GASTRONORMOUS

[This was not posted on its regular Monday as I was busy moving!]

Gothamist reports that Pamplona has a new dessert masquerading as a molecular gastronomic concoction. The dish is actually more closely related to fried ice cream from El Torrito than it is to anything Ferran Adrià has dreamed up, but despite that, it look delicious enough to try. Soon.

The Amateur Gourmet proves his mettle by interviewing Anthony Boudain on his hatred of the Food Network. I should clarify that this interview is posted on the Food Network website as part of the FN Dish series that Amateur Gourmet’s Adam Roberts hosts. Despite being approximately 1.7 sheets to the wind, Bourdain waxes brilliantly acerbic on all things FN. Though I do sometimes watch the FN, I agree with all his criticisms. Especially now that the entirety of America is foodie-fied, they can afford to aim higher.  Roberts fills in the bleeped portions of the interview, and their varying degrees of humor and horror, on his blog here.

I admit I love deviled eggs, though I have only made them once and accidentally over-salted them. But I love eating them, anyway, and Cooking with Amy has a recipe for wasabi deviled eggs that looks fantastic. I am definitely bringing these to my next picnic!

Grub Street assembles a panel to taste test the new Tabla 4-minute meals from Fresh Direct. Not surprisingly, the chick pea masala survived mass-production, refrigeration and shipment better than the meat dishes, most of which the panel seemed to rather intensely dislike.

I love this. The NY Times Dining section challenges Eric Ripert and his pastry chef from Le Bernardin to create a 3-course meal with only $40 worth of groceries. The catch? The ingredients must be purchase from Jack’s 99-cent store. They meet the challenge with mixed success. Ripert notes that one dish tastes okay, but are “a little bit Olive Garden.” Do I take that to infer he has actually eaten there?