Japanese Mayo and Pickled Pumpkin 🇯🇵
Welcome to Secret Breakfast / The best place to meet with crazy theoretical physicists, wild pickle makers, and audacious cheese&coffee drinkers
Hi there!
I was watching this video with the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman, where he talks about trees, and it completely flipped my perspective.
Everyone looks at a tree and thinks it grows from the ground, right? But Feynman explains that almost all the wood—the actual mass of the tree—comes from the air, not the soil.
The carbon gets pulled from carbon dioxide, split apart by sunlight, and built into the trunk and branches. The ground just provides some minerals. The tree is literally made of air.
It made me think about how easily we get locked into beliefs without questioning them, seeing only what we expect to see.
Sometimes you need to shift the angle, challenge the obvious. It's true everywhere—even in cooking. You assume a dish works a certain way because that's how it's always been done, then you try a different technique or ingredient and suddenly everything opens up.
Perspective matters. Question the basics.
Piero
✹Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo. This quote should be remembered during life's greatest challenges: growing tomatoes from seed, untangling Christmas lights, and getting a soufflé to rise.
Why Dumas today? Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began serving a five-year sentence in prison. He told French newspaper Le Figaro he is bringing Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo and a biography of Christ, Jésus by Jean-Christian Petitfils.
When Japanese Make Mayo
I'm in one of my frequent Japanese moods, and this time it's all about Kewpie mayonnaise. Created in 1925 by Toichiro Nakashima, this isn't your average mayo—it uses only egg yolks and secret flavorings, earning its cult status and even a museum. The book traces its history from Tokyo to global fame, then delivers 55 recipes ranging from apple galette to spaghetti carbonara, all elevated by that iconic squeeze bottle with the red cap (and the scary naked baby). True story: at my house, I'm the only one who gets it.
For the Love of Kewpie : A Cookbook and Celebration by Elyse Inamine and Jessie YuChen
→ Shortplot: 🥚 🛢️ 🇯🇵 👶🏻
Thanksgiving for Those in a Hurry
You know what? Thanksgiving Is Secretly the Sexiest Holiday.
The sexiest Thanksgiving menu I know: The 2024 Alison Roman Thanksgiving Special (Part 1) and the 2024 Alison Roman Thanksgiving Special (Part 2). Focus on the stuffing.
The quickest I know: One-Pot, One-Pan Thanksgiving by Melissa Clark.
For those funny friends who can't stand turkey, but they deserve love anyway: Vegan Sheet Pan Thanksgiving Dinner and 35 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes for a Crowd-Pleasing Feast
PS: No need to rush, there's a month to go 😁
🌎The 39 coolest neighbourhoods in the world in 2025 🏁F1 driver Oscar Piastri knows how to enjoy meat 🍠Sweet Potato Layer Cake (★recipe) 🇬🇧The Ghetto Gastro Guide to London 🍷Wine with ice-cream?! Not for me 🧀Cheese Melting Into My Coffee?! Nor for me 🍪12 Seasonal Oreo Flavors, Ranked from Worst to Best 🎃Easy Pickled Pumpkin Recipe 🥚Perfect Air Fryer Eggs 🇯🇵This podcast with Craig Mod explaining the concept of yoyuu (余裕), like having space in your heart for other people
How to Build, Then Lose, a Restaurant Empire
Harry Cheadle / Eater
Not long ago, Josh Henderson was going to be Seattle’s next celebrity chef. Now he’s nowhere to be found.
