Who knew food could look so good? Passionfruit Pannacotta created and photographed by Santos of The Scent of Green Bananas.

One of the absolute best things that has happened on the Internet over the past couple of years has been the proliferation of food blogs. Whether you want to cook, learn about specific cuisines or are planning a trip to some exotic locale, food blogs are one of the greatest modern resources for learning about food and its role in the world around us. In this month's article, I will share some of my favorite food blogs, chat with a couple of my favorite bloggers and point you in the direction of various web-based food resources that you might find useful and/or entertaining.

On any given day I will visit more than a dozen food-related websites, and there are a handful that I really can't do without, and those are the ones I'd like to share with you. These are sites that inspire me, spur me to try harder and, most of all, are almost sure to make me smile.

From the Fat Duck in London, Chocolate Caviar Dessert [Photo Credit: Chez Pim]

I will start out with the food blog I admire and envy in equal amounts, Chez Pim. If the word "aspirational" could be used in this context, than I confess to aspiring to Pim's travel miles, passion for all things gourmet and sense of style. Pim is a true gourmand and nothing but the finest will do whether it be the tea leaves she carefully brews or the nam prik poo (Thai chili paste) she makes from her grandmother's recipe. I suspect Pim has been around the karmic wheel a few times and her present life of privilege is well-earned.

Pim is based in the San Francisco area but you never know where she'll be jetting off to next. In the past few months she has been to the legendary Spanish restaurant, El Bulli; toured the Burgundy region of France in the company of wine writer, Claude Klom; basked in a private villa on the French Riviera and purchased the exceedingly prized white truffles of Alba out of the trunk of a black Mercedes from "The Truffle Don" whilst in Monte Carlo. And that's just a fraction of what she's been up to lately.

Dishes enjoyed during Pim’s holiday in Mougins. Veal roasting over the fireplace; Salt cured anchovies simply prepared with a splash of olive oil and garnished with fennel flowers. [Photo Credit: Chez Pim]
 

Pim is not content with merely jet setting and eating; she is also a talented cook, exhorts one and all to be more socially conscious about food choices and she quite obviously enjoys life to the fullest and is generous in sharing the details with her loyal readers. Pim can occasionally take herself a bit too seriously, but her passion for food and charitable efforts are genuine and, to me, much more important than any pretensions she may exhibit at times. We are all human after all, and if she didn't have and admit to the occasional flaw - well, then she'd be simply insufferable to us less fortunate folks!

Cones of colorful spices are part of the everyday scene in the marketplace in Marrakech. [Photo credit: Louisa Chu, Movable Feast]

Another favorite is Movable-Feast.com. Louisa Chu is the proprietor of this blog and she is a working culinary professional who blogs about her life in some of the great kitchens of the world. Her Fall Tour 2005 took her from the markets of Marrakech to a professional pastry class with Pierre Hermes, and then she worked a dinner at Senderens in Paris. She then made her way back to her hometown of Chicago where she did a week long "stage" (that's French for slave labor - just kidding - it refers to the practice of young culinary professionals working in the kitchens of well-known restaurants for a short period of time, often without any monetary compensation) at uber-modern Alinea in Chicago. She chronicles these experiences with great humor and allows occasional glimpses of her personal food life, like when she indulges in every single flavor of macaroon at Pierre Hermes in Paris. Louisa is who I'd secretly like to be sometimes, but I have neither the talent nor the energy.

Reid’s favorite dessert, the Chocolate Pot au Crème from the Pavilion Café. [Photo credit: Reid, Ono Kine Grindz]

My next favorite is local food blog extraordinaire, Onokinegrindz.com, which is run by the mysterious Reid. I have communicated with Reid regularly for quite some time now but I wouldn't know him if we sat next to each other at a restaurant. I would describe Reid's take on food here in Honolulu as to be that of the "everyman" in most cases - he is often dining at and writing about his meals at literal holes-in-the-wall that only a local living in that particular neighborhood would typically know. Reid says that he eats out three to four times a week, not including lunches, which provides him with plenty of fodder for his reviews.

What sets him apart from simply being an average eater with a penchant for telling everyone about it is his knowledge of the various cuisines which contribute to our culinary melting pot and his insatiable curiosity about all things food-related. His passion for food started early - he made his first foray into the kitchen when he was only nine years-old. He credits his grandmother with encouraging his interest in food and she, in fact, wanted him to become a culinary professional.

When I asked Reid (via email of course!) what inspired him to start blogging, he mentioned seeing an episode of Tony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour where Tony was in Singapore. He did some research on a particular restaurant featured in the episode and found a Singaporean food blog which fueled his interest in food in general and Singaporean food in particular - he's made several trips to Singapore since that time. It was also the impetus for launching Onokinegrindz.com which debuted to the world in April of 2004.

Each Friday, readers are treated to a spectacular photo like this one of the sunset at Sunset Beach, North Shore, Oahu. [Photo credit: Reid, Ono Kine Grindz]

One of the things I enjoy most about Onokinegrindz.com is the great photos that support his writing. Reid has a passion for cameras and photography that is just about equal to his passion for food. Don't miss his Aloha Friday photos which show off the beauty of Hawaii to the world.

I asked Reid to answer a few fun questions:

Q: Name three things that are always in your refrigerator.
A: "Soy milk, tofu and eggs. As you've probably discovered, I'm lactose intolerant."

Q: If you could eat only one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: "It would have to be Japanese."

Q: They've named a new cooking technique after you. When you "Reid" a
chicken, it means to do what to it?
A: "Stir fry it with lots of chilies."

A bundle of Squash blossoms from a vendor in Manila are more beautiful than roses when photographed by Santos. [Photo credit: Santos, TSOGB]

Now we come to the food blog that is my absolute favorite, The Scent of Green Bananas or TSOGB. This blog speaks to me on so many levels, not the least of which is that she is blogging from the island I will probably always consider home, Guam. Santos is the name this blogger uses for her public persona and in addition to a fondness for food, she is an enormously talented photographer. Her photos of even the most mundane vegetable are riveting in their beauty. Surprisingly, she didn't start photographing food until the day after she launched TSOGB in May of 2004.

Santos has a peculiar penchant for fixating on a particular item - say persimmons - and then obsessing over it before moving on to the next tasty treat that catches her fancy. Said persimmons were rendered into three different recipes, analyzed, reported upon and photographed in detail. She could be described as a "serial food obsessionist."

Passionfruit Pannacotta shimmers like a jewel. Oyster on the Half Shell with Wasabi Ice Vodka presents a thrilling shot. [Photo credit: Santos, TSOGB]

No food is beneath her interest, SPAM Musubi as a cocktail party tidbit, why ever not? Neon Jell-O is given as loving a treatment as Passionfruit Pannacotta or Oysters on the Half Shell with Wasabi Vodka Ice - and when Santos takes a photograph, it becomes something magical.

Another element which adds to the power of her visuals is the fascinating and seemingly unending selection of tableware and kitchen equipment in a myriad of colors, shapes and designs that she uses to display the food. I asked her where she gets all her "stuff" and she said, "everywhere I can - I'll scour little shops and thrift shops at home and on my travels, relatives' homes (beware!), and anywhere on the web."

Tea Sandwiches , Totoro Matcha Cupcakes, and lovely Raspberry Custard Tarts , note the fuschia kitchen scale. [Photo credit: Santos, TSOGB]

More than anything I love her sense of humor and her wit which shines through in all of her postings. I adore Santos and I think it is because I'd love to be friends with her - if I was Santos' friend, I'd be invited to tea and served all manner of cunningly created sandwiches that taste delicious and then she'd send me home with a goodie bag of her fantastical cupcakes. I'd also have the chance to pilfer her fuschia kitchen scale...

Santos graciously responded to the following questions:

Q: Name three things that are always in your refrigerator.
A: "Bath products, batteries and rotting fruit."

Q: Is there a particular food that always makes you happy when you see it or eat it?
A: "Good food in unexpected places. Islands are the best places to [find] good food in the weirdest places."

Q: They've named a new cooking technique after you. When you "Santos" a chicken, it means to do what to it?
A: "Defrost it, with every intention of cooking it, change your mind, and forget about it in the refrigerator until it has died a second death."

My sincere thanks goes out to all of the bloggers I mentioned in this column. They graciously allowed me to use their photos and answered my weird questions without complaint. I wish each and everyone of them many more years of very happy eating. I would like give a special thank you to Reid as he has been one of the strongest supporters of our own website, HawaiiDiner.com, and has been a source of constant encouragement. Mahalo nui loa, Reid.

In closing, I must say that there are so many more blogs and food-related websites out there that there simply isn't enough space to cover them all, and new ones are popping up all the time. To help you out, I've created a current list of favorite blogs and websites covering everything from baking the perfect loaf of bread to successfully eating your way around Saigon. And, if you need to know how to prepare an authentic Algerian feast, you'll find that link here as well. Gail's Food Blog & Website Master List.

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