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Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with dinner parties, food nostalgia, and disappearing vanilla beans

Hi there!

I’m slowing down things and reading more non-food stuff. I think I should share some bits with you.

I was reading this feature about what makes people unique in the age of AI. And I think we all can relate to this passage about losing something precious while transitioning to AI.

The second bit, I believe you’ve already encountered on X or any other social of your choice. It’s Chuck Palahniuk in Lullaby:

Old George Orwell got it backward.Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake. He's making sure you're always distracted. He's making sure you're fully absorbed.He's making sure your imagination withers. Until it's as useful as your appendix. He's making sure your attention is always filled.And this being fed, it's worse than being watched. With the world always filling you, no one has to worry about what's in your mind. With everyone's imagination atrophied, no one will ever be a threat to the world.

Incredibly, we live in a time when we must sit down and reflect on what makes us “humans”. But the distraction trap is the deal of this era and somehow our lives could have a better flavor if we resist the distraction trap.

And if I’ve distracted you with this, please, forgive me.

Piero

PS: last week’s most clicked link was broken for some of you (sorry about that), here it is again → 7 signs you’re about to eat at a tourist trap restaurant.

Image: Alain Pilon

✦ Gaetano Savatteri, Le stelle non vogliono saperne, in Cucina in giallo (only in Italian, I’m afraid).

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KAMALA’S NEW HOT DISH

Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz as her Vice Presidential candidate. If there was a food-related candidate for the spot, that was him.

Serious things first: in March 2023 Walz signed a bill to provide free school meals for Minnesota students at participating schools, regardless of their family’s income.

Most of all, as Eater writes, he just seems like a human who likes food.

Somehow one of his hot dish recipes became a national hype. And apparently, he can’t stop name-dropping midwestern food.

Waltz is from Minnesota. Does it ring a bell?

The State is world-famous for the most absurd foods you can eat at the local State Fair, often all battered, deep fried, and served on a stick (here are 7 intriguing new foods at the 2024 Minnesota State Fair, including ‘Grilled Purple Sticky Rice’).

Let’s have a party

★★★★☆

Katherine Lewin is the visionary founder of Big Night, a renowned supper club located in the vibrant borough of Brooklyn, New York. While I may not know you personally, I can confidently surmise that many of us harbor aspirations of creating a business as unique and successful as hers. Her latest book is a treasure trove that promises to elevate our home entertaining experiences to new heights. In times like these, when even I find myself weary of the daily grind of cooking, her book offers a refreshing premise filled with ideas and inspiration.

Big Night: Dinners, Parties, and Dinner Parties by Katherine Lewin
→ Shortplot: 🥔 🍝 🥗 🍑

🍋New Summer Project: Lacto-Lime (★recipe) 🍽️Fancy restaurants using anything but plates 🧁The chocolate muffin that became the star of Olympic Village (★recipe) ☕️If You’re a Caffeine Connoisseur, White Coffee Might Be Your New Best Friend 🇬🇷This Super-Easy Greek Marinade Will Surprise Your Guests (★recipe) 🐟Marinated Miso Salmon (★recipe) 🗑️People posing with their weekly garbage 💙💛War Shatters Dating Scene for Women in Ukraine 📷Héctor Vivas layered photos of the Olympics are something (yes, I’m watching the Olympics and cooking less and less)

Here’s how to embrace food nostalgia 
Megan Lee, Doug Angus, Kate Simpson / The Conversation

Have you ever tried to bring back fond memories by eating or drinking something unique to that time and place? Tastes from our past can spark memories, trigger pain or boost wellbeing.

This Is How the World’s Favorite Scent Disappears 
Aimee Nezhukumatathil / The New York Times

Once you notice vanilla, you’ll smell it everywhere. It’s in sweets, pharmaceuticals, mosquito repellents, seltzers, makeup and hair products. “Extracted from the bean pod of a delicate orchid, vanilla must be grown under exceptionally precise conditions along a band of the earth between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This supreme finickiness makes it unusually vulnerable to the growing shocks of climate change and deforestation”.

▶︎ Yes, an ADV is running in this issue. When you click, you help fund Secret Breakfast (but you do that even if you just read what I write). Thank you!

• SEASON 4 - ISSUE 195 •
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 four years we have shared more than 4,000 recipes, hundreds of books, and countless hours of news, gluttony, and joy.

★★★★★
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