On the Table - the curious home of Gary Allen, Food Writer & Dillettante

 

Late April and early May: the sweet of the year. Need we say more?

 

Non-literary duties have prevented most writing, of late, but we did manage to post a few Substack newsletters:

“It’s a Snowday” was a rant about parking restrictions;

“Sugaring Off” recalls the maple syrup of the past;

“Flashback” paired chronicles of beans and bananas;

“Fools Rush In...” just one of many lies told by this angler;

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud...” a capital-R romantic moment; and

“A Texas Twofer” to paraphrase Mark Twain, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics literature.”

 

We also managed—in our free time—to self-publish a little book about hot chiles (and other things we imprudently put in our mouths). Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business is the usual salmagundi of exhausting facts and utter foolishness.

You can, if you wish, 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’s mostly about our food writing. 

 

A few fungal entries from On the Table’s culinary quote collection. 

It’s a curious idea perhaps, but a mushroom grows for such a short time and if you happen to come across it when it's fresh it’s like coming across a sound which also lives a short time. John Cage

 

Every mushroom is edible, but some only once. Old Czech saying

 

There are old mushroom hunters, and bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters. Another old saying

Gary
May 2023

 

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 Bob DelGrosso), 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 —

 

All-American Appeal of the Bundt Cake, The

(Anne Ewbank slices into its history, at Gastro Obscura)

 

Company Creates Meatball from the Cells of an Extinct Woolly Mammoth

(Jessica Stewart, reveals the latest thing in cultured meats, at My Modern Met)

 

Cookbook on a Budget: Ruby Tandoh’s Glorious Cook as You Are

(a review from Marian Bull’s substack page, Mess Hall)

 

Cookies and Breads: The Baker’s Art

(an exhibit at New York’s Museum of Contemporary Crafts)

 

Culinary Hustle

(“how Chinese food won-over the-world,” by Sam Lin-Sommer, at Gastro Obscura)

 

How a Vibrant, Factory-Made Sweet Usurped the Original Maraschino Cherry

(Robert Lamb explains at Gastro Obscura)

 

How Professional Cheese Tasters Sample 100 Cheeses Per Day

(Marnie Shure answers at The Takeout)

 

In a Word: The Proof of Liquor

(ABV, in other words—Saturday Evening Post article by Andy Hollandbeck)

 

Impressions of American Hotels

(viewed through Henry Voigt’s eyes, at The American Menu)

 

Italian Food Traditions Aren’t So Traditional

(Dwight Furrow, takes on notions of authenticity, at Edible Arts)

 

Story of India as Told by a Humble Street Snack, The

(the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt views samosas as historical artifacts)

 

Types of Flour: A Guide

(a Serious Eats article by Kristina Razon)

 

 

— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —

 

Are burnt foods really bad for you—and why do we love them so much?

 

Are Nutrition Science and Nutritional Guidelines Racist?

 

Exit Strategies: So How Are You Supposed to End a Story?

 

Glossary of Tedium, The: Vol. 2: Food

 

How a People’s Food Culture Disappears

 

How Cookie Jars Capture American Kitsch

 

José Andrés: “Behind Every Plate of Food is a Story”

 

Liberating Pleasures of Eating Meat with Your Bare Hands, The

 

So You Want to Be a Food Historian

 

Write-Off What You Know

 

 

— podcasts, etcetera —

 

Bittersweet Tale of Cocoa, The

 

Candies That Were Discontinued Over the Last Century

 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Taro

 

Pagans, Lost Sailors, and Grieving Widows: The Weird History of Hot Cross Buns

 

 

— 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 provide 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

(Hardcover)
(Kindle)

 

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

(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

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)

 

Cenotaphs
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Unbelievable: A Modern Novella
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Noirvella
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Inedible
(Paper)
(Kindle)

 

Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business
(Paper)
(Kindle)

Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...

 

...for the moment, anyway.

 

______________

 

The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #271 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 ©2023 by Gary Allen.