Food news antipasto

We’ve all been there: gravy that is runny, sauces that lack gravitas, and watery stews. There are ways to fix these culinary mishaps, and The Washington Post shows us three different techniques for how to thicken gravies, sauces, and stews.

You may be familiar with the terms ‘soul food’ and ‘Southern food’, but do you know the differences between them? The main thing that distinguishes the two involves the ingredients, and according to chef Tanya Holland, owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland (CA), soul food is “just as rich and sophisticated and complex as any other ethnic cuisine.” Read more at The Kitchn.

Our hearts go out to those who are suffering through the power failure and frigid temperatures in Texas. When the electricity goes out, you might be tempted to use the outdoors as a refrigerator. While I have used our uninsulated back porch to stash excess food here in Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not recommend that, nor storing food outside. The USDA explains the various food safety problems that come with storing food in the snow.

Many of us use tablets in the kitchen, either to access online recipes or e-cookbooks. Touchscreens make it easy to swipe or zoom, but a new food-related use for these screens seems like science fiction. As Food & Wine reports, a scientist has invented a way to make touchscreens identify different types of muffins.

I’ve written before about cooking burnout, which has hit nearly everyone during the pandemic. When you are only cooking for one the task can seem even more like drudgery because there is no one around to appreciate your Herculean effort. Sometimes you might just want to eat a piece of bread – and that’s all right, says The Guardian’s Rachel Cooke. She explains why it’s okay to go to bed on a crumpet.

Photo of All-purpose gravy from Serious Eats