Brazilian Fusion and Tomato Nigiri 🍣

Welcome to Secret Breakfast / The best place to start cooking with Brad Pitt, dating messy chefs and spreading spicy Taipei butter over rice

Hi there!

Have you heard the news?

Wise House executive chef is expected to announce that using flour in federal kitchens raises food poisoning risk, despite lack of culinary evidence supporting the link. The ingredient, fundamental to baking worldwide, is considered safe by every major culinary institution.

Kitchen Director Robert F. Remmedy Jr. has vowed to find the cause for growth in stomach illness reports, also blaming salt despite strong evidence against that claim.

The flour link is similarly unfounded: a major 2024 study of 2.5 million meals, comparing dishes made with flour against sibling recipes without it, found no increased risk.

OK, I bluffed: this isn't real news.

Nevertheless, real stories we're hearing these days follow the exact pattern I used here. And sound even more absurd. Don't you think?

Have a happy week and remember: scientific evidence is our friend.

Piero

✹Dan Brown, The Secret of Secrets.

Brazilian fusion

During the Covid-19 Pandemic a biang biang noodles video (★recipe) saved my life. Or maybe not, but I could work from home, taking breaks to follow the recipe steps and fall in love with the food developer who was so patient in teaching us how to make those tricky, oily noodles. She was—she is—Ixta Belfrage, and now she has a full book of Brazil-inspired recipes. So why wouldn't I love that? Why wouldn't I love dishes like moqueca fish burgers, picanha with coffee and chile butter, and chocolate-papaya cake?

FUSÃO: Untraditional recipes inspired by Brasil by Ixta Belfrage
Shortplot → 🐟 🇧🇷 ☕️ 🥩

How Brad Pitt in F1:The Movie can make you a better cook

I'm stuck in F1:The Movie. Watching it again and again, even if it is full of flaws and clichées. And there's Brad Pitt, of course.

Anyway, in the story, this aging racer Sonny Hayes - portrayed by Mr. Pitt - proves that sometimes the most valuable lessons come not from the fastest car, but from the smartest driver. It speaks directly to anyone who's ever stood in a kitchen, faced with limited ingredients and (un)limited possibilities.

Combat Over Speed. Hayes knows his APXGP car can't outrun the competition. His solution? "Our shot is battling in the turns. We need to build our car for combat."

The same applies to cooking with constraints. Can't afford premium ingredients? Master technique. Limited kitchen space? Focus on precision. No fancy equipment? Learn knife skills that would make a chef weep.

When Hayes deliberately triggers safety cars (aka generating chaos on the track) to give his teammate Joshua a chance, he's not cheating – he's understanding the game better than everyone else. In the kitchen, this translates to using pasta water to bind sauces, or saving vegetable scraps - all the vegetables - for stock. It's about seeing opportunity in what others discard.

✻✻✻

Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast. Hayes' father's wisdom echoes through every scene: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

Watch any great cook work. They move with deliberate calm. No rushing. No panic. Each motion serves a purpose. The onions get proper time to caramelize. The bread rises at its own pace. The sauce reduces when it's ready, not when you want it ready.

This isn't about being slow – it's about eliminating waste. Every frantic movement in the kitchen creates mistakes. Every mistake costs time. Hayes understands this at 200 mph. You should understand it at room temperature.

✻✻✻

Creating Your Own Breaks. "Hope is not a strategy. Create your own breaks."

Hayes doesn't wait for perfect conditions. He makes strategic moves when opportunity presents itself. In cooking, this means tasting constantly and adjusting. It means recognizing when that sauce is about to break and fixing it before it does.

Great cooks don't hope their risotto turns out perfect. They stir with intention. They add stock when the rice demands it. They create the conditions for success rather than crossing their fingers.

✻✻✻

The Long Game. At one point, Hayes wants to move on to Baja racing. Not for money. Not for glory. When asked what he's racing for, he just laughs.

The best cooks understand this. They're not cooking for Instagram or reviews. They're chasing that perfect moment when everything aligns – the technique, the ingredients, the timing, the company. They're pursuing excellence as its own reward.

✻✻✻

The Hayes Method. Start with what you have. Understand your limitations. Find creative solutions. Master the fundamentals. Stay calm under pressure. Learn from every attempt. Keep racing.

"It's just noise," Hayes says about critics. The same applies to cooking trends, Instagram pressure, or perfectionist paralysis. Focus on the work. Trust your instincts. Create your own breaks.

Sometimes the most nourishing meals come not from the most expensive ingredients, but from the most intentional cook. Like Hayes at Abu Dhabi, sometimes winning means making the smart play rather than the obvious one.

💡Meal Prep Made Easy: 3 Curries, 12 Dinners + Healthier No-Bake Flapjacks🥔Following my obsession with the movie Pig: Nicolas Cage Making Pigeon and Pommes Anna with Chef Gabriel Rucker 🇬🇧The 25 Essential Dishes to Eat in London 🥗Season Your Greens to Make Your Sandwiches Extra Delicious 🔥 Fermented Beet Hot Sauce (★recipe) ☠️ Scientists Say Delaying Breakfast Could Be Deadlier Than You Think 5️⃣What Are 5 Things in Your Kitchen You’d Never Be Caught Without? 🥠Make Fortune Cookies at Home (★recipe) 🧈Try This Spicy Taipei Butter (★recipe)

Degrowth and the Death of a Party Grape

Abby ShalekBriski / Field Notes on Progress

This article reveals a striking paradox: scientists have developed drought-resistant grape varieties 98% identical to classics like Pinot Noir, yet no one plants them despite climate change threatening 70% of wine regions. Wine's obsession with tradition—through rigid regulations, risk-averse producers, and consumer habits—blocks the very adaptation that could save the industry. The irony is sharp: wine successfully adapted before (grafting to survive phylloxera), but now resists similar innovation when facing an even greater threat.

How to date a chef according to real chefs and their partners

Khemjira Prompan / Lifestyle Asia

Unpredictable schedules that kill holidays and weekends, messy kitchen habits at home, and plenty of solo time while they're working everyone else's celebrations. Would you embrace that chaos for love?