville Candy Buffet.
Continue reading Happy New Year, foodies!
Dear (Papa) John
Back in August, you told some of your shareholders that you’d need to increase the price of your pizza about 11 to 14 cents to “shallow out” the cost increases the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) would burden your business with. And when the cost of business increases, ultimately prices go up, right? I can’t argue with that; although some people tried to — notably Forbes magazine, which published an article with a lot of fancy math that basically boiled down to this: The price increase you proposed would likely result in revenue for the company totaling far, far above the $5-$8 million cost increase you estimated you would be trying to offset.
Continue reading Dear (Papa) John
Smashing pumpkinsMarsha Lynch – Industry Standard,
Like most everyone else who lives in temperate climes, I enjoy the changing of the seasons. The beauty of a snow-covered hillside. That first warm day of spring when you leave the coat at home. When I was a child, I couldn’t wait for the week the pool opened.
But fall, I am putting you on notice. A season so pretentious it sometimes uses an alternate name (oh, we’re “autumn” today, are we?), so vain it paints itself in gaudy colors, so filled with political campaign signs and so chock-full of pre-holiday madness you can’t seem to catch your breath. And on top of all that, a season so rife with squashes and root vegetables that I’ll probably have to buy a new vegetable peeler.
Continue reading Smashing pumpkinsMarsha Lynch – Industry Standard,
Movable Feasts
Finally it’s picnic weather again — the shank end of the season. Who doesn’t love a picnic? Only the most hardened cynics and eye-rolling hipsters could ever admit to such with a straight face. Get out your favorite cookbook; you know, the one with the gingham-checked cover. You’ll need loads of eggs to devil, lots of sliced meats, cheeses and breads; perhaps a roasted chicken or two. A bottle of wine, some fruit, and don’t skimp on the cookies. Ready to go, yes? Whoops, nearly forgot the blanket.
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Stylin’
We’re going to do it. You can’t stop us, and you don’t really want to. Food styling!
Culinary professionals all over the world (and amateurs, too) are fixated on making food photos look luscious, inviting and perfect. As technology improves on an ascending curve, it’s easier than ever for everyone to do. So I’m inviting you to come down on one side of the fence or the other: Should images of food be manipulated like the airbrushed models on fashion magazine covers? Or should they be as candid as the mug shots in Crime Times?
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Eighty-sixed
“Eighty-six!” We sling this slang around a lot in restaurant kitchens: Eighty-six means the cooks have run out of a menu item, as in, “Eighty-six the trout!” When something’s eighty-sixed, it means there is no more forthcoming – nada, zip, zilch – at least for now.
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Embrace beginnings and ends
There’s a handful of movies I just cannot turn past when channel surfing: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Jaws,” “Carrie,” “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “War of the Worlds” (yes, the Tom Cruise version) to name a few.
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Covering and protecting our own
Did you know that many independent restaurant workers don’t have employer-subsidized health insurance? They are out there, going insurance-style commando with their fingers crossed. If they get injured at work, worker’s compensation should cover their medical expenses. But what if something else happens? What if they get mugged, or involved in a car accident while off the clock? What if their utilities get turned off because they couldn’t work for a couple of weeks due to an injury or illness, and they have children who will be affected?
Continue reading Covering and protecting our own