Food news antipasto

You can find a food-related vector to almost any event in the world, and music concerts are no exception. With the news that the Gallagher brothers were reuniting for an Oasis tour, the hospitality industry is abuzz. Hotels, bars, and restaurants are all gearing up for next summer’s concerts. The estimates are that the five Manchester tour dates could result in “a £15m boost to the local economy,” according to Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester. Drink and meal specials will abound. I predict many “Wonderwall” cocktails.

I am fascinated by food history, and any time I see a story about how a dish or ingredient shaped a region or culture, I dive right in. This week I spotted an exploration of how rice was key to the growth of Charleston, South Carolina. As often happened in the antebellum South, the expertise and manpower of enslaved Africans were exploited to the profit of the white landowners. Coastal Africa had a long tradition of rice growing, and the low country of South Carolina was well suited for the grain’s environmental needs. The article also discusses how rice played a central role in Gullah Geechee communities and how their foodways connected them to the West African countries that were their ancestral home.

In the US, this is a holiday weekend to celebrate Labor Day which recognizes the American labor movement and honors the contributions of laborers to the country’s achievements. It also means big sales by retailers. Eater assembled a list of the best kitchen gear sales for the holiday, including big ticket items like Blackstone griddles or toaster oven/air fryer combos and smaller gadgets as well such as spatulas and salad spinners.

A recent poll found that cheesecake was Britain’s most popular dessert. How did this creamy delight, whose roots like with the ancient Greeks, makes its way into the hearts (and bellies) of the British? The Independent’s Claire Finney explains how this dessert came to rank higher than other classic treats like Victoria sponge, and also offers tips and tricks for making cheesecake at home.

You may have read about the listeria outbreak traced to deli meat that has killed at least 9 people and hospitalized dozens more throughout the United States. The Associated Press dug into the processing plant at the heart of this deadly outbreak, finding that the plant had a troubling history of food safety violations, “including instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment.” The plant remains closed until it can “demonstrate it can produce safe product” according to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials.