Book Reviews: Twinkies and Meth
Twinkies and meth, the breakfast of champions!

• Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger -- This is a fascinating look at the modern world of food manufacturing. The author works his way through a Twinkie's ingredients list, visiting processing plants all over the U.S. -- sometimes under high security -- to see how each is created. I learned a lot from this book, and I was particularly surprised that some nasty petroleum products such as naphtha and benzene are involved in food production. Ettlinger explains how food scientists use chemicals to overcome the shortcomings and inconsistencies of traditional baking ingredients; a homemade Twinkie would have little in common with the Hostess variety. Most baked goods contain the same ingredients, so the book is not solely for Twinkie aficionados. To my relief, the author remains objective throughout rather than ranting about "fake" foods as is the fashion.


• No Speed Limit: The Highs and Lows of Meth by Frank Owen -- I usually provide my family with a list of books I want for Christmas, but I decided I'd rather buy this myself than field questions about why I was so interested in crystal meth. Owen tells the history of meth, discusses its influence on certain subcultures, and considers whether it is truly the demonic drug that media hype makes it out to be (in a word, no -- despite the scare campaigns, it's not any more addictive or difficult to quit than other hard drugs). Most people don't know that amphetamine and methamphetamine were provided to soldiers on both sides during World War II, and many are too young to remember that they were commonly available in pill form in the U.S. fifty years ago (over 3.5 billion pills were manufactured in 1958, enough to give 20 doses to every American!). The author describes several methods of producing meth (he does not provide recipes) and how the market changed as these methods were perfected. He visits the infamous Uncle Fester, who figured out how to make meth as a Marquette chemistry student and wrote a book about it while in prison. Owen even "takes one for the team" by using the drug and describing its effects. No Speed Limit takes a restrained, unhysterical look at the "meth epidemic." It includes an extensive bibliography but unfortunately lacks an index.

Labels: books, drugs, food

- posted by David Johnsen @ 12:33 AM 0 comments

 
Smells Like Week-Old Sushi
As soon as I read the first sentence of Eric Zorn's blog entry yesterday about the Chicago Tribune's investigative piece on Sun Myung Moon's control over the sushi industry, I could sense that he had really "stepped in it." It's a sort of sixth sense that bloggers develop -- a way of knowing that a certain piece is going to incite a shitstorm of critical comments. My most recent example was an entry about Brokeback Mountain that drew more comments in a few hours than my entire blog gets in several weeks (and I wasn't even criticizing the movie or gays).

First of all, I agree with Zorn's position here. I have never desired to even try sushi. Heck, I don't even like cooked fish much, and with all the toxins in the water that fish soak up, that isn't necessarily a bad thing these days (I know there are health benefits, but even nutritionists warn about eating more than a couple servings a week). A friend of mine once said, "People always act shocked that I don't eat sushi, but what shocks me is that anyone would be shocked that someone wouldn't want to eat raw fish."

I have also never had a positive impression of Moon or his Unification Church. I first heard of him as a kid when they showed one of those mass weddings (not be to confused with Mass weddings) on the TV news. He always seemed like a nut (that isn't really an educated opinion, just a hunch). More recently, I have become aware of his power and influence in the American conservative movement. He owns the Washington Times and other conservative media outlets, and GOP pols regularly kiss his heinie. In that sense, he's every bit as repulsive to me as Richard Mellon Scaife, bankroller of the "vast right wing conspiracy" against the Clintons that his minions ironically claim did not exist. At least Scaife keeps a low profile, though.

At first, the response to Zorn's criticism of Moon and sushi was mixed. Some people thought it was petty to avoid sushi because of Moon. Others spoke out vociferously against Moon and his church. Some accused Zorn of being a bigot, and this sentiment magically swelled overnight to epic proportions. Yep, Eric stepped in it, all right, and the Moonies were mobilizing!

While I read those comments this morning, the title of Zorn's blog mysteriously morphed from "Change of Subject" to "Change of Shorts" as I nearly wet myself laughing so hard at the ridiculous accusations and threats leveled against him and his newspaper.

One of the best was a comment from "Joseph" of Nigeria as news of Zorn's blog piece spread around the globe: "I will mobilize Nigerian online community to disregard this piece and also stop reading the Chicago Tribune." Now I may be going to go out on a limb here, but I have a feeling that the Nigerian readership of chicagotribune.com is not exactly a key demographic. I can't imagine the head honchos saying, "We've got to get Zorn to tone it down -- we can't afford to lose the Nigerians to the Chicago Sun-Times!" Hey, maybe now the Trib won't get as many Nigerian money laundering E-mails as the rest of us do.

Zorn stuck to his guns despite the looming threat of a Nigerian boycott and wrote a column in today's paper unrepentantly reiterating his disdain for sushi, Moon, and any combination thereof. Now some commenters attempt to draw analogies between Zorn not eating Moonie sushi and Nazis exterminating the Jews. When you step in it online, the only question is how low your critics will go.

UPDATE 04/14/2006 - Well, Eric Zorn has reached his limit with the Moonies. He cut off comments this afternoon. I'm a little disappointed because I thought maybe this could break the comment record set by his "gone but not forgotten" entry (inspired by the announcement that Field's would become Macy's). On the other hand, I can see how this was becoming tedious, especially as the demographic shifted from devout sushi lovers to devout Moon defenders. I got to the point where I just skimmed for his responses and skipped over the Moonie apologia altogether. I give Zorn credit for staying reasonable in the face of religious zealotry, which can be hard to do. I can't wait for him to blog about $cientology!

Labels: blogging, food, religion

- posted by David Johnsen @ 1:31 PM 0 comments

 
Chicago's Best Burgers
The Chicago Tribune put 34 judges to work tasting one hundred hamburgers to come up with Chicago's Best Burgers. I have never tried any of the top five, but I have been to three of the eleven runner-up restaurants.

When I worked in far-west suburban Yorkville around 1990, we occasionally ordered burgers from Bristol Tap in Bristol. Bristol Tap looks pretty much like a hundred other small-town Midwestern taverns, and one wouldn't suspect from the outside that they serve such fabulous burgers. It was a 30-minute roundtrip drive just to pick up our lunch, but it was always worth it. The burgers were huge, relatively inexpensive, and incredibly tasty. It's been more than a decade since I ate a Bristol Tap burger, but they really left an impression on me. I'm glad to see the Tribune was willing to go to the edge of the metropolitan area to check them out, and I gather that the reviewers were glad, too.

Another burger I've had several times is Hackney's. I've been to their locations in Wheeling and Glenview, the latter being a favorite meeting spot for my wife's Northeastern Illinois Rose Society. I'm not crazy about flowers, but I always tag along when their meetings are at Hackney's. Hackney burgers are very good, but Bristol Tap's are better.

While I had to drive to Bristol Tap and Hackney's, I could literally crawl to another runner-up, Rockwell's Neighborhood Grill--it's at the end of my block! Rockwell's has only been around for a year, but they honed their burger-making skills previously in Dallas where a local magazine named their burgers the best in town. Oddly enough, I can't remember ever eating a burger at Rockwell's. I love their barbecue chicken sandwich, and their chopped chicken salad is also good. The Tribune notes their great french fries, too. On Sundays, Rockwell's has an exceptional brunch buffet. I guess I will have to crawl on over for a burger sometime soon!

And shame on me for never dining at Square Kitchen, another nearby restaurant that made the runner-up list. I guess I need to get out more. It's hard to get used to living in a hip neighborhood.

Labels: Chicago, food

- posted by David Johnsen @ 7:59 PM 0 comments