Consume This (Way)

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
February 16, 2022

We may squirm at the label, but we are consumers. We consume for sustenance, greed, and everything in between. The advocacy movement for a better food system has been knocking on the doors of change for a very long time, but in recent times, there seems to be a burgeoning nucleus driven by hints of institutional buy-in.

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Tacos: Finches of Restaurant Food Pricing

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
February 10, 2022

What are your comfort foods? Can they be described with general characteristics? Mine are most often rooted in simplicity, freshness, scratch cooking, humble ingredients, and bold flavor. The taco is as good a representation of those traits as any other culinary creation. When I have the luxury of time, I visit local food stalls and usually gorge myself to discomfort. For the past couple of years, I’ve avoided non-vegetarian versions, and my cholesterol meter thanks me for it.

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Start Them Young

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
February 3, 2022

My first restaurant meal in the United States occurred during late August of 1987. Since I was a fresh-off-the-plane international (graduate) student at Virginia Tech, the International Student Office (ISO) matched me with a volunteer community resident so I would become better oriented with my new surroundings — a really good idea. My host, a prominent member of a Blacksburg church, invited me to dinner at a restaurant in nearby Radford.

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So Many Chefs - So Few Cooks

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
January 27, 2021

My shirt is soiled because I’ve been cooking. Streaks of chalk and dry-erase ink, coupled with a hoarse voice, point to lots of talking and, I hope, teaching. I don’t chef. I cook. I don’t profess. I teach. Professional titles aren’t verbs, just verbiage for hierarchy. Definitions matter.

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Undervaluing Cuisines

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
January 20, 2021

The almost 5 million individuals of Indian origin living in the United States have the highest per capita income of any single ethnic group and have earned more than three times the overall national percentage achievement of higher education (bachelor’s degree or higher).

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Market Pricing for Profit

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
January 13, 2021

“Tonight, our special is blah, blah, blah, served with blah and blah, and it costs $32.” I appreciate that transparency, as opposed to the commonly popular, yet annoyingly shady, version that reads “Market Price (MP).” And for some reason, this need for uncertainty appears to be a frequent characteristic of seafood.

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Disjointed Musings from Mumbai

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
January 6, 2021

This week, we heeded my “privileged” advice from last week about traveling prolifically and safely. After following every mandated protocol, we boarded EK220 at MCO bound for DXB. A few hours later, we lounged over on EK500 to BOM.

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Traveling One Bite At A Time

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
December 30, 2021

With another calendar year looming to an end, ‘tis the season for predictions, trends, resolutions, and the like. Emphases on sustainability, health & nutrition, more (some) plant-based options on restaurant menus and holiday tables, ever-changing public health protocols, and the delicate future of independent restaurants round off the looking-glass horizon for the food industry.

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Big-Ole Flavor and Resilience

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
December 23, 2021

The “big-O” symbol was introduced more than a century ago to describe the asymptotic “order of magnitude” of mathematical expressions. It represents the big-picture magnitude of a function or expression, while focusing on the most influential growth factor(s).

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Do You Chef's Choice?

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
December 16, 2021

“The year’s best restaurant review” by travel blogger Geraldine DeRuiter mocked, ridiculed and metaphorically spit out “the worst possible” Michelin-starred experience at Bros’ restaurant in Lecce, Italy. Despite 27 courses, a Michelin star, and supposedly avant-garde technical proficiency in the kitchen, the group of four left gastronomically and intellectually violated, but not before foaming at the mouth (see the review on “The Everywhereist: An Award-Winning Cry for Help”).

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I've lived every moment until now — and eat more cabbage

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
December 9, 2021

Paraphrasing the essence of something the Greek poet Hesiod (circa 700 B.C.) is said to have expressed, "everything in moderation (including moderation).” While this formula for life doesn't work for everyone, it has, by and large, worked for me for the vast majority of my dual-profession life.

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If they can’t have buttons, let them eat white truffles

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
December 2, 2021

Driven by a heightened enthusiasm, a chef in Hong Kong recently paid nearly $118,000 for a 2-pound white truffle at a charity auction held at the 91st Fiera Internazionale Tartufo Bianco d’Alba. That’s about $3,687 per ounce, with proceeds benefiting a number of organizations throughout Italy.

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Giving thanks year-round

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
November 18, 2021

The Wampanoag (People of the First Light) were likely expressing their gratitude and thanks for harvests and other bounties long before 1621.
Through the centuries, the 67 or so villages that comprised the Wampanoag Nation in the 1600s on “Turtle Island” have seen their population in the region dwindle by as much as 80 percent.

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Vegan or plantbased?

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
November 18, 2021

Oregon is the most vegan state, and Mississippi is the least. An annual Pickle Fest in Jackson, Mississippi, draws throngs, while Lisa Eversman and Bryce Shivers of Portland, Oregon, can pickle anything.

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What’s your signature?

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
November 11, 2021

The recently elected mayors of New York City and Boston are on record for their legislative agendas regarding the food systems in their communities.
Here in DeLand, I’m not sure of what or where our long-standing mayor likes to eat, let alone local government’s deep perspectives and action plan for food access, equity or sustainability.

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The Chef’s Corner

By Hari Pulapaka, PhD, WCMC, CEC
November 2, 2021

After spending well over a decade in my little restaurant kitchen fully immersed in getting sh!t done, I’m ready to bust out of my corner.

Each week, I will pass judgment on a segment of food news that may or may not be interesting, shed light on a seasonal (for us) food ingredient or two, and dream up some minutiae about a spice I love and think you should, too.

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