Striking the balance between vagueness and detail in cookbooks

August 17, 2024 by
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As someone who does a lot of baking, I prefer my recipes to be precise. Don't tell me to use 'half an onion', instead please give me a measurement (ideally weight, in grams). Restaurant critic Jay Rayner is the opposite: he prefers instructions like 'a glug of this' or 'a splash of that'. However, recently he had to become a… read more

IACP 2024 Award Finalists

August 16, 2024 by
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The finalists for the 2024 IACP Cookbook and Media Awards were announced last evening. The Awards honor the authors, publishers, and other contributors behind the best cookbooks published each year. Their program requires multi-step, rigorous recipe testing in all relevant awards categories. Awards are given in 16 categories, and one cookbook will be selected by the IACP Executive Committee Members as the… read more

Why washing your produce may not be good enough

August 14, 2024 by
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Most of us wash our produce before prepping it for eating or cooking. We've been told that not only does it protect us from foodborne illness, but that it also helps remove residual pesticide residue. While the former may be true, a new study reveals that the latter is almost certainly false. We might want to dig out the good… read more

Why the UK is katsu crazy

August 13, 2024 by
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Food trends are often cyclical - one era's craze spawns a multitude of copycats, dies down, and then gets resurrected years or even decades later. This happened with the Cosmopolitan cocktail, and as chef and cookbook author Tim Anderson writes in an article for Vittles, it is currently happening with katsu curry in the UK, which he is calling the "Katsuification"… read more

Food news antipasto

August 12, 2024 by
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Here is a sentence I never thought I would write: Pamela Anderson is coming out with a cookbook later this year. You might say that is no surprise, but this is not the wonderful Pam Anderson who has several well-regarded books to her name. This is blonde bombshell and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson. The cookbook is titled I Love… read more

When only the worst will do

August 10, 2024 by
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I've been a confessed coffee snob for years, seeking out the best coffee shops near my work, ordering luxe brands to be delivered to my house, and investing in a high-quality espresso machine and grinder setup for my home. Despite this, I still have a soft spot in my heart for instant coffee. I don't mean the new offerings that… read more

Foods that fuel Olympians (but maybe not in the way you think)

August 9, 2024 by
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While most of the buzz about food and the Olympics revolves around what's happening in the Olympic Village restaurants, there is another food nexus to the Games. That connection comes in the form of sponsorships for athletes. Making it to the Olympics takes a ton of time, training and effort, and all of that requires a lot of money. While… read more

Saveur’s Q&A with Sara Moulton

August 7, 2024 by
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Sara Moulton's culinary career is long and storied. After graduating top of her class at the Culinary Institute of America, Sara worked in fine dining restaurants, cooked for Julia Child, and was the food editor of ABC’s Good Morning America and was Gourmet magazine’s executive chef before the magazine shuttered. She's also written several successful cookbooks. Somehow I missed an… read more

Honoring the man who invented tiramisu

August 6, 2024 by
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Today I learned that I might be older than tiramisu. The most widely agreed upon origin story for this popular Italian dessert is that it was invented in Treviso, Italy in the early 1970s at restaurant Le Beccherie by pastry chef Roberto Linguanotto. Linguanotto died last week at the age of 81. Pastry chefs around the world offered their condolences,… read more

Food news antipasto

August 5, 2024 by
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The notion of eating something stuffed between pieces of bread predates the 4th Earl of Sandwich, but it is he for whom the food was named in the mid-1700s. Since then countless sandwiches have been eaten, but only a few of them are iconic. Writing for Vittles, Hester van Hensbergen gives us a timeline of iconic London sandwiches from the… read more

What kind of grocery shopper are you?

August 3, 2024 by
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When you go grocery shopping, you probably follow the same steps each time you go. Some people like to make lists and menu plans, others wing it and decide what to make by seeing what's looking good in the produce and meat aisles. There are careful label readers who evaluate the nutritional value and others who never look at the… read more

How to care for wooden kitchen tools

August 1, 2024 by
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One of my favorite kitchen items is a hefty Boos cutting board I received as a gift over 15 years ago. It has seen nearly daily use and even, if I'm being honest, some abuse. Despite being in constant use next to my cooktop, it is still going strong while a few plastic cutting boards have come and gone during… read more

Celebrate National Avocado Day

July 31, 2024 by
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Today was National Avocado Day, and a few companies in the US were celebrating by offering things like free avocado toast (Panera) or free guacamole (Chipotle). I didn't get the news in time to snag any of those deals, but I was able to crack open some store-bought guac (please picture Ina Garten saying store bought is fine) to enjoy… read more

The growing world of Substack newsletters

July 30, 2024 by
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As the world continues its shift to digital publishing, new media crop up to replace the old guard, and that is especially true with newspapers and magazines. Long-form online stories reminiscent of the early days of blogging are rapidly replacing printed media (thankfully with the exception of cookbooks!) via newsletter tools like Substack, Ghost, Medium, Buttondown, and Beehiiv. Of these,… read more

Food news antipasto

July 29, 2024 by
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Although we reported on food issues plaguing the Paris Olympics, the news from the Games is not all bad. For starters, Simone Biles shook off an apparent injury to qualify for the all-around gymnastics competition - not too shabby for the oldest American gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1952. Then there is cookbook author extraordinaire Ina Garten, who… read more

Olympic food venues face problems

July 27, 2024 by
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The 2024 Olympics are underway in Paris, and there is already controversy over the food being served to the athletes, or rather, the lack of food. Teams are saying that the four restaurants serving the athletes' village are running out of food, especially high protein items like eggs and chicken. There are also reports that some of the meat being… read more

Catching up with Asma Khan

July 25, 2024 by
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Asma Khan is the creator of Darjeeling Express, a London restaurant that began fifteen years ago as a dinner for 12 guests at home - Indian food, lovingly cooked from family recipes going back generations. The restaurant is run by an all-female staff, and Khan eschews the traditional authoritarian style of kitchen brigades, opting instead for a quieter, more collaborative… read more

Some good news about coffee

July 24, 2024 by
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It can seem like every article about climate change and agriculture is doom and gloom about the effects of severe weather events like droughts, floods, extreme heat, insect infestations, diseases, and so on. However, among the negativity there exist a few bright spots. Recently that happened with reports of a new experiment on how it may be possible to "climate-proof"… read more

Could Kamala be the best food candidate?

July 23, 2024 by
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In case you've been vacationing in an internet-free zone and didn't hear the news, here it is: on Sunday Joe Biden exited the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris. She has since secured enough pledged convention delegates to lock in the nomination, so it looks like Kamala (she prefers to use her first name) will be on the… read more

Food news antipasto

July 22, 2024 by
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Australian online bookseller Booktopia, which has been in business since 2004, has been placed into Voluntary Administration, which is similar to US receivership or bankruptcy. Orders have been temporarily suspended while the reorganization or sale of its business is completed. If you are a customer with outstanding gift cards or orders placed prior to 3 July 2024, please visit this… read more

Why freezing your bread could make it healthier

July 20, 2024 by
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Bread experts have long cautioned against storing bread in the refrigerator, noting that it can negatively affect the texture of the loaf, especially with rustic breads. However, freezing bread is an excellent storage method, and recent research suggests that not only does freezing keep bread from spoiling but it can also provide health benefits. While it may seem strange that… read more

Phaidon turns 101

July 18, 2024 by
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I'm not sure how I missed this news from last year, but worldwide cookbook publishing house Phaidon celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. Last November, Publishers Weekly posted about how Phaidon, which didn't embrace cookbook publishing until 2005 with the release of The Silver Spoon, has since turned into a culinary publishing powerhouse. The article includes a Q&A with the… read more

Portland’s star chef Naomi Pomeroy dies

July 17, 2024 by
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Naomi Pomeroy, a shining star of the Portland restaurant scene, died last weekend in a tragic accident. The 49-year-old chef was tubing on the Willamette River near Corvallis, Oregon with her husband (fellow chef Kyle Linden Webster) and another party on Saturday, when the group hit a snag and were pulled under. Her husband and the other person were removed… read more

Should mocktails be off limits for kids?

July 17, 2024 by
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The mocktail trend shows no sign of slowing down as companies develop more and more products tailored to people who want a tasty drink sans the alcohol and its effects. Not only are there alcohol-free wines, gin, whisky, tequila, and other spirits, canned ready-to-drink mocktails are popping up on store shelves too. Most US states have no age restrictions on… read more

Food news antipasto

July 14, 2024 by
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It's heading toward peak tomato season in much of the Northern Hemisphere, but some chefs have found clever ways to keep tomatoes on the menu all year. Well, at least the appearance of tomatoes appears in these restaurants. Eater's Bettina Makalintal explains the trompe l'oeil tomato trend with fool-the-eye creations both savory and sweet. New Orleans-style beignets from Williams-Sonoma Breakfast… read more
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