Jonathan Gold softens on Paula Deen *

In an open letter he posted at the LA Weekly's food blog, Jonathan Gold never quite apologizes to Paula Deen for blasting her selection as Rose Parade grand marshal. But he does explain how his words came to be printed, and allows that "our mutual friends say that you are delightful." Excerpt:

When I heard Tuesday that you had been named Grand Marshal of the 2011 Rose Parade, my reaction was not a pretty one. And while I wasn't expecting the email response I gave Janette Williams, the Pasadena Star-News reporter, to be printed - I'd thought I was setting up a phone interview, I ended the note with the words "Maybe I'm better off not saying anything,'' and I never did talk to the reporter - I was quoted accurately. My words, which seemed to worm its way into reports of your triumph in newspapers all over the world, must have left a stain on an otherwise joyful day....

I happen not to favor your brand of Southern cooking - the cookbooks I love best are those by Edna Lewis, Martha Foose, maybe Mrs. S.R. Dull, and my own Southern mother had her own, rather strident views on the subject. I have never tossed a can of cream of mushroom soup, a box of brownie mix or a package of cream cheese into anything I've cooked, and I'm not about to start now. I use neither seasoned salt nor bouillon granules. And your quip that Californians eat too much tofu and lettuce got on my nerves a bit, in the way that someone saying that Georgians survive on fried chicken and Moon Pies might get on yours.

But our mutual friends say that you are delightful. You clearly love food. And I know that if we were to sit down together, we would probably get along just fine - I suspect that you, like me, could talk for an hour about the finer points of grits, or country ham, or pie crust without beginning to exhaust the topic.

Talk about legs to a story. Gold was on "Which Way, L.A.?" last night doing the mea culpa with Warren Olney. At KPCC, John Rabe also felt moved to comment.

I'm reminded: On with KPCC's Patt Morrison in April, Deen answered a question about vegetarian options by saying "if you don't want to go with pork...you can certainly find smoked turkey wings from the grocery store.''