Ass the Association of Food Journalists moved on to social networking, Yonan notes that Twitter is clever-friendly, unlike Google. Most conference attendees use either or both. Yonan noted changes in Washington Post’s Twitter policy when a managing editor tweeted about personal opinions. The Post made him close the account. Two mindsets of Twitter – promote content (links to stories) or sharing opinion, observations and humor. Post guidelines want appearance of impartiality, but Yonan says food writing straddles the line since opinion is part of it.
Jeff Houck of the Tampa Tribune noted that this is a new frontier and people are still figuring out how to navigate the online Wild West. He notes online that you can be your own marketer. Yonan notes you can preview or tease upcoming content, citing Gary Vaynerchuk of the Wine Library. Yonan does monitor comments and tweets, but notes the food comments are more civilized than other parts of the paper.
Marszalek noted that comments were not moderated for the first 10 years; in the past seven months, they have monitored comments more closely. He found there are about a dozen people, each with at least 12 screen names, who log on, post something vile and then log on under another name and agree with themselves. By banning these people, you get more of the people you want to comment. Montoya says they have asked their writers to connect with posters but sparingly.
Yonan says Twitter should be interesting to people and used to build interest in you as someone with interesting things to say.
The webinar ended here, but there were questions. Which is more useful – Facebook or Twitter? Yonan says the Twitter resubscription rate is low, and Facebook continues to grow so it’s up to you. Yonan says he uses Facebook for some longer queries.
Also recommended for beginner tutorials were Mindy McAdams' site and Knight Digital Media (free but registration is required) at Berkeley.
Keith Marszalek and Maria Montoya of nola.com talked about search engine optimization.They noted that aggregation and linking to competing sites is reader service, not shooting yourself in your foot. They offered a handout called “Bling Your Blog,” a primer in optimizing your online content. Also of note: the reader is always right. Example: print headline “Going Green” above picture of a Granny Smith apple is fine for story about new apples for pies, but online that head leads people to think “energy conversation.”
The duo offered tools for checking hot topics: Hot Trends, Adwords, Yahoo Buzz, SEO Quake. Using keywords on these sites can drive traffic. All words have a dollar value. First two words are picked up so using subject “New Orleans Jazzfest.” As Marszalek says, “Just because you wrote it doesn’t mean people are looking for it.”
Find out how your readers are searching for your content. Embedding SEO words can get you banned from Google. It’s worth noting that a lot of this information was designed for print people who have not investigated online fully. For example, Google value links embedded in stories. Photo names should also re-emphasize brands and keywords. Google prefers hyphens or underscores in photo names.
How long? Blog posts should be 250 to 400 words. You can go as much as 800 words, but be gentle. How often?You should post three to five times a day.
Scott Joseph arrived at this panel on a screen via webinar. He showed his Website, which features forums, restaurant reviews, news, photos, and a nifty Flash animation of photos of dishes at the top. He offered a PowerPoint presentation on how to start your site or blog. Blogging platforms include TypePad, Wordpress and Blogger. Templates allow for adding ads and customizing the look.
First, pick a topic. Consider the expenses (travel, office supplies, meals, ingredients) Get electronic copies of your contacts, including loyal readers. Subscribers to Joseph’s site get e-mail blasts, which can be done by your platform provider. Constant Contact is a company that provides e-mail blasts that don’t trigger spam shutdowns.
Content is all. You are your own brand. Joseph says you have to get over being egotistical. Get your own URL even if you don’t plan to do it immediately. Use your domain as your e-mail address as it is more professional. Don’t be too clever with the URL. Google hates clever. Think about how people search when choosing your URL.
When doing your H1 tag, avoid images in the tag, Marszalek adds.
How do you make money? Google Ads on your site. You add the ad, a user clicks on it and you get money – pennies. Google only cuts a check when you’ve earned $100. Joseph has earned a little more than $200 in two years. There is also Amazon links and ad links, but they work differently. The site operator only gets money if something is purchased. You can also sell ad space on your site. Joseph was so used to the wall between advertising and editorial that he doesn’t quite have a handle on ad sales.
Jan Norris, a former print editor, insists in her ad contract that there is no quid pro quo. Lesley Chesterman, a restaurant critic for the Montreal Gazette, says she has a Web site and doesn’t take restaurant ads, since it’s an implied endorsement. Joseph says no problem, it’s 2009. Joe Yonan of the Washington Post asks if readers know your policy. The critic says since your site is your brand, it’s an endorsement. Yonan says there should be a way to tell the difference between ads and editorial online. Transparency is an issue, especially in light on FTC ruling requiring disclosure of blogger's financial relationships. Yonan noted that he couldn’t easily differentiate between the ads and the editorial content on Joseph’s site. Neither could Norris.
How many hits define success? Some say 100,000 a year; some say 1 million. Norris says she is not making money. Norris made up her figures and charges anywhere from $50 to $1,500 a month for minimum of three months, depending on placement.
An audience member, Nancy Leson of the Seattle Times, points out and Marszalek concurs that your body of work online is your resume. Your online presence can lead to more paying writing work. Joseph says your Website isn’t going to support you, but it is going to extend your viability.
How much time are you spending on the Web? Joseph spends 60 hours a week on the site. Norris spends 30 hours a week on her site.
What about a paid subscriber model? Yonan says for an independent blog, it won’t work because there is a lot of competing free content.
Poppy Tooker and a woman from the Creole Country Sausage brought us boudin, headcheese and calas. Tooker prepared the calas, a deep-fried rice fritter sprinkled with powdered sugar.If you've ever had a beignet, the signature New Orleans fried pastry, the calas are somewhat similar.Where beignets can be ethereal, calas are more down and dirty. Tooker says they come from the Creole tradition of always having rice around. Calas were originally sold by street vendors but began as a home tradition. Boudin features rice in the sausage, and, at one point, involved liver. Boudin is often sold at gas stations.
Taking a cue from Leah Chase, the Association of Food Journalists conference attendees decided to eat, drink and enjoy after the day's sessions. So when the brief downpour cleared, we followed the Storyville Stompers through the streets over to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum on the Riverwalk near the Convention Center. We had our beads, and our hankies and strutted as best we could on the damp streets. Once there, we were greeted by a cacophony of chefs, including Emeril Lagasse, who has three boites here in New Orleans. Others present were Donald Link from Herbsaint, Cochon and Cochon Butcher, Susan Spicer of Bayona, Tommy Cvitanovich of Drago's, Allison Vine-Rushing and Slade Rushing of MiLa (where some of us had lunch earlier), Adolfo Garcia of RioMar and La Boca, David and Torre Solazzo of Ristorante del Porto, Aaron Burgau of Patois and Beth Biundo, the pastry chef at Lilette. While sipping Sazeracs and a fantastic champagne cocktail with brandy, lemon juice and zest, we looked around the museum and gorged ourselves on tuna with a dried baconlike substance that was heavenly. So were the sweetbreads and grits from MiLa as were Emeril's braised pork cheeks with dirty rice. Being fatally allergic to oysters prevented me from sampling offerings from Drago's and RioMar, but the oyster eaters were raving.
Also part of the Museum is the independent Museum of the American Cocktail, which was founded and is run by Laura and Chris McMillian. The museum houses artifacts including mini-stills, old bottles, tiki bar artifacts from the first wave of this renewed fad and headlines from Prohibition and its repeal. Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, organized the pouring of New Orleans drink specialties featuring mixologists Chris Hannah of Arnaud's French 75 Bar, Michael Glassberg of Swizzle Stick and Marvin Allen.
All in a good night of good company, food and drink.
This panel,moderated by Times-Picayune writer and filmmaker Louis Eric Elie, includedkosher caterer Bertha Pichon, Poppy Tooker, who helped the local agricultural and aquacultural people get back up and running post-Katrina, and Leah Chase, proprietor of Dooky Chase, a landmark in the African American community where civil rights workers could meet without fear. The panel’s title comes from remarks made by food writer Alan Richman, who questioned the idea of Creole cuisine even though he spoke at length with Chase.
When Chase (right) was growing up, Creole had nothing to do with food. It was something done at home, being your own culture and your own thing. Chase described herself as a militant child, and she felt the strength around her but lamented it not getting passed on. You gain no strength from not passing traditions on, be it food or master builder skills. They favored the superficial things like how you looked. The favored Catholic church was Corpus Christi and its African American congregation were style leaders.
Chase had no problem with Paul Prudhomme jumping on the Creole bandwagon. Chase said she and others benefited from his marketing skills.
Tooker said the only thing she knew growing up was Creole cream cheese. Chase interrupted to note that Tooker was too young to know the “part-black” stigma of Creole. Tooker noted she was now trying to “passeznoir” instead of “passezblanc.” Pichon learned the Creole cooking base of tomatoes, garlic, green peppers and light roux. She spoke broken French and Creole, and had to unlearn that at Catholic school.
What are crucial ingredients? Tooker needs bacon grease and butter in the fridge, celery, bell pepper and onions, thyme bay leaf and flour to make a roux.
Pichon liked bell pepper and thyme and bay leaf but little celery. Chase said there was little celery except for special occasions and redfish and good paprika. You put celery hearts on the table after using outer stalks, and it was decoration as well as an appetizer. Chase also said she mixed up Italian gravies with sardines and eggs but over rice instead of pasta. Tooker promises calas, rice fritters, for breakfast tomorrow.
Creole essentials? Tooker suggested gumbo, bread pudding, stuffing to put in vegetables. Chase wants to get people to the table, something she noted wasn’t only lost by African Americans. She wants her grandkids to make a jambalaya and use some shortcuts. Pichon taught hers sons and daughter to cook. Her son makes a good crawfish bisque using head stock. Everybody loves to eat it, but no one wants to do the work of cleaning and stripping the mud bugs. Chase said the bisque was seasonal. Creoles didn’t eat anything without wine. Kids got wine mixed with water and sugar. Gumbo was served at every festive occasion and on Sundays. Creoles didn’t like fatty meat. Gumbo was always served with wine.
The gumbo was the preamble to a meal with all available meats at a festive meal. Sundays the gumbo was followed by Reveillon of stewed chicken and baked macaroni.
Creole meals need rice, macaroni and potato salad, Chase said and the others concurred.
While none of the panelists used packaged roux, Chase thinks that may come to pass with more cooks with less time.
Moderator Sara Roahen, author of "Gumbo Tales: Finding my Place at the New Orleans Table" says she won't talk much since the Sicilians are much more interesting. Creole Italian is one name for the cuisine. By 1880, New Orleans had country’slargest Italian population. A pre-Katrina census counted 250,000 people of Italian descent, mostly in New Orleans. Many local neighborhood boites serve spaghetti and meatballs, usually on Wednesdays. The muffaletta (alternate spelling muffuletta, among others) has Sicilian origins.
Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Arthur Brocato, third generation of Angelo Brocato’s Ice Cream and Confectionary, which was fully rebuilt after Katrina, Sandra Scalise Juneau, who teaches baking traditions and Joseph Segretto, owner of 1179 Restaurant were the panelists. Segretto formerly managed Louis Prima.
How did they get here? Williams’ grandmother came from Palermo in 1903 and various family followed. Her family made big distinction between being Sicilian and Italian. Her great grandfather was a butcher and worked at the French Market. After the butcher generation, there were policeman; then the later generations were more professional.
Brocato is Sicilian on both sides. Grandfather’s family were blacksmiths, and he worked as a banana inspector. They opened a little grocery store on the corner of St. Philip and Dauphine and sold snowballs, peanuts and picked up Creole cooking. The other side of the familywent from shoemaking through death by yellow fever and into gelato and cookie making. Cookie and pastries were made for special occasions and for the St. Joseph’s altar. Cassata cake consisted of a pan lined with sponge cake and filled with ricotta, decorated with marzipan and more ricotta or a poured icing glaze. Brocato makes the marzipan version his grandfather made.
Scalise Juneau is also a double Sicilian. Her paternal grandfather came to work in the cane fields, and this accounted for many Sicilians coming to Louisiana. Eventually he sent for the family. Her maternal grandfather established themselves in a small restaurant and then sent for the rest of the family. Grandfather also worked at Hotel Monteleone.
Segretto came from doing a Sardinian luncheon. The food is very similar to Sicilian food. Sicily is largest island in the Mediterranean, and produces the most wine in all of Italy. It also has the oldest aristocracy. The culture is polyglot, and many cultures that blended in Sicily ended up exporting aspects of Sicilian cuisine. The Sicilians then re-imported the variations from places like France.
Many pastries, including our fig cookies (popular for the St. Joseph altar) and the reginale (queen’s cookies), came from nuns in the convents. Each panelist recounted various food memories and shunning of improper marriages.Talk of spadini, sitting on pasta pots as high chairs, and no roux in red gravy. No talk of sauce here. Segretto recommended "Pomp and Sustenance" by Mary Simeti Taylor.
Creole cooking legend Leah Chase noted she makes a light roux with tomatoes and tomato sauce, but uses tomato paste and wine when she wants it to be more like Italian gravy.
Scalise talked about the St. Joseph’s altar tradition that has spread from the Sicilians to other Catholic communities. Along with cucidada (fig cookies), there are savories including stuffed redfish and other baked representations of local foods on the altars. Our later excursion to the Southern Food and BeverageMuseum included the altar pictured here.
This year's conference opened on multicultural note, which one would expect from the Crescent City. New Orleans food has many hands in the pot and this panel was devoted to the crossed lines from regions like Croatia, Germany and Latin America into what has become the well-known food of Louisiana. The moderator was Elsa Hahne, author of "You Are Where You Eat: Stories and Recipes from the Neighborhoods of New Orleans." Chef Adolfo Garciai of RioMar noted that saying food is Latino would be the same as assuming that all English-speaking people share a common diet. Croatian native SnjezanaSenut-Bjelis noted that her coastal country used mussels in their cooking, but adapted their recipes to incorporate oysters to the point where oysters are now shipped back to Croatia in quantity. Croatians are in Plaquemines Parish, where they can be on the water and fish. The German community brought beer, sausage and baking and settled in the Saints parishes where they learned French and assimilated somewhat, according to Sevilla Finley. One of the best-known German bakeries in New Orleans specialized in French bread. Frieda WaeckerleArwe, president of the Friends of the German-AmericanCulturalCenter (Finley is a co-founder). Arwe focused on the southern most of the 16 states in the country. All German food is fresh. Germans grow everything they cook.
Sauerkraut and red cabbage are featured on Oktoberfest but the sausages are imported from Texas and Illinois to name two places.
Potato pancakes and onion pies (“one of the most fantastic things you can eat,” Arwe notes) are two exports that are well-known for you. The only German restaurant in New Orleans, Kolb’s, closed in 1994. Hahne asked why no one has stepped up since. Arwe notes that assimilation has taken the toll. People don’t know the role Germans played in settling New Orleans. Also, the World Wars saw the muting or elimination of names and cultural touchstones. Some places are doing German cuisine a couple of nights a week.
Rev. Vien Nguyen of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, noted that Vietnamese cooking was scary and unknown in the 70s. Vietnamese chefs often ran Chinese restaurants but had some Vietnamese dishes on the menu. Later, in the 90s, the actual cuisine came to the forefront. Vietnamese also run New Orleans’ Japanese restaurants, but had created hybrids like raw fish wrapped in rice paper. The cuisine uses a lot of seafood, but Vietnamese don’t go for raw oysters. Some Vietnamese eat raw oysters but not with horseradish and Tabasco. Redfish was popular but used in sushi with bread crumbs and sauce with fresh herbs, not blackened. The Vietnamese are along the East Bank and West Bank.
Gar is not popular with Caucasians, but Vietnamese make it into a paste and it’s sweet. Vietnamese don’t eat much bread,as it is not substantial. Rice is more solid for fueling agricultural. Banh mi is the Vietnamese po’boy. Nguyen noted that Vietnamese grow their own herbs and sell them at an open-air market. The market was closed for six months, but it took Winn Dixie two years to come back. Many Vietnamese grow vegetables and herbs in their backyards. Growing grass is an insult. Nguyen likes Gar Kho, simmered croaker with tomato and spices and a three-day cooking time.
The Association of Food Journalists, Inc., is a networking system especially created for journalists who devote most of their working time to planning and writing food copy for news media worldwide.
AFJ's primary goal is to encourage communication among food journalists. In addition, AFJ tries to increase members' knowledge of food and to sharpen their writing, design and broadcast skills. The group also strives to foster professional standards among its members and other members of the media.
For membership information, contact AFJ's Executive Director Carol DeMasters via e-mail to caroldemasters@yahoo.com. AFJ's website is www.afjonline.com.
