The great pickle controversy

March 7, 2024 by
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Somehow I missed this article when it was first published last fall, but Food & Wine posted about how pickle manufacturers in the US are omitting the word 'pickle' on their jar labels. All of the big names like Vlasic, Mt. Olive, and B&G have named their products things like 'Hamburg chips' or 'Kosher Dill Spears' - anything other than… read more

Give ’em an inch…

March 5, 2024 by
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Have you ever encountered measurements in a recipe that just don't add up? I am not talking about volume or weights (although they can be problematic as well), but rather about size - thickness, diameter, length or width, etc. Sometimes I think recipe writers (or cookbook editors) are not very good at math. This has happened to me a lot… read more

Food news antipasto

March 3, 2024 by
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File this under everything old is new again: deviled eggs are the latest trendy menu item for restaurants. Of course, chefs are all putting their own spin on the classic, but the basic recipe still provides the underpinning. A few factors are driving the surge including affordability and customer interest in retro dishes. Bistro Freddie’s head chef, Anna Sorgaard says… read more

How long do you keep looking for the ‘best’ recipe?

March 3, 2024 by
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Go to almost any food website and you are sure to encounter several "best" recipes, whether for hummus, macaroni and cheese, burgers, lasagna (like this recent Eater article), you name it, there's a "best" version out there. The folks at Cook's Illustrated made an entire series of books filled with the "best" recipes of their kind, whether it be soups… read more

Writing about food is all about the spin

February 29, 2024 by
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Last night I placed seasoned and very lightly breaded chicken drumsticks in the oven to bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes along with a side dish of loaded mashed potatoes (think cheesy mashed). At 45 minutes, I went to check them and they looked great - I flipped them over and turned off the heat to the oven -… read more

Customers decry wonky Wonka experience

February 28, 2024 by
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The easy access to AI image generators have made it almost absurdly easy to get lifelike renditions of scenes that have not and will not ever exist. I've seen dreamy "libraries" and even entire "houses" rendered by AI tools like Midjourney and others that were - at first glance - convincingly real. All you need is a prompt and the… read more

EYB and ckbk livestream Q & A

February 28, 2024 by
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Last May we announced that we have connected the EYB database to ckbk’s library of digital cookbooks. ckbk is a cookbook subscription site where you can access the full content of more than 800 great cookbooks, the majority of which are indexed here on EYB (and more will be indexed every week). For all the details, this earlier post. On March 20th at 3… read more

Food news antipasto

February 25, 2024 by
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When Ina Garten announced in 2019 that she was working on a memoir, she said that the book would be published by Celadon Books, a subsidiary of Macmillan, which was no doubt excited to be the home of a surefire bestseller. A few days ago Ina dropped the release date - October 2024 - but we also learned that Celadon… read more

Why are there so many food recalls?

February 24, 2024 by
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If our US Members feel like they are seeing far more food recall notices than they have seen before, that's because the number of recalls has mushroomed in the last few years. Since 2018, the amount of food recalls issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have increased by more than 115… read more

On losing a favorite food

February 21, 2024 by
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Growing up in a landlocked state in the middle of the continent (smack dab in the middle; the geographic center of North America is just north of my hometown), I did not encounter much seafood other than the occasional frozen shrimp. However, when I moved much closer to the coast following my college graduation, I quickly made up for the… read more

Food news antipasto

February 18, 2024 by
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Since the 1960s, Pop-Tarts have been a favorite kids' breakfast treat. The creator of the popular toaster pastry, William ‘Bill’ Post, died this week at age 96. Post once said that to create the iconic treat he had to "break every rule" and also offered advice for aspiring creators: “Just try anything. There is no idea that’s too crazy...If somebody… read more

UK braces for possible tea shortage

February 15, 2024 by
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Even though coffee has become increasingly popular in the UK, the nation still drinks much more tea than coffee, but tea lovers need to prepare themselves for a potential shortage. Recent Houthi attacks on ships has caused merchants to reroute their vessels around the African cape, adding a delay of up to two weeks per ship. One of the items… read more

Food news antipasto

February 11, 2024 by
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Michelin recently announced which restaurants would receive its coveted stars in the UK. One of those is London's Chishuru, whose founder and chef Adejoké Bakare is the first black female chef to receive a star in the country. Bakare started Chishuru, which focuses on West African cuisine, first as a pop-up after winning a competition in Brixton. The chef said… read more

All about salt

February 8, 2024 by
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When I first learned how to cook, I was aware of only one kind of salt, the stuff that came in the cardboard can that featured the iconic girl with an umbrella. It was Morton's iodized table salt, and it's all I used for years. As I learned more about cooking, I became aware of different types of salt: first… read more

How much should little annoyances matter?

February 7, 2024 by
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One thing I love about cookbooks is that every author lends their own voice to the recipe through the instructions and notes. This gives every book its own vibe and personality, and I will sometimes pull a book off the shelf as much for its tone as for a specific recipe. Authors also develop their own quirky phrases for recipe… read more

Food news antipasto

February 4, 2024 by
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Dina Begum's Made in Bangladesh: Flavours and Memories in Six Seasons explores the delicious, but underrepresented, food of her home country. Saveur recently interviewed Begum (they are featuring Made in Bangladesh in their Cookbook Club this month), discussing everything from spicy bhortas and glistening kebabs to divine biryanis and milky puddings. Have you ever looked at a baking recipe and… read more

This recipe writer makes $15,000 per recipe

February 1, 2024 by
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Caroline Chambers may not be a well-known chef or author like Yotam Ottolenghi or Ina Garten, but she is one successful food writer. She has one of the top ranked food newsletters on Substack, with over 131,000 subscribers. She's written a cookbook, has a blog and podcast, and develops recipes for food and wine brands. And, as Dianne Jacobs explains… read more

Life’s uncertain, order dessert

January 31, 2024 by
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Everyone who has eaten with a group of people at a restaurant has encountered the following scenario: after finishing the main part of the meal, the server returns and asks "Did anyone save room for dessert?" People will glance at each other, looking for signs that someone else wants to order a sweet ending to the repast. Instead, there's a… read more

Food news antipasto

January 28, 2024 by
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Two stories about Trader Joe's hit my radar this week. The first, from Food & Wine, is a recap of the annual survey that the grocer undertakes about its customers favorite products. Landing at number one on that list is Chili and Lime Flavored Rolled Tortilla Chips, priced at $2.99 USD. The other news concerns a complaint brought against Trader… read more

The art of eating snow

January 25, 2024 by
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A new trend has popped up in recent weeks with viral videos showing people eating snow in a number of ways. Many involve making desserts or drinks containing or topped with freshly fallen snow. Reese Witherspoon recently posted a TikTok where she makes a "Chococinno" from coffee, chocolate, and flavored syrups. The internet being, well, the internet, her post drew… read more

The top 100 most popular cookbooks owned by EYB Members

January 22, 2024 by
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In Darcie's Food News Antipasto yesterday, she mentioned The Zuni Cafe Cookbook as being one of the top books on Members' bookshelves. A Member thought it would be interesting to learn which books are "tops" in our Library. This information is easy enough to find: Go to Books, Filter by Popularity and there you have it. But I thought it might… read more

Food news antipasto

January 21, 2024 by
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While some recent celebrity chef deaths have come at ages far too young, the news about the passing of chef and author Ronald Kinton reflects a long life, well-lived. The chef and author died in December at age 102. In a tribute, University of West London culinary ambassador Michael Coaker said: "Ron, along with Victor Ceserani, was a particular inspiration… read more

Looking backward for inspiration

January 20, 2024 by
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As each year ticks by with a bevy of new cookbook releases, it amazes me that so many of them continue to be fresh, exciting, even groundbreaking. I excitedly bookmark recipes that I can't wait to try, to add to an ever-growing list. However, this doesn't mean that the older cookbooks on my bookshelves are relegated to being dust collectors.… read more

What’s the best way to store knives?

January 18, 2024 by
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Consumers spend billions on home organization every year. It might be part of their New Year's resolution to get more organized, or spurred by an organizing expert like Marie Kondo, but whatever the reason, people buy a lot of stuff just to store their stuff. Kitchens are no exception to this rule, as companies like The Home Edit offer countless… read more

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times

January 17, 2024 by
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Reading the headlines about restaurant openings and closings these days can give you whiplash. One moment we are lamenting all of the closures that happened over the past year, and the next we are cheering the opening of dozens of new eateries. Despite the multitude of stories about the challenges restaurants face, from soaring energy and food costs to ongoing… read more
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