Food Sites for October 2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
Autumn is squash.
“Shine on, shine on harvest moon.” Tomatoes and corn are pretty much over... but squashes and tree fruits, like apples and pears, are really coming on strong. The nights grow cooler—and longer—and the days are taking on a warm glow that belies the approach of you-know-what.
Our summer has been one long series of short vacations, which has played havoc with our commitment to writing. Still, we did manage to write a few short stories and post a few Substack pages—they're mostly about our non-food writing, but foodie stuff sometimes creeps in along the way:
“Everything We Know About Life We Learned from Death” features one of those new (really new) short stories;
“Love, Past Tense” questions our memories of young love;
“Pets Perdu” is, literally, a tear jerker;
“Uncertainty Principle” is an excuse for posting another new short story;
“Don’t Get Me Wrong” is a sort of rock n’ roll confessional;
and
“It’s Un-American...” speculates about something that probably should never be written.
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.
This being the season for Cucurbits, a couple of tidbits from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us? Annita Manning
My favorite word is “pumpkin.” You can’t take it seriously. But you can’t ignore it, either. It takes ahold of your head and that’s it. You are a pumpkin. Or you are not. I am. Harrison Salisbury
Gary
October 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 Nancy Harmon Jenkins, who got us started on Substack), 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 —
750 ml Wine Bottles: History and Marketing
(Aaron Moore reveals the reason wine bottles are all the same size, in Gratsi—a company that markets its wine in boxes)
Beyond Bread: How To Save A Grain
(Hollie Stephens on the importance of genetic diversity in cereal crops, specifically wheat)
Brief History of Drinking Cocktails From Coconuts, A
(Kelsey Lawrence’s Eater piece on a tiki classic)
(Julia Skinner’s substack posting about mead)
(Miranda Brown’s review, in Literary Review, of Fuchsia Dunlop’s Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food)
Savory Cocktail Ingredients Open Up Fresh Galaxies of Flavor
(Matthew Rowley’s umami-enhanced article in imbibe)
Sowing Culinary Tradition in the Saffron Fields of La Mancha
(Esme Fox’s article is about more than just Spanish saffron)
This Book Created Italian Food as We Know It
(Andrew Coletti’s Gastro Obscura article about Pellegrino Artusi’s book, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well)
This Cookbook Explores Why “Rice Is Culture”
(Dianna Hubbell’s review of JJ Johnson’s The Simple Art of Rice, in Gastro Obscura)
Vermouth: A History of Changing Attitudes Towards Alcohol, Health and Pleasure
(Simone Lai’s pour at Sourced)
(Open Culture’s report on a bottle you’re not likely to find in your local liquor store)
(as Gastro Obscura’s Andrew Coletti explains, it’s five different species, with five different flavors/culinary uses)
(Nikhita Venugopal’s article suggests that there’s more to a Gin & Tonic than juniper and false history)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
19th-Century Swill Milk Scandal That Poisoned Infants With Whiskey Runoff, The
A Cookbook Deal is about More than Social Media Stats, says Literary Agent Amy Collins
“A Plague on the Industry”: Book Publishing’s Broken Blurb System
Actual Historians Answer Questions About Food
Amazon Issues New AI Guidelines for Its KDP Platform
Art, Craft and (Gendered) Labour of Achaar, The
Book Publicity: What Works and What Doesn’t
Field Guide to the Great Hot Dogs of America, A
“ICE” Is One of the Rudest Dining Habits Ever, and You Might Be Doing It
Is Scarr’s the Best Pizza in New York?
Lydia Davis from Revising One Sentence
MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami, An
Politics of Flavour in Coffee, The
Rebel’s Guide to Creative Integrity, A
RIP to These Extinct Fast Food Hot Dogs
Taste of the Past, A: A Food Writer on the Power of Timeless Flavours
What The Original Versions Of 12 Popular Dishes Actually Tasted Like
Write for Your Best Readers Instead of Your Worst Readers
— podcasts, etcetera —
11 of the Most Faked Foods in the World
Can ChatGPT Help Maine Food Professionals Save Time?
How Much Booze Did Medieval People Really Drink?
Lies in Your Grocery Store, The
Modern Marvels: The Surprising World of Cold Cuts
Umami: You Never Say Its Name, Yet You Taste It Every Day
— 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)
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)
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #276 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.
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