Fall 2015 Issue

AT THE TABLE: TASTED AND TESTED

One of the best parts of editing this magazine is having the pleasure of being its first reader. And often, as the stories come in, I do the same thing I hope you do after you read each issue: I get out there to sample as many of the featured foods, drinks and activities as I can.

For example, immediately upon reading Amanda Feifer’s moving essay on the subject of fermentation, “Legacy Lost (And Found)” on page 14, I signed up for one of her workshops.

A week later, I had a veritable salad bar bubbling in brine: cabbage, for sauerkraut; carrot sticks seasoned with garlic and fennel; green beans with hot chile flakes; and that Southern classic, watermelon rinds. It was the perfect way to preserve the bounty of my CSA and extend the enjoyment of local foods into the cold-weather months.

Similarly, as I compiled a resource guide to accompany “The Pig Next Door” on page 16, I bought a quarter pig from Philly CowShare. I think after you read this story, you will be just as moved and motivated to seek out the most ethically raised (and delicious) pork you can lay your hands on.

After reading Peggy Paul Casella’s “Fishtown in a Day” on page 36, I found any excuse to get over to her neighborhood. While there, I stopped at the meat counter at Kensington Quarters to check out the handiwork of their head butcher, Heather Marold Thomason, whose classes Sarah Grey writes about on page 22. I also found my new coffee obsession on Frankford Avenue: La Colombe’s draft iced latte.

It’s my sincere hope that, after you enjoy reading this issue (and every issue), you explore our local food scene informed by what you’ve read here. And I hope the thrill of food discovery inspires you to hunt for new flavors in your own backyard and beyond.

I’ll keep sharing what I find with you here in these pages; when you happen upon some new dish, chef, artisan, place or product that you love, please return the favor by dropping me a line at the email address below.

-Joy Manning, Editor