food

A new food safety website has been launched by two state agencies in Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) have partnered to launch FoodSafetyKansas.org.

The website can be used to submit instances of food-related illnesses and health-related complaints regarding restaurants and events such as with pests or employees not washing their hands. Complaints about food items purchased at a grocery or convenience store can also be submitted.

Changes to the $22 billion federal program that distributes free meals at schools won’t be coming any time soon.

A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill would have delayed requirements to reduce sodium in school meals, expanded summer meal programs and grown the Women Infants and Children (WIC) food program.

A House committee passed a sharply different bill and negotiators couldn’t hammer out differences. That leaves the child nutrition programs operating under the policies set in 20-10.

Among other things, I am a professional food stylist. I have been doing this weird job for over 25 years.

What a food stylist does is make food look fantastic on camera or video. Yes, it is fakery. Yes, it is somewhat dishonest. Yes, it is great work if you can get it. It pays well and a stylist gets to use her knowledge of food preparation, her skills as an artist, and an understanding of photography. It is very challenging.

Sushi, the wonderful Japanese preparation of rice and fish, used to be impossible to find anywhere in Wichita. It took a while to catch on here, possibly because of a Midwestern aversion to raw fish.

Now, sushi is everywhere, even in the grocery store. Once a rarity, sushi and Japanese food in general are firmly part of Wichita’s diverse culinary scene.

Meat and cheese lovers, rejoice! Schane Gross, owner of The Anchor, has opened her new venture, the Douglas Avenue Chop Shop, and it is marvelous.

The Chop Shop is an artisanal butcher shop that carries delicious meats, cheeses, house-made sausages, eggs, bread and specialty condiments, all sourced locally. Ms. Gross really cares about the quality of her products and it shows in everything The Chop Shop carries.

Mexican restaurants abound in Wichita, and each is unique in quality, authenticity, menu and style.

I am obsessed with kimchi. I think about the earthy, fermented, spicy pickle all the time. I know that some people find kimchi’s deep funkiness repellent, but I love it.

Kimchi is one of the most common Korean condiments and is made with vegetables, chili pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and salt. It is lightly fermented, sort of like sauerkraut, and then eaten as a side dish or used as an ingredient in Korean cooking. The kimchi most of us are familiar with is made with Napa cabbage.

I met a friend on a cold, rainy day for lunch at Birds on The Roof, on Rock Road and Central, and my day immediately improved.

The restaurant is lovely, beautifully pink and green and bright. The pastry case was filled with pretty treats and cakes, and we were greeted by smiles and seated right away.

We sat and were given three little biscuits, light pink and green and cream, flavored gently and only slightly sweet. The sweet butter that was served with them was delicious.