There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Ecclesiastes 2:24
When I first traveled on my own, I couldn’t afford to eat out so I went the cheese and bread route. Hell, I often did that while NOT traveling. I mean, bread and cheese -- that's heaven, amiright?
Now, with pounds to lose, hot flashes to duck and muscles to tone, bread and cheese are, basically, just the stuff of dreams and fantasy. Yeah, I’m living MAJORLY huge when I have a small wedge of Iggy’s Dark Rye with a schmear of Fat Toad Farm’s Sundried Tomato and Basil Chevre on top. This is enjoyed, naturally, with a lovely glass of Chianti.
Jesus, I’m drooling at the very idea.
I live in an urban area so, if I’m going to go big with the reveling-in-all-the-glorious-gustatory-pleasures-on-this plane-of-existence thing, boyhowdy I’ve got some awesome choices. Yes I do!
The folks in Junction City, Arkansas or Loco Hills, New Mexico or Hooversville, Pennsylvania? Not so much.
This, THIS is why there’s a surge in mass marketed Artisanal cheeses, Artisan breads and Craft chocolate. Right?
The, seemingly ubiquitous, artisan/artisanal/craft labels are often a vile marketing scam though.
From the article Mass-Market Artisans By Nancy Friedman:
In September, Domino's Pizza — the second-largest pizza chain in the United States, with annual revenue approaching $1.5 billion — introduced "Artisan Pizzas" to its 5,000 stores nationwide. Are you picturing skilled workers up to their elbows in whole-grain flour and locally sourced tomatoes, lovingly patting each pie into a charmingly irregular shape? Well, forget about it. "We're Not Artisans," reads the coy banner on the Domino's home page. "But This Might Just Convince You We Are." The text on the Artisan Pizza box dispels any lingering misconceptions: "We don't wear black berets, cook with wood-fired ovens, or apprentice with the masters in Italy."
So if no one at Domino is an artisan, what is Artisan Pizza? For that matter, what does "artisan" signify in Artisan Style tortillas (recently introduced by Mission), Tostitos Artisan Recipes chips (from snack giant Frito-Lay), Clarks Artisan (mass-produced shoes for women), Artisan Breakfast Sandwiches (from Starbucks), and Campbell's Artisan (a line of soup stocks for large institutional kitchens)? How to make sense of "artisan fast food," which is what Panera Bread, with 1,500 bakery-cafés in North America, calls its niche?
..................................................
read the rest of the article -- it’s worth it.The power of suggestion is also the key ingredient in Domino's Artisan Pizzas. While they may not involve the labor of artisans, they kinda-sorta look as though they could. The new pizzas are irregularly rectangular rather than perfectly round, and they're topped with slightly fancier ingredients than standard Domino's pizza: spinach, roasted vegetables, "Tuscan salami." And each box is signed by the employee responsible for the contents. Call it artisanship or artifice, it's been a crafty move on Domino's part: the company's sales, profits, and stock price all rose in the third quarter, and the CEO recently said he's "certainly optimistic" about the outlook for Artisan Pizzas.
I'm intensely wary when I see these words -- 'gourmet', 'artisan', 'craft.' At the same time, if the overall quality of food is going up, it’s not completely bad, I suppose.
Meanwhile, back in Reykjavik, Jen and I found what can only be described as inspirational, artisanal wasabi peas. Seriously, for us wasabi pea lovers, this was akin to locating the Holy Grail, it’s filled with Pietrantonj Montepulciano D'Abruzzo (2007, ‘natch) and the waiter brings a plate of Lazy Lady Farm's cheddar and a loaf of When Pigs Fly Baby Spinach, Onion & Garlic Ciabatta too.
droooooooool
