Before we start the real blogging and review of Portland's cheesesteak and mac 'n cheese dishes (we have about 5 reviews waiting in the wings), we have to create the foundation content for the site. On www.macncheesesteakpdx.blogspot.com, that foundation consists of the personification of the individual subjects (i.e. food items) and their cultural context in the societies that embrace them. Yes, we do mean the Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology of these American food icons.
So far, we've infused our observations of both Philadelphia and Portland attitudes into the characters. We have also provided a "literature review" on the relevant culinary backgrounds of our subjects. No, this research will not stand up up to IRB Standards but it sure is interesting and informative nonetheless. It also provides some great factoids for social gatherings and water-cooler talk.
What's next on this project? Putting together the logic and data sets for the Metrics & Benchmarking section of the site. This will be used to judge each dish according to an established standard. We hope that the aggregated data will be (1) amusing, (2) informative for the culinarily inclined and (3) showcase how to create, organize, and interpret everyday statistics.
