Odds and (year) ends

Soon I will be heading south for a New Year’s party and cooking session. The occasion will be held at The Deacon’s brother’s house (time to concoct some new blog identities). I’ll report on that in more detail tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some things that caught my attention today.

Kitsch’n’Zinc has this great post on “fusion cuisine.” Ponder the question of why western chefs always seem to borrow from Asian cuisines, and not the other way around. As an American cooking Asian food, sometimes in a non-authentic way, I find these issues intriguing. Someday I’ll probably blog about the vexatious concept of “authenticity,” but I guess that will have to wait for next year.

Back at the current events desk of SevenSoy Central, I am heartened by the many food bloggers who have rallied around the victims of the tsunami disaster. I’ve added links to the tsunami blog and Wiki in my sidebar. superchefblog has a roundup of aid links and continues to update. Elsewhere in the blogosphere, there is everything from folks reporting that they’re all right to others who have put their own blogs on hold so they can help the online information effort. Just follow people’s links, or run down the list of updates at food porn watch. WorldChanging is doing a great job of posting reports about the issues behind the carnage. And, of course, your news outlet of choice will keep you updated with the horrific numbers that just get worse and worse.

All food comes from a place and a culture. Even if it seems exotic to the diner, it probably originates from somebody’s home-cooked meal. I would appeal to those of us who say we love Asian food to recognize that some of that wonderful food comes from places that are so devastated they make the other side of the moon look like a garden. I feel a little uncomfortable about sermonizing like this (and don’t intend to make it a habit), but I want to recognize the link between the cuisine and where it comes from. If you love Asian food, please find a way to send whatever help you can to these places (and thank you if you already have). Thank you for listening. And may 2005 turn out to be a better year. See you then.