Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with the head into an oven, thinking about wine, freedom, and the Chinese viral barbecue

Hi there!

You probably have read that we had some catastrophic floods in Italy. The regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche were blasted and about 36,000 people had to leave their homes.

I wasn’t smart enough to write you about that last week, and it’s quite difficult now to go on with light stuff while people are struggling with mud and loss. Empty supermarkets, no electricity, everything lost, the works.

That’s the feeling. Just imagine that for a moment.

Now, you can swipe up, I think you’ll find some Secret Breakfast to enjoy.

Piero

Photograph: Zhonghua Yang/Pink Lady Food Awards. Taken in Anchang, Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. The process of pulling sugar is a local specialty.

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THE BEST QUOTE

✦ Bianca Bosker, Cork Dork. A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste. Great reading, by the way.

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THE MISSING INGREDIENT

THE TRAVELER’S HUNGER

Writer Bruce Chatwin was obsessed with Patagonia thanks to a piece of “brontosaurus skin”. Well, I think I’m obsessed with Uzbekistan after watching a video of Samarkand Bread-makers jumping into their ovens.

This sweet bread is said can be eaten for months after it’s cooked and it has characteristic decorations called Chekich.

There’s no way I can replicate that loaf at home. No recipe found on the Internet seems right. I think someday I’ll have to go.

Nowadays, tourism is exactly like that: you watch something, and you wanna pack and get there.

Take Zibo, a 4.7 million people city in China that none has ever heard of: then a few students go viral while talking about the local barbecue and - BUM! - Zibo has to cope with 4 million tourists that people can’t accommodate.

And you? Where is your hunger taking you?

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THE BOOK

Invite the Friends Over

★★★

“Making and eating dinner with your friends should be a blast—nothing tops getting people together, sharing good food, and laughing until you cry”. Natasha Feldman’s book has about 80 recipes to make gathering at home (your home) easier. Here you find her 12 No-Fuss Tips for hosting, a Mac’n’Cheese Cacio & Pepe (★recipe), and a Babka-ish Monkey Bread (★recipe). Now, is she the girl for you?

The Dinner Party Project. A No-Stress Guide to Food with Friends by Natasha Feldman
→ Shortplot: 🍝 🍗 🥗 🍓

❍ OnlyPans
This is where Secret Breakfast picks juicy content from food creators. Don’t miss this one about Kokumi

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RANDOM ACTS OF HUNGER

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

🇮🇹Mark Bittman’s Dispatch from Rome is not to be missed 😎Your Remote Co-Worker is Probably High, Drunk, and in Underwear 🍰The Easiest Vanilla Birthday Cake (★recipe) 🍫Pair it with Yotam Ottolenghi’s Best Chocolate Cake (★recipe) ⏰ Why (sometimes) it's okay to ignore food expiration dates 🍅Kraft Heinz unveils Remix customizable sauce dispenser for restaurants 🏝️How to Fight Food Waste on Vacation 🔥Not That We Needed That, But Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Lets You Make A Flamethrowing D*ck 💘Digital Creator Lizzy Capri is Going on a Date in Every State ❄The Three Best Containers for Freezing Different Foods 🧡I listened to the Curito Connect podcast and - hey! - our friend Jamila Robinson told Jenn something moving about Secret Breakfast (vanity YouTube link with the right timestamp) - thank you!

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FOOD FOR LATER

Cheesier, Saucier, and Drowning in Caviar How TikTok took over the menu
Ezra Marcus / Grub Street

Yo, what’s our viral dish?

Food Innovations That Came from War
Diana Hubbell / Gastro Obscura

Cheetos, air fryers, microwaves, and other modern mainstays were made for keeping armies well-fed.

The Search for My Kimchi
Alvin Chang / Pudding

Digital storytelling and fermented cabbage. A tale of a Korean-American looking for identity through a plate.

➤ Last week's most clicked link was the one about the Five Best Books on The History of Food. And that's all for today.

• SEASON 3 - ISSUE 135 •
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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