Food & Writing Sites for March 2025
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Greek masks, in The Getty Museum (apparently, Tragedy is the absence of wine)
March, whether in the rôle of lion or lamb, can always be trusted to provide some variety—much appreciated after the long dark months of January and February. Sometimes, the new month will deliver ridiculous amounts of snow, but there will also be days when Spring—if not on the wing—will at least be in the wings.
While doing some work on our own books-in-progress, editing and publishing a book of poetry for someone else, and writing a small essay, we distracted ourselves from the wintry messes, outside, by posting several new Substack pages:
“My Morning Commute,” which, oddly enough.is about cosmology;
“True Confessions,” on the plots of ROM-COMs;
“Back to Work (again),” a recent addition to a book-in-progress;
“In Sickness and in Health...” explores the intersection of curiosity and disgust;
“Recovering Addict,” on abandoning one addiction for another;
“How Dry I Am...” on what makes a martini a martini;
“Put it in Writing...” on penmanship, sort of; and
“Show Me The Money...” on filthy lucre, the media, and old books;
You can, should you choose to, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs) and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page that includes food writing and anything else we manage to get into print.
Since March is so apt to disappoint and lead us astray, we’ve decided to post—among other things—a bit of seventeenth-century foodwriting that was not hindered by too rigorous an adherence to the facts. (it’s an excerpt from On the Table’s culinary quote collection).
The most usual, common, and cheap sort of Food all China abounds in, and which all in that Empire eat, from the Emperor to the meanest Chinese; the Emperor and great Men as a Dainty, the common sort as necessary sustenance. It is called Teu Fu, that is Paste of Kidney Beans. I did not see how they made it. They drew the Milk out of the Kidney Beans, and turning it, make great Cakes of it like Cheeses, as big as a large Sieve, and five or six fingers thick. All the Mass is as white as the very Snow, to look to nothing can be finer... Alone, it is insipid, but very good dress’d as I say and excellent fry'd in Butter. Friar Domingo Navarrete
Quickly, while it’s still laughing at you. Harry Craddock, on how to drink a martini
Gary, March 2025
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Dianne Jacob—thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
(“…according to nutritionists,” writes Kirsten Nunez for Martha Stewart)
18th Century Britain’s Great Culinary Breakthrough: Mushroom Ketchup
(Sarah Laskow’s Gastro Obscura article)
1920s Health Brunch: Fruit Puffs (1917) and Stewed Apricots (1900s)
(according to Sarah Wassberg Johnson—The Food Historian—our notions about nutrition have evolved with time)
8,600-year-old Bread Found in Türkiye’s Ancient Proto-city Catalhoyuk
(Abdullah Dogan’s report on an archaeological discovery, in Anadolu Agency)
Even the Great Martini Revival Can’t Save Vermouth
(more history of the classic cocktail)
(interview, on The Common Table, with Fabio Parasecoli)
Giardino Torre: A Slice of Pizza History
(Luciana Squadrilli addresses some fakelore, for, Culinary Backstreets)
(Rowan Jacobsen pursues the good stuff for Outside)
How an Ancient Roman Wine Survived for 2,000 Years
(more archaeology at work)
(Emily Caldwell has good news for us at The Manual, at least according to scientists)
Last Days of American Orange Juice, The
(Yasmin Tayag’s prognosis in The Atlantic)
On the Origin of the Pork Taboo
(Andrew Lawler reviews the evidence for Archaeology Magazine)
Pastis: The French Cocktail Born from a Banned Spirit
(what to do when you can’t get absinthe)
(interview by Dianne Jacob)
So Long, Chilled Reds. The “Big Red” Renaissance Is Upon Us.
(Eliza Dumais reports on the return of tannins for Punch))
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
10 Weirdest Beer Names of All Time, The
Ask a Somm: Is It Rude to Take a Picture of the Bottle I Ordered?
Darwin on How to Evolve Your Imagination
Expert Interview: Q&A with Dianne Jacob
Friendship Between Ketchup and Fries Goes Way Back, The
How the Pineapple Got Such a Strange Name
In a Post-Prohibition World, What’s the Point of “Speakeasies”?
Is It Safe to Cook with Wooden Spoons? Here’s What a Microbiologist Says
On the Hunt for the World’s Rarest Pasta
Reason Pregnancy Can Come with Pickle Cravings
Stop Asking Your Sommelier for “Funky” Wine
Stop Buying Shitty Cookbooks: A Short Diatribe.
We Found Out What Actually Makes New York Bagels So Superior
Weird Rules that White House Chefs Have to Follow
What Country Drinks the Most Coffee in the World?
What Was the First Flavor of Campbell’s Soup?
What’s the Origin of Beer Cheese?
Why We Love Looking at Paintings of Food
World’s Most Expensive Cheesecake Cost More than Rent in NYC, The
— podcasts, etcetera —•
Best of Japanese Desserts, The
Craft Beer Isn’t Booming, but It Isn’t Busting, Either
“Day Without Immigrants” Protests Close Restaurants Across the Country
Eric’s Crispy Kimchi Dumplings (Napjak Mandu)
How the US’ Biggest Garlic Producer Survived the Fall of American Garlic
Quest for Sourdough goes to Greece and Türkiye: The Fermenting Power of Chickpeas.
Reimagining Classic Cocktails with Tequila
These Foods Expected to See Biggest Price Increases This Year, USDA Says
Where Did All the Good Bars Go?
Why is Chardonnay the Winemaker’s Grape & What a Family Brand Means with Chris Benziger
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and are providing them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
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(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
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The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
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Human Cuisine
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Herbs: A Global History
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Sausage: A Global History
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Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
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Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
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How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
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How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
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Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
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Prophet Amidst Losses
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Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
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The Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
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Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
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Unbelievable: A Modern Novella (the Extended Edition)
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Noirvella: The Extended Edition
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Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business
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The Long & Short of It: A Miscellany
(Paper)
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Beer Taste & Other Disorders
(Paper)
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Galloping Gourmand: A Culinary Collection
(Paper)
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Substack Lightnin’: Volume One, The First Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Two, Second Year
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #293 is protected by copyright and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
As the author of this page—being a real living person—I have not used AI for any purpose (beyond routine spellcheck). Nor do I permit the use of any of its content for training of AI systems, or in the generation of AI content.
Copyright ©2025 by Gary Allen.
