The Search for the Right Ingredients: Best Foodie Sites

Due to the focus of The Right Ingredients, finding web resources can be a bit difficult. Most foodie sites tend to discuss recipes and restaurants while leaving out other issues that are still food related. Finding sites that discuss what is happening in food entertainment are few and far between. Luckily searching for sites that discuss food education tend to come around more often due to the health and nutrition movement happening all over the country. After an extensive weeklong exploration of the web, I was able to gather twenty Internet based sites that tend to have information relevant to the focus of The Right Ingredients. This post will be an observation and honest appraisal of each of the twenty sites acquired and will be based upon the Webby Awards and IMSA criteria for blogs. These guidelines are used in order to help separate the sites with facts from sites with just opinions. For more information, these two criteria sites are linked. All of the sites discussed can be found in the linkroll as well.

The first is the most influential site, the one that started the food craze, Food Network. The Food Network site (see below) is based upon the Scripps television network station and contains a plethora of information from recipes (from the newly acquired Recipezaar.com) to each show, to bios on all of the chefs and hosts of the show. They have recently redesigned the site and it flows beautifully. One flaw that could be improved is the color design of the main page; items tend to get lost amongst the white background. An item that could be added is a newsreel including things happening in the food world. Food Network happens to have two sister sites, Food Network Canada and FLN or Fine Living Network. FLN is a very well laid out site, very inviting in the color scheme. This site contains information on food, wine and entertainment aspects of food as well as housing Iron Chef Japan. Food Network Canada tends to have different information than the US site, but stays along the same lines. Next is Bon Appetit Magazine’s site, a great site with a lot of pertinent information. The magazine itself is not just about recipes but delves into what is happening in the food world. The site is well put together and does not need to improve on anything at the moment. Another site along the same lines is Gourmet Magazine's site. This site has a layout that is exactly what I tend to look for, an area for food politics, food blogs, etc. It definitely has a recipe area but again offers up more than just great dishes. A site that is found is association with these sites is Epicurious.com. This site houses many cooking articles and foodie related items. It is a great place to find new and exciting food information. The final television site that is important in the food world is Bravo TV. This isn’t necessarily a good source of information for the food world however it contains the show Top Chef; a show that has become one of the most viewed shows on television.

When searching for blogs specifically, a few were found that made their way to the top of the list. Food Buzz is very helpful site in conducting a search. Food Buzz is a food publisher site that basically certifies good foodie blogs, recipes and sites. The site has great colors, easy to read, just needs better organization and structural work. Some of the following blogs are Food Buzz certified and some aren’t, still, I find they are all quite helpful. One blog, Food Network Addict might be viewed as a gossip column to most but in reality is a source of news in the food world. Somehow this site manages to get information on what is happening in food television before anyone else. The site needs a bit of a revamping, it still looks amateur and the writing states facts but definitely has a bit of sarcasm thrown in. Next is Food Network Musings, another site that discusses what is happening in food television, food world and with the occasional recipes. This site reads a bit more like a newspaper column than most and has a very distinct layout. One thing I would change is where the linkroll and site information is placed. It happens to be on the left side, which draws my attention before any of the articles. Nonetheless, it is a great site. The next, Food Network Blog, not a very noteworthy site, however it helped me find something very specific which is why it is included. The site needs to be updated both structurally as well as content. Next, Super Chef Blog, (see right) is a great example of a food blog, a site for all things food. It is very well structured with incredible content to go along with it. So far, this is probably the best food blog site that I have come across. The only thing that could be added would be a border to each section to make it a bit more compartmentalized. The last of the mega blogs is The Amateur Gourmet. The creator of this blog has written a book as well as continues to post recipes, reviews and just foodie related topics on his site. The site is well thought out and visually pleasing. It tends to be a huge discussion area in the food world as comments are constantly being posted to the site.

There are three sites that are great sources of information as well, The New York Times, The LA Times and CNET. The two newspaper sites are laid out like newspapers would be, with food and wine sections. They are very informative and have easy ways of searching. CNET is a technical website, somewhat broad, however when it comes to video games and recent technologies it is one of the first sites to post. Occasionally my blog enters a techie type area, and this is where I end up. The last set of sites found mostly deal with government, food regulations, food marketing and children’s health. These sites aren’t necessarily the most visually appealing but their content is top notch, specifically because they set the national standards. When needing to research facts and figures, these are the best places to find them: The Federal Trade Commission, Nutrition.gov, Food Marketing Institute and one blog that deals with this subject nature, What’s In Store.

In all the time spent searching these were definitely the best sites, it is very exciting to see how Food Related Entertainment and Education have become a main course in the lives of people throughout the world.