Food Sites for May 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
I should've been basking in Spring sunshine—but, while writing this, it was cool and rainy in the Hudson Valley.
No worries; in another week or so, morels and ramps will be up, and herring will swarm into the streams that connect to the Hudson. Right behind the herring, striped bass and shad will churn the waters of Rondout Creek, about a hundred yards from my front porch.
That will be Spring.
Last month, we were—for the most part—otherwise occupied. We did manage to write a new short story (see below) and, of course, post more Substack pages:
“As an Illustration...,” a small portfolio of former work;
“Vanishing Acts,” a political essay of sorts;
“Sentimental Education,” some fiction about part of American history and personal loss; and
“In Conversation...” contains the story mentioned above.
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 our food writing and anything else we manage to get into print.
More seasonal items, some from On the Table’s culinary quote collection.
What could be got from the woods was free and amounted to a diurnal dining diary that everyone kept in their heads. May was wild asparagus, arugula, and artichokes. June was wild lettuce and stinging nettles. July was cherries and wild strawberries. August was forest berries. September was porcini. Bill Buford
In the vegetable world, there is nothing so innocent, so confiding in its expression, as the small green face of the freshly-shelled spring pea. William Wallace Irwin
Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of each. Grow green with the spring, yellow and ripe with autumn. Henry David Thoreau
Gary
May 2024
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 Alicia Kennedy—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 —
(David Shields’ account of the traditional American spirit)
(Andrew Coletti’s history of the bain-marie, at Gastro Obscura)
How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food
(Helen Zoe Veit, in The Smithsonian’s The Conversation)
How Scientists Keep the World’s Greatest Delicacies From Going ‘Extinct’
(Vivian Wong’s article on lab-grown alternatives in the Robb Report)
Power of Pickles, The: How Does Fermentation Make Food Last Longer?
(Maddy Chapman’s answer at IFL Science)
(Jordan Taylor explains “the science behind your nagging hunger pangs” for Valet)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
5 Famous Food Festivals Around the World
6 Things You Should Never Say to Someone You’re Dining With—and Why
48 Scenes from a Century of New York Dining
Desk Dispatch, The: Seeking Gustu in La Paz
Empanadas with a Taste of Venezuelan History
Enabling Conditions of Culinary Art, The
Forget Wine—Beer and Cheese Is an Unbeatable Combination
How British Chinese Takeaway Became a Viral, Controversial Cuisine
How Did Jelly Beans Become an Easter Candy?
Is Craft Beer Cringe Right Now?
It’s Time to (Officially) Cancel the Dining Room
Nothing Left to Say?: The End of Wine Writing
Raise Your Hand if You Hate to Cook
Realities of Cookbook Criticism, The
Taste, Organic Unity, and Creative Tasting
Why I Don’t Write About Restaurants
— podcasts, etcetera —
Good Editors and Bad Experiences
Shooting Incredible iPhone Photos in a Busy Food Market
— 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
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(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
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Human Cuisine
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
The Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business
(Paper)
(Kindle)
The Long & Short of It: A Miscellany
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Beer Taste & Other Disorders
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Galloping Gourmand: A Culinary Collection
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #283 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.
Copyright ©2024 by Gary Allen.
