Sweet 'Day of the Dead' preparations

 
Here's an early peek at what's coming in Thursday's Food section:

There's an endearing sweetness in seeing camote and calabaza candies drying on metal racks inside a nondescript warehouse space in East Los Angeles. Maybe it's because with a half-dozen jamoncillo, or milk fudge, perfectionists hard at work for Día de los Muertos, La Zamorana Candy Co. feels more like an oversized family kitchen than a wholesale business.

"We don't really do things like those sugar skulls you see everywhere," said 22-year-old Vicente (Vince) Mendez Jr., a soft-spoken Cal State Long Beach senior, as he pulls out a sheet pan filled with sugar-coated tarugos, tamarind pulp candies rolled into small balls. The Mexican American Mendez family prefers to pay homage to tradition by making candy the old-fashioned way -- by hand, using recipes passed down through generations.

But staying in the jamoncillo game for more than 50 years has required more than just long hours and some great family recipes. Vince's father, 53-year-old Vicente Mendez, installed most of the modern candy-making equipment in the factory, including a clever slicer that he made with guitar strings. Those upgrades have kept up the milk fudge status quo, but it will be up to the youngest confitero to keep the family's candy-making heritage alive in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Read on in "The Artisan: LaZamorana, making candy the old-fashioned way"

Photo credit: Jenn Garbee / For The Times

Get your 'Just Desserts' free in honor of tonight's premiere

If there were ever an excuse to indulge your sweet tooth, this is it. After tonight's Top Chef finale, the first episode of "Top Chef: Just Desserts" will air.

In case you might not want to invest the time (and patience) to execute Dorie Greenspan's macarons or can't make it to the Just Desserts truck's last stop at Hollywood and Highland at 6:30 p.m., several restaurants around town are offering a free dessert when you reserve on Open Table. 

One dessert comes to every two diners, and each person must order a minimum of one entree.

Let us know what confections you end up consuming tonight. Personally, I'll take the easy route and drool over judge Johnny Iuzzini hovered over a bowl of Half Baked. 

"Top Chef" season seven finale, 10 p.m.; "Top Chef: Just Desserts" premiere, 11 p.m.

--Krista Simmons

Photo: Dorie Greenspan's macarons, prepared by Noelle Carter. Credit (for both eating and taking the photo): Krista Simmons

Scenes from the 2009 L.A. Luxury Chocolate Salon

Imagine being marched into a Baskin-Robbins and being forced to try all 31 flavors in succession. No matter how much you love ice cream, it would lose its appeal after a while. I had a similar problem at yesterday's Luxury Chocolate Salon.

Thirty-five confectioners and chocolatiers descended on the Pasadena Convention Center, peddling an esoteric array of chocolates flavored with chevre, durian, lavender, gingergrass and more. Novelty frequently trumped quality, but the occasional confection managed to excel on both counts. If you fondly remember Ants On A Log, the childhood snack made with celery sticks, peanut butter and raisins, you'll be amazed how Neapolitan Printing & Co. has managed to balance all of those flavors -- including subtle undertones of celery -- in their Ants On A Log truffle. The celery and chocolate combo might not sound appealing, but Neapolitan somehow makes it work.

Still, I have to agree with the friend who said the water cooler ended up being her favorite station. No matter how much one loves chocolate or how delicious the chocolate is, it takes a strong stomach to power through all those truffles, cacao nibs and chocolate bars. And it's nearly impossible to eat your money's worth at the Chocolate Salon before feeling like you need to stop. But, oh, what sweet torment!

[Pictures after the jump.]

Sampler Platter: ice cream & burgers control your brain, Bangladeshi goat, red velvet cookies

From roasted goats to red velvet cookies to recalled waffles to trayless cafeterias:

--Bangladeshi goat on the cusp of Koreatown at Taurat Tandoori. Mattatouille
--The 99 Cent Chef answers five questions for Time's Cheapskate Blog.
--Car smashes through front of Wokcano in downtown L.A.; two injured. Los Angeles Times
--Red velvet cookies at the Studio City Farmers Market. Sku's Recent Eats
--The ultimate mobile candy shop -- in Afghanistan. New York Times
--Chocolate and avocado cake with avocado buttercream. Not Quite Nigella
--Doing pullups at a Waffle House will get you arrested. NWF Daily News
--The cafeteria of the future is trayless. Los Angeles Times
--Are your friends making you fat? The power of social contagion. New York Times
--Kellogg recalls Eggo waffles over Listeria fears. Oregon Live
--Fannie May recalls 43,000 candy bars. Forbes
--Ice cream and burgers can control your brain. Reuters

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: A street vendor sells a roasted goat on the first day of Ramadan at the traditional Iftar market at Chalkbazaar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: Abir Abdullah / EPA.

Sampler Platter: Meatballs, Cadbury chocolate and healthy soul food

A "bacon-flavored" vending machine? Here's hoping that headline is accurate and not a beautiful error.

--The Meatball Food Marathon: Al Gelato vs. Larchmont Larder vs. Mozza 2 Go.
--"The contestants on Iron Chef have it easy compared with Dan Coudreaut, director of culinary innovation at McDonald's." Business Week
--Highfalutin Americans shun Hershey, flock to Cadbury. Wall Street Journal
--Cruzin' Cooler is a drink cooler that you can ride. Consumerist
--Heritage Link Brands promotes varietals by black winemakers. Los Angeles Times
--"Audit slams bacon-flavored school vending machines." Albany Times Union
--Soulful and healthy? Sinosoul visits Ella Mae's in Compton.
--Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal pay tribute to recently deceased British food show host Keith Floyd. BBC

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Spaghetti and meatballs at Little Dom's. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times

Candy Land on Lombard Street in San Francisco

What better way to show off the crookedest street in the world than by coating it with candy?

To celebrate Candy Land's 60th anniversary, 575 feet of switchbacks in the Russian Hill neighborhood were transformed into a life-size version of the board game.

Kids from the UC San Francisco Children's Hospital and Friends of the Children competed in a round of Candy Land, which makes my girlhood fantasyland, FAO Schwarz, look like child's play.

The real icing on the cake is the treat the kids got at the finish line. Check out this cake that Debbie Does Cakes baked for the event.

Hungry for more? Check out SFist's photo gallery. Consider yourself warned: This might spur a midmorning trip to the vending machine.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo of Candy Land on Lombard by Ted Weinstein of SFist

Sampler Platter: Pez, caviar, tortas and Tijuana cuisine

Can you catch mad cow from fish? Where can you eat in Tijuana if you're not a drunk weekender? Can mannequins commit indecency? These questions and more answered in today's roundup of food news.

• Pez Candy Inc. sues Pez museum for copyright infringement. Laughing Squid 
• Teenage Glutster revels in Tijuana cuisine: smoked marlin tacos, abalone chorizo sopes, apple-guava tart and more.
• The mascot for an Ohio BBQ restaurant can continue to wear her halter top. Dayton Daily News 
• Petrossian is revived: more than just caviar. Gourmet Pigs
• Whole Foods will submit its private label products to testing for genetically engineered organisms. New Mexico Business Weekly 
• Hudson House: $10-and-under gastropub in Redondo Beach. Caroline On Crack 
• Scientists worry about mad cow disease from farmed fish that are fed cow byproducts. Reuters
• LA.foodblogging visits Cook's Tortas in Monterey Park.
• Obama administration vows to toughen food safety standards. Wall Street Journal

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: Deviled eggs topped with caviar. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times

Sampler Platter: Best beers map, squirrel pie & defeating terrorism one cookie at a time

Your next meal could be walking around your garden gathering nuts as you read this — at least if you're British.

• Map of the best beers in America. (California wins with 474!) Strange Maps
• "The most successful interrogation of an Al Qaeda operative by U.S. officials required no sleep deprivation, no slapping or "walling" and no waterboarding. All it took to soften up Abu Jandal, who had been closer to Osama bin Laden than any other terrorist ever captured, was a handful of sugar-free cookies." Time
• Just in time for National Doughnut Day (June 5), the 99 Cent Chef takes you from Krispy Kreme to his kitchen for a step-by-step glazed doughnut recipe.
• Frank Bruni decries the "predictability" of the Obamas' date night restaurant of choice: Blue Hill. Diner's Journal
• Hot new British food trend: squirrel pie. BBC
• From the Department of Mixed Messages: After her big People cover story about losing 42 pounds, Melissa Joan Hart opens Sweetharts, a candy store in Sherman Oaks. (Who says our culture has schizophrenic expectations about food, dieting and women's bodies? Hush, hush.) LAist

— Elina Shatkin

Photo: Being fattened for the kill? This comely squirrel could land on your dinner plate if Americans fall for squirrel pie the way the Brits have. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times.