Kurt Michael Friese

Tags: Books, Deborah Madison, Slow Food, food // Add Comment »

A Cook's Journey in the March/April issue of the Bloomsbury Review

Alice Elia wrote a glowing (if I do say so myself) review of A Cook’s Journey in the latest issue of the Bloomsbury review. Pick up a copy and turn to page 12, or simply read the transcript below. For a first book, this is a pretty big thing I think.

“Slow Food,” simply put means thinking about where your food comes from, how it is raised and cared for (and by whom), and how it got to your table. It is, by definition, the opposite of fast food. Slow Food is thoughtful food. In this book, chef Kurt Michael Friese introduces us to people who love and nurture the land and foods that provide for their own families and others who are living a lifestyle supportive of the Slow Food Movement. These are people who appreciate biodiversity in fruits, vegetables, and animals; who are trying to educate others about the joys of a simple life, and ways in which to acquire and enjoy good, local food; and who take great joy in making food better for all of us.

In addition to wonderful stories from farmers, artisans, and chefs regarding food and their love of it, the book contains recipes for 34 inspired dishes. The Soupe au Potiron (pumpkin soup) is certain to be a seasonal favorite, and the Sweet Rosemary-Pear Pizza blends unexpected flavors to create a delightful meal. All the recipes were provided either by the author or the people he talks to here, and they all center on fresh, local ingredients and the joy of food preparation. Readers who are tired of eating simply to be fed will find Friese’s A Cook’s Journey, Slow Food in the Heartland refreshing and thought-provoking, and it will inspire them to learn more about the origins of the food on their own tables.

Tags: A Cook's Journey, Articles, Bloomsbury Review, Book, Slow Food // 1 Comment »

This here blog doesn’t get updated as often as I’d like in part because I write for a lot of other sites as well. So here are links to some of the things I’ve posted elsewhere recently:

My latest post to Grist.org - where I write a bi-weekly column called Chef’s Diary - is about school lunches.

In the local paper I write a weekly wine column. One about a hidden Spanish wine region is here, another about why Iowa should raise the limit on beer’s alcohol content is here

The folks at the original Slow Food Nation converted their blog to one called Civil Eats - every once in a while I post there. The latest was an assignment from them to discuss the progress of sustainable food in Iowa, for a section called “City Slicker Eats.” You can read it here.

One of the sponsors of Slow Food Nation was Culinate.com. They asked me for a piece on braising, so I gave them this.

Every month a local alternative paper allows me to get my food politics rants off my chest. You can read several of the latest ones here

In addition, I have a monthly newsletter for my magazine, Edible Iowa River Valley. It’s here.

Tags: Articles, Culinate, Grist.org, Slow Food, Slow Food Nation, food, food politics, wine // Add Comment »

Even those of us in the hectic world of restaurants must occasionally take a break, and so it is that Inauguration Day found me in the High Desert north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I took the train from my home in Iowa and am now enjoying the healing waters at Ojo Caliente and reflecting on the new world we’ve entered. Much has been said about the myriad ways this milepost in history marks profound change: in matters of state, matters of race, matters of politics and compassion; and rightly so. A new day is indeed dawning, and if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor, joy cometh in the morning.

As a nation, though, there is an important aspect we still refuse to grapple with in its totality: food. Maybe because it is such an immense prospect to ponder — food is one of the very few things that we all share in common, and it touches nearly every aspect of our lives. We work in the daily grind each day, perhaps in part because of our love of the work (for the lucky among us anyway), but mostly in order to put food on our tables and nourish our families. Yet in our national discourse, the closest anyone gets to talking about food is either in considering the minutia of the farm bill or decrying the latest food-borne illness outbreak that is often brought about by that very minutia.

Read the entire post @ Grist.org

Tags: Articles, Grist.org, President Obama, Slow Food, Uncategorized, capitalism, food, food cost, food politics, food security, hunger, recipe // Add Comment »

Slow Food Chicago
A Book Reading with Chef/Author Kurt Friese

Slow Food Chicago members and friends are invited to hear Slow Food USA Board Member Kurt Friese read from and sign his new book A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland. Kurt will talk about the many Slow Food role models here in the Midwest, followed by a Q&A.

A chef by training, and owner of Devotay restaurant in Iowa City, Kurt will discuss how gardening, restaurants, schools– everyone– can be part of the Slow Food movement.
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Bring yourself and your friends to hear why Michael Pollan said of this new book, “Chef Kurt Michael Friese has written a terrific introduction to the theory and practice of Slow Food.”

After the reading, The Book Cellar will hold a free raffle of gift certificates to two Lincoln Square food establishments featured in the book.

Date: Thursday, December 11th
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: The Book Cellar
4736 N. Lincoln Ave., (Lincoln Square Mall)
Web: www.bookcellarinc.com/calendar/index.php
Cost: This is a free event.

Tags: A Cook's Journey, Book tour, Chicago // Add Comment »

Recently, the American public was issued a challenge by the folks at KFC (formerly "Kentucky Fried Chicken," but "fried" just didn't sound healthy). The fast-food joint argues in its latest commercial that you cannot "create a family meal for less than $10." Their example is the "seven-piece meal deal," which includes seven pieces of fried chicken, four biscuits, and a side dish — in this case, mashed potatoes with gravy. This is meant to serve a family of four.

In the KFC commercial, a mother and two kids hit a grocery store for the necessary ingredients. When they fail to get them for under $10, Mom cheerfully announces, to the kids' delight, that they are going to KFC. In these hard economic times, Colonel Sanders wants you to think that giving him your money is the cheaper way to go. I respectfully disagree.


Read the whole post at the original posting site, Grist.org

Tags: Fast Food, Grist.org, Slow Food, conviviality, food, food cost, food politics, food security, hunger, recipe // Add Comment »

It’s been a wonderful ride so far. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has turned out at the events here in Iowa City, as well as in Fairfield, Des Moines, Ames, Madison, Minneapolis/St Paul, Kansas City and St. Louis. Now it’s on to Champaign/Urbana, Louisville, Columbus and Chicago, and we’ll kick off this leg with two Iowa Public Radio appearances. Remember, if you want me to come to your town, contact Ice Cube Press and we’ll see if it can be worked out.

ALSO! I’ll be shouting from the rooftops when a date is announced, but in the meantime keep your ear to the ground for my interview to show up soon on Lynn Rosetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table from PRI.

Here’s the rest of the lineup so far:

11/13/2008, Iowa Public Radio’s Talk @ 12
on WSUI AM910, or webstream on
Iowa Public Radio. Call-in talk radio show

Tags: A Cook's Journey, Book, Book tour, Iowa, Splendid Table // Add Comment »

Tags: Articles, Barack Obama, Michael Pollan, Slow Food, food, food politics, food security // Add Comment »

	Selected through the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association read what booksellers are saying
	Excerpt at Grist.com part of WVUM radio’s Lake Effect Program, Milwaukee, WI Excerpt in Edible Grand Traverse Reviewed in The Iowan magazine Featured in the Christian Science Monitor Interview with Kurt Friese in the Press-Citizen Read the new review in this month’s Iowa Source Deborah Madison reviews A Cook’s Journey for Culinate Anne Kapler reviews the book for the Gazette in eastern Iowa Chef Kurt Michael Friese will appear on The Splendid Table radio show this fall. Check here for show date.

Tags: A Cook's Journey, Articles, Book, Book tour, Christian Science Monitor, Culinate, Deborah Madison, Slow Food, Splendid Table // Add Comment »

My thanks to everyone who attended my cooking demo at the American Royal in Kansas City. It was a pleasure to meet you all, and here’s the recipe for a great side dish for any good BBQ, the Thai pickled cucumbers we prepared there today.

Oh and by the way, for those of you who wanted to get my book but couldn’t because we had no way to take credit cards, please pick up your copy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or order it through your local independent bookseller.

Thai Pickled Cucumbers

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 each cucumber (hothouse) — sliced very thin
3 tablespoons shallot — julienned
1 thai chili — minced (or to taste)
1 tablespoon peanuts, dry-roasted — chopped
8 sprigs cilantro

Boil the vinegar, water and sugar. Pour over remaining ingredients, mix thoroughly, and chill until served (at least 1 hour).

Tags: A Cook's Journey, BBQ, Book, Book tour, Kansas City, Slow Food, food, recipe // Add Comment »