Food news antipasto

The groundbreaking cocktail book Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold turns 10 this year. This book was revered by modern bartenders looking to dive deep into the science of drinks so they could experiment with a solid footing on what each component would add to the mix. There is a revised edition in the works, coming out in the next year or so. “It was due a while ago,” Arnold admits, “but because everything takes me forever, it’s late. It was supposed to be released on the 10th anniversary, but I’m going to hand in [the manuscript] on the 10th anniversary and pretend that still counts.” 

Staying on the beverage beat, have you tried “dirty soda“? This trend capitalizes on the growing numbers of people who want a fun, complex drink that contains no alcohol. Although there is no literal definition, most people think of dirty soda as “one that’s mixed or topped with syrup, juice, or cream,” usually with multiple flavorings in the mix. There are dirty soda shops in about a dozen US states; Swig and Fiiz are the top two chains. The trend started in the western part of the US and is slowly making its way east.

With Halloween right around the corner, sales of candy corn are hitting their peak. Some people love the tricolor candies while others believe they are nasty – this is one candy where there is not much middle ground. The largest manufacturer of candy corn, Brach’s, makes about 30 million pounds of it every year. I wonder how much of that ends up in the landfill uneaten.

Unlike Gordon Ramsay and Emeril Lagasse, the next big name in food isn’t going to come from television, says Eater’s Rebecca Roland. She says that culinary stars of today are mainly TikTok cooks, and profiles H Wu Lee and Brandon “Sad Papi” Skier, two of the hottest TikTok stars. Each has millions of followers, and an unlikely path to success that has blazed the trail for others to follow in their footsteps (or should that be thumb-steps?).

To complete the circle from online stardom to real life, we turn to SBS Food, where Jessica Thompson brings us the social dining apps that are connecting people at the dinner table. These “curated, neatly packaged and convenient social dining apps” offer experiences “ranging from home-hosted dinner parties to farmer’s market visits,” where you can meet up with like-minded people to enjoy good food and excellent company. I feel like I was at the beginning of this movement; in 2002 a group of people from all over the US who connected on the now-defunct Cook’s Illustrated message board bravely got together in Chicago to dine and cook with each other. Because the internet was still in its infancy, some of us were worried that we were going to be kidnapped or worse, but it turned out to be a fantastic experience. Now there’s an app for that!

If you are planning a Diwali celebration, the editors at Food and Wine just published twenty-five of their favorite recipes from Padma Lakshmi, Hetal Vasavada, Maneet Chauhan and other chefs. You will find pani puri, aloo samosas, boiled peanut chaat, tandoori chicken, and more in this recipe collection.