Food & Writing Sites for June 2026
Monday, May 18, 2026
Daylily, Hemerocallis
When Keats asked, “…what is so rare as a day in June?”, he didn’t wait for an answer, but wrote, “Then, if ever, come perfect days.” The man knew what he was talking about.
Since the last issue of these updates, we’ve posted yet more pages via Substack:
“A Criminal Concord…” a tale of transcendental transgression;
“On Writing and Publishing…” a walk in the metaphorical woods;
“It Ain't Me, Babe...” on a scam that failed;
“Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin…” a few things learned from old books; and...
released a fourth volume of these Substack posts in print and Kindle format (see below).
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 food writing and anything else we manage to get into print.
For June, two bustin’-out selections (that might, someday, be in On the Table’s quote collection):
In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them. Aldo Leopold
The leaves are in their glory, their green and perfect youth in June. Henry David Thoreau
Gary
June 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 Sally Ekus)—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 —
14 Retro “Dessert Salad” Recipes Perfect for Gatherings
(“The horror! The horror)!
A Chili Pilgrimage to Zunyi, Guizhou
(hot stuff from Xueci Cheng’s Substack page, Chill Crisp)
Archaeologists Discover 4,000-Year-Old Beer Receipt—Tallying a Staggering Amount of Booze
(recently translated cuneiform tablets in the collection of the National Museum of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen)
Are Olives Actually Good for You? Here’s What the Experts Say
(Martha Stewart consults with three nutritionists for an answer)
Cheese Toasties Aren’t What They Used to Be
(Elisabeth Luard’s Substack on grilled cheese/rarebit/Welsh rabbit)
Flavor Brief, The: The Taste Nobody Named
(Nik Sharma’s report on the discovery of Oleogustus, the unofficial “sixth taste”—the taste of fat)
Gift of Deliciousness, The: How Taste, Flavor, and Pleasure Contribute to Human and Planetary Health
(paper, by Amy Bentley, in Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment)
(disseminating the science behind that bouquet, for Wine Enthusiast’s Marshall Tilden III )
Humble Bean Gets a High-End Glow-Up, The”
(Jillian Deutch’s Bloomberg report on the gentrification of a familiar peasant food)
(Clinton J. Moyer, in Biblical Archaeology, on dining room arrangements in ancient Jerusalem)
What Is Crémant, and Why Is It Suddenly Everywhere?
(Amanda Gabriele, bubbling over, at The Spill)
— inspirational (or useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
5 Cheeses You Should Know on Sight
Can Food Writers Build a New Age of Food Writing?
Cappuccino After 10am? Mortal Sin.
Dianne Jacob Has Plenty of Cookbook Opinions
Feeding, Cooking, Sharing: A Brief Social History of Food
Field Guide to Common Edible Plants, A
Flavor Brief, The: You’ve Been Multiplying Flavor Without Knowing It
Help, There’s a Cockroach in My Coffee! 16 Gross Ingredients Hidden in Your Favourite Foods
How Cochineal Connects Tandoori Chicken to Oaxaca: The Red Thread from Oaxaca to Delhi
In Thailand, Traditional Cannabis Cuisine Is Back on the Menu
Is There a “Right” Way to Appreciate a Wine?
Let Me Convince You to Be Prolific
Mesmerizing Geometry of Malaysia’s Most Complex Cakes, The
One Small Step for Man. One Giant Snack for Mankind: MoonPie’s Lunar Legacy
Power of Recipe Headnotes, The
Quiet Joy of Doing the Dishes, The
Recipe as a Glorified Set of Instructions, The
Talking to Cookbook Editor Rachel Brown
The Design of a Home-cooked Meal: The Tacit Dimension in Decoding Recipes
The “Great British Bake Off” of the 1600s Would Have Been All Alphabet Cookies
What Is an Editorial Review? Everything Authors Need to Know
What Is the Role of a Literary Agent?
What We Talked About When We Talked About Food Back Then
Why Cooking Is the Best: Part Eight
Why Is Food Considered Fancy If We Set It on Fire?
Why “Slap” Tacos Are All Over Texas Now
— podcasts, et cetera —
Alison Roman and Britt Cobb on Cookbook Design
Do Authors Still Need Gatekeepers?
How Do Aluminum Cans Affect Flavor?
Oxford Food Expert Reveals the Secret Tricks Behind Food Packaging
Walking the Johnny Appleseed Trail with Isaac Fitzgerald
— 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)
(this newsletter updates the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is probably 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
Substack Lightnin’: Volume One, The First Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Two, Second Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Three, Third Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Four, Fourth Year
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #308 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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