The Swarm

Every other newspaper and magazine I turn to this week is desperate for a tasty piece of food blogger ass. Quite right too. We rock.

The San Francisco Chronicle gets sweaty with a feature in today's edition.

The Washington Post goes food blog mad on the front page of today's Food section. In the same paper Clotilde pushes a blogged dessert our way and Noodlepie pokes its head up at the back of the usual suspects, award winners and winner wannabes.

Meanwhile The Tenessean cooks from blogs for five days. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer heads into the kitchen with Hillel. Then there's my own efforts in TIME Magazine and The Guardian.

That's six (count 'em) high profile mainstream media outlets, several thousand words, some pleasant food blogger pics (good to know we don't all look like the arse end of a bus ehh?). All in a matter of days. And I know, heh, heh, there's more on its way;)

Somebody bin putting sommit in my Mushy peas? I haven't felt this high since a hazy summer laced by my somewhat transcendental, tie-died neighbour's 'Wild food salad surprise' in Rugby, circa 1990... wOw... Viva les Food bloggers.

UPDATE: And there's more, from Canada.

UPDATE: Noodlepie is small in Oregon. Nice place to be small.

UPDATE: The Honolulu Advertiser runs the Washington Post piece.

UPDATE: And again in Dallas for the Star Telegram.

UPDATE: Repeated in The San Jose Mercury News.

UPDATE: Syndication gone nuts. Here again in the Arizona Republic.

UPDATE: Noodlepie says 'howdy' in The New York Times.

Comments

[Owen]

Graham - I'm not so sure it is a surprise anymore - the number and quality of food blogs is astounding and to be honest, I think that all these mass media outlets still miss some of the point. Some of you guys (my blog isn't up there in the quality stakes) are better than food magazines, newspapers, etc. There's something more real about the immediate feedback in a blog. People mention the little things that went wrong and how they coped. Somehow it makes it all seem possible. There's certainly NOTHING like all the food blog events anywhere else. Every IMBB kicks out about ten recipes that I want to put aside to make one day. Same with the Sugar High Fridays. My own Paper Chef competition kicks up stuff I am going to make myself a bit less often, but even though t didn't win this time around, just the sheer ballsiness of making a three layer truffle that transistions from savory (coffee, eggplant, pepper) to sweet (chocolate and fruit) in a single sensory extravaganza - and that was devised and made and photographed and chronicled by an ordinary cook in their kitchen at home from start to finish over a weekend!

Anyway, to add to the maelstrom of publicity and hype, I have been working on a collection of the best of food blogs for almost a year now. It runs from Summer 2003 to Summer 2004 and I will start collecting entried for a follow up soon. The book is at the printer and will be available in mid April and you can find out more at www.pressforchange.com. And if you are in the SF Bay Area in mid April, please come to the launch event...

[pieman]

Hi Owen. I think there'll always be a place for the mainstream food press, but you're right blogs could well force some kinda change upon them. Actually, I would not be at all surprised to find three or four bloggers getting regular slots in the paying press this year. In fact, I think any mag on the ball would be moronic to miss the chance of snapping up a few of our peers.

Doubt I'll be in SF in April, but you never know. Look forward to seeing the book.

[JoyfulCooker]

As a newby in the blogging world, I had no idea that there were so many blogs on cooking. Cooking, like blogging, gives us the opportunity to share what we create with others. Like milk and cookies, it's the perfect combo.