Tanya Wenman Steel is full from Thanksgiving even before the turkey goes in the oven.
By then, as editor-in-chief of food Web site Epicurious.com, she has overseen the production of Thanksgiving guides, menus, tips and timelines. Throughout the month, 4 million to 5 million unique visitors visit the site in search of ideas, answers and maybe a few new recipes to add to the family standards.
Steel talks with Bonny Wolf, host of NPR's Kitchen Window podcast, about what Epicurious users are looking for this year.
Turkey, as usual, is the main topic. People want to know what kind of bird to buy (organic, fresh, frozen) and how to prepare it.
Brining – soaking the turkey in a saltwater bath – is a much-discussed subject, she says. Steel is a briner while Rick Rodgers, author of Thanksgiving 101 (Broadway 1988) and a consultant to Epicurious this season, is anti-brining. Both feel strongly about their positions.
Rodgers put together a Thanksgiving guide for beginners to the site, one of the two special pieces the Conde Nast Web site offers this year. The other is a "Thanksgiving Adventure" for more advanced cooks and includes international flavors, something Steel says site users are showing a lot of interest in. The turkey on that menu, for example, is marinated in a Mexican mole sauce.
Steel also talks about tips for leftovers beyond the turkey sandwich and has suggestions for vegetarians who want something other than a tofu turkey.
And for dessert? She says most visitors to the site are still looking for pumpkin pie.
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