Food news antipasto

We begin this week’s run down of food news with the sad news that Cecilia Chiang, credited with bringing authentic Chinese food to the U.S., has died at age 100. Chiang’s pioneering Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco showcased food that was worlds apart from the chop suey that reigned at the time. In a profile of Chiang in 2007, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that her restaurant “defined upscale Chinese dining, introducing customers to Sichuan dishes like kung pao chicken and twice-cooked pork, and to refined preparations like minced squab in lettuce cups; tea-smoked duck; and beggar’s chicken, a whole bird stuffed with dried mushrooms, water chestnuts and ham and baked in clay.”

In more uplifting news, we learned that Legendary pitmaster Desiree Robinson has been inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame. The Memphis, Tennessee-based Robinson is the first Black woman to receive the recognition. Robinson started the Cozy Corner restaurant with her late husband Raymond in 1977. During the ensuing decades, Cozy Corner has become legend in the eyes of both food media and the people whose opinion really counts in this genre: fellow pitmasters.

Guy Fawkes Day – aka Bonfire Night – will be here in a few days. Britain heads into a second lockdown on Thursday so celebrations might look a little different this year, but you can still make traditional foods even if your gathering is much smaller. BBC Food has a collection of Bonfire Night recipes that includes twists on jacket potatoes, plenty of warming beverages, and some sweets to round out your meal. Over at The Guardian, Felicity Cloake provides us with instructions on how to make toffee apples, another Bonfire Night staple.

As the UK heads toward another lockdown, Australia continues on its path in the opposite direction. As Gourmet Traveller explains, between the easing of restrictions on in-person dining in Melbourne and the lifting of the metropolitan-regional Victorian border that is coming in a few days, people should be feeling good. But restaurateurs and chefs alike say this return to normal actually feels a bit weird.

Marcus Samuelsson’s latest book, The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, celebrates the vibrant diversity and deliciousness of African-American cooking today, through his own journey to America and the stories and inspiration of two dozen other top black chefs. NPR interviewed Samuelsson earlier in the week, and you can read a synopsis of the discussion or listen to the entire interview on the NPR website.

Our last tidbit is for all of the chocolate lovers. Australian Gourmet Traveller has assembled a baker’s dozen chocolate tart recipes that will make your mouth water just looking at them. From Guillaume Brahimi’s Salted caramel and chocolate ganache tart (picture above) to a sumptuous Chocolate, cherry and raspberry tart to an intriguing chocolate and rhubarb tart, the collection is filled with creamy ganache, crunchy nuts, and of course loads of chocolate.