Food news antipasto

Reduce, reuse, recycle, eat? Scientists have recently developed a novel solution for disposing of waste plastic. They invented a process to convert discarded plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring using bio-engineered bacteria. The research was published in the journal Green Chemistry, and the scientists claim that the process generated no hazardous waste.

My mornings always begin with a steaming cup of coffee. If I don’t get my cup of joe (cups, really), I just do not feel like I am ready to tackle the day. I am not alone in this caffeine habit, which I and billions of others do not find worrisome. However, after reading Michael Pollan’s recent article The Invisible Addiction, I have reassessed just how much I might be relying on caffeine’s stimulant properties. Pollan quit caffeine cold turkey for several months, and he writes about how his abstention – and return to drinking coffee – affected him. It is an interesting viewpoint, but I am not yet ready to forego my morning brew. The article also delves into the history of caffeine and how it has been used through the centuries.

Claudia Fleming’s extraordinary 2001 book The Last Course was so highly coveted by pastry chefs and cookbook collectors that it was reissued in 2019. We have just learned that the pioneering pastry chef has returned to the Danny Meyer fold. In the fascinating Grub Street interview, Fleming says that she is putting the finishing touches on another cookbook that she wrote during lockdown. I can’t wait to see it!

I have long wondered why hot dogs and hot dog buns never came in the same package sizes. There are always more buns than dogs, and to even out the size discrepancy you would have to purchase several packages of each. Apparently this mismatch also bothered the folks at Heinz, because the condiment company recently started a petition aimed at making equal numbers of hot dogs and buns per package.

The countries that comprise Latin America are vast and varied, with distinct cultures and diverse foodways. There have been few comprehensive cookbooks exploring Latin America, but superstar chef Join Virgilio Martínez has just helped fill that gap with The Latin American Cookbook. Not only has he gathered recipes from across the continent for his new book, his expansive travels also uncovered incredible stories along the way.

If you have ever wanted to find ways to incorporate chocolate into every meal of the day and every course of the meal, look no further than a new self-published cookbook from Jens Knoop, founder of the eponymous chocolate drinks café. Knoops: Chocolate Recipes Through the Day, which will be released in August, contains drink and food recipes both sweet and savory from around the world, all to celebrate Knoops favorite ingredient.