newsletter

Comfort food and competitive destruction 🔥

SB139

Hi there!

I’ve been back home from an incredible journey in Israel. I hope next week I can organize my thoughts and share what I saw and ate in a meaningful way.

In the meantime, we go on with the usual extravaganza, like a mermaid eating fried chicken.

Piero

Picture: A woman in costume holds a cup of beer at a restaurant during the Mermaid parade in Coney Island. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

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THE BEST QUOTE

✦ Alan D. Wolfelt, probably he was talking about grief, but the quote works for many situations.

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THE MISSING INGREDIENT

COOK LIKE A DAD

I missed Father’s day but this New York Times’ feature about man-food is something interesting.

The food that dads cook sometimes seems to have a performative quality that mirrored so-called dude food, which the author Emily J. H. Contois memorably describes in her book “Diners, Dudes and Diets” as “comfort food with an edge of competitive destruction.” A dad, after all, is just a dude with more responsibilities.

“Comfort food with an edge of competitive destruction”. I love it. “Dude food was a reaction to the cognitive dissonance men felt as they entered the realm of the home kitchen”. I love it even more.

Photo by Anca Dorneanu

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THE BOOK

Dump, dump, dumpling
★★1/2

Do we really need a book to learn how to waste less? The honest answer is probably in our trash bin. But even if you don’t waste so much, do you really recycle food in a tasty way? That’s where I fail. Perfectly Good Food, by chef-sisters behind Boston’s acclaimed Mei Mei Dumplings, gives away 80 recipes and 150 ideas to use up what you have.

Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking by Margaret Li and Irene Li
→ Shortplot: 🥬 🍠 🥕 🍄

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RANDOM ACTS OF HUNGER

This is the space where I share some food (un)related stuff of my week

🍳Yotam Ottolenghi’s breakfasts from around the world (★recipes) 👾McDonald's Just Dropped A Brand New Game Boy Game 🍞How to Bake Sourdough Bread in Summer 🍷Everything You Need to Know About Wine Right Now 🥬Chantelle Nicholson, the chef-owner of green-starred Apricity in London shares a zero waste idea: Roasted Cauliflower, Caramelised Cauliflower Purée, Emmer Wheat and Zhoug (★recipe) 🧬Climate resilient crop and the six innovations that can help feed the world 🔥Blogger Frankie Gaw’s Scallion Buns (★recipe) 🍿Netflix Opens Pop-Up Restaurant in Los Angeles 🛒A peek into Japan's Convenience Stores 🍮 Always order a dessert to go (but I don’t agree with that) 🍽Why We Love Old Restaurants

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FOOD FOR LATER

Fennel Fronds and Fine Lines: Food Tattoos Take Root
Aliza Abarbanel / Taste

“Now, all of a sudden, everyone wants cake tattoos”. And also Brussels Sprouts and fermented stuff.

The 19th-century entrepreneur who pioneered modern ice cream
Michael Waters / The Hustle

Agnes B. Marshall, a 19th-century culinary entrepreneur, mastered the art of subversive gelato: “She tried her hand at spinach, cucumber, pumpernickel, and fish curry ice creams; a frozen gruyere souffle; a Neapolitan mixed with tomatoes, peas, and artichokes. Food historian Sarah Lohman called her recipes ‘genius, to the point of madness’”.

➤ Last week's most clicked link was the one about the meaning of Israeli breakfast. And that's all for today.

• SEASON 3 - ISSUE 139 •
Secret Breakfast is a newsletter
by Piero Macchioni

Think of it as The Morning Brew for food people, or just the most unconventional email you'll get today. In two years we have shared more than 2,000 recipes, hundreds of books, and countless hours of news, gluttony, and joy. Download our free ebook about food in 2023.

★★★★★
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