Nine missed meals, and it’s chaos 9️⃣

Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to be mansplained about the four seasons of being a woman, knowing for a fact that there is only an exact number of missed meals between mankind and anarchy (and that’s why we should meal prep)

Hi there!

While picking the links you’ll find in this newsletter I was tempted to keep some for the coming issues. At least 5 of them would have worked very well as main themes (and memorable email subjects) for the future.

Then… Well, I figured, what the hell? (cit.)

Enjoy!

Piero

Picture by Andrea Mauro for Natsubate. I discovered this precious book just a few days ago, and it’s something. There are a couple of more shots on the Perimetro website.

ONE ✤ QUOTE

✦ Bernard Holland is the fictional and pivotal character of the tv show Silo, portrayed by Tim Robbins. The quote is attributed to Alfred Henry Lewis who, in 1906, stated: “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy”.

Steak: The Whole Story by Tim Hayward
→ Shortplot: 🥩 🥩 🥩 🥩

OMG, I HAVE THREE WORLD LEADERS FOR DINNER AND I RAN OUT OF COASTERS

So, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (♥️) had a dinner meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. At her place.

Many praised the relaxed style of the meeting.

Some tragically unimaginative soul dared to compare it to an Ikea aesthetic foreseeing Billy bookcases that simply are not there (and completely overlooking the presence of a Blue Fluted Half Lace plate by Royal Copenhagen. A single plate, mind you, that could easily fetch for $220 a piece).

A select few of us couldn't help but ponder if our esteemed international guests might have been expecting a slightly more... robust welcome. Surely, a tasting menu at the Alchemist, while undoubtedly impressive, was a bit much for a casual workday. At the very least, couldn't some hapless intern have been dispatched to retrieve a vial or two from Redzepi's very own Willy Wonka-esque fermentation facility? Just a thought.

It’s been written that they were eating Smørrebrød (★recipe). I don’t know. I see some red in their dish, some cured meat, maybe? I see something white and green, fish and herbs?

Most of all I had a half-of-an-heartbreak noticing the presence of two excellent beers (Mikkeller Hop Shop Hazy IPA and one Burst IPA), presumably cold, a bottle of unrecognizable Chablis, and - oh no! - no coasters on that naked table.

The truth is I love taking a look at real people’s homes. And this one looked pretty real to me. I think the Danish can keep Greenland for now, can’t they?

Photo: Mette

🗺️From Juneau to Cartagena: 12 Destinations for Going All Out in 2025 🥬When You Have Too Much Black Cabbage (★recipes) ☀️After a Shitty Day, Kenji's Sticky Buns Can Make a Great Morning (★recipe) + 18 Treats Besides Cinnamon To Use in Cinnamon Rolls (★recipes) + Cinnamon Rolls’ Alternative Shapes ☕️Specialty Coffee Shops and Parisian Cafes 🔥You Could Try a New Lasagna Recipe Every Day for the Next 2 Weeks and Never Get Bored (★recipes) 💆🏼‍♀️Diet and Healthy Hair, some ingredients 🖖🏻Fish Fingers, Homemade Style (★recipe) 🔧Why Ikea Is the Perfect Location for a Second Date (spoiler: it’s not, it can’t be, don’t tell me it is) 🍅 Mushroom, Banana & Craze: The Surprising Origins and Alternatives to Tomato Ketchup 🐀Maybe that’s already in your feeds, but here’s Ratatouille in real life

➤ Last week's most clicked link was I'd Rather Be Sick Than Eat Progresso Soup Drops Ever Again. And that's all for today.

SEASON 5 • ISSUE 219
Secret Breakfast is a newsletter by Piero Macchioni.

In five years we have shared more than 5,000 recipes, hundreds of books, and countless hours of news, gluttony, and joy.

***

Hey, somewhere on the Internet Feb. 1st will be the Global Swap Day. If you’re tired of social media algorithms that are selling your big data and have changed a neighborhood populated with friends into a glossy condo development of brands, you could consider trying some privacy-respectful services. You can swap X/Twitter for Mastodon (or - with a few caveats - Bluesky), Instagram for Pixelfed, and WhatsApp for Signal.

Not interested in swapping? That's okay. Thanks for considering it, even if just for a moment. That's more than many people will do today.