See those innocent-looking pine nuts? They can poison you! (Photo courtesy of Kent Cameron from A Food Centric Life blog.)

How much do you count on your taste buds, as a food writer? Do you use them every day, as a recipe tester, cook, restaurant reviewer, or just because you love to eat?

Then beware of pine nuts. They can ruin your tastebuds for weeks. Actually, they can poison you.

Last Thursday I ate pine nuts at lunch. The next day, a breakfast of fruit, yogurt and granola tasted especially bitter. Lunch was worse. All three dishes I sampled at a hip new neighborhood place were so bitter I could hardly eat them. While making dinner, I was temped to throw out my salmon chowder because of its metallic taste. It tasted like bad white wine. On a hunch, I asked my husband to sample a spoonful. “Really good,” he pronounced.

That’s when I knew something was wrong. Owen Googled “bitter taste in mouth” and found this article about “Pine Mouth Sydrome,” which can last up to a month. It’s a cruel thing to do to anyone in our business who reviews restaurants, or testing or develops recipes, or cooks.

I’m still figuring out what I can eat. I roasted cauliflower Sunday night, looking forward to its caramelized sweetness, but spit out my first taste. Plain green beans were horrible. Cereal and milk goes down fine, but it’s boring. And the metallic taste in my mouth when I wake up makes me think I’ve been eating cars in my sleep.

So if you you love pine nuts, or you want to make pesto this summer, you’re probably wondering whether pine nuts are safe to buy, and from where?  Try expensive ones. In the past I’ve paid $28 per pound for pine nuts that looked like the long, slender ones in the photo above. They could have been from Italy or the US.

But buy ‘em cheaply and it’s buyer beware. According to USA Today, Costco has had “a few complaints” about their pine nuts, but couldn’t get to the bottom of it in lab tests. (Here’s more about Costco pine nuts on Chowhound.) I bought mine toasted at Trader Joe’s, where the package said the nuts might have come from Korean, Russia or Vietnam. The pine nuts were tiny, by the way — nothing like the ones in the photo. When I took the opened bag back and complained to a store supervisor, he said the Food and Drug Administration says pine nuts are safe for consumption, while also stating that they “affect one in every 20 people.” That seems like a lot to me. (Coincidentally, guess who else was affected by Trader Joe’s pine nuts? Nicole of Pinch my Salt.)

When it comes to making pesto, you might also skip pine nuts altogether. I made a traditional Genovese pesto from a recipe in Saveur’s current issue, using walnuts soaked in hot water for an hour.

So, has Pine Mouth Syndrome happened to you or anyone you know? Might you try other nuts instead, from now on? Or are you taking your chances, perhaps with more expensive pine nuts?

* * *

Update: I sent an email to Trader Joe’s through the website and got this reply:

We are fully aware of the issue concerning this product. In addition, there has been
ongoing research and investigation into this matter by the FDA, and as
what is occuring is reported a naturally occuring situation with the
pine nuts, and does not pose any specific health concern, we do
currently still offer this product in our stores. In addition, as this
occurrence seems to experienced by some customers, while not with
others, the pine nuts have indeed been determined to be safe for
consumption.

We want to assure you that if we had any cause for concern regarding the
safety of any product that we sell, we would immediately remove the
product from our store shelves and let our customers know of the reason
for this action. However, the occurrence has not been linked to any sort
of contamination, pesticides or heavy metals as has also been reported
on some internet sources. Some of the pine nuts involved in some of the
cases reported were from China, and most recently from Russia, as well.
As a result of this latest information, we have discontinued sourcing
any of our products from Russia. Again, there is no conclusive link to
any particular species or source country. In addition, we are updating
our product labeling to inform our customers of this possible occurrence
with the product.

Cookbook author Greg Patent

When people say they want to write about food I’m always making suggestions like:

• Don’t quit your day job
• Find a patron
• Win the lottery
• Don’t write for free
• Supplement your income with other food-related jobs like catering and teaching cooking classes.

But I’ve never heard this way to make money as a food writer: Compete as a contestant on the national American game show, Wheel of Fortune.

That’s exactly what cookbook author and freelance writer Greg Patent did on Friday night. A puzzle freak and watcher of the game show since 1975, Patent auditioned when the “Wheelmobile” came to his hometown of Missoula, Montana last June. He passed a second audition in October, where his wife of 46 years, author Dorothy Patent, also tried out.

Patent was one of 600 contestants chosen this year, out of more than 1 million, he told a reporter for his hometown paper. He got to blog about his experience in the Missoulian as well.

On the show, he clobbered the competition with strategy and finesse. Although becoming bankrupt a few times, he solved one puzzle without earning money, keeping his competitors from taking his lead. After identifying key phrases such as “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again” and “I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day” he won $15,590, including an all-expense trip to Antigua.

Now, don’t freak out, but a few years ago the International Association of Culinary Professionals did an income survey of its membership. The average income for a “multi-purpose” freelancer (someone who writes about food in addition to other jobs) was in the $30,000 range. He made about half that Friday night.

One of the winemaker dinners about to begin at the Naramata Heritage Inn and Spa. The conference organizer, Jennifer Cockrall-King, welcomes us at the head of the table.

I’m just back from a few days in the Okanagan wine country of British Columbia, Canada, hanging out with Canadian food and wine writers and bloggers at the second annual Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop.

Most of you are American, so I thought you should know about a food writing workshop in a gorgeous food and wine region of British Columbia, in case you ever need an excuse to visit.

I’m from British Columbia, born in Vancouver, and wanted to get back to the province to see the Okanagan again. As a kid, I remember driving up with my family (about a 4-hour drive inland) to enjoy the the fruit orchards, swimming, and to search for Ogopogo in the 100-mile long Lake Okanagan. He’s the Canadian version of the Loch Ness Monster. I had never been back, until now.

I had two other reasons to attend. The workshop’s founder, Jennifer Cockrall-King, a blogger, accomplished freelance writer, and upcoming book author, charmed me with her modesty about the conference and her own accomplishments. (Canadians are given to circumspection and politeness. I used to be like that, but now I’ve been in the States for a few decades and I’ve taken on American ways.) Also, Penticton & Wine Country Tourism paid for me and the other speakers to attend. I’m not saying you will get the same deal, but they are very interested in helping food writers who come to explore and write about the region.

The conference was a combination 2-1/2-day writing workshop and exploration of the area’s farmers, wineries and restaurants. I gave a class about food writing fundamentals (you know, action verbs, similes, etc.). Other accomplished Canadian editors, writers and consultants presented on social media, pitching magazines and food writing. Cockerall-King  gave away so many books that all the attendees got at least one.

Here's the view from my room at the Penticton Lakeside Resort.Cockerall-King requested politely (she's Canadian) that all the participants receive rooms with views.

The farm-to-table movement is in full swing in the Okanagan, and we experienced it first hand at three dinners by inventive chefs who had searched for super-fresh, often-organic ingredients. Two of the three meals were as good as those I’ve eaten at award-winning restaurants. Paired with several wines chosen from more than 100 local wineries, and hosted by winemakers, wine educators, and the chefs, the dinners were a highlight of our workshop. Included in the selection was a wine from  Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced in-ka-meep), North America’s first aboriginal-owned and operated winery.

We also visited a farm that makes wine vinegars, the local farmer’s market, an apple orchard, and a tour of three wineries. At the farmer’s market, I bought 3 pounds of organic pears for $4, an incredible bargain compared to the San Francisco Bay Area, where the same amount would cost $6-$9. I also purchased a bag of dried mulberries and contemplated a bag of foraged, dried morels that cost $140. I also bought a bag of roasted hazelnuts grown in nearby Agassiz.

These little flowery clusters are hazelnuts, sold fresh at the Penticton farmer's market.

One afternoon, despite pouring rain, we visited a century-old apple orchard, still owned by the family that started it.

In nearby Summerland, farmer Devin Jell showed how apple trees grow in a line, like grapes. The result doubles per acre apple production. This method has been around for 20 years.

The event was a welcome change from some other writers’ conferences I’ve attended, where we’re stuck in a big hotel for days, or in a room somewhere for the duration. It was fun to learn more about the region, drink wine, eat good food, and make new friends. The area reminded me of Sonoma or Napa from 20 years ago, and I wonder how it will evolve as media attention grows.

For more information:

• Tourism Penticton
• British Columbia Wine Institute
• A good article about Okanagan wineries
• Cuisine Canada, a national association of food professionals, including writers, that gives annual awards for cookbooks and best food writing.

I’ll be in Vancouver, Penticton, San Francisco and Chicago in the next few weeks. Please come by to say hello, or consider attending a conference or event.

• September 14, 2010
  Book Signing and Talk
  Barbara-Jo’s Books To Cooks
  Vancouver, B.C.
  6 p.m.
  $35 includes a copy of Will Write for Food

  I’ll be interviewed by Nathan Fong, food columnist and TV host for The Vancouver Sun and GlobalTV.

• September 16-19, 2010
  Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop
  Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
  $650 (Still a few tickets left!)

  This workshop, held during the grape crush in B.C’s wine country, features part food and wine touring and part professional development for food and wine writers. I’m originally from B.C. and excited to be part of the teaching team.

• September 28, 2010, 6 p.m.
  Book Signing, Will Write for Food
  Book Passage
  1 Ferry Building
  San Francisco, CA

  Come join me at Book Passage bookstore, and come early for excellent Ferry Plaza shopping!

• October 2, 2010
  Conversation: The Future of Food Writing
  Chicago Foodways Roundtable
  Kendall College
  10 a.m – noon

  Chicago, ILWriter David Hammond will interview me, followed by a Q&A and book siging.

• October 2, 2010
  Chicago Gourmets Luncheon
  12:30 p.m.

  A 3-course lunch follows the Foodways Roundtable at Kendall College, featuring a short talk by me.

• October 8 and 9, 2010
  BlogHer Food 2010
  Voice-Storytelling
  San Francisco, CA

  SOLD OUTI’ll be moderating a panel on storytelling with Rebecca Crump of EzraPoundCake.com and Michael Procopio.

• October 12 to November 10, 2010
  The Art of Cookbook Writing
  5 Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
  Book Passage Bookstore
  Corte Madera, CA

  Join me for this five-week class that covers every aspect of writing a cookbook, from coming up with the idea to deciding whether to go with traditional or self-publishing, finding a literary agent, working with a publisher, writing recipes, and what to expect with photography and book promotion. I’ll also cover writing an app and e-books.

On the prowl for food with my father, Moses Jacob, with me (on right) and my sister.

On Father’s Day yesterday, I thought about my dad, a food-obsessed poet and songwriter who loved produce more than anyone I’ve known.

It sounds funny to say that he was obsessed with produce. But my dad lived for it. He grew vegetables in our Vancouver back yard, specializing in a Chinese green called celtuce. All summer long he cut down the stalks and sliced them into juicy green batons that floated in a bowl of water in the fridge. While other kids ate Popsicles, I fished out those crisp, green stems for a refreshing treat.

In winter, he pickled turnips with beets and carrots, turning them hot pink in their tall Mason jars. We ate them at dinner with meat stews my mother cooked, brimming with bamboo shoots and peas, cauliflower or lima beans.

For dessert in spring, we ate artichokes, at least one for each of us. My father loved how, when he washed them down with a glass of water, his mouth filled with sweetness. For fall dessert, my mother roasted a pan of  sweet potatoes, cooked until the sugars wept out and caramelized in pools around the sides. They reminded my parents of Shanghai, where they purchased sweet potatoes from street cart vendors.

Even when we gathered around the television at night, my father appeared with a dinner plate piled with crisp wedges of iceburg lettuce in summer; slices of apples and oranges in winter.

When I was around 8 years old, my dad convinced a produce vendor in Chinatown to order a box of mangoes from the Philippines just for him. In the 1960s there were no mangoes in the supermarkets, and he ached for the fruit he remembered from China. Once the mangoes ripened in our basement, my parents covered the dinner table with newspaper, then brought in armfuls of ripe yellow fruit. We ate them with spoons, the sicky juice running down our faces.

My dad’s been dead for 28 years, but I carry on his obsession. He would’ve loved the farmer’s market I visited yesterday, overflowing with beets, peaches, cherries and lettuces. I’m still looking for celtuce, though. The last time I tasted it was in China,  maybe 8 years ago. It was a diamond-shaped green served in a breakfast dish, and when I bit down on it, all the memories of those stalks in the fridge flooded back.

The morning started innocently enough. I decided to make Mark Bittman’s muffins as a treat, instead of the usual cereal or toast. After all, Valentine’s Day demands special effort for a special day.

But then I noticed I only had a half a cup of applesauce, and needed a cup, so I had to make more. I made my husband get up from reading the Sunday comics to stir.

And then I remembered I had made roast chicken the other night because Ruhlman said any idiot could do it, so I felt qualified. It turned out fine, but  I also discovered why I stopped making roast chicken at high temperatures: it throws fat everywhere and destroys the oven. Now the oven had to be cleaned, or it would smoke and perfume my special Valentine’s Day muffins with essence of burned poultry fat.

So while I prepped the wet and dry ingredients for my special treat for my husband, he cleaned the oven on his hands and knees. I was so distracted I forgot the sugar.

Finally, at 1 p.m., we sat down to fresh muffins, fruit and yogurt. I asked my honey if he liked the muffins. He said they were “okay.” We’ve been married so long (20.5 years) I knew what that meant.

Crestfallen, I asked if he would have preferred a big ham and cheese omelet instead of this healthy treat, which I realized appealed more to me than him. He said no. “Just next time, add the sugar.” And then he kissed me.

(Photo of sugarless applesauce muffins by Owen Rubin).

Dear Appreciated Reader,

Sorry to interrupt. For reasons too boring to mention, I have changed my subscription program from Feedblitz to Feedburner.

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This morning I was so preoccupied by Gourmet magazine’s closing that I blurted out the news at my 8 a.m. aerobics class. The instructor said she always read it at the dentist’s office,  after People. “Maybe I should have read Gourmet first,” she allowed. Someone in the crowd said Saturn was closing, and the conversation turned. They didn’t know that Twitter and my email were abuzz with the news.

I can’t say I’ve read it forever, but being a journalist, I loved Gourmet as soon as Ruth Reichl became the editor in 1999. I looked forward to how the former newspaperwoman made her mark. I liked the messy photos of half-eaten food, the long literary narratives, the smart farm-to-table conversations, sensuous travel narratives, and the occasional political and green living pieces.

In her editorial this month, she reflects on her first issue 10 years ago,  amazed at the staying power of two new chefs: Thomas Keller and Ferran Adria. How satisfying to be right about their popularity. 

Typical of the brutal world of publishing, she didn’t know until today. She tweeted Saturday: “Foggy fall afternoon. Cup of lemon tea. Outside the window a deer is munching on the lawn. About to start the Saturday puzzle. Happy.” Then just now: “Thank you all SO much for this outpouring of support. It means a lot. Sorry not to be posting now, but I’m packing. We’re all stunned, sad.”

While the Gourmet brand of television and its own cookbooks will continue (see Reichl’s letter on Amazon),  this is also a sad day for all the freelance writers who long to be published  in the magazine, in long, beautifully-written narratives they could exclaim over when the magazine hit the newsstand. These days Gourmet wins more awards for the Gourmet website, where the short subject is king and much of the content is repurposed from the magazine.

Reichl has been a cook, restaurant reviewer, memoirist, cookbook editor, website editor and television producer. She’ll certainly survive and thrive. I hope she’ll always be remembered as the editor who tried to make the magazine the New Yorker of food. I think she succeeded.

A woman scans the wine aisle at a grocery store, overwhelmed by the selection. She’s looking for a  wine to go with the  chicken her husband will grill for friends this weekend. Then she remembers: she has the information at her fingertips. She whips out her smart phone (an iPhone, iPod Touch or BlackBerry in this case) and finds the exact recommendations: for red wine, Bonarda; for white, dry Zinfandel or Chenin Blanc.

Natalie Maclean made $2.99 when this target reader bought her smart phone application, the Mobile Drinks Matcher.

“The two trends that are exploding in popularity now: interest in food and wine, and the convenience of mobile apps,” says Natalie. “ As a wine-loving geek, I love finding ways for new technology to help us savor all of life’s pleasures, wherever we are.”

How many more target readers will spend $2.99 for this repurposed content? Natalie made a big investment (she won’t say how much) and hopes to find out. After spending eight years developing a searchable database of food and wine pairings for her website, the multiple award-winning writer spent three months with a software developer, creating a database of  380,000 mobile wine and food pairing applications for her Mobile Drinks Matcher. While anyone can look up the information on her website, she wanted a remote application for  liquor stores and restaurants.

Here’s what’s different from people searching her website from their computers and finding the exact same information: She gets paid. Isn’t that nice? Unusual, even.

Of course she has to recover her investment of several thousand dollars at least. It’s going to take a lot of $2.99 purchases. But the trend is increasing. People look up info while on the go.

Watch this quick video demo to see how the application works. And think about it: what food writing do you own that might be repurposed this way?

Update: Hey, I scooped the New York Times. On Agust 3, Gadgetwise reviewed three more apps.

Hello food writers,

I’m hoping to create a useful place to read and comment on the world of food writing, whether a blog, feature article, review or tweet (In case you didn’t know, people are writing 140 character recipes now,  and the New York Times calls it the “first great recipe innovation in 200 years”).

Soon you’ll find links to lots of articles and sites on food writing. One of my favorites is the UK Guardian’s Top 50 food blogs list. They’ve also profiled some of the bloggers in  accompanying stories.

In the Blogroll you’ll find blogs and websites of some of the best food writers, including friends, students, and  clients.

Maybe you have a favorite topic you’d like to discuss. If so, please leave a comment below and let’s get’er done, as Larry the Cable Guy would say.