Portland Expo Food Review

| Posted in General News, Reviews

Margo Mallar weighs in on the food available at the Portland Expo concession stand in an article in Tuesday’s Portland Daily Sun.

The pulled pork was more of a slider than a sandwich, not enough to share but it was quite tasty, especially when liberally slathered with Binga’s barbecue sauce. The $8 lobster roll, however, was an abomination. It was flavorless and had a mealy texture and looked like the regurgitated krill that mama penguins feed their babies.

The newspaper also included a feature article that finds Portland ahead of the curve on many of the top trends identified in the National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot in 2010 survey, especially when it comes to eating local and organic.

Review of Benkay

| Posted in Reviews

Portland Food Heads has published a review of Benkay.

Benkay has been an institution in Portland for as long as I can remember, and I can’t imagine that changing anytime soon. Even with some very stiff competition as of late, Benkay continues to thrive and hold their own. I, for one, will be going back soon after the holidays.

Koelschip at Allagash

| Posted in Beer

Portland Psst uncovered a blog post published today by The Atlantic about Allagash’s experimentation with the traditional koelschip fermentation.

The future of American craft beer sits in a shed on the industrial outskirts of Portland, Maine. Built by the Allagash Brewing Company in 2007, the shed holds the country’s first commercial “koelschip,” a shallow, 15-barrel steel pan used to cool down beer wort–and expose the beer to naturally occurring yeasts that float in through the shed’s open stained-glass windows.

A Day at Len Libby

| Posted in People, Cooking

As part of its ongoing Maine at Work column, the Press Herald sent a reporter to Len Libby in Scarborough to spend the day making candy.

A few minutes later, I was dipping my fingers into a bowl of satin-smooth melted dark chocolate, then gently flicking ribbons of chocolate onto a giant pan of peppermint bark candy. I felt like Jackson Pollock, creating some wild abstract work of art as I let the chocolate fly from my fingertips.

This Week's Events

| Posted in Events

Monday—the Maine Ambassadors of Food and Drink are running the weekly Foodie Trivia Contest at Bull Feeney’s, and Stephen Lanzalotta is teaching a cooking class.
Wednesday—Old Port Wine Merchants is holding a wine tasting, and there’s a cooking class taking place at Black Tie Bistro.
Thursday—the annual Twelve Beers of Christmas event is taking place at The Great Lost Bear, the Sea Glass Restaurant is is featuring Justin Vineyards as part of a 5-course wine dinner, and there’s a wine tasting at Kitchen & Cork.
Saturday—pick-up for the Winter Farmers’ Market is scheduled for Deering Oaks Park and a wine tasting is taking place at the Rosemont Market on Congress Street.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a local area food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.