Chickpeas and Chowhound

 

For those of you who don't know Chowhound is a site "For those who like to eat." There are really cool forums where you can sound off about a variety of topics. I'd heard, however, that their moderating is highly subjective and arbitrary. I've posed a couple of questions -- innocuous things like
what are your guilty pleasures -- and so forth.

But I apparently have run afoul of the whole Jane Goldman operation when I posed the following question:

What would be your ideal TV cooking show if you could create one?
Personally, I'd like a little less "personality" and gimmicks -- BAM, EVOO, y'all, etc. -- and a return to the Food Channel shows of yore. I really liked Ready, Set, Cook with audience members buying ingredients for chefs to transform in 20 minutes. I'd also really like to see more shows where true chefs show how to work in a kitchen -- I totally love Ming Tsai and Mario because they know so much about food. The current crop of TV hosts leaves me cold. What do you think?

I thought this would be thought-provoking and would shy away from the Chowhound aversion to "bashing" TV hosts, putting a positive spin on what people want from television. I got this in my mail box after several people had provided some really interesting answers to my query:

Hi Fuser, you've been sent the following by a Chowhound moderator:

Dear Fuser:

Chowhound's goal is to help people sort through their myriad chow options to find the most delicious food available to them - or in the case of the Food Media and News board, current TV shows, books, magazines etc. Speculation about what one's ideal TV cooking show would doesn't help anyone watch better now, so to speak, so they're off topic for our boards - just as discussions about what restaurants an area needs are.

The Chowhound Team
Chowhound.com

I don't know if others follow such things, but I do and Rob and I saw a recent Chowhound segment that featured the legendary Jane Goldman -- the editor of Chowhound -- ostensibly "reviewing" a local (to the Bay Area) restaurant. But as the piece progressed, it became apparent the review was, in fact, a fawning advertisement for the place.

It's too bad Ms. Goldman, like so many editors these days, is terrified of public opinion and works mightily, and with futility, to control the discourse. A small group of people has been in charge of what the public knows for a long period of time. I've worked for many of them -- petty men and women who make decisions out of fear for their positions, not out of any journalistic ethic -- and know that they are terrified of losing what has been their only power -- a huge power at that -- the power to control information.

To me, this is the greatest gift and curse of the new age of information we are venturing into. We can bypass the traditional sources of information and opinion and find them on our own. I don't know if anyone is following the case of the Missouri girl who committed suicide after being taunted by neighboring adults. The media has decided not to name these people because they haven't yet been changed with any crime. But if you follow this link, you can find out those names. Personally, I look beyond the law to determine what I think is right or wrong. Even if there's no law against adults harassing a child, it's wrong. It's especially wrong when that child then acts out in a tragic way as Megan Meier did. It is not the province of the media to decide whether these people whould be identified or not. If you don't want your name associated with a heinous act, then don't commit it.

The tide has turned and it no longer the domain of a very few to decide what the rest of us can or can not discuss; what we can or cannot know. I've heard all the arguments they give about how they are "being fair," but fairness tends to be the last consideration in a newsroom and all "news judgements" are ultimately arbitrary depending largely on the editor's whims.

On the other hand, there was a really cool recipe on Chowhound that I tried the other day. It was for fried chickpeas and it was really tasty. I've tried to make these before, but they always come out kind of chalky, chewy gross. This made them quite delectable with a nice crunchy crust and soft, warm insides. The fried sage melts in the mouth and is delicious.

Fried chickpeas

1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt to taste
10 or so large fresh sage leaves cut into one-half in strips

Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Mix the flour, paprika, and salt and place on a plate. Roll the chickpeas in the flour until they're covered. Heat 1/2 inch canola oil in a sturdy skillet. Add the chickpeas and fry until they are a golden brown, about 3 5o 5 minutes and drain on paper towels. Fry the sage, about a minute and drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

So despite the rather lock-step approach to message boards, there is still some good there. Just steer clear of any of the Chowhound TV shows -- they're AWFUL.