Crème Brûlée on the Grill?

Sounds like an enticing approach? Fugetaboutit. New York Times food blogger Wilson Rothman was excited to try out a barbecue cast-iron creme brulee set, but the outcome was a flop. He writes:

Having made creme brulee plenty of times with a torch, and a few times under a broiler, I knew that the proposition -- lowering a super-heated (cast-iron) salamander onto sugar to be caramelized -- probably would work. I didn't even balk at paying $30 for two enameled cast-iron ramekins and a burger-patty-sized disc of cast iron (whose total cost to manufacture might well be under $5).

But no, it wasn't to be. In fact, it was a disaster.

. . . Sugar around the disc's edges did turn a perfect color and consistency, but half the sugar under the disc only browned a tad, and the other half stuck to the bottom of the disc.

The moral of the story is to stick with a blow torch if you want to make creme brulee at home. Or, better yet, have a restaurant chef prepare it for you.

A Recent History of the Sweet Stuff

Courtesy of Mother Jones magazine, we have access to this timeline of key events in the ongoing battle between sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. The latter ingredient is showing up in more and more foods, including those in which sweetness isn't called for.

Which do we Americans consume more of these days? Click here to find out.

CIA Redeems Itself With Krispy Kremes

This interesting story from Sunday's Washington Post describes how the CIA under director Leon Panetta has managed to rebuild relationships with key members of Congress. According to the Post:

After weathering a number of storms on Capitol Hill, including a face-off with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the California Democrat accused the CIA of lying, Panetta has studiously cultivated his old colleagues, holding informal get-togethers with the Senate and House intelligence committees.

"It's Krispy Kremes and coffee," said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate intelligence committee. "People are relaxed, the conversation is free-flow, and I think that is very useful."

And, as we all know, sugar and dough goes a long way toward smoothing over hurt feelings.

Leftovers: A Snapshot of Other Blogs

*You've got to appreciate a blogger like Bill Citara who writes a regular post entitled "Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck." It's a quest that requires some persistence.

*The recession seems to have taken its toll on food too. Consumption of fruit juice dropped 13% in 2008. That's one of many factoids to be found in the USDA's newly released report on "food availability" and per-capita eating trends.

*Deep-fried hamburgers? At least one place you can find them is at Korzo's, a small and unpretentious restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y. The blog Serious Eats provides all of the details.

*You may call yourself a "foodie," but do you know what fraisage means? Well, I sure as hell didn't. But I do know, thanks to this post from the blog Whisk.

*Shouldn't the outer packaging of a food product inspire you a little, perhaps tease your imagination or just plain make you feel good? I think so. Think of that boring, yellow-and-white package in which Domino's sells its sugar. Now compare it to this -- a package of gelierzucker bought in an Austrian grocery store. Gelierzucker is a combo of sugar and pectin, and it's used to make jams and jellies.

A Shortage of Sweetness

We're used to hear economists and Wall Street insiders discuss the oil supply and potential shortages, but now it seems that a different commodity -- sugar -- is prompting a similar discussion.

Bloomberg News reports:

A global sugar shortage, which drove prices to the highest level in three decades, may peak in the third quarter this year ...

Sugar had its biggest annual (price) advance since 1974 last year as heavy rains and drought pared harvests in Brazil and India, the largest growers.

Holy Sweet Tooth, Batman!

Is it just several large corporations crying "wolf" for the sake of their bottom line? Or is there something to this cautionary cry? According to today's Wall Street Journal:

Some of America's biggest food companies say the U.S. could "virtually run out of sugar" if the Obama administration doesn't ease import restrictions amid soaring prices for the key commodity.

. . . The companies threatened to jack up consumer prices and lay off workers if the Agriculture Department doesn't allow them to import more tariff-free sugar.

I am deeply suspicious of these "sky is falling" threats issued by Kraft, General Mills and other companies. Having said that, I also think it's ridiculous in a country where we have deregulated airlines and other high-cost consumer markets that we would continue to use taxpayer subsidies to protect the domestic sugar industry.

The price supports for sugar are a major reason why so many food companies are driven to rely heavily on high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener that many health and dietary analysts believe is fueling obesity and poor eating habits in general.

A Coke Tax for Health Care Reform?

As the health care reform debate rages on, Kate Schwartz at Newser.com wonders if a potential funding source might be part of the solution. She writes:

In the L.A. Times yesterday, Melissa Healy floated the idea that yep, it may be time for tough love -- in the form of a much-debated tax on "sinful-food" items.

She cites a recent poll that has 53% of Americans favoring a tax on sugary beverages to help pay for health care reform -- and, of those opposed, 63% changed their mind if doing so "would help tackle the problems that stem from being overweight."

We're going to end up paying more either way, so bring on the $4 liters of Coca-Cola. Let's hope they push half the people to drink tap water and pay for the dogged sugar addiction of the other half.

The Mason-Dixon Line of Iced Tea

There seems to be such a line. And like the real Mason-Dixon Line, it's not marked so clearly that the typical American can see exactly where it is. But it's definitely there.

Somewhere between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Va., servers in restaurants and diners start asking you "sweetened or unsweetened?" when you order an iced tea.

Sure, there are northerners who drink sweet tea, and there are southerners who don't. However, by and large, my observation is that southerners are much more likely to drink their iced tea sweetened than northerners. I have eaten at a restaurant in North Carolina where the default was sweet tea -- you had to request unsweetened tea or that's what you got.

I drink my iced tea unsweetened, although the thought of sweet tea doesn't bother me. But it's a little annoying that all of the iced tea beverages that you find in vending machines are pre-sweetened.

Yet the North-South divide over iced tea is not restricted to the sweetened-or-unsweetened preference. Consider this story.

I once ordered an iced tea at a restaurant in Massachusetts during the month of March. The waitress responded tersely: "It's not in season." Huh? I was flabbergasted. Peaches are not in season, but iced tea is always in season. If you want to make it, you just make it -- regardless of whether it's May or November. I thought to myself: How hard is it to get some tea leaves or tea bags and immerse them in hot water?

Apparently, iced tea is a seasonal beverage in New England. Not wanting to create too much of a fuss, I bit my tongue and settled for a cup of hot tea.

Earlier this month, the Roanoke Times newspaper (that's in S.W. Virginia) posted this survey on iced tea-drinking habits. It's a short survey so go for it.

This web page purports to give a "history" of iced tea drinking in America, but I can't vouch for its accuracy.