Just like with live television, broadcasting a live podcast can run into problems. Last week, and a couple other time as well, we planned a live broadcast on Blogtalkradio.com only to run into problems. As I have had the opportunity to mess around with my options, I had a plan B. Since it is a program with very little visuals, I quickly went to a taped conversation that I uploaded after the conclusion of the conversation.
There are a few ways that you can create content for your podcast if the server is too busy or something interrupts your scheduled show. I often tape my shows from Freeconferencecall.com. This service allows callers to chat and record the conversation easily. All participants call into a common phone number and the host can use its tools to make a mp3 of the meeting. Most laptops and PC's have options for recording voice recordings. Sometimes the feature may not have options to change the format of the recording, so please check. If you record a conversation in a format not recognized by your broadcast service, you may need a converter software to get the recording in a format the you can use.
I enjoy podcasting. The conversations heard on my show are very similar to conversations I have offline and in real life. The food news, food culture, chef conversations, and the culinary industry are apart of my everyday. And I hope my audience agrees....
We set the goal of one podcast a week, and I hope to always go live on Saturday afternoons, however if we run into issues, we got to tape and upload later. The other reason that may force us to go tape is the availability of our guest. I'd rather tape a podcast with a dynamic guest whenever is best for them than not to get the conversation with the guest.
I got one scheduled for today, so catch us if you can:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon/2016/04/24/episode-16-maurice-miles-wy-dolphin-and-foodie
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Showing posts with label food trucks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food trucks. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
I agree with Micheal Simon
On a aired episode of The Chew, 2/29/16, the topic of food destroyers and binge eating contest was brought up in the first segment. Chef Simon stated that he has never understood the phenomenon of eating more than a human can eat in a week choked down in a few minutes or the videos of people throwing or smashing food. I agree. I have never understood it either, add to that, the trend of folks making giant, over the top foods, from other foods, like taking 20 big macs and making a casserole from them. Yuck
This reminds me of the stories at the Romans before the fall of their society. We haven't yet began using vomitoriums but at this rate I would be surprised if it were to begin. This is the height of greed, excess and privilege. Only in a self centered community will you ever see such habits as their are too much famine in the world for this to make sense. Homelessness in America is the least talked about societal ill and with efforts, not to feed them and house them, but to install fixtures to detract homeless people from sleeping on bus stops and around buildings, I don't think it is at all reasonable to act in this manner. Yet, you can find many representations on social media depicting these acts.
In my opinion, the statement 'less is more' in this conversation is exactly right. We have so many people without and so many people with too much. Food waste is a big problem here. Every year we throw away an estimated 133 billion pounds of food. A lot of the waste happens in grocery retail outlets and in our own kitchens, as we may cook too much one day and not consume it before it spoils. Yet we have food stunts as I like to call them happening all the time. We have television series dedicated to this idea such as Man v. Food. Nothing succeeds like excess.
We humans think we are so clever and know so much but we are only gazing at the world through a peep hole wondering what it is we see. Hopefully the rise of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and the lot, will wake up our society to eating to live instead of eating to excess.
http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/man-v-food
http://endhunger.org/food-waste/
This reminds me of the stories at the Romans before the fall of their society. We haven't yet began using vomitoriums but at this rate I would be surprised if it were to begin. This is the height of greed, excess and privilege. Only in a self centered community will you ever see such habits as their are too much famine in the world for this to make sense. Homelessness in America is the least talked about societal ill and with efforts, not to feed them and house them, but to install fixtures to detract homeless people from sleeping on bus stops and around buildings, I don't think it is at all reasonable to act in this manner. Yet, you can find many representations on social media depicting these acts.
In my opinion, the statement 'less is more' in this conversation is exactly right. We have so many people without and so many people with too much. Food waste is a big problem here. Every year we throw away an estimated 133 billion pounds of food. A lot of the waste happens in grocery retail outlets and in our own kitchens, as we may cook too much one day and not consume it before it spoils. Yet we have food stunts as I like to call them happening all the time. We have television series dedicated to this idea such as Man v. Food. Nothing succeeds like excess.
We humans think we are so clever and know so much but we are only gazing at the world through a peep hole wondering what it is we see. Hopefully the rise of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and the lot, will wake up our society to eating to live instead of eating to excess.
http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/man-v-food
http://endhunger.org/food-waste/
Monday, February 22, 2016
Movable Merriment
Each year Chicago undergoes two distinct seasons, Winter's bitter days, and Summer's sultry nights. Each of them have their pro's and con's, issues and errors, but for a great many of us natives we look forward to the fairs, carnivals, concerts in the park, parades, festivals. Any chance we get to enjoy the wonderful scenery and feel warm air on your skin, Chicago takes the horse by the reigns and runs with it. We burst at the seems with music, mayhem, mysteries, rides, fireworks, and of course everyone who attends wants something in their bellies while the fun is being had.
Most customers either want the familiar or to be introduced to something new and exciting. Fairs are great for offering up some new treat like the fried Oreos, or a alligator on a stick. Other's can be street fairs highlighting the cuisine of the neighborhood. Greek fest, the Taste of Chicago, Fiesta Del Sol, or anytime people are in a celebratory mood, Chicagoan's do it up in style and eating is always a part of such merriment. Sights, sounds, and circuses are soon to be had once again in my beloved city.
The Mayor's Office of Special Events has the large task of permitting, scheduling, and overseeing all of the events in this large place. The weather will brake for good soon and our residents and tourist will once again turn thoughts to being outside as much as possible, shed off the layers of winter clothes, and run bare feet into sand and grass.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/festival_events_dates.html
Most don't give a second thought as to how all of these things work, take place, get permitted, ordered, and produced for their pleasure. The machinery involved just to get any type of food to these events is complicated and everyone involved must be extra careful in their efforts. Controlling food temperature in a remote location is not an easy tasks. Hot boxes and ice chests are needed if the location has limited electrical access but even if there is electrical you have to plan for refrigeration and lights, gas hook ups, and potable water.
Foodborne illnesses can multiply quickly, especially out doors on a hot Summer's Day. You also need to be careful of insects that can contaminate foods, then there is garbage removal, and hand washing. Lots of moving parts to make an event special. All food sales at these type of events are highly regulated and monitored. Food service handler licenses, food service business licences, and up to date health inspections must be earned in order to sell food on a food truck, carnival booth, or in a food cart.
There are so many things to account for before venturing out of doors to sell food. How much food should we be prepared to sell? What items should we sell? Do we need to be restocked once a day, three times a day, or all at once? What kind of staffing will this require and how many? Even if you are not selling food, such as at a church function or family reunion, these concerns are just the same.
Don't believe me? Just volunteer at your next opportunity to help cook at a BBQ at a park, and you will quickly see how complicated it can be just for your friends and family, let alone to be selling to the public. It's a good thing that there are people to handle all the logistics at a city celebration.
I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to going down to the lakefront again, walking outside without a coat or the 20 layers of clothes that Winter demands. Check out the list of upcoming events all over this city soon.
Most customers either want the familiar or to be introduced to something new and exciting. Fairs are great for offering up some new treat like the fried Oreos, or a alligator on a stick. Other's can be street fairs highlighting the cuisine of the neighborhood. Greek fest, the Taste of Chicago, Fiesta Del Sol, or anytime people are in a celebratory mood, Chicagoan's do it up in style and eating is always a part of such merriment. Sights, sounds, and circuses are soon to be had once again in my beloved city.
The Mayor's Office of Special Events has the large task of permitting, scheduling, and overseeing all of the events in this large place. The weather will brake for good soon and our residents and tourist will once again turn thoughts to being outside as much as possible, shed off the layers of winter clothes, and run bare feet into sand and grass.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/festival_events_dates.html
Most don't give a second thought as to how all of these things work, take place, get permitted, ordered, and produced for their pleasure. The machinery involved just to get any type of food to these events is complicated and everyone involved must be extra careful in their efforts. Controlling food temperature in a remote location is not an easy tasks. Hot boxes and ice chests are needed if the location has limited electrical access but even if there is electrical you have to plan for refrigeration and lights, gas hook ups, and potable water.
Foodborne illnesses can multiply quickly, especially out doors on a hot Summer's Day. You also need to be careful of insects that can contaminate foods, then there is garbage removal, and hand washing. Lots of moving parts to make an event special. All food sales at these type of events are highly regulated and monitored. Food service handler licenses, food service business licences, and up to date health inspections must be earned in order to sell food on a food truck, carnival booth, or in a food cart.
There are so many things to account for before venturing out of doors to sell food. How much food should we be prepared to sell? What items should we sell? Do we need to be restocked once a day, three times a day, or all at once? What kind of staffing will this require and how many? Even if you are not selling food, such as at a church function or family reunion, these concerns are just the same.
Don't believe me? Just volunteer at your next opportunity to help cook at a BBQ at a park, and you will quickly see how complicated it can be just for your friends and family, let alone to be selling to the public. It's a good thing that there are people to handle all the logistics at a city celebration.
I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to going down to the lakefront again, walking outside without a coat or the 20 layers of clothes that Winter demands. Check out the list of upcoming events all over this city soon.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Beep, beep, sell
When you say food truck nowadays, most folks think of the wave of gourmet mobile feasts available these days near offices and at fairs. But in reality, this category has had a long history and includes the childhood favorite, the ice cream truck. The push-carts filled with Hispanic Popsicles, elotes, fried treats at the carnivals, and the Thunderbird lunch trucks at construction sites all are in the same category. The difference today is that the humble carts have upgraded and refigured themselves to include fresh made and/or made in truck to order foods of an endless array. The common fast foods are still available on carts and trucks, but the new iteration has included all types of cuisines, specialties, and gourmet items, ethnic menus are particularly popular on trucks as customers are seeking new experiences from the everyday lunch brake.
Lunch carts, carts of produce, and snacks are not a new concept. The blue-collar workforce has been utilizing the "roach coaches"over many generations now in America. These outlets are typically smaller trucks than this new edition, and they offer mostly prepackaged and precooked items in hot holding and refrigerated compartments on board. The larger and more diverse offerings revamped the idea of movable foods as the "roach coaches" popularity was in decline, and the desire for something new to eat was increasing. Chefs with established businesses and new upcoming chefs, saw an opportunity to expand their audiences. The city of Chicago was a bit later to the scene as the legislation that governed the food service industry was too constrictive to permit the new style of trucks. This wave crashed into another new concept that also was not permitted in Cook County, the concept of the shared kitchen.
The shared kitchen concept is simple enough, a kitchen approved and inspected, would allow more than one licensed company to use its facility. This ruffled more than one feature at city hall and it took a legal battle to lessen the laws about this concept and the food trucks to get my city to realize the world was changing and we needed to be apart of the new wave instead of getting drowned by it. New York and Los Angeles both had jumped ahead of Chicago with this concept and other cities like St. Louis and Memphis were sit to join the wave.
Now that the legal battle is done, and food trucks are popping up all over like the pop-up restaurant phenomenon, Chicago is firmly set in the newest craze. A large part of the legal battle for Chicago was about the place of food preparation. Chicago did not want to give licenses to truck operations that would be cooking on the truck itself. The traditional lunch truck was stocked with items prepackaged and prepped foods from a licensed outlet, therefore, the truck was only serving food that was held at proper temperature. Culinarians in this city asked the question "if the preparing person is licensed to legally prepare food for sale, and the truck has the proper equipment, then why can't food be prepared on board?" Licenses were given to the cruise ships at Navy Pier to prepare food on-board so why can't a truck be licensed? Chicago was practically the last metropolis to approve of food truck operation, in fact we had the distinction of being the only city in the U.S. that did not allow food trucks to cook on board.
Food trucks are now having their own fests in small towns, suburban areas, special events, and even weddings, movie shoots, corporate picnics, and expos. The diversity of offerings and the locations that they can service is wide open now leading to a greater opportunity for increasing or building a dedicated audience for a chef. There is one bit yet that limits where a food truck can operate, they must park their trucks no closer than 200 feet away from any restaurant, which almost completely eliminates their ability to park in downtown Chicago.
The same safety and sanitation legislation that applies to brick and mortar food establishments apply to trucks, and most truck outlets either are an extension of a traditional restaurant or have a dedicated kitchen to produce or prep their food offerings. Permits, additional licenses, health inspections, sanitation inspections, may all be required depending upon location of operation. All of this insures that the consumer is protected from negative impacts to their health from purchasing the food offerings.
No matter if the truck is an extension of your favorite restaurant, or something very new to you, they can offer a new dinning experience that may change your idea of what you are craving. Gourmet donuts, Philippine tacos, Spanish tapas, to Indian curries can be had by way of a short walk to your vendor's truck.
Lunch carts, carts of produce, and snacks are not a new concept. The blue-collar workforce has been utilizing the "roach coaches"over many generations now in America. These outlets are typically smaller trucks than this new edition, and they offer mostly prepackaged and precooked items in hot holding and refrigerated compartments on board. The larger and more diverse offerings revamped the idea of movable foods as the "roach coaches" popularity was in decline, and the desire for something new to eat was increasing. Chefs with established businesses and new upcoming chefs, saw an opportunity to expand their audiences. The city of Chicago was a bit later to the scene as the legislation that governed the food service industry was too constrictive to permit the new style of trucks. This wave crashed into another new concept that also was not permitted in Cook County, the concept of the shared kitchen.
The shared kitchen concept is simple enough, a kitchen approved and inspected, would allow more than one licensed company to use its facility. This ruffled more than one feature at city hall and it took a legal battle to lessen the laws about this concept and the food trucks to get my city to realize the world was changing and we needed to be apart of the new wave instead of getting drowned by it. New York and Los Angeles both had jumped ahead of Chicago with this concept and other cities like St. Louis and Memphis were sit to join the wave.
Now that the legal battle is done, and food trucks are popping up all over like the pop-up restaurant phenomenon, Chicago is firmly set in the newest craze. A large part of the legal battle for Chicago was about the place of food preparation. Chicago did not want to give licenses to truck operations that would be cooking on the truck itself. The traditional lunch truck was stocked with items prepackaged and prepped foods from a licensed outlet, therefore, the truck was only serving food that was held at proper temperature. Culinarians in this city asked the question "if the preparing person is licensed to legally prepare food for sale, and the truck has the proper equipment, then why can't food be prepared on board?" Licenses were given to the cruise ships at Navy Pier to prepare food on-board so why can't a truck be licensed? Chicago was practically the last metropolis to approve of food truck operation, in fact we had the distinction of being the only city in the U.S. that did not allow food trucks to cook on board.
Food trucks are now having their own fests in small towns, suburban areas, special events, and even weddings, movie shoots, corporate picnics, and expos. The diversity of offerings and the locations that they can service is wide open now leading to a greater opportunity for increasing or building a dedicated audience for a chef. There is one bit yet that limits where a food truck can operate, they must park their trucks no closer than 200 feet away from any restaurant, which almost completely eliminates their ability to park in downtown Chicago.
The same safety and sanitation legislation that applies to brick and mortar food establishments apply to trucks, and most truck outlets either are an extension of a traditional restaurant or have a dedicated kitchen to produce or prep their food offerings. Permits, additional licenses, health inspections, sanitation inspections, may all be required depending upon location of operation. All of this insures that the consumer is protected from negative impacts to their health from purchasing the food offerings.
No matter if the truck is an extension of your favorite restaurant, or something very new to you, they can offer a new dinning experience that may change your idea of what you are craving. Gourmet donuts, Philippine tacos, Spanish tapas, to Indian curries can be had by way of a short walk to your vendor's truck.
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