This month in Culinate:

Mighty Milk: What makes good milk good?

> I had no idea what silage was until I looked it up. It’s fermented grass or grains. To a cow, I imagine this is the equivalent of cheese.

This was a really fun piece. I am now an insufferable milk snob.

If you didn’t see it yesterday, check out this great interview with Tom Colicchio in the New York Times:

Even Top Chefs Have Picky Kids

Here’s Colicchio talking about his teenage son:

> But at the same time, there are some flavors kids just don’t like. For him, he’ll eat peas, but he doesn’t like broccoli. Green was always an issue. For a while he wouldn’t eat anything with chopped parsley. He still doesn’t eat raw tomatoes, it’s the gook inside. I had the same issue when I was a kid.

And on healthy eating:

> If food is well sourced and well prepared, I don’t think the word healthy needs to be brought into it. It’s healthy because it’s wholesome. That’s what we should focus on. You can buy a box of low-fat macaroni and cheese made with powdered nonsense. I’m not worried if I’m using four different cheeses and it’s high in fat. It’s real food. That’s what’s more important.

Look, I’m a big fan of Top Chef and would be sad to see him go, but if the Obama administration wants to draft this guy, I’m all for it.

We watched this great new show Friday night on Fox called _Smokehouse._ Somewhere in Memphis, there is a house where a shadowy figure (Al Roker) holds a svengali-like control over five scantily-clad women, who sleep in capsules by night and go out by day to win barbecue championships. Is the Smokehouse real? Or just a figment of the overactive imagination of a maverick FBI agent (Rocco DiSpirito)? Find Fridays at 9pm this season on Fox, or on the creator’s blog after the show in canceled in two weeks.

The new product shelf at Trader Joe’s is a real siren. I have bought a lot of stupid stuff because it’s on that pedestal next to the cheese case. Today, I figured, would be no exception, as I grabbed a bag of Tom Yum Cashews.

But these (a) really taste like tom yum, the Thai hot and sour soup, and (b) are an addictive snack. Here in the list of ingredients in its entirety:

Cashews, Lemongrass, Thai lime leaf, Sugar, Onions, Garlic, Lemon juice, Red pepper, Fish sauce.

If I had to criticize, I’d say they’re a little too sweet and not spicy enough, but you have got to try these.

Next! I eat a lot of pickled jalapeños. I put them in quesadillas and burritos, on pizza, on hot dogs, tortas, and other sandwiches. I’d been buying the canned ones in the Mexican food section until my friend Allen Garvin, of Texas, mentioned that he prefers Mezzetta brand, which (at least at my supermarket) is sold in a jar near the olives. These are crunchier and fresher-tasting than the canned ones, and you get a big jar for a couple bucks. Also, because they’re in a jar, you don’t have to decant them. I hate decanting!

By the way, don’t ever buy canned pickled red jalapeños. They are mushy and gross.