Gary Allen's Blog, page 4
March 12, 2023
Food Sites for April 2023
Root vegetables hold us over until the first spring greens appear.
According to Eliot, “April is the cruelest month” but, for our money, March is the bad guy. Perhaps it’s just the difference between Eliot's British April and our Hudson Valley April. Even now—with a huge snowstorm in the forecast—crocus, snowdrops, and hellebores sit blooming, waiting to be crushed.
These newsletters are always posted around two weeks before their title months, but our longed-for April is nowhere to be seen. The clocks have just sprung ahead, foreshadowing The Spring equinox, less than two weeks away but—in March—all we managed to do was cook, write, and post Substack newsletters.
This month, we added:
List-making 101, an excursion into the history of—of all things—taxonomy as it applies to sauces.
A Little Story; an attempt to tell a war story that isn’t gung-ho patriotic.
Knowledge Aforethought introduced our latest book, Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business.
Afterthought revisited an enormous dinner of Maryland crabs.
Another New Story spun a Kafkaesque tale of lunchtimes gone awry.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
Rondout Creek flows into the Hudson not far from our house. With the Opening Day of trout season fast approaching, I’m reminded of a passage that—for once—does not appear in On the Table’s culinary quote collection.
“If I were a trout, I should ascend every stream till I found the Rondout. It is the ideal brook. What homes these trout have, what retreats under the rocks, what paved or flagged courts ... what crystal depths where no net or snare can reach them.” John Burroughs
Does that make me an April Fool—or must I actually stand in icy waters with a flyrod in hand to qualify?
Gary
April 2023
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Alicia Kennedy), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
(Tony Rehagen, at experience, on the application of modern technology to ancient brewing methods)
Curados, Kombuchas, Pulques: A Flowering of Fermented Flavors in Oaxaca
(Joe Ray’s article in Wired)
Delicious History of Deep-Fried Foods, The
(the short version, from Fried Generation)
Hollywood History of Fettucine Alfredo, The
(according to Giada De Laurentiis)
Little-Known History of Champagne, The
(from Lily Radziemski, at BBC’s World Table)
Most Iconic Sandwich in Every State, The
(Hannah Doolin’s gallery at delish)
(Andrew Snavely’s primer, at Primer)
Surprisingly Sacred Roots of Chocolate, The
(Sam O’Brien’s article in Gastro Observer)
(shaken—or stirred—by Punch)
(Courtney Iseman’s list in Punch)
Why Is It Called “Corned Beef” If It Doesn’t Contain Corn?
(Ellen Gutoskey has the answer, at Mental Floss)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
Digging in the (Orange) Crates
Experts Explain the Science of Why You Get “Hangry”—and How to Avoid It
Gastronomy and Everyday Aesthetics
In Praise of Indie Coffee Shops
Let’s Talk About the Writing Process
Lust, Lies, and Empire: The Fishy Tale Behind Eating Fish on Friday
Metaphysics of Waffle House, The
My Day in the KFC Test Kitchen
On Acceptance: Thinking Through Traveling via Flavor
On Culinary Tourism: The First Lecture in the Class I'm Teaching This Semester
On Food Destinations: The Construction of Desire
Push for Food Sovereignty Is Evolving Puerto Ricans’ Relationship with the Land, A
Raise a Toast in Honor of the World’s Oldest Known Beerhall!
Support Group for Former Trendy Foods, A
— podcasts, etcetera —
Michel Houellebecq: “Writing Is Like Cultivating Parasites in Your Brain.”
Thick and Tangy History of Ketchup, The
Where Did Cheese Really Come From?
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #270 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2023 by Gary Allen.
February 16, 2023
Food Sites for March 2023
Croci are starting to sprout... so things are looking up!
Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day are in the rearview mirror, President’s Day is right around the corner, but we’re looking forward to the next important milestone: The Spring equinox. For now, all we do is cook, write, and post Substack newsletters:
A Toast for a geriatric wedding.
Paddling Down the Old Milne Stream... about some writers’ feelings about “tiddely-pom.”
Raising Another Glass...on self-doubt and how one writer overcame it.
Tapping Our Family Trees on things we might learn from our DNA>
Something in the Air, in which Salman Rushdie gave us an excuse to revisit ancient writings.
Just My Type... on our life-long struggle with keyboards.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
Late winter is about hope—often thwarted hope. Consequently, some comments that may, or may not, be from On the Table’s culinary quote collection.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast... Alexander Pope
“Hope” is the thing with feathers. Emily Dickenson
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man. Friedrich Nietzsche
Gary
March 2023
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Roz Cummins), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
7 Strange but Scrumptious Facts About the History of the Hamburger
(Thom Dunn, at Upworthy, reveals the fact that hamburger’s origin is still mysterious)
American Cheese Deserves Your Respect
(Shilpa Uskokovic’s Bon Appetit article about stuff that’s either white or yellow)
(Gastro Obscura’s Senior Editor, Sam O’Brien on chocolate’s history)
Did You Know Velveeta Cheese Has Hudson Valley Roots?
(and not just Velveeta; David Levine’s article in Hudson Valley)
(Tori Avey’s article for PBS’s The History Kitchen)
(meow, Cynthia Bertelsen!)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Fermented Shrimp
(Eater’s Annie Hariharan and Alia Ali tell the pungent story of Southeast Asia’s signature ingredient)
(Emily Monaco’s article at Epicure & Culture)
From Fish to Mushrooms to Tomatoes
(ketchup history from Julia Skinner)
I Desperately Want to Have a Beer at This Ancient Sumerian Bar
(Barry Petchesky visits an Iraqi archaeological site)
(Ruth Reichl’s substack pages)
Last Mustard Maker in Dijon, The
(Emily Monaco’s Gastro Obscura article on the Gallic condiment)
Murky, Salty Mystery of Worcestershire Sauce, The
(provided by Matthew Zuras, at Epicurious)
Reviving the American Chestnut
(Nicholas Gill’s New Worlder article on the endangered Castanea dentata)
Tour of America’s Beloved Regional Cocktails, A
(Guided by Nicole Hansen, at Punch)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
Best Places to Write Your Novel According to Authors, The: Tried and Tested
Capturing Family Recipes for Digital Sharing Across the Generations
Chef’s Knife, The—A Blade of Glory
Cottage Cheese Is Making a Comeback
Final Meal, A: Remembering a Friend Through the Food We Shared
Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow, The
From the Trenches: The Joy of Breakfast
Glories of Dining Out Alone, The
How Did “Recipe Developer” Become a Famous Job?
How These AI-Powered Chatbots Keep Getting Better
Long Forgotten Snack Foods of the 1970s
Magic of Mushrooms in Arts, The— in Pictures
Sauce That Survived Italy’s War on Pasta, The
We Need to Talk About Wine Talk
What You Buy When You Buy the Classics
Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
— more blogs —
— podcasts, etcetera —
Conversation with Daniela Galarza, A
Inside an Insect Farm: Are Mealworms a Sustainable Meat Alternative?
Stories From the Torrid History of Absinthe
Why Sweden Loves Food in Tubes
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #269 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2023 by Gary Allen.
January 12, 2023
Food Sites for February 2023
One of our favorite Peekamoose waterfalls—
with not much in the way of falling water.
Winter has finally arrived with a vengeance—not a lot of snow, so far, but it’s been damned cold around here. Definitely soup, stew, and baking season. We haven’t once been tempted to go wandering in the woods (that photo was taken from the side of the road, not far from the car’s heater). Consequently, we’ve been cooking, writing, and posting Substack newsletters:
Portrait of the Artist as The Invisible Man. Excruciating self-analysis and a bit more of the story from the last episode (Once More, Under the WIP).
Another WIP, interrupted. Another excerpt from yet another book-in-progress.
WIP-lash added another sample from the previous post, but—just to make things interesting (that is: difficult)—out of chronological order.
Chuck Full o’ Something: an exercise in unmitigated digression.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
We hoped to find some wintery comments from On the Table’s culinary quote collection but, instead, found these about frozen food.
Go figure.
If it weren’t for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the television, we’d still be eating frozen radio dinners. Johnny Carson
I personally prefer a nice frozen TV Dinner at home, mainly because it’s so little trouble. All you have to do is have another drink while you're throwing it in the garbage. Jack Douglas
Gary
February 2023
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Fabio Parasecoli), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
(Eric Dursteler’s chapter in Insatiable Appetite)
Add “Electric” to Your Flavor Palate.
(Sam Lin-Sommer explores Sichuan Pepper—and similar spices—for Gastro Obscura)
Cookbook for Dining with the Dead, A
(Sam O'Brien’s Gastro Obscura article on the foods of Día de los Muertos)
Forgotten Baking Technique That Turns Bacteria Into Delicious, Cheesy Bread, The
(Natalie Zarrelli describes baking bread with bacteria in place of yeast at Gastro Obscura )
Forgotten Cookbooks That Fueled Women’s Suffrage, The
(Sam O'Brien’s Gastro Obscura article about an 1886 book that merged cookery with activism)
History of the Martini Glass, The
(a toast from Olivia White, at VinePair)
How Countries Use Food to Win Friends and Influence People
(an excerpt from Fabio Parasecoli’s book, Gastronativism: Food, Identity, Politics)
I Eat, Therefore I Am: Disgust and the Intersection of Food and Identity
(Daniel Kelly and Nicolae Morar in The Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics)
(anthropologist Stephen Wooding addresses the question in Sapiens)
Mysterious Origin of Corn, The
(the history and genetics of maize, from Carol A. Westbrook at 3 Quarks Daily)
Passion (and Fantastical Fashion) of France’s Food Brotherhoods, The
(Anna Mindess on the serious—and sometimes seriously silly—groups that revere regional specialites in France; article at Gastro Obscura)
Same Compounds: Different Flavours?
(Barry C. Smith's paper in Proceedings of Wine Active Compounds 2008 )
(database of 5,000 historical cookbooks and related food history, started by Barbara Ketcham Wheaton six decades ago but online now)
“Squirrel, if You’re so Inclined”
(“recipes, narrative and the rhetoric of southern identity” by Carrie Helms Tippen, in Food, Culture & Society)
These Medieval Food Habits Changed the Way Food is Eaten Today
(Larry Holzwarth, at History Collection, on what ordinary people ate)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
4 Library Collections Filled with Culinary Treasures
AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing
Challenges of Writing a Continent-Spanning Cookbook, The
Eat Like England’s First Non-Royal Ruler with This Propaganda-Filled Cookbook
Food of the Gods: Cure for Humanity? A Cultural History of the Medicinal and Ritual Use of Chocolate
“Hot Girl Food”: How Food Porn Changed in 2022
How Food Influencers Sharpen Their Brands: Print Cookbooks
Is Your Favorite Food Genetic? Study Identifies 325 Genes That Influence Taste
Quest for the Gros Michel, A: the Great Banana of Yesteryear
Southern Cooking Myths You Shouldn’t Believe
Taste of Louisiana, A: Mainstreaming Blackness Through Food in The Princess and the Frog
To Cook a Wolf–Baking with M F K Fisher
What You Need in Your Kitchen Most, According to Cookbook Authors
— podcasts, etcetera —
Everything You Know About Mexican Food Is a Lie
Food Origins: Why Jesus Never Ate a Banana
Inspiring Persistence of Marion Nestle, The
Making Pots from German Helmets 1946
Many Rooms in the House, The: Research on Past Foodways in Modern Europe
Mysterious Rise of Food Allergies, The
Super Heroes: Our Favorite Italian Sandwich Shops in...
Texas Is Having A Testicle Festival & You Can Taste Them Battered, Fried Or Grilled
Trouble with Money and Publishing, The
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #268 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2023 by Gary Allen.
December 15, 2022
Food Sites for January 2023
At times like this, we really miss our old woodstove.
December brought the season’s first snow, and bitter cold (or, at least, what seems bitter—as we’ve fallen out of practice since the beginning of last Spring). Since we haven’t had much incentive for getting out of the house, we wrote one short story, made notes for the next one, and posted several Substack newsletters:
Holiday Dinner with Friends... reaffirmed Dr Sanscravat’s misanthropic approach to celebratory dining.
Lucre, Feeeeelthy Lucre described one’s early days as a freelancer.
Booksigning is about unwarranted optimism and unexpected results.
Once More, Under the WIP is about editing—and a little taste of a work-(that was, at the time)-in-progress.
Who knows what January will bring?
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
A few wintery words from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
There is nothing like a plate or a bowl of hot soup, its wisp of aromatic steam making the nostrils quiver with anticipation, to dispel the depressing effects of a grueling day at the office or the shop, rain or snow in the streets, or bad news in the papers. Louis P. De Gouy
Skiing consists of wearing $3,000 worth of clothes and equipment and driving 200 miles in the snow in order to stand around at a bar and drink. P.G. Wodehouse
The Highlanders regale themselves with whisky. They find it an excellent preservation against the winter cold. It is given with great success to the infants in the confluent smallpox. Tobias Smollett
Out of snow, you can't make cheesecake. Jewish Proverb
Gary
January 2023
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Jonell Galloway), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
5 Brewing Innovations That Are Changing Craft Beer
(Jerard Fagerberg, at InsideHook, on some hi-tech innovations to the ancient process of brewing)
Archaeologists Find 1,900-Year-Old Snacks in Sewers Beneath the Colosseum
(apparently, they also snarfed down pizza while they watched)
(detailed instructions from Elska á Fjárfelli, AKA Susan Verberg)
Fish That Sparked a National Obsession, A
(Robyn Wilson’s article on the history of Portugal’s love of bacalhau—salt cod—for the BBC)
(Diana Hubbell’s tribute to international foods-to-drink-by, at Gastro Obscura)
History of the Cocktail Party, The
(Jessica Fields’s article for VinePair)
(James Somers explains metabolism for The New Yorker)
How France’s King Charles VI Helped Protect Roquefort Cheese
(Nico Danilovich, in Tasting Table, on an early example of government protection of a regional product)
In The Miracle of Salt, Naomi Duguid Celebrates a Necessity
(Laura Brehaut reviews Naomi Duguid’s ninth book for National Post)
Inside the Scientific Quest to Understand Brussels Sprouts
(Inverse article that focuses on bitterness and biology)
(Scott Alexander revives—and expands on—questions about the veracity of oenophiles “expert opinions” for Asterisk Magazine)
Midwestern Origin of Fried Green Tomatoes, The
(Issue 72 of David S. Shields’ Unexpected Origins)
No More Fakelore: Revealing the Real Pennsylvania Dutch Cuisine
(NPR’s Nancy Shute gets the lowdown from William Woys Weaver)
Oldest Cooked Leftovers Ever Found Suggest Neanderthals Were Foodies
(article, in The Guardian, on recent discoveries in the famous Shanidar Cave)
(Linda Bartoshuk’s article, in Inference, on flavor as an “aggregate of all sensations”)
Short History of Espresso in Italy and the World, A
(Jonathan Morris’ paper in 2008’s 100% Espresso Italiano, edited by Maurizio Cociancich
Viking Nordic Food and Beverages Bibliography
(huge medieval list compiled by Susan Verberg, AKA Elska á Fjárfelli)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
10 Food Movies and TV Shows That Even Your (Very) Extended Family Will Love
Cooking and Tasting as Complex practice in the Work of Amy Trubek
Did You Know Africa Had a Major Impact on French Cuisine? Everything to Know
Drink Culture Doesn’t Have a “Foodie.” Here’s Why.
Get Back to the Land on a Foraging Adventure
How the Word “Vanilla” Came to Mean “Boring”
How to Make Autocorrect Work the Way You Want
Most Mispronounced Foods & Drinks from Every Country, The
Not Just How, But Why: Recipes That Teach
Please Take a Stand in Recipe Writing
Reflecting on A Year of Teaching
Researching Food Cultures Without Written Recipes
Restaurant-ing with John Margolies
Scientists Don’t Agree on What Causes Obesity, but They Know What Doesn’t
Should You Follow Expiration Dates and Sell-by Dates?
Skyline Chili, and Cincinnati Chili in General, Explained by a Local as Best She Can
Taste of Belonging, The: An Ethnographic Approach to the Study of Commensality and Collectivity
Technology of Writing, The: From the Essay to GPT-3
The Only Sure Thing with AI Is Writing Will Get Blander and the Rich Will Get Richer
What America’s First Cookbook Says About Our Country and Its Cuisine
Why Do We Stuff Foods with Other Types of Food, Anyway?
Why We’re Loving Mid-Century Middle-American Food
World Needs Processed Food, The
— podcasts, etcetera —
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #267 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
November 12, 2022
Food Sites for December 2022
March fourteenth might be Pi Day, but the holiday season—stretching from the end of November through the end of December—is all pie.
We’re just entering that eating season—or what director Marco Ferreri might have called La Grande Bouffe. While we might not, intentionally, be attempting suicide through excessive eating, it certainly might appear that way to an unbiased observer. In keeping with that thought, this issue of our newsletter is wurstig—bursting like an over-stuffed sausage.
Dismal November days (and nights) enabled us finish off not just one, but two novellas, alternating between more Substack newsletters:
Just Unbelievable announced the (self-)publication of a little book, Unbelievable: A Modern Novella, in kindle and paperback editions.
Reheated Chili revisits, and expands upon, an old article from Roll Magazine.
Mendacity...and its Rewards tried to look at the nature of truth but couldn’t find very much (it was, after all, election season).
Silliness is Serious Bizness, explored why we do what we do.
Spamalot! Spamalot! Began talking about the kind of Spam that doesn’t come through e-mail but, predictably, wandered off into the wild deserts of Digressia.
Another Book announced the (self-)publication of yet another little book, Noirvella, in kindle and paperback editions (it’s free to paid subscribers to our substack posts)
Gag (or Acid) Reflux announced the (self-)publication of one of our old books—done in collaboration with Jack Murphy. Inedible: Cruel & Unusual Foods That Moms Used to Make—and Inflicted on Young & Innocent Palates is available in paper and Kindle editions
It is a truth universally acknowledged... addressed the elephant in the room. The elephant did not reply.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
On the off-chance that you don’t get your fill of pie, this month, here are a few more slices from from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness. Jane Austen
A man that lives on pork, fine-flour bread, rich pies and cakes, and condiments, drinks tea and coffee, and uses tobacco, might as well try to fly as to be chaste in thought. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
Although the frankfurter originated in Frankfurt, Germany, we have long since made it our own, a twin pillar of democracy along with Mom’s apple pie. In fact, now that Mom’s apple pie comes frozen and baked by somebody who isn’t Mom, the hot dog stands alone. What it symbolizes remains pure, even if what it contains does not. William Zinsser
I don’t think a really good pie can be made without a dozen or so children peeking over your shoulder as you stoop to look in at it every little while. John Gould
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. Carl Sagan
I prefer Hostess fruit pies to pop-up toaster tarts because they don’t require as much cooking. Carrie Snow
Gary
December 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Dianne Jacob), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
Asafetida, India’s Odorous Taste of Home
(Madhur Jaffrey’s New Yorker post on Ferula foetida, AKA
“dyvels drekk” and “stercus diaboli”‑among other unsavory, but descriptive, terms)
Barbecue Is What Americans Agree On
(The Food Section’s Hanna Raskin interviews Datassential’s Mike Kostyo)
Brief History of People Eating Brains, A
(as Dennis Less said in Jonathan Dale’s Take-Out article, “Most offal is a lot easier to handle, mentally, but for some reason brains are some next-level shit”)
Coffee, the Great Literary Stimulant
(Ed Simon’s article—part history, part celebration—in The Millions)
Colonial Origins of Mexico’s National Dish, The
(an Atlantic article—by Nicola Twilley, Cynthia Graber, and Gastropod)
(Madhulika Dash, in Deccan Herald, on the new Indian cuisine, and the west’s recognition of it)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Tucupí
(Nicholas Gill’s substack page about South American sauces made from cassava)
Excavating the South’s African American Food History
(PDF of Anne Yentsch’s chapter in African American Foodways: Exploration of History and Culture)
Guide to Soy Sauce Varieties, A
(Sho Spaeth’s Serious Eats article)
How the Bloody Mary Garnish Lost Its Mind
(“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing exceeds like excess,” Oscar Wilde)
(Nicholas Gill on the Andean herb, Tagetes minuta)
I Did Not Love Squash as A Child.
(Andrew Zimmern’s paeon to pumpkins—and other members of the Cucurbita genus)
(Gastro Obscura’s Editorial Fellow—Diana Hubbell—spills the beans on old-fashioned methods of fortune telling with food)
(Chelsea Monroe-Cassel’s blog recreates real dishes that we might encounter in places that aren’t real: books, TV shows, and videogames)
Slaves for Peanuts Weaves a Complex Story Crossing Time and Oceans
(Martha Anne Toll’s NPR review of Jori Lewis’ book, Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History)
Taste of Chocolate: Biting Enhances the Taste of Chocolate
(Tania Dey’s paper tests and explains the phenomenon)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
Are the Meat Sweats Fact or Fiction?
Bakery Creates “Pan Solo,” a 6-Foot Replica of Star Wars Hero Made of Bread
Cookbook for Surviving the End of the World, A
Echoes of a World War in Wines from the Early 1940s
Fascinating Connection Between New York City’s Jewish and Chinese Immigrants, The
Good Research Librarian Can Help You Find Information You Didn’t Even Know You Needed, A
Great Food Instagram Vibe Shift, The
How a Food Influencer Makes Money
How a Single Machine Revolutionized the Fresh Flour-Tortilla Game
How To Become a Food Stylist and Get Paid to Make Food Look Good
How to Become a More Productive Book Author
Inside a Legendary Designer’s Recipe Sketchbook
Italian Region Where Tomato Is Off the Menu, The
Opinion: Eating Right to Avoid Catastrophe
Prescription Dinner: Can Meals Be Medicine?
Q&A with Matt Sartwell, Managing Partner, Kitchen Arts & Letters Bookstore
Science Behind Feeling Hangry, The: and What to Do About It (Besides Eating)
This West Texas Farm Grows the Most Expensive Spice in the World
What It’s Like to Be a Food Writer When You Can Taste Everything You See
When a Country’s Cuisine Becomes a Cultural Export
Why Chef Gavin Kaysen Self-Published His New Cookbook
Writers, Be Wary of Throat-Clearers and Wan Intensifiers. Very, Very Wary.
— podcasts, etcetera —
Every BBQ Style We Could Find in the United States
If Soda Commercials Were Honest
Unsolicited: Fatties Talk Back
You’re Dead to Me: The History of Ice Cream
— changed URL —
Why Only 1% Of Japan's Soy Sauce Is Made This Way
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #266 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
October 9, 2022
Food Sites for November 2022
Wellfleet oysters, in Wellfleet.
We never went away on vacation this summer, so we took an early autumn trip to Cape Cod. It was mostly an excuse to indulge in a week-long bacchanal of unlimited marine invertebrates.
Clams, oysters, and lobsters, oh my!
An oyster is a metaphorical literary treat. Inside its hardback cover, once opened, we discover (“discover”—isn’t that an apt term for what happens when we open a book?) a sight that might very well discourage a newcomer from proceeding. And yet—for the initiated—the sight engenders an appetite that propels them through to the last “page” of bivalves. Edible oysters rarely produce pearls, but who really needs pearls? Like reading a great book, eating a perfect oyster is pure experience—an experience more lasting and lustrous than mere pearls.
Many autumnal rainy days have let us finish the first draft of a novella, interspersed with several more Substack newsletters:
Gene Therapy celebrated the life of another writing friend, one who prided himself on being as delightfully tasteless and cantankerous as ourself.
Salt of the Earth(ly) is, as you might expect, about Sodium Chloride.
Vital Tooth used a visit to the dentist to speculate on what we have on common with some of our primate relations.
Not Going to be Invited... allowed us to indulge in a bit of convivial spleen.
Pull Out a Plum let us pontificate about publishing (and writer’s block).
Balderdash went on a fruitless search for truth.
Navelgazing wondered who we are, or were, or both.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
The world may not be our oyster... but here are a couple, ready-shucked, from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy, and to make plans. Ernest Hemingway
I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime “associates,” food, for me, has always been an adventure. Anthony Bourdain
Gary
November 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Nancy Harmon Jenkins), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
16th Century Origins of the Word Curry, The
(Autumn Swiers’s account, at the Tasting Table, about an ingredient and concept created by “culturally inarticulate foodies”)
America’s Best Regional Desserts: 15 Sweet Treats to Try
(reading this gave me a three-year-old’s sugar rush)
(excerpt from The Oxford Handbook of Food History, edited by R. Kenji Tierney, and Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney)
(“A Food Scientist Indulges in the Secret,” at Inverse)
Brief History of the S’more, America’s Favorite Campfire Snack, A
(Jeffrey Miller, in The Conversation, on the antecedents of the Girl Scout’s treat)
Eating Like an Explorer Once Called for Plenty of “Portable Soup”
(Laura Kiniry’s Gastro Obscura post on the dessicated stock that provisioned expeditions before canning was invented)
(the tines they are a changin’: Marc de Ferrière le Vayer’s history in Alimentarium)
(beloved by pastry chefs, the beans are still “...illegal in the United States... because they contained trace elements of... coumarin”)
Global Diversity of French Fry Dips Is a Window into the Way We Eat Today, The
(Dan Nosowitz, at Gastro Obscura, begins with the history of fries, then categorizes the vast list of dipping sauces in a way that is manageable and informative)
History of Chicken and Waffles: Part 1, A
(H.D. Miller’s substack history of a southern favorite; Part 2)
(Tori Avey expands on the entry in the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink)
Issue 69, MEADOW TEAS, Part 2: Catnip Tea
(David Shields’ substack post about a forgotten beverage)
(Julie Etra on the wide range of edible wild greens, in The Eye, a magazine from Beach, Village & Urban Living in Oaxaca)
Mysterious, Vexing, and Utterly Engrossing Search for the Origin of Eels, The
(Christina Couch, at Hakai Magazine, on a seafood mystery)
Owamni: A (R)evolution of Indigenous Foods
(Stefanie Ellis, in the BBC’s World’s Table, about a restaurant that is turning Native American foodstuffs into haute cuisine; more, on similar restaurants, here)
Pacific Coast Food: An Insider’s Guide to L.A. “Russian Costco”
(Hadley Tomicki reviews this store for culinary backstreets but, along the way, introduces westerners to many unfamiliar Soviet-era foodstuffs)
Remembering When America Banned Sliced Bread
(Diana Hubbell recounts the story of a WWII-era rationing measure for Gastro Obscura)
(Aren M. Maeir’s review, in Biblical Archaeology, of Max D. Price’s book, Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East)
Science Behind Nonalcoholic Wine, The
(Lauren Oster’s Smithsonian article)
What Has the Battle of Vienna Given Us?
(another culinary myth busted by Karol Palion’s blog, Forking Around with History)
Who Invented Mac and Cheese? This American Favorite Has Ancient Roman Roots
(Karima Moyer-Nocchi and Adrian Miller answer at epicurious)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
Brain Signatures Tied to Appetite Could Reveal New Treatments for Depression
Can You Really Eat Crocs? An Investigation
Fear Not. Have Fun: Ann Beattie on Lessons in Cooking and Life from James Haller
Hemingway’s Famous Sandwich Isn’t as Gross as You Think
How an Ancient Food Technology Is Being Restored on BC’s West Coast
H.P. Lovecraft Writes Olive Garden’s Dinner Menu
Indulgent Pleasure of a Very Late Dinner, The
L.A. Has Been Obsessed with “Healthy” Foods for a Century—These Cookbooks Prove It
Me, Myself, and My Mason Jar: What Our Glassware Choices Say About Us
Nikolaos Tselementes: The “Father” of Greek Cookbooks
Philosophers Drinking Coffee: The Excessive Habits of Kant, Voltaire & Kierkegaard
Recipes and Food Discourse in English—a Historical Menu
Sally Schmitt, Trend-Setting Restaurateur, Is Dead at 90
Science Can’t Take the Art Out of Winemaking
Struggle Cookbook Authors Face In 2022, The
This Is Your Brain on Food Porn, a New Study Reveals
Understanding the Reader Without Pandering to the Reader
Wine Drinker as Sensualist, The
“World’s” Greatest Wine Library Continues to Grow
— another blog —
— podcasts, etcetera —
Jacques Pépin Is a Chef AND a Cook
— changed URL —
Art of Eating, The (trailer 2022)
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #265 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
September 9, 2022
Food Sites for October 2022
It’s a jungle out there.
This summer has brought drought to the Hudson Valley. Our city’s drought emergency has banned watering. Some parts of our gardens have died, but weeds and established plants have not merely weathered it—they’ve gone absolutely rogue. Watering the tomatoes and herbs with used dishwater has exhausted any charm it might once have had.
We longed for cooler and—hopefully—wetter days and nights. So, naturally, with the season beginning to change, we’ve just had continuous downpours: a summer’s worth of rain in one week.
By staying inside to escape the heat, we’ve posted several more Substack newsletters:
Not a Hugger is a Dr Sanscravat confessional piece, with snarky comments provided by an editor (who is one and the same).
There Are No Two Finer Words in the English Language Than “Encased Meats” tells the tale of how we came to write about sausages (false starts and a lot of years preceded Sausage: A Global History).
Not Fade Away is a kind of memento mori, with a side of hot sauce.
“WIP it, WIP it good...” reveals the opening bits of a story we’re still in the midst of writing.
deconstructs Texan naming patterns and, naturally, smothers it in more hot sauce.
Among the Missing segues from self-aggrandizement to another reading from Cenotaphs.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
Just thinking about drought makes us thirsty—and thinking about thirst suggests some choice words from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
All animals are strictly dry,
They sinless live and swiftly die.
But sinful, ginfull rum-soaked men
Survive three score years and ten.
And some of us—though mighty few—
Survive until we’re ninety-two. Anonymous
Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly... they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the water they loved to drink. This good man, Noah, having seen that all his contemporaries had perished by this unpleasant drink, took a dislike to it; and God, to relieve his dryness, created the vine and revealed to him the art of making le vin. By the aid of this liquid he unveiled more and more truth. Benjamin Franklin
Gary
October 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Abe Opincar), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
(described by the folks at Happy DIY Home)
A to Z Guide to Restaurant Lingo (100+ Restaurant Terms Explained)
(Saif Alnasur translates chef-speak into English at Eat)
Almost Everything You Know About Cheese Is Wrong
(Stan Horaczek sets the record straight in Popular Science)
Bananas That Aren’t the Cavendish
(according to Gastro Obscura’s editor, Alex Mayyasi, not all peels are mellow yellow)
Botany Lab of the Month—August Edition: Rocky Top Corn Soup
(soup as a hook for botanical info about corn itself)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ghee
(Rituparna Roy, at Eater, on an ingredient that is much more than just clarified butter)
Everything You Need to Know About Session IPAs
(Hop Culture taps lower-alcohol IPA)
Everything You Need to Know About Trying Nepal’s Hallucinogenic “Mad Honey”
(Christine Sarikas’ Matador Network article about nectar of the gods... or, at least, rhododendrons)
(not spicy hot, popular hot; Ligaya Misham’s article, in The New York Times)
How to Drink Wine Like an Italian
(Marcella Newhouse explains at Wine Enthusiast)
Issue 67, ARK OF TASTE, Part 3: Dry Monterey Jack Cheese
(David S. Shields on the history and process of a unique California cheese)
(Robert Romagnoli’s illustrated histories of New York’s iconic foods—bagels, black-and-white cookies, egg creams and more)
Pizza Topping That Divides the World, A
(Stephen Dowling and Richard Gray, in BBC Future, share too much about pineapple-ham pizza—and related crimes against humanity; can you guess how I feel about the subject?)
Rethinking Our Relationship with Cumin
(Diana Kuan surveys the international appeal of Cuminum cyminum for Taste)
Sorry, Scoville. Peppers Deserve Better Than an Archaic Heat Scale.
(Tamar Haspel makes the case, in the Washington Post, for a more scientific way to measure a chile’s heat)
Supercharged Biotech Rice Yields 40% More Grain
(Erik Stokstad reports, in Science, on how duplicating one of the plant’s own genes increases its production of rice)
What’s Behind America’s Pickle Craze?
(Kenneth Symsack and Jeffrey Miller spear some answers, at Fast Company)
What’s the Difference Between Natural, Vegan, Organic, Biodynamic, and 00 Wine?
(Kate Kassin clears things up, at Bon Appetit)
What’s the Difference Between Shrimp and Prawns?
(Stacy Ballis’ answer at Food & Wine)
When Every Ketchup but One Went Extinct
(Sam Lin-Sommer’s Gastro Obscura article tells the story behid Heinz’s market dominance)
(Alex Mayyasi—at Gastro Obscura—wonders why no one is making great wine using grape varieties other than those originally from Europe)
Why Do (Some) Humans Love Chili Peppers?
(Gideon Lasco—a medical anthropologist—approaches the question globally at Sapiens)
Why There’s No “Dijon” in Dijon Mustard
(the BBC’s World Table rephrases and answers the old question, “have you any Grey Poupon?”)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
10 Best Food Commercials of the ‘90s, The
10 Fancy Foods Everyone Used to Think Were Gross
20 of the Most Beloved Types of Pizza from Across the US
23 Hot Dogs from Around the World That You Need to Try
Beer To Be Made from Yeast Swabbed from Roald Dahl’s Writing Chair
Chicago’s Beloved Italian Beef Sandwich Is Ready to Conquer America
How I Got My Job: Writing Children’s Books About Food
How to Get Published: A Book’s Journey From “Very Messy” Draft to Best Seller
“I Fail Almost Every Day”: An Interview with Samin Nosrat
In Praise of Single-Subject Cookbooks
Masculine Urge to Eat Raw Meat, The
Pirate Who Penned the First English-Language Guacamole Recipe, The
Pleasure to Burn, A: Why Do People Like Spicy Foods?
Recipe Convention that Dooms Home Cooks, The
Remembering Pop Icon Claes Oldenburg (1929–2022)
Rise and Fall of Pushcarts, The
Spice Routes: Claudia Roden’s Culinary Diaspora
Texas Barbecue Quest That Started It All
We Asked 10 Brewers: What’s the Weirdest Beer You’ve Ever Brewed?
Woke Food Lovers Have Lost Their Minds Over “Cultural Appropriation”
— podcasts, etcetera —
Billy Connolly Cooking on Parkinson 1982
Ep. 45: Chef Pati Jinich on Mexican Food
How We Figured Out Fermentation
Pleasure To Burn, A: Why Do People Like Spicy Foods?
Why Sour May Be the Oldest Taste
Writing About Food is a Thrill Like No Other
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here, and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #264 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
August 13, 2022
Food Sites for September 2022
It’s still summer—can there be a more summery salad?
We don’t know what it’s been like where you are—but this summer, here in the Hudson Valley, has been brutal. The only times we willingly went outside was when we needed to pluck a few leaves from the basil. On the other hand, sitting in front of the air conditioner, for hours on end, meant that we found a huge number of interesting sites to include here.
It also gave us time to post several pieces to our Substack newsletter:
One recent post, “Sweet Burden of Youth...”, gave Dr Sanscravat a podium for pontification. As if he ever needed one.
“A While Back...” is an account of the origins of our first herb book—and the false starts that preceded it.
”Philosopher’s Stone” considers the way memories change over time... and uses a story from Prophet Amidst Losses as an example.
“Seen Through a Glass... Darkly” revisits an ancient hangover. The attached story is lifted from The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions.
“Summatime, Summatime, Sum, Sum, Summatime” abuses a friend’s innocent question, turning it into an excuse to post something from How to Write a Great Book.
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
There’s more to summer than salad—even ala Caprese—hence these comments from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos. Don Kardong
I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream. Heywood Broun
I don’t cry over spilt milk, but a fallen scoop of ice cream is enough to ruin my whole day. Terri Guillemets
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate—that’s my philosophy. Thornton Wilder
Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal. Voltaire
Gary
September 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Star Lawrence), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
16 Types of Coconuts and How to Use Them
(comprehensive HAPPYDIYHOME article)
American Cookbooks & Culinary Antiquarianism
(first of a two-part Substack post, by David S. Shields, about the precursors of today’s kind of food history; second part is titled “Issue 65, COLONIAL COOKING, Part 2: Charleston Discovers Culinary Antiquity”—see below)
Ancient Europeans Were Lactose Intolerant. They Drank Milk Anyway, Study Finds.
(Rachel Pannett’s Washington Post article on scientists’ conclusion that “lactase persistence [the ability to consume dairy without digestive problems] was not common until around 1,000 B.C., nearly 4,000 years after it was first detected”)
(Maria Popova provides a history of the alligator pear for The Marginalian)
Corn Whiskey Is Coming for You
(Fred Higgins, at Punch, writes about the newly-respectable versions of what was once known as “white lightning”)
(the introductory paper—by Allen J. Grieco, Mary Hyman, and Peter Scholliers—in 2006’s Food & History, vol. 4)
From Dry January to Fake Cocktails, Inside the New Temperance Movement
(Jason Wilson’s Washington Post article)
Guide to Eating as Many Flowers as Possible, A
(an interview with Dina Falconi, author of Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook, in Improvised Life)
Hellmann’s Mayonnaise: A History
(Andrew F. Smith’s definitive essay on the subject)
History and Legends of Hamburgers
(from What’s Cooking America, complete with a list of sources used for the article)
History of Some of America’s Favorite Sandwiches, A
(Hilary Harty’s article about ten of them at Fifty Grande)
Hollywood Effect, The: How Fried Green Tomatoes Became a Southern “Classic”
(Robert Moss’s Serious Eats article begins at The Whistlestop Café)
How Arcane Is Turning Craft Beer into Great Whiskey in a Matter of Days
(Kirk Miller’s Inside Hook report about a novel distilling process—in Brooklyn)
How Trying to Find a Cure for Scurvy Led to the Gimlet
(excerpt from Camper English’s Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails)
“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli
(a traveling exhibition, beginning at The Skirball Cultural Center, in Los Angeles; more here)
Infographic: How to Tell the Difference Between 66 Varieties of Cheese
(one approach to simplifying the almost infinite expressions of milk’s “leap toward immortality”)
Issue 65, COLONIAL COOKING, Part 2: Charleston Discovers Culinary Antiquity
(second of a two-part Substack post, by David S. Shields, about the precursors of today’s kind of food history; first part is titled “American Cookbooks & Culinary Antiquarianism“)
It’s Time to Take Notice of English Whisky
(Millie Milliken’s survey on Vinepair)
(Annie Ewbank, on Sodium Bicarbonate, for Gastro Obscura)
Mysterious Mushroom That Only Grows in Burn Scars, The
(Elaina Zachos’ Gastro Obscura article about a species of “pyrophilous, or ‘fire-loving,’” morels)
(Nikhita Venugopal’s Fifty-Two account of what it takes to sell ketchup in India)
So You Want to Be a Bootlegger
(Jeff Nilsson, recounts some instructions—from a 1922 issue of The Saturday Evening Post)
Unnatural Reactions to Natural Wine
(wine journalist Oliver Styles takes on a certain kind of wine journalism for wine-searcher)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
Can the Jewish Deli Be Reformed?
Changing Landscape of Eating Roadkill, The
Chef Restoring Appalachia’s World-Class Food Culture, The
Choco Tacos and Remembrance of Junk Foods Past
Ephemeral Appeal of Indie Food Zines, The
Ephemeral Art of Mexico City’s Food Stalls
Everyone’s Thirsty for The Bear—Here’s What It’s Really Like to Date a Chef
Future of Food: Agriculture, The
Internet Cannot Get Enough of Wacky Sculptures Made of Food, The
Is Root Beer the Next Frontier in Beer Drinkers’ Cravings for Nostalgia?
Is the Minimalist Restaurant Menu Over?
MFA vs. IRS: How Should Creative Writing Programs Talk about the Business of Publishing?
Mother Noella & The Cycles of Life
New Orleans’ Cult Favorite Sandwich Shop Finally Has a Cookbook
Rise of Cottage-Food Production, The
What Exactly Is American Food?
What Is Food?: By Upgrading the Food System, We Upgrade Society
Who Am I? And the Author’s Bio
Why Are U.S. Presidents So Obsessed with Ketchup?
Why Care about Food and Wine as Art
Will Rice Farming in California Survive the Drought?
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Choosing Between Plotting or Pantsing
Your Kitchen is a Time Machine: An interview with Marissa Nicosia of Cooking in the Archives
— podcasts, etcetera —
Celebrating your Sunday Best with chef Adrienne Cheatham
How to Capture Stunning iPhone Food Photos in the Kitchen
How to Shoot Commercial-Worthy Food Photos on iPhone
Restaurant Food Photography: Capturing People & Food
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here, and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #263 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
July 13, 2022
Food Sites for August 2022
A couple of young tomatoes...
...that might even ripen sometime in August. We’re not really vegetable gardeners, so—up to this moment—these tomatoes are pure expectation. But, as Laurie Colwin opined, “a world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.”
For now—we’re holding our breath.
We’ve posted A LOT to our Substack newsletter, lately. “What’s It All About, Anyway?” attempts to solve one of life’s great mysteries (with predictable results). ”In the Beginning...” is the lurid tale of how an innocent illustrator was turned to the dark side (i.e., taking up writing). “More Early-day Stuff...” provides a bit of the back story of how Human Cuisine came to be compiled. “Truth, Justice, and the Angling Way“ combines—unlikely as you might expect—lying, fishing, and seventeenth-century English poetry. It’s a story excerpted from Prophet Amidst Losses. “Watch Out for My Uncle... He’s a Cannibal!“ tries to explain our former preoccupation with anthropophagy (adapted from How to Serve Man: On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating) “77 Years Ago...” is a creation story (and only tangentially about the formation of radioactive isotopes). It comes with a poem. “You Must Remember This...” refers to an excerpt from Cenotaphs. It’s fantastic (but only in the sense that it’s just a fantasy).
A free Substack subscription will automatically deliver—under cover of darkness—such things to your virtual mailbox. In unrelated news, our poem “Trekking the Osteo Path,” was published in July 12th issue of Stunning Poetry (a digital newsletter by Silent Spark Press).
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
August is high summer, hence these comments from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Summer cooking implies a sense of immediacy, a capacity to capture the fleeting moment. Elizabeth David
No dish changes quite so much from season to season as soup. Summer’s soups come chilled, in pastel colors strewn with herbs. If hot they are sheer insubstantial broths afloat with seafood. Florence Fabricant
Cold soup is a very tricky thing and it is the rare hostess who can carry it off. More often than not, the dinner guest is left with the impression that had he only come a little earlier he could have gotten it while it was still hot. Fran Lebowitz
Gary
August 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Fabio Parasecoli), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
Bengal’s Ethnic Sweetmeats—An Unconventional Food: History, Tradition, Culture
(PDF of a paper on the complex range of Bengali dishes—candies/desserts—written by Tanmay Sarkar, Molla Salauddin, et. al)
Chicken and Waffles: The Pennsylvania Story
(William Woys Weaver served it up in the Fall 2020 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage)
“Delectable Foods”: This 13th-Century Cookbook Reveals a World of Delicious Recipes
(report of the discovery—and subsequent translation—of a rare cookbook by Andalusi scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī, with recipes, in London’s Financial Times)
(Annie Ewbank’s reminiscences about the golden age of department store dining, in Gastro Obscura)
(PDF of Melitta Weiss Adamson’s 2004 book)
(the plot thickens in Tim Chin’s Serious Eats story)
How a “Bubble Expert” Decoded the Physics of Making Mezcal
(María Paula Rubiano A., at Gastro Obscura, on learning why—and how—traditional proofing methods work)
How to Make the Perfect Cup of Italian Coffee
(Adam H. Graham’s history of the Moka pot, in the American Express magazine, Departures)
Invention of Modern Baby Formula, The
(Claudia Gelb, at Eater, traces its development to nineteenth century scientists)
MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami, An
(Helen Rosner enhances the flavor of “The Annals of Gastronomy” in The New Yorker)
Origins of Fake Meat Are Rooted in Chinese Cooking, The
(Ruby Lott-Lavigna’s Vice article about traditional Buddhist vegetarian cookery and its modern incarnations)
Paneer and the Origin of Cheese in India
(Aditya Raghavan’ history in The Hindu)
Purple Corn, Coyol Sap & Legume Pods of Guanacaste & Nicoya
(Nicholas Gill’s New Worlder post about the “wild foods and ancestral agriculture in northwestern Costa Rica”)
Tale of Two Buds, A: The Centuries-Old Feud Between American Budweiser and Czech Budweiser
(Brit Dawson’s Mel Magazine article blows the foam off a long-standing dispute)
Unhealthy, Smelly, and Strange: Why Italians Avoided Tomatoes for Centuries
(William Alexander’s answer, at Literary Hub; an excerpt from Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World)
(“unheard food stories” from “the many different cuisines within the U.K.”—and around the world)
(Danilo Alfaro addresses—in The Spruce Eats—the differences between methods that produce lactic acid, ethyl alcohol, and acetic acid)
Why Does Spicy Food Make You Sweat?
(an Inverse article in which “a neuroscientist breaks it down”)
(what, exactly, does “organic,” or “certified organic,” or “certified naturally grown” really mean? John Porter has the answers in Mother Earth News)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
3 Best Angles for Incredible Food Photography, The
Book Review: Notes from a Small Kitchen Island
Busting the Myth: YouTube Was My Nigerian Family Cookbook
Cooking History–How Food Inspired Events Can Enrich Museum Engagement
Cooking Through History with the Hofstra Special Collections
Epicurus on Wine Education and Its Perils
Father’s Recipe That Crossed Three Continents, A
Food and Faulkner: Stability and Nourishment Amidst Chaos in The Sound and the Fury
“Hangry Is a Real Thing”: Psychologists Find Link Between Hunger and Emotions
How Did the Diner Menu Get So Long?
Infinite Ellipses of Ritual and Flavor
Inside the Colorful, Campy, Unapologetically Horny World of Erotic Cookbooks
On the Rigidity of Recipe Writing
On Writing (and Not Writing) About Mutton Biryani
Romance Novels Are Increasingly Getting Hot and Heavy in the Kitchen
Simple Styling Tricks for More Appealing Food Photography
Sniffing Out a Cure for Smell Loss
Suiting the Local Taste Preferences: Stories of Transformation of Foods
Traditional English Food with Strange Names
Unbreakable Rules of the Chicago Dog—and When to Bend Them, The
What Our Fantasies About Futuristic Food Say About Us
Whipped Cream, No Other Delights
Why Do We Remember More by Reading in Print Vs. on a Screen?
Writers Shouldn’t Talk: Stop Encouraging Them
You Can Spot Climate Change in Old Restaurant Menus
— podcasts, etcetera —
4 Tricks to Isolate Your Subject in iPhone Food Photography
Can a Cocktail Trend Be Ironic?
F Word, The: Fatphobia in the Food Industry
Grandma Ida’s Nut Rolls Gravestone
Meet the Shaman Using Ancient Chocolate Rituals to Revive Mayan Traditions
(unfortunately, many ads)
Simple Tips for Magazine-Worthy Drink Photography
This Is Kwame Onwuachi’s America (and We’re Just Living in It)
What Cheese Looks Like Around the World
What Leopold Bloom’s Food Diary Tells Us about Bloomsday
— changed URL —
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here, and provide them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #262 is protected by copyright, and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
June 10, 2022
Food Sites for July 2022
Not yet grapes, let alone wine...
Folks’ gardens are just beginning to yield seasonal delights‑but they contain the promise of so much more, in another month or so.
Speaking of promises—that lead to larger than expected returns—we just realized that this issue marks the twenty-second year of publishing them. Someone recently posted that “Gary Allen has been writing about food for more years than most readers have been alive.” It was just a tad hyperbolic, but one wonders what else we could have been doing during those decades.
Probably better not to linger too long on that thought.
Maybe we should go shopping for some 22-year-old wine—or bourbon—to mark the anniversary.
Anyway—in the past monthe we’ve continued posting to our Substack newsletter. “I'll Take Schadenfreude for Five Hundred, Alex” features a story from Prophet Amidst Losses. The scene opens in a restaurant, but slides (quite literally, I’m afraid) precipitously downhill from there. “Call Any Vegetable...” leads to samples from Terms of Vegery; it’s about food only in the most frivolous fashion imaginable. “Once Upon a Time…” is another Substack post; it’s an excerpt from Backstories (which is not, at all, about food). A free subscription will automatically deliver these things to your virtual mailbox—in a virtual plain-brown wrapper—and no one will be the wiser (including you).
You can, if you wish, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a LOT of photographs), and Twitter. Still more of our older online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, mostly about our food writing.
A few summery comments from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Summer cooking implies a sense of immediacy, a capacity to capture the fleeting moment. Elizabeth David
A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing but vegetables. Gertrude Stein
Although the frankfurter originated in Frankfurt, Germany, we have long since made it our own, a twin pillar of democracy along with Mom’s apple pie. In fact, now that Mom’s apple pie comes frozen and baked by somebody who isn’t Mom, the hot dog stands alone. What it symbolizes remains pure, even if what it contains does not. William Zinsser
Gary
July 2022
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our hat to Jonell Galloway), thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
70 Percent of the World’s Macadamia Nuts Came from One Tree in Australia
(Sabrina Imbler followed the genetic trail to Hawaii for Gastro Obscura)
Before Chickens Were Nuggets, They Were Revered
(Nick Erickson’s New York Times article on recent work by bioarchaeologists and evolutionary biologists)
Black Creole Chef Who Paved the Way for Food TV, The
(Kayla Stewart’s account, in The Bittman Project, about the influential, but barely remembered, Lena Richard)
Building Blocks: Tortillas, a Culture’s DNA
(María Ítaka’s homage at Culinary Backstreets)
Cheese Mountains, Milk Lakes, and Other Surprising Stockpiles
(Gastro Obscura’s Diana Hubbell examines the economics and absurdities of governmental warehousing of surplus foodstuffs)
Diplomats and the Rise of “Foodism” in the 1960s and 1970s
(Rachel Laudan’s musings about why so many of the most influential food writers came from a career that had nothing to do with food)
(Roger Angell’s New Yorker paeon—a long leg and a triangle—to the most classic of cocktails)
Food Pairings: An Investigation into Why Foods Pair Well Together
(a 2013 master’s thesis by Mark Gaffney)
From Tiger Paws to White Claws: The 40-Year History of Flavored Seltzer Water
(VinePair’s Tim McKirdy on flavored fizzy water that isn’t an egg cream)
(Clifford Wright’s account of traditional ricotta made from whey)
How America Embraced Aspics with Threatening Auras
(Diana Hubbel’s Gastro Obscura article on the past and future of “perfection salads,” the complicated gelatin dishes that frighten, amuse, and attract us strangely)
Israelite Pottery and Household Life
(Jennifer Drummond’s article, in Bible History Daily, on food storage methods in ancient Israel)
Long History of Fragrant Food in India, from Massaging Hens with Musk to Cooking in Leaves, The
(Priyadarshini Chatterjee’s article, in Scroll.in, on a thousand years of perfumed cookery)
(Todd Coleman’s Saveur article about the real-life Duncan Hines)
(an article, on Dwight Furrow’s Edible Arts, on theories about how grape wine was first discovered)
New Insights on Ancient Spice Trade
(archaeological evidence of bi-directional trade in the Middle East; reporting on research published in Antiquity: ”Caravanserai Middens On Desert Roads: A New Perspective on the Nabataean-Roman Trade Network Across the Negev”)
Periodic Graphics: Baking Soda Versus Baking Powder
(Andy Brunning on leavening agents—other than yeast or other microbes—in Chemical & Engineering News)
Plants and People: Choices and Diversity through Time
(PDF of 2014 monograph by Alexandre Chevalier, Elena Marinova,and Leonor Peña-Chocarro)
Prove Me Wrong: The Margarita Is the Madonna of Cocktails
(VINEPAIR’s Katie Brown pours a social history of the popular tequila drink)
Quest to Recreate a Lost and ‘Terrifying’ Medieval Mead, The
(Gemma Tarlach’s experiments with making mead with caramelized honey; recipe and explanation in Gastro Obscura)
(an adventure in experimental archaeology, in The Conversation)
Sweet and Sour History of NYC’s Pickle Alley, The
(Nicole Saraniero whets our appetite for a talk on the subject, at Untapped Cities)
(2013 article in the Journal of Archaeological Science, by Dagmar Dreslerova, et. al.)
(Katheryn C Twiss’s 2007 paper in The Archaeology of Food and Identity; PDF)
What Is American Cheese, Anyway?
(J. Kenji López-Alt Krafts an answer at Serious Eats)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
5 Tips for Keyword Research for Food Bloggers
Abuelita’s Kitchen: Mexican Food Stories
As Police Use “Foodie” to Recruit, What Does the Word Mean?
Behind the Design: LEON: Ingredients & Recipes
Climate Change Is Now on the Menu at Seafood Restaurants
Cube Rule of Food Identification, The
El Rey Zapoteco: The Matron of Mezcal
Greatest Food Hoaxes of All Time, The
Here’s How Day Drinking Affects Your Body Differently, According to Experts
How a 50s Food Writer Championed Kerala’s Cuisine, One Column at a Time
José Andrés: The Power of Food
Numbers Driving New Cookbook Deals, The
Riveting Memoir of Life as a Chef with an Eating Disorder, A
Should You Start a Newsletter? David Lebovitz Weighs In
(subscription required)
When My Husband Left Me, I Headed for the Kitchen–Here’s How Comfort Food Can Save the Soul
Why Is Every Cookbook a Memoir Now?
World War Wednesday: We Eat Because We Work
— more blogs —
Great Food, Big Love, and Miss Emily Meggett
— podcasts, etcetera —
Andrew Zimmern’s Wild Game Kitchen
Chine: Dans le Restaurant du Futur, des Robots Cuisinent et Servent les Clients
Dear Writer: Advice on Writing Through Isolation
Meat & Three: A Culinary Book Club
Why Only 1% of Japan’s Soy Sauce Is Made This Way
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
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Herbs: A Global History
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Sausage: A Global History
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Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
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Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
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How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
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How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
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Prophet Amidst Losses
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Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
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Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
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Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
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Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
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Copyright ©2022 by Gary Allen.
