well david.......i usually listen to 848 as i have NPR on most of the day. but i do especially enjoy your audio pieces. look forward to hearing it, whenever. joan

justjoan wrote:well david.......i usually listen to 848 as i have NPR on most of the day. but i do especially enjoy your audio pieces. look forward to hearing it, whenever. joan

Thanks justjoan. I'll post when the series officially begins -- I'm pretty excited about it. There's an audio dimension to cooking that all chefs are aware of but that I don't think has gotten much coverage. It goes way beyond just the sizzle.

David Hammond wrote:

justjoan wrote:well david.......i usually listen to 848 as i have NPR on most of the day. but i do especially enjoy your audio pieces. look forward to hearing it, whenever. joan

Thanks justjoan. I'll post when the series officially begins -- I'm pretty excited about it. There's an audio dimension to cooking that all chefs are aware of but that I don't think has gotten much coverage. It goes way beyond just the sizzle.

I was alerted today that Soundbites (my series on how Chicago restaurants use sound in the kitchen and dining rooms) will begin airing on Eight Forty-Eight next Wednesday, 8/19. In addition to Moon's, I've interviewed chefs/cooks at Cafecito, Perennial, Sun Wah, and The Publican -- on the schedule are Alinea, A Mano and Lula.

Next Monday, 8/17, a longer piece I just finished on sustainable seafood is going to run on Worldview (12-1PM, 9-10PM).

A reason to eat sustainable seafood: it tastes better...or so I theorize on today's WBEZ Worldview segment: http://tinyurl.com/q4tzyl

david, your piece on 848 (91.5 FM) this morning was terrific. but i have a question about shaw's crab house. steven lahaie, one of the partners, said that customers can ask for their sustainable seafood menu. another point in the piece he said that the best tasting fish is also , usually, sustainable because of the extra care in handling the fish. does that mean that shaw's knowingly sells unsustainable fish from their regular menu and sustainable fish from another??? if i was seated at shaw's and asked for the sustainable fish menu and saw fish on it marked in 'red' (highly endangered, dont buy, cook, or eat), i'd politely hand it back explaining why i was leaving and then i'd leave. to know which fish are dying off but selling them anyway doesnt work for me. and restaurants like shaws, which specialize in seafood will have alot more impact on the fish markets than my occasional purchase does so their buying decisions are crucial to save the oceans.

you also talked about eating at sen sushi in oak park, where they seem to have absolutely no clue or interest in sustainability. do you plan to go back and support them with your dollars now that you know they dont care about this issue? one of the few pieces of good news amidst all the terrible news about overfishing is that chefs and consumers actually can make a difference when it comes to sustaining an entire species of fish by speaking with their wallets and not buying blue fin tuna, red snapper, grouper, and other fish that are seriously endangered. not eating endangered fish now, means the planet will be able to eat them at some point in the future. justjoan

justjoan wrote:david, your piece on 848 (91.5 FM) this morning was terrific. but i have a question about shaw's crab house. steven lahaie, one of the partners, said that customers can ask for their sustainable seafood menu. another point in the piece he said that the best tasting fish is also , usually, sustainable because of the extra care in handling the fish. does that mean that shaw's knowingly sells unsustainable fish from their regular menu and sustainable fish from another??? if i was seated at shaw's and asked for the sustainable fish menu and saw fish on it marked in 'red' (highly endangered, dont buy, cook, or eat), i'd politely hand it back explaining why i was leaving and then i'd leave. to know which fish are dying off but selling them anyway doesnt work for me. and restaurants like shaws, which specialize in seafood will have alot more impact on the fish markets than my occasional purchase does so their buying decisions are crucial to save the oceans.

Thanks, justjoan. Shaw's does sell unsustainable seafood, but they don't mark it with red; the sustainable seafood is on a separate menu, and it's only in the green (best choice) and yellow (acceptable alternative) categories. Shaw's is doing what they can, but if they want to stay in business, they need to offer all kinds of seafood, not just the sustainable stuff (Sikorski from Kendall also addressed this point). My understanding is the majority of seafood sold in most restaurants in Chicago and around the world is not sustainable. We're making an effort to see if we can go exclusively sustainable (The Wife is at this moment bringing home US farmed Tilapia), just to see if it's possible to do so. Not preaching here at all, but unless the market demands it, restaurants aren't going to make an effort to sell sustainable seafood.

justjoan wrote: you also talked about eating at sen sushi in oak park, where they seem to have absolutely no clue or interest in sustainability. do you plan to go back and support them with your dollars now that you know they dont care about this issue? justjoan

Well, I doubt most sushi places care any more or less than sen sushi, and I didn't mean to single them out. I know I can eat sustainable there, even though they're not making a specific effort, so, sure, I'd go back (if I were ever to go to any restaurant more than once, which I usually don't do).

Great piece on 'BEZ, but it left me wondering ... is the situation the same with freshwater fish? The only fishing I do is for crayfish, a non-native, invasive - but tasty - species in our lake in Wisconsin. I'll assume that's not only on a safe and sustainable list, it's probably on a "help us get rid of more of these critters" list, if such a thing exists. And I've read about the problem with all the jumping carp in the Illinois River (although they're not a very good eating species).

Are there other species that can help the environment by, in essence, overfishing them?

nr706 wrote:Are there other species that can help the environment by, in essence, overfishing them?

Well, that's a good question, and the one that comes first to mind is the red gobi (enemy of Lake Michigan smelt roe), which I believe is edible.

But if you just want to eat Great Lakes fish without necessarily performing a public service, the Shedd's Right Bite card contains info on some local, freshwater fish: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/right_bite ... lakes.html.

I believe MikeG's upcoming Sky Full of Bacon podcast will also address this issue of local, sustainable fish.

And thanks, NR, for the appreciation.

Right, without giving too much away I can say that there's a lot of management of the lake which includes changes in what they want more or less of. Two decades ago alewives were overrunning the lake and the fishery that will be in the next podcast had a business catching them for pet food. Now their numbers are below what the state authorities want for them to serve as prey fish for other species (I forget which of the bigger species, whitefish, trout or salmon eat them). And even the despised zebra and quagga mussels are finding a purpose as whitefish food, one of the reasons their numbers are so healthy.

Basically, though, the definition of an invasive species seems to include that it reproduces so well that there's no danger of it ever being wiped out. If you could find a way to overfish sea lampreys, towns all around the Great Lakes would erect statues of you.

Soundbites is an 8-part series that will include interviews with sandwich makers, duck smokers, and pig skin fryers, as well as Achatz at Alinea (who talks about using weaponized sound projectors in his dining room and how Rage Against the Machine inspires changes in menu flow).

Today's topic: how sound guides cooking and shapes the social environment @ Moon's Sandwich Shop: http://tinyurl.com/kq8yue

David Hammond wrote:But if you just want to eat Great Lakes fish without necessarily performing a public service, the Shedd's Right Bite card contains info on some local, freshwater fish: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/right_bite ... lakes.html.

Thanks for this link, David!

David Hammond wrote:Today's topic: how sound guides cooking and shapes the social environment @ Moon's Sandwich Shop: http://tinyurl.com/kq8yue

Hammond,

Enjoyable and interesting, a well spent couple of minutes.

As an aside, the corned beef cutter's question is one your friends have often asked, if less expressively.

Enjoy,
Gary

Katie wrote:

David Hammond wrote:But if you just want to eat Great Lakes fish without necessarily performing a public service, the Shedd's Right Bite card contains info on some local, freshwater fish: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/right_bite ... lakes.html.

Thanks for this link, David!

Possible connection between Great Lakes fish and diabetes

Chef Paul Kahan makes perfect potatoes noises @ The Publican. Soundbite #2 on WBEZ Eight Forty-Eight. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/nqc98t

Also at WBEZ site, see slide show courtesy of Ronna Beckman & Ronnie "Suburban" Kaplan.

Just caught the Publican segment. Hadn't thought much about the intimate connection between sound and food before. Damn, now there's one more thing I have to think about.

nr706 wrote:Just caught the Publican segment. Hadn't thought much about the intimate connection between sound and food before. Damn, now there's one more thing I have to think about.

Most of the chefs I spoke with for this series said they hadn't thought much about the sound-food connection, but once we started talking, it's clear that all of them pay close attention to the sounds all around them in the kitchen and dining room -- and most amazingly, all of them had unique things to say about their perceptions of sounds on the job.

David Hammond wrote:...it's clear that all of them pay close attention to the sounds all around them in the kitchen and dining room -- and most amazingly, all of them had unique things to say about their perceptions of sounds on the job.

Ahh, David ... now I can understand your upthread reference to Paul Kahan's perfect potato noises!

Having just been in a mad rush to complete my own latest A/V project, I hadn't listened to Hammond's latest until I was in the kitchen this morning.

Wow.

Not that he's been any slouch before, but I especially love things that take rich advantage of their medium; many radio stories could have been print stories but these focus so intently on sound they could only be what they are, audio pieces. And I'm impressed too that he got so much insight out of two interview subjects (so far*) who wouldn't necessarily seem like they'd go off on a fruity tangent about "listening to your food." But sure enough, both prove keenly aware of the role sound plays in their work.

Anyway, run don't walk to listen to these short, very sharp little pieces by our Dave:

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Progr ... riesID=149

* Oops, it just became three. Haven't listened to third yet.

David Hammond wrote:

nr706 wrote:Just caught the Publican segment. Hadn't thought much about the intimate connection between sound and food before. Damn, now there's one more thing I have to think about.

Most of the chefs I spoke with for this series said they hadn't thought much about the sound-food connection, but once we started talking, it's clear that all of them pay close attention to the sounds all around them in the kitchen and dining room -- and most amazingly, all of them had unique things to say about their perceptions of sounds on the job.

David - this is a very, very good series; thank you for sharing it. As I've mentioned before I'm working on a documentary film series on sound (in a sacred context, though honestly eating is the same kind of transliminal experience), and will send this to the producers for additional inspiration.

David continues to conquer all media. Thanks for the kind words David, they are much appreciated. Not sure what day you are stopping by, but drop me a line and let me know if you have a firm date. I want to make sure I look for you.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-0903-taste-of-melrose-parksep03,0,2157175.story

Santander wrote:David - this is a very, very good series; thank you for sharing it. As I've mentioned before I'm working on a documentary film series on sound (in a sacred context, though honestly eating is the same kind of transliminal experience), and will send this to the producers for additional inspiration.

I sincerely appreciate your appreciation. Jason Hammel of Lula (in an upcoming broadcast) described the kitchen as a "sacred space," and I was tempted to query him re: Mircea Eliade and others who tried to define what that means, but he was chefing and in a rush. The kitchen is the primordial sacred space, the mammary made manifest, the altar a butcher block where the blood and body are served.

Tonight, GWiv told me my voice on the radio was "artificial," and that cut, but I know what he means. Santander, you know what I mean, I think, that when you sing you become a different person. It's a persona that's different than what you are normally, and that is artificial in the sense that it's art, it's a crafted entity, a sculpted voice that is different than your everyday voice, an intentional artifice. It's not fake; it's a different aspect of real.

Sorry if this is overly deep, but this series means a lot to me, and I'm thankful to have encouragement from you and MikeG and others.

David Hammond wrote:Tonight, GWiv told me my voice on the radio was "artificial," and that cut, but I know what he means.

Hammond,

Artificial in the sense I am familiar with your normal speaking voice and the PBS hush you affect. For some odd reason when I hear the PBS hush I am reminded of a deer startled by a loud noise or passing auto. Your's less so than others.

I should note, and hope it is clear from my other comments, I am a huge fan of your work, think your Sounds piece one of your best and am breathlessly waiting the next installment.

Enjoy,
Gary 'Hammond Fan' Wiviott

On WBEZ, Philip Gantous of Cafecito tells me what a delicious Cuban sandwich should sound like. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/l69pga

Pix courtesy of GWiv.

On WBEZ, Sun Wah’s Kelly Cheng and I listen to ducks filling with air and soup joyfully slurped. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/rba9sq

Pix courtesy of Ronnie "Suburban" Kaplan and Gary Wiviott.

On WBEZ, Chef John Caputo "sings" orders and offers tongue-lashings at A Mano. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/kraabh

David Hammond wrote:On WBEZ, Chef John Caputo "sings" orders and offers tongue-lashings at A Mano. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/kraabh

God-dammit, pick up table 32! Please!

Another good one. Establishing the boundary between optimal sonic motivation and strident screeching is something everyone who uses a voice for a living needs to do.

David Hammond wrote:On WBEZ, Chef John Caputo "sings" orders and offers tongue-lashings at A Mano. Listen: http://tinyurl.com/kraabh

I enjoyed this installment, but let's face it; Chef Caputo needs to work on his vocal range. His "singing" sounded pretty much monotone to me.

Heard the replay tonight and had to sit in the car until it was done....

Nice job

mhill95149 wrote:Heard the replay tonight and had to sit in the car until it was done....

Nice job

Very kind of you.

Sometimes, when The Wife gets home from work, I see her sitting in car in the garage, in the dark, or the street, for minutes, for the same reason: the WBEZ segment (and I'm not talking about just mine) isn't over yet.

You offer one of the nicest compliments I could imagine receiving: radio it's hard to turn off.

David "A committed non-driver since April 2009!" Hammond

On WBEZ, I talk to Alinea's Achatz re: culinary applications of weaponized sound & dining as unrepeatable moment. http://tinyurl.com/yf8s2tl

At site, photos courtesy of Ronnie Suburban (beautiful stuff, as always).