AUGUSTA Report details contribution of Maine’s organic farms The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association released a report during the Maine Agricultural Trades Show called “Maine’s Organic Farms – An Impact Report” that quantifies the sector’s contribution to the Maine economy. According to the report, organic producers in Maine generate $36.6 million in yearly sales, […]
Meredith Goad
Many people tell Meredith Goad that she has the best job in Maine, and most of the time she agrees.
Maine has a crazy appetite for food stories, and it’s Meredith’s job to satisfy those cravings with juicy tales from chefs, food producers, local farms, and the state’s fast-growing restaurant scene. Her work appears in Wednesday’s Business section and the Sunday Food & Dining section, and occasionally, but not as often as she’d like, on the front page.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Meredith shamelessly flaunts her knowledge of good barbecue in front of her Yankee friends. She earned a bachelor of science degree in wildlife biology from Colorado State University, then studied science writing at the University of Missouri, where she received a master’s degree in journalism. She spent the first 20 years of her career covering science and environmental news, then switched to features in 2004, just as Portland’s food scene was taking off.
Her own most memorable meal? Back in the 1980s, on assignment in Finland, she shared a dinner of reindeer and Russian vodka with Maryland’s governor and a bunch of hungry scientists.
Meredith lives in Portland, but spends much of her time off back in Tennessee - either visiting family, or in online archives, researching her family’s history.
Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Gelato in January?Think of it as cold comfort
Opening a gelato shop in Maine in December seems a little like opening a hot chocolate stand in Phoenix in July, when the average high is 105 degrees.
You really want to ask: “What were you thinking?”
Donato Giovine and Mariagrazia Zanardi, owners of the new Gorgeous Gelato shop at 434 Fore St., are happy to explain.
The couple recently moved here from Milan, but they weren’t flying blind. They’ve had Portland in their sights for some time now.
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Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Cookbook Corner: ‘The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook’
As you read “The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook” (The Countryman Press, $35), it will feel as if your mother is standing over your shoulder, giving you advice as you make your pie crust or banana pecan muffins. This cookbook was first published to celebrate King Arthur Flour’s 200th anniversary, and it has just been […]
Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Food & Dining Dispatches, Jan2. 1, 2011
PORTLAND Potluck dinner featured as Slow Food Portland meets Slow Food Portland’s next meeting and potluck dinner will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the new Portland Food Lab in the old Roma Cafe, 769 Congress St. Bring a dish to share and your own serving ware, plate, bowl and utensils. A […]
Posted inFood, News
Wanted: Struggling restaurants
The Food Network show “Restaurant: Impossible” is casting in the Portland area for failing restaurants at risk of closing.
Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Cookbook Corner: ‘Green Market Baking Book’
If you have a major sweet tooth but feel guilty about consuming refined sugar, the new “Green Market Baking Book” by Laura C. Martin is for you. This collection of 100 recipes from professionals such as Alice Waters and Dan Barber features both sweet and savory baked goods made with local, sustainably-produced ingredients and natural […]
Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Soup to Nuts: These seafood piescut others in on the profits
Sam Hayward is a James Beard Award-winning chef who is known for his commitment to local foods that express the terroir of Maine.
His restaurant, Fore Street, has gotten lots of national attention.
Some chefs might try to capitalize on that kind of notoriety, but Hayward has always just focused on his food. He hasn’t been interested in using his reputation to manufacture new food products. He hasn’t even written a cookbook.
Posted inFood
Cookbook Corner: Jewish cooking in France
Joan Nathan, known for her cookbooks and PBS series on Jewish cooking in America, has published a fascinating book about her search for Jewish cooking in France. “Quiches, Kugels and Couscous” (Alfred A. Knopf, $39.95) is incredibly well researched. Nathan spent most of her time in Paris, interviewing Jewish chefs, shopkeepers and home cooks who […]
Posted inFood, Life & Culture
Soup to Nuts: POP! GOES THE CORK
Even if you’re a once-a-year-on-New-Year’s-Eve kind of champagne person, it helps to know a little bit before you go stand in front of the display case at the supermarket or wine store.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Author Q&A: This just in
A reporter once herself, Rosemary Herbert makes a journalist the main character in her first mystery, the newly published ‘Front Page Teaser.’