Food Sites for August 2024
Friday, July 19, 2024
A few days ago, it was Henry David Thoreau’s birthday; this was his desk.
August is high summer, but it often has early suggestions of summer’s end—not that we’ve noticed this year. It’s been ridiculously hot and oppressively humid. If Winter’s weather encourages productive writing, so did air conditioning in July. The sweltering heat of the outside world rarely tempted us to venture away from the laptop.
It's been a busy month at Penwipe Publishing*; we edited, designed, and published one book (Pure Gold), and are nearly done with another (Six Plays)—both written by our new friend/colleague, Geoffrey Paul Gordon. However, we did manage to post more Substack pages:
“Saint Something-or-Other,” a seasonal foraging recipe;
“Funny Business,” an essay confronting seriousness;
“Fat, Foolish, & Fabulous.” Sir John Falstaff and genealogy;
“What We Know of Life, We Learned from Death” revisits the very first time we were paid for writing; and
“On the Tip of My Tongue,” on one way to revisit one’s past.
*The imprimatur of a contrivance that we started to publish our otherwise unpublishable stuff. The name is a subtle—no, vague—allusion to the desk that Thoreau used to write Walden. The underside of the desks’ front edge is blackened with ink stains, because Henry always wiped his pen on it before committing his next words to paper.
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 summery observations, some from On the Table’s culinary quote collection.
If it could only be like this always—always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe. Evelyn Waugh
It was August, and the fields were high with corn. Melanie Gideon
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Harry Truman
Gary
August 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 Krishnendu Ray—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 —
Freedom, Finances, and Fried Chicken
(Debra Freeman, in Eater, on “the legacy of the enslaved and later free Black women” of the American South)
(Julia Skinner’s reading list of vegetarian books for omnivores)
Long, Winding Origin Story of Tres Leches Cake, The
(Mandy Baca traces it for Food52)
(Ed Behr’s article, in his Substack—The Art of Eating)
Real Reason Most Irish Pubs Are Named After People, The
(Hanna Staab has the answer at VinePair—sláinte!)
Researchers Just Discovered the Only Known Roman-Era Brewery Ever Found in Italy
(where beer was brewed from millet)
Where Does Horchata Come From Anyway?
(the trendy nut-milk-based drink—according to Thrillist’s Dana Givens—has its roots in Africa, via Latin America)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
5 People and Places That Claim to Have Invented the Hamburger
14 Telltale Signs a Recipe Sucks
America’s Obsession with Hot Dogs, Explained
Can We Eat Our Way Out of America’s Invasive Species Problem?
Drafty Draft and the First Pancake, The
Has French Cuisine Lost Its Luster? Or Are the American Food Media Just Ignoring It?
Hipster Beer Is Dead. Long Live ‘Lifestyle’ Beer.
History of Beer, The: And Why Civilization As We Know It May Have Started Because of It
Hottest Cookbook Ingredient Right Now, The? Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.
Is Organic Produce Worth the Higher Price?
“Joyce Chen’s China”: How a Film Used Food to Bridge a Cold-War Divide
Line Cook’s Rant About... Recipes, A
Literally the Gayest Dish on the Menu
New Archaeochemical Insights into Roman Wine from Baetica
Price of Restaurant Criticism, The
Psychology Behind Buying Bad Airport Food—Again and Again, The
Should Chefs Be Allowed to Copyright Their Dishes?
Taking a Good Hard Look: Teapots and Bronzes
The Chef Is Human. The Reviewer Isn’t.
Truth About the US’ Most Iconic Food, The
Turn Fact Into Fiction—Without Hurting Someone or Getting Sued
Use AI as Your Free Virtual Assistant
What Are The 23 Secret Flavors In Dr Pepper?
What Does “Good Enough” Even Mean?
What Working at Restaurants Can Teach Writers
What Your Grocery Cart Says About You
Why Italy Fell Out of Love with Cilantro
— podcasts, etcetera —•
America’s First Celebrity Bartender and the Book That Changed Bars Forever
Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
New York City’s Black Oyster King
What “Couscousgate” Tells Us About French Food
— 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 (the Extended Edition)
(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)
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 #286 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.
