Food news antipasto

It’s been a busy week in the world of food and cookbook authors, so let’s dive right in, beginning with a controversy. In an interview earlier this week, food writer Alison Roman’s remarks about fellow epicurean Chrissy Teigen started a feud. Roman said she was “horrified” by the way Teigen moved from successful cookbook author to having a huge Instagram following and a line of cookware at a major retailer. “Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her. That horrifies me and it’s not something that I ever want to do. I don’t aspire to that,” she told The New Consumer.

Teigen responded on Twitter by saying “this is a huge bummer and hit me hard. I have made her recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social and praised her in interviews. I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article.” Teigen’s legion of fans weighed in, noting that Roman singled out Teigen and another Asian woman, Marie Kondo, in her disparaging remarks. As one journalist noted, Roman’s comments are causing outrage “because Roman…seems to be tone deaf to her own privilege.” Roman has publicly apologized, saying “I’m genuinely sorry I caused you pain with what I said. I shouldn’t have used you /your business (or Marie’s!) as an example to show what I wanted for my own career- it was flippant, careless and I’m so sorry.” Teigen has not yet responded to Roman’s apology. Judging by the comments on various Twitter accounts and blogs, most people are on Teigen’s side in this feud. Apparently this is not the first time Roman has dissed another food blogger, although the earlier incident was kept private until now. Seems like Roman may soon lose her title of “patron saint” of home cooking.

Speaking of controversies, according to Food52 one of its pages consistently lands in the list of ten URLs with the most real-time viewers. What topic could sustain such interest? It’s the question of what quantity of minced garlic equals one clove. More interesting than the ‘most liked’ answer of approximately 1 teaspoon “is the judgment that is scattered throughout the thread” on the merits or lack thereof for using pre-minced garlic or a garlic press instead of a knife. Some arguments never die, they just get recycled.

“Foodie culture as we know it is over.” This bold title in an article from The Atlantic says that the coronavirus pandemic is shifting the way people think about food, and that is not necessarily a bad outcome. Chefs are “fancifying” boxed macaroni and cheese, Ina Garten is showing us the contents of her home freezer on Instagram, and Martha Stewart is letting us peek inside her reorganized pantry, which surprisingly does not have twee matching canisters and bottles (but does have 47 types of salt). Food writers are abandoning “elitism in favor of a less ostentatious approach to cooking,” and thereby making a more inclusive vision of what it means to be a food lover. The article holds up Samin Nosrat and Nadiya Hussain as examples of food personalities a more realistic and attainable ideal. Their programs “foster direct connections with their audiences. Their shows don’t require costly, rare ingredients, because they understand the needs of the average people who turn to them.” Now let’s hope we can lose the term “foodie” altogether.

Another interesting food phenomenon sparked by the pandemic is a return to culinary bartering. Friends and neighbors have turned to each other to find items absent from store shelves, acquire that one missing ingredient for a recipe, or share baked goods that can no longer be brought to an office. People have been leaving sourdough starters tacked to utility poles, and a renewed spirit of sharing and swapping is seen around the globe.