Food news antipasto

People are cooking at home at a level unseen for decades. Since many of us are wary of making too many trips to the grocery store to find a single ingredient we are missing for any particular recipe, food writers are crafting recipes that offer flexibility in substitutions. Michael Ruhlman discusses the trend toward ‘optional’ as the new recipe buzzword. He asked three authors what they thought about substitutions. Gabrielle Hamilton responded by saying “I’ve never suggested anything as optional in my entire career. I write recipes as if they were directions to my house given to people I would actually like to see arrive.”

Chefs and home cooks alike frequently wax poetic about their cast iron cookware. If you have an older pan that isn’t quite up to snuff, spending a little time restoring it could be restorative to you, as well. In The Guardian, Adrian Chiles writes about his experience in making a piece of vintage cast iron come back to life. After reading this, you may be inspired to scour marketplace listings for your own diamond in the rough cast iron pieces.

It can be difficult to keep up on all of the news that is happening in the culinary world. One way to stay abreast of important events is to subscribe to a site that does the work of finding important stories for you, like the new weekly food compendium called DigestThis.news. The site is led by award-winning food journalist and cookbook author David Joachim, and is an offshoot of Amazing Ribs, a website about all things barbecue. Although Joachim is not a household name, he has co-written a slew of cookbooks from chefs like Marc Vetri, Kevin Gillespie, and Nick Malgieri, plus a few solo efforts. Digest This News brings you the stories that matter today, and doesn’t clutter your email inbox because it only sends one email per week with a synopsis of stories.

Restaurants are in the beginning phases of reopening in some areas, while others remain shuttered. Since eating out is not always an option these days, a few restaurateurs are providing takeout meals and even recipes for patrons to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. While the ambiance at home is never the same, a few restaurants have even found ways to recreate some of the atmosphere diners would usually share. Seattle restaurant Canlis has a YouTube stream featuring its piano players, and they take requests.