Food & Writing Sites for February 2026
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Winter is root vegetable season...
February is the shortest month because it’s the worst. Historically, the powers-that-be have tried to make it more palatable by jamming in a bunch of holidays—official and otherwise. Think Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, and (every fourth year) Leap Day/Sadie Hawkins Day. It’s a pathetic lipstick-on-a-pig ploy that fools absolutely no one.
With that in mind, I’m including as many diversions as possible in this issue. Stay warm and dry, and remember that—after these horrid four weeks have passed—March, and blessed Spring, is bound to follow.
Since the last issue of these updates, we’ve posted yet more pages via Substack:
“Do you know why Americans drink more coffee than tea?” an over-caffeinated story;
“Two Pies Are...” on mincemeat and minced quotations;
“25 Years Ago Tomorrow…” thinking about the future;
“Heritage American…” an exercise in genealogy;
“What is Seen in the Rearview Mirror…” some ridiculous self-aggrandizing;
“Groves of Academe…” a literary fable;
“Gulosity…” a talk about table service; and
“A Couple of Small Things…” a two-part amuse-gueule.
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 also an Amazon author’s page, that includes food writing and anything else we manage to get into print.
A few well-rooted selections from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Large, naked, raw carrots are acceptable as food only to those who live in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter. Fran Lebowitz
The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious. Tom Robbins
The turnip is a capricious vegetable, which seems reluctant to show itself at its best. Waverley Root
Some guy invented Vitamin A out of a carrot. I'll bet he can't invent a good meal out of one. Will Rogers
Gary
February 2026
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or if you 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 Alison Pearlman)—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 —
15 Unconventional Wine Terms, Explained
(by Stephen Bradley, at VinePair)
Brief History of Mincemeat Pie, the Sweet English Dessert, A
(provided by Jenny Cohen at Mentalfloss)
Corkscrew Began as a Tool for Muskets—Not Merlot, The
(Andrew Coletti extracts the history of wine storage techniques for Popular Science)
(Elena Kazamia, on the effects of trace compounds, at Nautilus)
Difference Between Cognac and Brandy, Explained, The
(…by Kara Newman, at Wine Enthusiast)
High-Fat Cheese, Cream Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia
(Dr. Veronica Danquah with good news on ABC News)
Red Dye in Salmon: Spilled Milk #395
(according to Andrew Zimmern—it’s true, but there’s no need to worry about it)
This Meal Might Bring You to Tears
(Kristen French, in Nautilus, on the interaction of all the senses on the perception of food)
(an account of the invention of chocolate bars, in 1847)
Watts on A History of Bread (by Scholliers)
(book review, by Sydney Watts, in Tijdschrift Economische en Sociale Geschiedenis)
— inspirational (or useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
12 Classic Novels that Made Me a Better Writer
15 Vegetables People Don’t Really Eat Anymore
Anthony Bourdain’s Go-To Strategy for Ordering the Best Food at a Restaurant
Biggest Difference Between a Tavern and a Bar, The: Know Before You Go
“Consuming Artistry and Authorship Like a Candy Bar”
Fourteen Points, The: Words Smart People Misuse
Historisch Eten en Koken (Historical Food and Cooking)
(in Dutch, translation available)
How Kraft Heinz Lost Its Lock on Mac and Cheese—and American Shoppers
“I Once Ate a Fly, Thinking It Was Crispy Carbonized Meat:” On Ratting
Old-School Kitchen Appliance That Everyone Had In The 1970s
Oldest Restaurant in the World Just Turned 300 Years Old, The
On “Turtle Island,” Indigenous Food Is Not the Past: It’s the Future
Peculiar Reason Dinner Is Served So Late in Spain, The
Restaurant Critics in the Age of Imperative Visibility
San Francisco Factory That’s Been Crafting Custom Fortune Cookies Since 1962, The
Seducing Truckers with ‘Nanner Pudding
To Eat Healthier, Our Critic Went to the Source: His Kitchen
Today’s Poem: Recipe for a Salad Dressing
What Happened to Salisbury Steak?
What Makes Maryland Crab Cakes Different from the Rest?
Whatever Happened to Frozen Orange Juice?
Which Author Are You? (and What That Means for Backlist)
Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?
Yes, There Really Is a Difference Between Dicing and Chopping
— podcasts, et cetera —
12 Days of Wonder: Return to Recipe Graves
America Has Entered a Golden Age of Indian Cuisine
Behind-the-Scenes Peek at Writing Red, White and Drunk All Over
Don’t be Frightened by the Sh***Y First Draft
First Guy to Ever Eat Dessert, The
Indian Pudding: America’s Forgotten Dessert
Maine’s Burning Blueberry Fields
Move Over Crack. There’s a New Epidemic in Town: Protein!
Poet Philip Levine on The Writer
Wes Pearson: What Happens When the World’s Most Expensive Wines Are Tasted Blind
— 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)
Noirvella: 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)
Inedible: Cruel & Unusual Foods That Moms Used to Make and Inflicted on Young & Innocent Palates
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Substack Lightnin’: Volume One, The First Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Two, Second Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Three, Third Year
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #304 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 ©2026 by Gary Allen.
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