Food news antipasto

Living in the northern United States makes one keenly aware of the changing of the seasons. Today was cold and blustery and sunset came way too early. Observer Food understands this, because today they posted about the best food and drink to have when it’s dark outside: think hot chocolate, mulled wine, and soul-warming soup.

If you are planning to do a cookie tray for the holidays, you might consider meringue cookies as one of the options. Meringue can be intimidating because it has a reputation for being finicky (everyone has heard tales of woe when attempting to make crunchy meringue cookies when it’s humid), but if you know the ground rules you can take a lot of uncertainty out of meringue making. Epicurious has the do’s and don’ts of making meringue cookies, including tips on how to pipe, stripe, and dip them.

When you see a photo of a chef dressed in her or his chef’s whites, odds are good that the chef will be crossing his or her arms in the photo. Eater’s Tiffany Leigh noticed this trend and decided to find out the reasons most chefs pose this way for photographs.

Have you ever wondered why cuisines with spicier foods are almost always in warmer climates than those with blander foods? A group of researchers theorized it was due to a greater risk of foodborne illness in the hotter locations, but according to their study, that isn’t the case. The study could not identify a link between higher risk of foodborne illness and spice levels. Not only that, but they couldn’t pin spicier foods to “diversity of cultures, plants, crops or naturally occurring spices” either.

Lidia Bastianich just celebrated a significant milestone, celebrating 25 years on public television. In honor of this occasion, she is hosting a special titled “25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee,” which takes a walk down memory lane with the Italian chef. The program airs on PBS on December 18, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Award-winning restaurateur and cookbook author Russell Norman died this week following a short illness. His first cookbook, 2012’s Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (of Sorts) won the inaugural Waterstones book of the year and his second cookbook, Spuntino: Comfort Food (New York Style), earned a Guild of Food Writers award for best food and travel in 2016. His latest title Brutto: A (Simple) Florentine Cookbook was just released this month.

In case you missed it: When the feast is over and The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 9 – Patisserie – Semi-Finals Recap were published over the US holiday weekend.