Food news antipasto

How much do you love gnocchi – enough to steal an entire truck full of the pasta? In Australia last week, some thieves stole a delivery truck from Brisbane’s Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers while its precious cargo was being unloaded. The unknown perpetrators made off with 340 kilograms (750 pounds) of gnocchi – enough to make over 2,000 servings. The truck was later recovered, but the gnocchi was a total loss.

When you dine at a Michelin-starred restaurant you may expect to encounter an out-of-the ordinary experience, but for writer Geraldine DeRuiter, a meal at the one-star Bros. in Lecce, Italy veered quickly from extraordinary to bizarre. She describes a horrific affair that involved miniscule amounts of food, a strange serving vessel shaped from a mold of the chef’s mouth, and rude servers that scolded the guests for standing up between courses. The chef responded to DeRuiter with a letter as strange as the meal.

You probably already know how appliances such as an air fryer, immersion circulator, or Instant Pot can transform the way you cook, but have you ever considered using your freezer as a cooking tool? If not, head over to Serious Eats, where they explain how freezing can transform the texture and flavor of a range of ingredients in ways you might not have considered.

Whenever a woman reaches a certain level of popularity in the food world, it is almost inevitable that she will be described as “the Julia Child of” a particular genre or cuisine. Writing for Eater, Mayukh Sen explains why food writers should stop making this comparison. In addition to the “misogyny inherent in propping one woman atop another, there are questionable racial undertones” in many examples when this phrase is used, he says.

Looking for an alternative main course for your Christmas dinner? In the Evening Standard, four top London chefs share their favorite non-turkey mains. The list includes salmon en croute, pumpkin curry, glazed ham, and Geera-roasted rooster.

Invasive species threaten ecosystems around the world, travelling from one region or country to another on boats and airplanes. Whether it’s a plant, insect, or aquatic beast, these invaders can take over existing domestic species. One way to counteract this problem is by eating the invaders, as Matt Hongoltz-Hetling explains at Saveur. As it turns out, some of these species are delicious.