CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN

Just in time for a leisurely weekend, a watered-down version of the food blogs Academy Awards.

Truthfully, this sort of thing reminds me (uncomfortably, in a way) of chain letters and ponzi schemes, but the fact of the matter is that informal and impromptu blogging awards spur bloggers on, especially when blog  stats come in low week after week. And so many blogs deserve recognition.

On January 25, 2009,the blog  Foodvox graced “Gherkins & Tomatoes” with an interesting (and somewhat nebulous) award:

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!

The idea is to pass on the torch to eight worthy  food  blogs.

Since food history lurks in every corner of life,  in the spirit of community, I chose the following eight food blogs that flirt in some way with the subject of food and history:

Hushpuppy Nation: “Devoted to the history and culture of Southern food.”

Culinary Types:  “Delectable stories, lovingly prepared.”

Just Food Now:  A soul mate, or it seems, the blogger says, “All I want to do is is to be involved in food, to cook, to read, to write and to learn about food so that I can always bask in the tranquility that knowledge brings and enjoy product, books and good conversation wherever I can find it.”

Food Stories:   “Food, glorious food. I live it – eat it, cook it, day-dream, night-dream, talk and obsess about it. My appetite is endless, not only for stuffing my face but for creating recipes, reviewing restaurants, markets, books, shops – everything and anything in between. Food Stories is a public slice of this never-ending action.”

Woolypigs:  “I’m the founder of Wooly Pigs, a company that produces pork as good as Europe’s best. I’ve imported a special lard-type breed of pig, the Mangalitsa (aka mangalitsa, Mangalitza and Wollschwein), that is one of the world’s tastiest pigs. We use European techniques to produce the best pork.”

Chez Loulou: Some people have all the luck! Loulou says, “After living in such wonderful cities as Seattle, San Francisco and New Orleans, I am now lucky enough to call a tiny village in the south of France my home. I started this blog in January 2006 to share the experience of living in this beautiful part of France with others (including the challenge of bureaucracy) and to have a place to write about my passion for cooking, wine, cheese and food.”

Lucullian Delights: An Italian Experience: “I live in the Tuscany with my Italian husband Marco and my three children and a primitive dog. We live in the countryside on a hillside in the tiniest of villages; once upon a time, they tell me, there was a restaurant here. I like to cook genuine food with a lot of taste, I suppose most of us do, and I experiment quite a lot with recipes. What I post here are the successful ones, let’s forget about the failures – life’s too short!”

Alice Ross:  “Mrs. Ross wrote her doctoral dissertation in food history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. An avid gardener and naturalist, she enjoys collecting old books and pots, and is a passionate cook. She is a member of the International Association of Cooking Professionals and a co-founder of the Culinary Historians of New York.”

Enjoy the meat and fruits of these writers’ labor.

© 2009 C. Bertelsen