Food news antipasto

Jane and I have returned home following a whirlwind weekend in Chicago, where we attended the James Beard Media Awards ceremony. Today the JBF announces the winners of its Restaurant and Chef Awards and yesterday they honored recipients of the 2022 Leadership Awards. I was a little star struck when the elevator doors opened and standing right in front of me was the amazing Padma Lakshmi, who won an award for her work on Taste the Nation. It was fulfilling to see the fruits of my labors as a judge for the awards, which was a lot of hard work behind the scenes, evaluating books on a range of criteria, offering justifications for the ratings, and making dozens of recipes from the books in the category. The vastly increased diversity in nominees and winners shows the JBF was not just making hollow pronouncements about its commitment to inclusivity in its awards. Huzzah to the JBF and all of this year’s winners.

Velvet, chiffon, tweed: these and more are not just names of fabrics but are also cake names as well. Have you ever wondered why so many cakes and even icings (think ermine frosting or Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Silk meringue buttercream) are associated with fabrics? It has to do with texture, of course, but there’s more to it than that, explains Brandon Summers-Miller, writing for Epicurious.

When it comes to recipe instructions, some folks prefer succinct, almost terse, descriptors while others gravitate toward a more conversational tone. Food writer and writing coach Dianne Jacob touched a nerve regarding recipe instructions in a recent post where she lamented clunky instructional prose such as “In a bowl, combine…” as being neither beneficial nor enjoyable to read. However, not everyone agreed with her take.

Alton Brown fans, take note: on June 15, you will get to see him back in action on the small screen. Don’t tune into Food Network, though, because his new gig is on Netflix. The show is a retooled version of Iron Chef, featuring a roster of culinary luminaries including Marcus Samuelsson, Gabriela Cámara, Curtis Stone, Dominique Crenn and Ming Tsai. There are eight 45-minute episodes to keep you entertained.

While there are many people who have made the transition from Instagram star to successful restaurateur, not everyone has been able to capitalize on their social media fame. For some, the star that shone brightly in the beginning is starting to fade, as seems to be the case for Nusret Gökçe, better known as Salt Bae. His London restaurant Nusr-El was recently ranked as the 17,426th best restaurant out of 17,495 in the city– a mere 69 away from the absolute bottom. A combination of high prices, mediocre food, and poor service contribute to the poor reviews and ranking. Maybe the chef needs to find a new gimmick to regain his luster.

At the grocery store last week I spotted a new product – a bag containing two tiny heads of iceberg lettuce, labeled as ‘artisanal iceberg’. I have never considered those two words to belong together, but the fancy nomenclature may just be a way to justify the rising prices for the product. As Tony Wright of the Sydney Morning Herald notes, a head of plain-Jane iceberg lettuce in Australia can set you back a whopping $10. Wright explains that currently, 24 heads of lettuce cost more than ton of coal. I’m not sure too many people are willing to pay that kind of price for iceberg – it would be a hard pass for me.