Food news antipasto

Arranging books by color is a common, although controversial, method of organizing one’s library. It’s one thing to choose that aesthetic for books you already own, but some people are taking the concept a step too far, says Arati Menon over at Food52. You can buy entire sets of books that are grouped only by color, not by subject or author. Convenient decorating idea or blasphemy? You be the judge.

Cookbook author Zoë François is a favorite of EYB Members. If you are a fan, we have news for you: the pastry chef and author has a new TV show on the Magnolia Network, available for streaming on Discovery+. The program is called, naturally, Zoë Bakes. She describes the program as one “where I can bake, teach and be inspired by some phenomenally talented bakers (and chefs, farmers, bee keepers and more …) in my Minnesota community.”

BBC’s The Food Chain’s latest episode features the lovely and talented Nigella Lawson. She tells us about her life through five different dishes, including what she calls My mother’s praised chicken. Since her mother passed away before Nigella’s children were born, Nigella uses this dish to help connect her children to their grandmother. She also describes one of the recipes from her latest book that she loves, despite it being “so not for the Instagram era.”

I follow a few kitchen designers on Instagram, and few posts catch my attention more than the ones featuring a pantry (larder). I love to see good organization ideas and of course what goodies people have tucked away. What we keep in our pantry is world’s apart from what our grandparents did, even in the heart of the Midwest. The Minneapolis Star Tribue explains how much pantries have changed the past few decades (possible paywall).

Supermarkets generally only carry a handful of apple varieties. You will find more at farmer’s markets, but even then you will only scratch the surface of the thousands of types that have been grown over the years. Atlas Obscura features an interesting article about William Mullan, an apple aficionado who finds – and photographs – rare and exotic apples. These apples are unlike anything you have seen in a grocery store. One looks more like a potato than an apple, another is star-shaped, and some have interiors with bold pops of color.