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Bookshops deliver during quarantine

As libraries close during the coronavirus crisis and bibliophiles find it more difficult to get their fix, independent bookshops in England are trying to make books accessible to as many people as possible. Much like restaurants that have been forced to shutter, several independent bookshops in Britain are getting creative to keep their business afloat and their customers reading, doing everything from delivering books to your door to helping you craft a recommended reading list for your virtual book club.

London children book store Pickled Pepper Books, for example, is encouraging people to message them on Twitter with the last book(s) their child loved and their age. In response, they will drop three books at your door in a clean paper bag, and send you a PayPal link for payment. Beehive Books in Norfolk is offering a 15 percent discount on all orders, as well as “self-isolation reading packs” for those stuck at home. These packs, which cost $52 each, are customized to your literary genre of choice and will include five books designed to keep you occupied.

And if you’re lucky enough to live within 10 miles of The Stripey Badger in North Yorkshire, you can get books delivered right to your door, along with a complimentary scone from their bakery.

A more complete list of bookshop delivery services is available on the Penguin Random House website, or you can use the Booksellers Association search tool to find details about your local bookshop.


More like this: This Italian grandma is holding virtual pasta-making classes to keep us connected

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Australia travel ban impact

Australia started to recover from devastating summer bushfires only a month ago, leaving behind a landscape that led The New York Times to proclaim “The End of Australia as We Know It.” Many spent the hot summer indoors, unable to go outside due to the hazardous smoke that filled central business districts and country towns. Brave firefighters battled the flames trying to protect homes rather than enjoying Christmas with their families. When the rain eventually came, it provided much-needed relief. But with the rain also came flooding for some towns that could ill afford more bad luck.

While the world came together in support of those affected by the fires, many Australians pledged to take part in the “fill up your empty esky” campaign, which was a concept established to support fire-affected communities. The idea behind the campaign was simple: Vacation domestically and make sure to stop at the small towns and support businesses along the drive. Purchase a coffee or fill your empty esky (cooler) with local treats such as honey and jam.

Cate Peterson, a yoga instructor and business owner from Lake Conjola, an area that was heavily impacted by the fires, saw the coming together first-hand. During and after the bushfires, the members of her community united and forged human connections that hadn’t been seen before. “There was hope and positivity while locals gathered at coffee shops sharing ideas on how they could rebuild and help one another,” she says. Locals reported that travelers visited from far and wide to support and buy from local businesses, but the tourism boost hasn’t lasted long with the spread of COVID-19.

While preventing the spread of the virus is a priority, for many communities across Australia, the precautions and measures to self-isolate, practice social distancing, and the travel bans have come at a time when these communities are relying on domestic and international tourism to get back on their feet. The Easter school holidays usually bring a welcome influx of holiday goers to these coastal towns. Families are eager to get the last of the hot weather by the beaches before autumn quickly turns into winter. With no short- to long-term plan being announced by the Australian government on how it will contain the spread of the virus or provide financial relief, Australia, like so many other countries, is at a standstill.

Photo: Alf Manciagli/Shutterstock

Australia announced closed borders starting on March 20, 2020, to anyone who is not an Australian citizen or resident. The vast majority of the population is self-isolating or working from home.

The usual optimism that is associated with Australia’s coastal and country areas has been replaced with a deep sense of anxiety. The last three months and the foreseeable future will no doubt be remembered as one of the toughest in the country’s history. At a time when the bushfires impacted areas that needed tourism most, people are now actively staying away as COVID-19 rips through the global population.

During the bushfires, the town of Eden on the southeast coast of New South Wales quickly became the focus of global news after the comedian and actor Celeste Barber shared images of the fires and smoke her parents-in-law were witnessing. When the last fires were put out in Eden, local Pam Skelton worked closely with others to create a strategic plan to rebuild the Eden community and help with boosting morale. The plan centered on cohesion and connection. However, as of March 18, the government announced far-reaching restrictions on non-essential gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors. These regulations will make it difficult for the markets and events in Eden to go ahead and attract the local tourism locals were hoping for. Cruise ships also dock in Eden, and the visitors from the ships usually help boost the local economy.

Despite the setbacks, Skelton says they will continue to work together as a community to support one another with donated services such as the community pantry still going ahead with strict health regulations.

Photo: Charlie Blacker/Shutterstock

Australians are a resilient bunch, and when the nation goes through a crisis it brings out the very best in them. However, these towns and communities will need everybody’s help to get back on their feet once we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While restrictions get tougher each day, it’s encouraged that those in a financial position to help small- to medium-sized businesses do so now. Purchasing gift cards for restaurants and cafes that can be redeemed at a later date contributes to cash flow as well as donating gift cards to be distributed to the regions that need it most after the bushfires. Another helpful solution is to pre-purchase accommodation in the future for small hotels and bed and breakfasts.

When health advisers recommend it’s safe to travel, it’s worth considering a trip to the affected areas. Despite the bushfire damage, you will still find some of the most fascinating coast and countryside in the world. Road Trip For Good is an excellent interactive map to help you plan a road trip through areas affected by bushfires. It’s our chance as a global community to show our support to Australia after two major consecutive blows, and help these areas get back on their feet.


More like this: How you can help the people and animals affected by the fires in Australia

The post What travel bans mean for the Australians who needed tourism after summer bushfires appeared first on Matador Network.

Best virtual ways to connect social

Whether you’re on lockdown or sheltering in place, steering clear of loved ones to flatten the coronavirus curve is not doing anyone’s social life any favors. Although we’re all familiar with the physical symptoms to keep an eye on during the health crisis, boredom and loneliness are side effects of the new, post-pandemic normal that can be distressing to our mental health.

To cope with social distancing, people are finding new ways to interact with their neighbors and making good use of video-conferencing apps like Zoom and Skype to connect with friends and family. A surprise to no one, virtual happy hour and digital drinking games were two of the first trends to take over the internet. But all the non-drinkers out there, or anyone looking to limit their alcohol consumption while quarantined, can rest assured: There are many ways to hang out with loved ones online, or make like-minded new friends, that are completely booze-free. Here are eight ways to stay social, and sober, during self-isolation.

1. Attend a virtual concert.

Following in the footsteps of Italy’s balcony entertainers, big names in music have started sharing their talents from a safe distance by live-streaming concerts. Performers like John Legend, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, Keith Urban, Pink, and Neil Young have all staged shows on various social media platforms. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie fame has committed to a daily home concert over the next few weeks.

Billboard is keeping a running list of upcoming shows, so keep an eye out for the artists you and your friends adore. Online venue Stageit is another resource that may come in handy: Artists perform live, and concertgoers can interact by asking questions and requesting songs. As fun as it is to dance around your bedroom in your pajamas, treat these digital shows like nights out to stave off cabin fever. Get a group of friends together, get all dolled up even if you’re not leaving the apartment, and enjoy your very own VIP section.

2. Join an online book club.

Of all the hobbyists out there, book friends are some of the most prepared to be stuck inside indefinitely. But not even unlimited fictional worlds can compete with a genuine human connection. Thankfully, all it takes to find human connection in the digital age is decent Wi-Fi. Literature lovers can consider joining an online book club while cooped up.

Several were popular before the coronavirus outbreak, including the Social Book Club, the Purewow Book Club, and Emma Watson’s feminist “Our Shared Shelf.” Others were started in reaction to the pandemic, including German tennis star Andrea Petkovic’s “Racquet Book Club” and author Erika Hall’s “Quarantine Book Club,” which links up readers and authors over Zoom.

Other literary resources, like Goodreads and BookSparks, can also help you track your self-isolation reading list, as well as provide a social component. Now could also be the perfect time to organize your very own book club: Invite friends, family, co-workers, or whomever; choose a work that’s available as an e-book or audiobook; and draft a loose syllabus with reading goals and talking points. You’ll appreciate the escape, and the company.

3. Put together a Netflix Party.

Good movies are some of the world’s greatest comforts, even more so when they’re enjoyed with our nearest and dearest. Though theater seats fail the six-feet-apart social-distancing test, cinephiles can still stream their favorite flicks with loved ones with the help of Netflix Party, a Chrome extension that lets multiple viewers sync their video playback. You can also chat about what’s going on without disturbing your fellow moviegoers by using the group chat sidebar. Note that the Netflix Party plugin only works on Chrome browsers.

4. Do an online language exchange.

Coronavirus is a worldwide pandemic that’s impacting daily lives everywhere from Italy to South Korea to the United States. We’re all in the health crisis together, which has inspired many to cross digital borders to connect with those in other parts of the world who are experiencing the same thing. One of the most productive ways to touch base with those abroad is to find a language-learning partner. You can stay connected and informed about the global state of affairs while also picking up a new skill and making a new friend. Italki and Speaky have long been two of the go-tos for conversation exchange, and the Tandem app can also help you find a talking partner. Otherwise, anyone who has a Reddit account or is willing to make one can also join the language exchange subreddit to find someone seeking their language and offering another, or make a post of their own to try to find the ideal language-exchange buddy.

5. Organize a web-based game night.

Huddling around a living room table with a group of friends, a stack of board games, and lots of snacks is a fun way to spend a dry Friday or Saturday night. Unfortunately, it’s frowned upon in the era of social distancing. Luckily, huddling around your laptop for a virtual game night is not. A number of popular board games are available free online: Settlers of Catan, Monopoly, and Cards Against Humanity to name a few. You can also find classics like chess and games designed specifically for the web, like Draw Something.

Check out the Pogo website to browse a selection of online games, or peruse Playing Cards.io if you want to get a card game going. (Virtual poker night, anyone?) If you’re willing to spend a little, there’s also the Jackbox Party Pack by Jackbox Games, which allows multi-player gaming through social streaming sites like Twitch and Discord. Many online games come with the option to video chat while playing, but even if not, you can easily set up your own concurrent call.

6. Go to church, virtually.

Church is not just a place for worship. It’s also a center for community, a beacon of comfort. A place where many people, religious and not, take refuge in their local house of prayer during difficult times. To continue providing calm and hope during the health crisis, churches from Chattanooga to Kalamazoo have started taking their sermons to the web. The BBC has also started hosting virtual church services on Sunday, and even Pope Francis has hopped on the live-streaming bandwagon. Even if your local church may not be offering virtual services, try to rally some of your fellow churchgoers to attend the same online sermon, then organize a digital discussion to talk about the themes explored. And don’t skip out on wearing your Sunday best.

7. Host a digital dinner party.

Like musicians, celebrity chefs like Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski and Iron Chef Michael Symon have been streaming quarantine-time cooking classes online. If they’ve put you in the mood to flex your pantry-cooking muscles, make a night of it by inviting a few guests to a virtual dinner party. If possible, choose a theme that everyone will be able to follow, even loosely, whether it’s a type of cuisine to whip up with ingredients on hand or a playful dress code to take the edge off. Try to create some ambiance; mood music and lighting can transform your kitchen. Then when it’s time to eat, lean into the foodie fun by sharing pantry-cooking techniques, swapping recipes, and generally enjoying good food and company. Drinks are welcome but not required.

8. Join a virtual jam sesh.

Jam sessions are the ultimate distraction. They’re a loud, liberating, creative way to pass the hours with your musical friends. It’s easy enough to organize a jam session via video chat during self-isolation, but services like Garage Band Jam Sessions make it easier to collaborate from a distance. If you’re looking for new friends to rock out with, free sites like TechSariga can help you find fellow musicians to connect and create with. The site also offers live virtual concerts, discussion boards, web events, an online music library to peruse, and more.


More like this: This Italian grandma is holding virtual pasta-making classes to keep us connected

The post Virtual ways to connect socially that don’t involve drinking appeared first on Matador Network.

Customer leaves $9,400 tip

As bars and restaurants will likely struggle during the coronavirus shutdown, customers are stepping up to help their favorite local businesses. In Texas, one generous customer left a $9,400 tip at Irma’s Southwest in Houston, writing this note on the receipt: “Pay your guys over the next few weeks.” The tip was left by one of the restaurant’s regulars, who, according to the owner, had been dining there for 15 years.

“He came in and had a modest dinner of shrimp tacos,” said owner Louis Galvan to Fox News, “and then left a $9,400 gratuity. I think he came here just to [give the tip]. He came down here specifically to do that and wish us the best of luck.”

He also noted that the restaurant plans to use the money as the customer intended.

“Basically we are going to split that among the staff members, not management. So, about 30 people will split the $9,400 evenly.”

According to Galvan, the restaurant staff were amazed by the show of generosity, and the act of kindness gave them a glimmer of hope. It’s also an encouraging example of the community-building Galvan has seen since the outbreak of the pandemic.

“It invigorated us as far as our commitment to the community and commitment to keep our business going. We’re going to grind this out.”


More like this: Two children put on a cello concert for their elderly neighbor in self-isolation

The post Customer leaves $9,400 tip to help Houston restaurant through the coronavirus closure appeared first on Matador Network.

New York City to-go cocktails

Since bars and restaurants are now closed in New York City — and several other places around the country — some businesses are making the most of the “new off-premises privileges” granted by the New York State Liquor Authority.

As takeout and delivery are still permitted in NYC, some bars and restaurants are going the way of Louisiana’s drive-through Daiquiri bars, and serving cocktails to-go. As long as the drinks are sold in a closed or sealed container, and purchased along with food, it’s all legal. Food, however, can be anything as small as a bag of chips.

Bars like Hunky Dory in Brooklyn are selling hot and cold Irish coffees as well as house cocktails like the Smoky Mountain Songbird, a mix of mezcal, madeira, turmeric, and lemon. Dante in the West Village offers all of its award-winning cocktails and full a-la-carte menu to go, pick-up, and delivery. Other NYC bars such as PDT, Attaboy, Middle Branch, the NoMad, Grand Army, and Leyenda are also offering the service, reported The New York Times.

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Food and travel books to read

Eating is about experience. Vibrant colors, strong aromas, and subtle flavors are a view into the various cultural and historical influences that had to come together to make a dish possible. But it’s not always feasible to pack up and go on an adventure in search of your next exciting meal. Sometimes you’re stuck at home with nothing more than a couple containers of leftovers and cans in the pantry that won’t go bad until 2052. For those times, there are books. These eight food-focused books will take you to places around the world that are famous for food, wine, and whiskey. They’ll provide inspiration, give tips, and pull back the curtain on some of the most highly regarded institutions in food. Most of all, they’ll provide a culinary themed escape.

1. Lands of the Curry Leaf by Peter Kuruvita

Photo: Murdoch Books

While the subtitle of Lands of the Curry Leaf is “A vegetarian food journey from Sri Lanka to Nepal,” this book is not just for vegetarians. Chef, artist, and TV host Peter Kuruvita’s collection of more than 100 recipes starts with a personal note of his experiences eating in Sri Lanka growing up. It was in his early years, he writes, that he learned “food and cooking were simply natural extensions of self,” and that there were no recipes, “just conversation and a reliance on the senses.” Thankfully, however, Kuruvita adds recipes to help the reader taste food as he’s tasted it over his well-traveled life. Lands of the Curry Leaf is one part personal narrative, one part recipe book, and one part food-focused travel guide. Gorgeous food photography and personal photos are spread throughout. This book can serve as many things — an encyclopedia of spices, an engaging read, a beautiful coffee table book — but perhaps its strongest use is as an inspiration engine to try the vegetarian dishes of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. —Nickolaus Hines

2. Coming to My Senses by Alice Waters

Photo: Penguin Random House

Alice Waters now holds iconic status in American culinary culture. Her Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse is arguably the pioneering farm-to-table restaurant in the country; as a chef, she advocated relentlessly for the now-ubiquitous slow food movement. In this memoir, Waters takes readers behind the scenes of her upbringing and then into the kitchen of Chez Panisse. Waters has a strong personality — opinionated, confident, even self-righteous at times, her perspective on how and what people should eat drives this narrative forward. Spoiler alert: After all these years, she still thinks Americans should all be eating vegetable-forward, fresh, and unfussy meals. The perfect memoir for readers looking for insight into the mechanics of a certified culinary genius’ brain. —Elisabeth Sherman

3. Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

Photo: Penguin Random House

A Food & Wine 2019 Best New Chef, James Beard winner, and Esquire’s 2019 chef of the year Kwame Onwuachi is leading a new guard of star chefs. In his memoir, he reveals that his life didn’t always look so charmed: Onwuachi recalls how his mother single-handedly supported the family while he found trouble with friends from even rockier backgrounds, before being sent to live in Nigeria at the age of 12. Onwuachi’s stint in Nigeria only stoked his adventurous spirit and his accompanying love of food and home cooking, which he carried with him into college (where his entrepreneurial attitude gets him in trouble) and into his first doomed restaurant venture. Ultimately his story is about perseverance and triumph in the face of hardship, and Onwuachi’s ambition will both captivate and inspire readers. —ES

4. Save me the Plums by Ruth Reichl

Photo: Penguin Random House

Ruth Reichl is a revered figure in the world of food journalism. Her latest book, Save Me the Plums, covers her time at the top of the now-shuttered Gourmet magazine, and it also includes a few relevant recipes to try. Her tenure was during what now feels like the height of excess at the publishing giant Condé Nast. Reichl delivers an insider point of view to the town cars, lavish parties, extensive test kitchens, and vast wardrobe expenses offered to the food magazine elite at the time. Save Me the Plums has a touch of voyeurism that pulls the reader through — whether they’re interested in media or not — peppered with insight to how Gourmet helped shape the way people see food and eating out even today. For Gourmet, food was never just about food, it was about culture and humanity as a whole. Though the ending is already known (the internet was not kind to the magazine industry), reading this book is all about the journey. —NH

5. How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry

Photo: Octopus Books

Technically a cookbook, food writer Diana Henry’s visually stunning How to Eat a Peach is more like a bible on how to entertain. Henry emphasises simplicity and pleasure; her minimalist aesthetic recommends dishes like sliced white peaches floating in glasses of chilled moscato. Organized by season, her recipes are interspersed with memories of her legendary dinner parties with Alice Waters, her love affair with Naples, and how a trip to Oaxaca helped her forget about an ex-boyfriend. These reflections are so vibrant and atmospheric you will be transported to worlds defined by sensuous flavors — crisp ceviche dotted with pomegranate, cream-topped apple cider jellies, and briney crab lakes dipped in sea salt and mustard mayonnaise are just the beginning. —ES

6. Hacking Whiskey by Aaron Goldfarb

Photo: W&P Design

Few things beat an experiment or two when you’ve got nothing but time on your hands and nowhere to go. Aaron Goldfarb, an author and drinks writer for publications like Esquire and PUNCH, collects all the experiments you could wish to try in Hacking Whiskey. You’ll find practical purchasing tips (Irish whiskey punches way above its price point) alongside plenty of cocktail recipes — all of which is delivered in witty, voicey writing. The real draw here, however, are the “hacks,” like how to mix two bottles so that they taste like the highly lauded Pappy Van Winkle, or how to fat wash your whiskey with things like butter and bacon. Add to that more than a few cocktail recipes and you have a book that’ll keep you entertained (and your house guests satiated) for months. —NH

7. Eat Up! by Ruby Tandoh

Photo: Serpent’s Tail

Former Great British Bake Off contestant Ruby Tandoh loves food and she wants to teach other people to do the same. For Tandoh eating should be about pleasure. Creamy ice cream, salty butter, juicy peaches — she wants to taste it all, no shame, no guilt. In this book, Tandoh doesn’t just celebrate the foods we collectively cherish as a global society, she examines their effect on pop culture too. She asks how food figures into everything from movies to sex, denounces diet crazes, even referencing both Roald Dahl and Nora Ephron. Here, Tandoh is a jack of all trades, offering up not just the requisite recipe ideas and shopping tips, but also providing a much-needed reminder that it’s okay — nay, necessary — to enjoy eating. —ES

8. Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker

Photo: Penguin Random House

Published in 2017, Cork Dork is still one of the best books for anyone looking to delve into the wide world of wine. Author Bianca Bosker, a journalist who knew little about wine before setting out to write the book, goes on a journey to understand the world of the sommelier. There’s a touch of exclusivity when it comes to the secret tasting groups she gains access to, and plenty of science as she speaks with doctors and professionals to understand what, exactly, makes us think wine is so special. Cork Dork covers the 18 months that Bosker spent becoming one with the wine community. It’s gonzo, it’s informational, and it’s at many points hilarious. No matter how much you knew about wine going into the book, you’ll leave knowing at least a little more (and in most cases loads more). —NH


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The post 8 books that will take your taste buds on a global journey appeared first on Matador Network.

Atlantic cod recipes and history

The tale of how humans discovered cod begins a thousand years ago in the North Atlantic Ocean, where the warm current of the Gulf Stream brushes the northern currents, creating a nutrient-rich environment teeming with life. It is the tale of a species whose fecundity and resilience populated an ocean with fish that grew to be six-feet long and weigh two hundred pounds: the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, the common fish.

The Basque cloaked the cod in mysticism: It fed Europeans voyaging to foreign lands and the first English settlers in America; it provided sustenance to slaves on sugar plantations while enriching New England merchants. This is the tale of a fish whose spawning grounds, limited to the North Atlantic Ocean, yielded a product with global reach. From the barren coast of Newfoundland to the humid islands of the Caribbean to the lava fields of Iceland, this is the tale of cod told through seven recipes.

1. Vikings: stockfish

Photo: Albert Llaura/Shutterstock

Centuries before the Middle Ages, the Vikings traveled the edge of warm ocean currents meeting colder ones from Norway to Iceland to Greenland to Canada, where conflicting currents stirred up nutrients that fed cod, the fish they harvested.

The Vikings tied codfish in pairs over poles and left them out to dry until they lost four-fifths of their weight in the bitter winter air, turning into a hard plank called stockfish. Vikings chewed on stockfish during their long journeys to a place called Stoneland, which speculated to be the Labrador coast in Canada and is known for its rocky and barren coast — perfect for drying cod into stockfish.

But Viking explorers were not the only fishers to follow the path of cod from Europe to the coasts of Canada. Basque fishers had their own secrets and Catholic devotees to feed.

2. Basque: bacalao a la vizcaina

Photo: carpaumar/Shutterstock

Bacalao a la vizcaina is an elegant Basque dish where a thick filet of flakey Atlantic cod is blanketed in a red sauce made with choricero, a pepper native to northern Spain.

While bacalao a la vizcaina became popular in the 19th century, Basque fishers had a long and mysterious history with cod. Much of Europe wondered where they were voyaging to find Atlantic Cod, which do not inhabit Spanish waters. Scandinavians who fished cod in the North Sea and British who fished cod offshore since Roman times had no record of Basque fishing fleets, yet the Basque were returning to Spain with preserved cod.

The Basque discovered they could use salt to preserve the fish, giving it a longer shelf life than stockfish. Basque merchants forged strong economic ties with Mediterranean countries where Catholic populations favored the durability and flavor of salted cod over stockfish. The medieval church enforced lean days where only foods deemed cold could be consumed — cod, a cold food, quickly replaced whale meat as the quintessential dish for Fridays and sacred days.

While the Basque were accruing wealth with each Catholic holiday, cod was becoming a widely sought-after commodity, and stories of the land across the ocean began to spread. By the 15th century, British explorers were following the Basque beyond the coast of Greenland to the coast of Newfoundland.

3. Great Britain: fish and chips

Photo: Alena Veasey/Shutterstock

The London fried fish trade began in the 1830s with Jewish merchants in the East End battering and frying the cheapest fish on the market, which at the time were Atlantic cod.

But before fish and chips became a staple dish among the English working class, the British empire claimed the rocky coast of Newfoundland in 1497 for drying cod. Preserved cod from Newfoundland became the primary provision on British fleets setting out to “discover” a world that would double in size over the 16th century.

While explorers chased after myths of gilded cities in South America, English pilgrims requested a land grant from the government to settle in Plymouth. There, they pursued the profitable activity of fishing for cod in a bay that was said to churn with shoals of cod: Cape Cod Bay.

4. New England: chowder

Photo: Ezume Images/Shutterstock

French and English people fishing off the grand banks of Newfoundland and the coasts of New England likely invented chowder, which in its earliest iteration involved layering salted pork with sea biscuits and salted cod in a pot. It could be made with the standard equipment on a fishing vessel. It wasn’t until the 19th century that chowder became a fashionable meal among the cod aristocracy in New England who had grown wealthy from trading the fish with Spain and plantation owners in the Caribbean.

In 1640, only 20 years after settling Plymouth, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was catching more than 300,000 cod and trading it for salt with Spain. New England fishers adopted the Basque technique of preserving cod with salt, giving them access to the discerning Mediterranean cod markets and a means to ship cod long distances in the days before refrigeration.

Cod gave New England a mercantile class that championed unrestricted commerce. Eventually, a market for low-grade cod emerged on sugar plantations in the Caribbean.

5. West Indies: ackee and saltfish

Photo: Fanfo/Shutterstock

This ackee and saltfish dish is made with shredded cod and cooked-down fruit from the ackee tree, which has beguiling red fruit that is toxic if prepared improperly. This dish links the New England mercantile class to the transatlantic slave trade: New England fisheries began producing low-quality cod as food for the slaves taken from West Africa where the Ackee tree is native.

In the 17th century, the British colonies of the West Indies began harvesting sugar with slave labor. To maximize land for sugar cane growth, plantation owners imported salted foods to feed their slave populations. The nutrition and salinity of salted cod provided nourishment for slaves forced to work long days under the tropical sun.

Caribbean plantations opened up a growing market for all of the low-quality fish rejected by European markets and created a profitable market from what was once waste.

6. Iceland: dried cod heads

Photo: Tabor Chichakly/Shutterstock

In many Caribbean countries, there is lore surrounding cod heads since salted cod arrived headless. Far to the north in Iceland, where cod is native to the cold offshore waters and once lived to be 30 years old, cod heads are a delicacy.

For centuries, dried cod heads were carried inland by pony to be enjoyed as snacks. The patience required to pick apart a head was seen as virtuous, accompanied by the Icelandic superstition that eating the head of an animal increased intelligence.

7. Newfoundland: pan fried fresh cod

Photo: Stuart Vincent/Shutterstock

Only fishing villages know what the thick flakes of freshly caught Atlantic cod taste like after being pan-fried and garnished with parsley and lemon. For years, inhabitants of Newfoundland assumed the fish would always be abundant.

But Newfoundland fishers are facing the end of a 1,000-year fishing spree. In 1992, the Canadian government announced cod to be commercially extinct and placed a moratorium on cod fishing off the banks that once attracted Viking and Basque fishers.

In 1873, Alexandre Dumas wrote, “It has been calculated that if no accident prevented the hatching of the eggs and each egg reached maturity, it would take only three years to fill the sea so that you could walk across the Atlantic dryshod on the backs of cod.” But cod met a predator more insatiable than it — humans. While fishing for cod has become a mere memory for many fishers, cod recipes are vestiges of a bygone era where abundance rather than scarcity bridged cultural gaps that stretched far beyond the Atlantic.


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The post The story of Atlantic cod told through seven recipes appeared first on Matador Network.

Nonna Nerina pasta experience

Over the past three years, travelers have been making the trek to the small town of Palombara Sabina, about an hour north of Rome, to make pasta with an Italian grandma who goes simply by Nonna Nerina. It started when her granddaughter, Chiara Nicolanti, set up an Airbnb Experiences page. It quickly grew, drawing international press and groups more than willing to take a train ride to Italy’s countryside. Nicolanti even recruited other grandmas in the village to take part, and the additional tourists inspired the mayor to reopen the town’s castle, which had been closed for years.

“And then unexpected arrived,” Nicolanti says over the phone from Palombara Sabina. “And the unexpected was called coronavirus.”

Nicolanti, who runs the business side of the Nonna experience, had to cancel bookings starting in February. COVID-19 has hit Italy hard. First, the northern regions of Italy were shut down, followed by an entire countrywide lockdown. The elderly who are most impacted are some the very people who make the Nonna experience the authentic intergenerational connection that is is. Yet Nicolanti still saw the importance of connecting with people through food. This being 2020, she realized there’s another way and turned to the internet with a new message: If you cannot come to Italy, then Italy will come to you.

The online experience is called Nonna Live. It runs for around two hours and costs $50. Nicolanti sends a simple list of ingredients and tools to pick up (eggs, flour, something to roll the pasta out with), and then sets a time to meet virtually. The time change has proven to be a bit of a hurdle but not an impossible one with a few adjustments. Nicolanti runs the classes on weekdays while Nonna Nerina, who is 84, joins on the weekends.

“When we opened up class and started having some bookings, the most beautiful thing happened,” Nicolanti says. “In two weeks, we had hundreds of messages from all around the world from people who I met once in my life and they text me to tell me we are praying for you, we love you, we hope to see you.”

Photo: Chiara Nicolanti

Relationships have been at the heart of the pasta making experience from the start. Three years ago, Nicolanti was pregnant and her life was rapidly changing. Spending time with her grandmother forced her to slow down and realize that traditions were disappearing — especially among younger generations. Nicolanti, who is now 30, says the way people her age pile on work means there’s less time for the much-needed family connection that ties generations together.

Pasta-making lets bonding with your loved ones happen naturally. You’re sharing labor and exchanging knowledge. Simple ingredients are treated with respect and combined by paying close attention to each ingredient’s needs. The dough rests, forcing you to slow down and make conversation. Finally, it all comes together at the table, with a bit of wine of course.

It’s a type of connection based on face-to-face relationships that it’s inherently hard to do over a video chat. But it’s not impossible.

Photo: Chiara Nicolanti

The Nonna Live classes are still an interactive experience, not a video class like you’d find on Youtube. Regardless of whether you’re cooking with Nicolanti solo or with Nerina and Nicolanti together (Nicolanti translates Nonna’s Italian, in addition to helping make the pasta), there’s music, occasional dancing, and plenty of conversation. Though Nicolanti does note that when Nerina is there “it’s messy.”

“The first time trying to let her understand that people could see her and hear her [over video chat] was like, the craziest thing,” Nicolanti says. “It was supposed to be an hour class, and it lasted two hours, and people were laughing all the time. She never stops, she never waits for me, so it was really crazy, but I think this is what people want. They want an Italian grandma making a mess with them for an hour.”

Pasta is easy: eggs, flour, and hand kneading. But it’s also easy to mess up. That’s where Nicolanti and Nerina come in. They’ll tell you when to touch the dough (and, just as important, when not to touch the dough), where to be gentle, and where to massage a little more.

“For the handmade pasta it’s not just the ingredients,” Nicolanti says. “It’s really the hand technique, and it is something that an Italian grandma can teach you.”

Photo: Laura Reilly

In Palombara Sabina, the online connection has been a lifeline for Nerina and the five other grandmas who used to participate in the Airbnb experience. It was a way to connect not just for the participants learning a new skill, but for grandmas who passed on their stories and experience. People are stuck in their homes (aside from the nightly singing on the balcony), so the other grandmas don’t have this same connection. What they do have is Nicolanti, who shares pictures and testimonials in their WhatsApp group.

Photo: Laura Reilly

Nicolanti eventually hopes to bring the other grandmas in, but for now, it’s just the four generations of Nicolanti’s family. It’s enough during a time like this. During a recent 1:00 AM experience, Nerina, Nicolanti’s mother, Nicolanti, and her daughter were teaching pasta making online together. (Nicolanti’s daughter was supposed to be sleeping but decided she wanted to play, so “we finished the last part with her playing on the table,” Nicolanti says.)

“I think that this moment is forcing us to stop, and we can use this time to speak and share memories and share traditions and good bites,” Nicolanti says. “I think it’s very important in this moment when everybody is forced to stay alone to not feel solitude.”


More like this: Italians in lockdown in Siena come together in song

The post This Italian grandma is holding virtual pasta-making classes to keep us connected appeared first on Matador Network.

Queer events you can attend online

As the coronavirus pandemic alters daily life, queer events around the world are getting canceled, but there’s one event COVID-19 can’t touch: Couchella. That’s right — the hottest ticket in town is the house-party-of-one you’re hosting from your living room.

Proximity doesn’t preclude us from gathering in the digital age. While it’s necessary to practice social distancing to stop the spread of the coronavirus, a social recession doesn’t need to be the byproduct of staying safe. Whether you were planning a trip to the theater, a night out dancing, or a celebration with your chosen family in the coming weeks or months, there are online alternatives to help you find similar gatherings.

For many, it may feel like the future has arrived sooner than expected. Luckily, it’s a future for which we’ve been planning. As artists and teachers continue sharing their work on the web, you’re only a mouse click away from finding the community you need to make it through these trying times.

Here are the best LGBTQ events you can stream from your living room.

Editor’s note: If you enjoy a free service provided by a performer or artistic venue on this list, consider giving them a donation via Venmo or PayPal. Many in the performance industry are unemployed due to the pandemic. Many won’t have jobs waiting for them once the storm passes, either. Artists are always here to lift us up; they need us now to return the favor.

1. Join Mark Kanemura’s Instagram Live dance parties

Photo: Mark Kanemura/Facebook

Mark Kanemura, a former back-up dancer for Lady Gaga and a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, broke the internet in 2018 while tossing rainbow wigs in the air to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling.” Kanemura’s Instagram is a treasure-trove of similarly joyful booty-shaking extravaganzas all filmed within the confines of his Los Angeles bedroom. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, he’s inviting the world to join him for daily Instagram Live dance parties. Expect tons of glitter, campy costumes, and enough wigs to supply a season of queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Check his Instagram to find out when the party begins.

2. Laugh with Justin Sayre at “The Meeting”

Queer cabaret performer and artistic multi-hyphenate Justin Sayre has been hosting his campy PTA meeting on all things LGBTQ in New York City since 2009. While Joe’s Pub canceled his March engagement, Sayre will be broadcasting a live performance from a “secret, subterranean nightclub” (i.e. nightclub performer Julian Fleisher’s basement) on Sunday, March 22, at 8:00 PM. For more information, check out the Facebook event page.

3. Listen to a queer podcast

Photo: Forever Dog/Facebook

After almost a three-month hiatus, sassy podcast comedians Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang are back with weekly episodes of Las Culturistas. Their quippy gabfest covers all things pop culture and features a special guest every week (a few favorites include Rachel Bloom, Nathan Lee Graham, Betty Gilpin, and Elana Glazer). There’s no doubt the pod’s “I don’t think so, honey!” segment — a game in which the hosts and their visitor get 60 seconds to rag on something they hate — is each episode’s highlight. (I’m expecting a segment entitled “I don’t think so, honey: buying toilet paper in bulk!” in the coming weeks.) You can find the podcast on iHeartRadio, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Food 4 Thot and LGBTQ+A are two other queer iHeartRadio podcasts worth checking out.

If you’re looking to get kinky in quarantine, check out Kenny Francoeur’s new podcast, Normalize This. Francouer is to sex ed what Bill Nye is to science class — a quirky host who’s picking up where your high school health teacher left off: at the very beginning. From deep-diving into a conversation about dilators to discussing the culture of revenge porn, Francouer takes a comprehensive snapshot of sexuality in the 21st century.

4. Catch a live concert on StageIt

StageIt produces live online video concerts where fans can chat with one another and interact with performers throughout the show. So far this week highlights have included Broadway’s Telly Leung (Aladdin) and Shoshana Bean, a former Elphaba in Wicked, sang yesterday. Still to come Pam Ann — the airline attendant alter-ego of Australian comedienne Caroline Reid — invites fans to fasten their seatbelts for her show, PAMDEMIC, on Friday, March 20. Check the site for more upcoming shows.

5. Watch a theater performance on Broadway HD

Photo: BroadwayHD/Facebook

New York’s theater scene may be dark for the next month, but thanks to Broadway HD, you can still visit the Great White Way without leaving your bedroom. Some of the website’s best queer-themed content includes Paula Vogel’s “Indecent” (2017 Tony Award for Best Play), “Kinky Boots” (2013 Tony Award for Best Musical), and the 2016 revival of “Falsettos” starring Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells. For opera buffs, check out “Brokeback Mountain,” a musical adaptation of the short story by Annie Proulx.

6. Live-stream productions from NYC’s Metropolitan Opera

New York’s Metropolitan Opera, which canceled all performances through March 31, will be live-streaming past productions on their website through the end of the month. The roster of impressive offerings includes the 2007 production of “Eugene Onegin,” by queer Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and the 2008 production of “La Boheme.”

For classical-music junkies, the Berlin Philharmonic has its entire catalog free for the next month through its digital concert hall. Check out a comprehensive list of other live-streaming concerts on the website for public radio station WKAR.

7. Rock out with Yungblud

Photo: Yungblud/Facebook

If head-banging is your go-to for stress relief, queer singer Yungblud’s recent concert on Youtube might be the medicine your doctor ordered. After canceling his upcoming tour dates, including a stint at Coachella, the English musician decided to get creative and took to the internet as an alternative way to reach his fanbase. The concert, “Shit’s Weird Keep Calm and Carry On,” features performances by Machine Gun Kelly, Bella Thorne, and Oliver Tree; there’s even a live Q&A with fans who tuned in on social media. Between downing coronas and screaming pop-emo ballads, Yungblud’s punk-rock live stream is the angst-fueled decompress we all need right now.

8. Go to Mexico with Sutton Lee Seymour’s “Booby Tunes”

If you want a gaycation to Mexico’s west coast, visit NYC-based drag queen Sutton Lee Seymour’s Facebook page. Seymour, beloved for her Angela-Lansbury-meets-Man-Eating-Plant shtick, is currently performing a one-woman show at the Palm Cabaret and Bar in Puerto Vallarta. She filmed the first 30 minutes of her cabaret this past Friday night, and you can still watch the video on her Facebook page. The show, a wet dream for anyone who prays at the altar of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, offers a carefree respite from current events.

9. Get into the Indigo Girls

Photo: The Indigo Girls/Facebook

The Indigo Girls may be a lesbian relic of the 1980s and 1990s, but this Atlanta-based folk-rock duo is still hip to the times. After canceling tour dates to promote their new album, “Look Long” (out April 24), Amy Ray and Emily Saliers followed in the footsteps of Yungblud by deciding to live-stream their concert for fans via Facebook. The show will take place on Thursday, March 19, at 6:00 PM EST. “People are feeling scared, isolated, uncertain, and unmoored,” Saliers said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “For the public good, we all have to do our part not to gather in person, but we can still play music.”

10. Visit museums virtually through Google Arts & Culture

With videos, pictures, and text from over 2,500 museums and galleries, Google Arts & Culture gives anyone with an internet connection the opportunity to explore the world’s most beloved institutions for art and history. For queer offerings, check out places like San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society and NYC’s LGBT Community Center. There’s a host of online exhibits, too, like “Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,” which explores one of Australia’s largest queer gatherings through photographs and flyers; you can even take a virtual tour of Virginia Woolf’s life in London. The world’s most exceptional art is within reach, even when stuck in A Room of One’s Own.

11. Sing along with the staff at Marie’s Crisis in NYC

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A post shared by Franca Vercelloni (@francaverce) on Jan 19, 2019 at 4:16pm PST

New York’s iconic piano bar for musical theater nerds is closing its doors, but pianist Franca Vercelloni played her shift live on both Facebook and Instagram yesterday. Vercolloni will be offering digital piano parties via Zoom, so you and your bosom buddies can sing everything from Sondheim to Schwartz from the safety of your apartment. Think about it: you, belting “Home” from “The Wiz” while sipping on all that whiskey you stress-purchased last week. Crisis averted.

12. Have a remote movie night with friends on Zoom

Bar closures and quarantines don’t have to put the kibosh on Drag Race viewing parties with your best buds. Zoom, a platform for video and audience conferencing, allows groups of people to meet up on mobile devices, desktops, and telephones; it’s also a great way to host a remote movie night with friends. All you have to do is create a conference call, use the app’s “Share Screen” function, and stream a movie online for everyone to watch together in real-time. Once the program is over, turn on Lady Gaga’s new single, Stupid Love, and get freaky by donning your highest cha-cha heels and dancing together till dawn via video. Nothing cures quarantine blues like booty bouncing to sugar-pop bliss at an extremely safe social distance.


More like this: Netflix Party extension allows you watch and chat with friends while you’re stuck at home

The post The best LGBTQ events you can attend without leaving home appeared first on Matador Network.

Tips for working out at home

Self isolating was all going to be fine…until they closed the gyms.

Working from home, eating from home, being locked in a house with your spouse and kids — all tolerable as long as you have your daily escape to fitness land. But with the gym shut down for the foreseeable future, finding out how to get your workout in can be more of a challenge than the workout itself. And possibly even more important.

“In times when there’s a lot of stress, exercise may be as important for mental wellbeing as anything else,” says Mickey Demos, a personal trainer and owner of Mickey Demos Boxing and Fitness in Miami. “Exercise is probably the best way to avoid depression, keeps you on an even keel, and motivates you to eat properly. It just has a positive snowball effect.”

So what do you do to keep in shape when the gym shuts down? Demos and other trainers we talked to across different disciplines offered up their best advice.

1. Schedule a time to work out every day.

With the newfound challenges of working, eating, child-caring, and doing pretty much everything else from home, scheduling is the key to getting it all in. Working out is no different.

“The most important thing is to be structured,” Demos says. “You need a workout time, so figure out a time each day that’s going to be for your workout and just dedicate that time. And let your family know not to disturb you during your chosen workout time unless it’s urgent.”

You’ll also want to schedule what kind of workout you’re going to do, whether that’s an online fitness class, a run, or something you make up yourself. Most importantly, make sure you stick to your plan so that you’re not doing random workouts without some kind of routine.

2. Designate a workout space.

Photo: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

In addition to having a set workout time, you also need a place in your home that serves as your personal gym, even if it’s only for the hour or so you’re exercising. That can mean heading out to your garage, but it can also mean setting up an atmosphere that helps you work out anywhere in your home.

“If you need to, clear out your couch, move a coffee table, light a candle, get the music bumpin’ — whatever your vibe is,” says Taylor Almony, an instructor with Pure Barre. “You need to change the scenery from wherever you’re working, even if it’s just another room.”

3. Use your roommate or spouse as a workout buddy.

For most of us, having an accountability partner ensures we make it to the gym every day. But when our gym buddy is self quarantining (or just doesn’t feel like working out in your living room), you may need to rely on the nearest person available to assist in your workout motivation.

“Working out is always better with a partner,” says Isabelle Anagnostou, a studio manager at Orangetheory. “A lot of people aren’t married or have a roommate, but if you do take advantage of that and say, ok, we’re going down to the gym or to the basement of your house for an hour at 2 PM.”

An added bonus: Since your new workout buddy isn’t stuck in the same routine as you and your usual partner, they might even introduce you to something new. “If your spouse or roommate likes kickboxing, try a home kickboxing cardio routine,” Anagnostou says. “Or if you like yoga, maybe get them to try something you like.”

3. Get outside.

“Yes, we’re quarantined, but you can still go outside,” Almony says. “Run, walk, skip, grab your mat, whatever. Not only does working out boost your immune system, but vitamin D is also essential for immune health.”

Boxing trainer Demos also suggests using your yard or alleys near your house for sprints and other short-burst workouts. Or even your patio or balcony if you want fresh air. But he does warn that running outside may not be advisable for those with joint issues who aren’t used to running on pavement.

4. Do Tabata for cardio.

Photo: bbernard/Shutterstock

If your local weather isn’t conducive to running quite yet, you can still get serious cardio in without stepping outside. Tabata training — a type of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with 20 seconds of extreme work followed by 10 seconds of rest — has been shown to burn more fat in four minutes than 40 minutes of moderate cardio. This can gas you out in only a few minutes, from almost anywhere in your home.

“You can stay in one place and do mountain climbs, do 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off,” Demos says. “Do that for four minutes and you’ve done enough cardio for the day. And if you have bad knees or ankles or a bad back, you can just do it on a rubber mat.”

5. Find workouts online.

If you need some guidance in formulating your workouts, there are a number of online fitness apps with exercise programs that are easy to follow. Peloton, known mostly for its at-home group spinning classes, has an entire app full of strength training, yoga, and even outdoor workouts. Nike has a similar app. Pure Barre has on-demand classes, free for its members. Sworkit is also popular. There are dozens more that are likely being downloaded as you read this.

To avoid having to download (or in some cases pay for) an app, you can find plenty of workouts on YouTube. “YouTube is brilliant,” Demos says. “There’ll be videos out there on every type of exercise. If you wanted to research how to do a burpee, you can go online and you can find it. This week I used [YouTube] to figure out Tabata weight training.”

Anagnostou, who also teaches at Pure Barre, says she’s found excellent classes for yoga, barre, and pilates on YouTube, and says the visuals on the videos often help with form.

7. Dress the part.

Photo: FXQuadro/Shutterstock

Trainers suggest wearing gym clothes to put you in fitness mode just like work-from-home tipsters advise people to throw on real pants to put your brain into work mode. Even if you’re used to wearing your Lululemon best right after work to shift into gym time, being at home can sometimes lend itself to wearing the same stuff all day.

“[Dressing] is definitely underrated,” Almony says. “It puts us in a work out state of mind and boosts self-confidence, in turn pushing us to try our best to get results. So get out of your pajamas and show up for yourself.”

8. Invest in some light weights or use what you have at home.

It doesn’t take a treadmill or a Peloton bike. If you can order or safely go to the store, purchase some minimal equipment. Demos says all you need is a pair of weights that are 10 pounds or below and some rubber physio bands and you have enough for good strength training.

“Grab two two-pound weights and do uppercut shuffles, in other words drive the weights up and down with your hands while you’re running in place,” Demos says. “Do that 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off — you’ll be dead.”

If you don’t have weights, or don’t want to go out and buy them, you can use household items to add resistance. “Big water bottles, wine bottles, milk/water gallons, canned food, unopened pasta sauce all make for great weights,” Almony says. “No excuses.”

9. Stretch.

Photo: fizkes/Shutterstock

Not that this is a novel exercise tip to anyone who’s spent time at the gym, but stretching is especially important when you’re not moving as much as usual. It’s also crucial when experiencing periods of increased stress.

“We tend to hold a lot of tension in the hips, especially during these high-stress times,” Almony says. “Even if you have an off day and can’t hit your workout, stretch everyday. I can’t stress this enough. It’s so important for keeping muscles long and strong and releasing tension in the body.”


More like this: Pro tips for working from home, from the Matador staff who do it year-round

The post How to stay in shape at home when the gym is closed appeared first on Matador Network.