Good Food
The Lunch Show: Dim Sum, Artful Bento Boxes, School Lunch
Japanese charaben - the art of the bento box. A school teacher eats school lunch for a year. Plus, discover the greatest deals for top notch lunch in LA.
By Evan Kleiman • • 1h 0m ListenToday's show is all about lunch. Author Christopher Salyers unveils the Japanese tradition of charaben which are artfully crafted bento boxes. Those who ate their school lunch on white bread will appreciate Aaron Bobrow-Strain's insight into the history of white bread in America. Sarah Wu spent a year eating the same school lunch as the students in her elementary school. She blogged about the experience anonymously but unveiled her identity in a recent book. Mid-town lunch expert Zach Brooks shares his latest picks for eating lunch out of the office and Jonathan Gold ventures to Alhambra for a dim sum lunch. Plus, for those who eat their lunch from a truck, Bill Esparza has tips on how to order street food like a local.
In this episode
7 storiesMarket Report
Brandon Boudet is the executive chef and co-owner at Tom Bergin's Old Horseshoe and Thoroughbred Club . He is serving his spin on a traditional Irish Boxty, filled with summer squash, spinach and a fresh corn puree right now as part of his Irish menu. His Boxty recipe is on the Good Food blog .
Read the story7 minDim Sum and Chicken Knees
Jonathan Gold reviews King Hua , a dim sum restaurant in Alhambra. He recommends steamed shrimp and pea-tip dumplings, steamed rice noodle with chicken and bitter melon, chicken feet with angelica in meat broth, har gao, fried chicken knees with spicy salt and wolfberry gelatin.
Read the story6 minAn Adult Tries Eating School Lunch
Last year, teacher Sarah Wu outed herself as the blogger behind Fed Up with Lunch , a year-long project in which she ate school lunch every day in the Illinois public elementary school where she worked. Her book is Fed Up with Lunch : How One Anonymous Teacher Revealed the Truth about School Lunches - and How We Can Change Them!
Read the story10 minThe History of White Bread
Aaron Bobrow-Strain is a professor at Whitman College and the author of White Bread : A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf. In the book he explores the factors that led to the popularity in white bread from fear of immigration, war and industrial ingenuity. An outtake of his conversation with Evan is on the Good Food blog.
Read the story10 minMidtown Lunch
Zach Brooks is the founder of Midtown Lunch . He blogs about where to eat lunch in Los Angeles.
Read the story8 minHow to Order Street Food
Bill Esparza is the author of the blog, Street Gourmet LA . He explains how to order street food should you find yourself in Mexico City or amid the street food stalls in downtown Los Angeles on your next lunch break. You can find photos of the scene downtown on the Good Food blog .
Read the story8 minThe Artistic Lunchbox
Christopher Salyers is the author of Face Food : The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes. You can see photos of artfully crafted bento boxes (also called charaben) on Salyers' blog .
Read the story9 min
