Most of the changes I wanted to make to the appearance of this
blog are done. I know it
doesn’t look like much – if you take a peek at my “About” link to the left,
you’ll discover why. I’m still working
on setting up archives. If you have any
comments, guidance, or suggestions to offer, I’d love to hear from you!
Regarding food-related matters, I just received a newsletter written by a celebrated European food writer that I hold in high esteem. I’d rather not mention who this person is, but I’d like to quote something he wrote in today's newsletter (what follows is
my personal, watered-down translation – I take full responsibility for any errors and
omissions):
“…the bad thing about blogs is that they allow many non-qualified
people to pass for new Ruth Reichls or young Veronellis by putting three photos
[and] two recipes on the web…And they always find somebody who believes them
[and] they start believing it themselves…”
Naturally, I refute this assessment as shockingly simplistic
and chauvinistic. It seems prudent to
recall that there are different kinds of food writing, each with its own code
of practice and standards, its own audience and objectives. To assume that his approach is the only way
to write about food betrays not only an excess of arrogance, but also of
ignorance.
He mentions, after his brief but severe rant, a handful of
food blogs that he considers exceptional and, having visited a few of them on occasion over the past few months, I agree with his assessment: they are well-written, well-researched, and interesting. But food blogging is no different from any other
endeavor: it can be excellent, mediocre, or poor. Some bloggers just do it better. And even the same food blogger might write differently from day to day, producing
startling insight in sterling prose on one occasion and rehashed reasoning in awkward sentences on the next: this is true for as great a writer as M.F.K. Fisher!
Meanspiritedness is hardly the way to improve food
blogging or food journalism. But perhaps silence rather than improvement is what this food writer seeks.
7:00:10 PM 
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