Food & Writing Sites for November 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
…market day in San Gimignano.
With the beginning of November, harvest season is really over. However, since this is being written in October, the market basket of tasty websites still overflows. The word “Bounteous” comes to mind. This newsletter feels like the biggest one in ages.
Since the last issue of these updates, we’ve posted yet more pages via Substack (and worked, behind the scenes, on several other writing projects, including the editing of two books for other writers):
“One Day in the Life of a Freelancer…” a short story about editing;
“Hands Down…” on art and ego;
“Last Will & Testament..” thinking about the unthinkable; and
“Le Mot Juste…” youthful adventure in vocabulary expansion;
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.
A quote, for November—a little something to brighten our darkening days—from On the Table’s quote collection:
“As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine. Every autumn, when the wind turns cold and darkness comes early, I am suddenly happy. It's time to start making soup again.” Leslie Newman
Gary
November 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 Ken Albala)—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 make sure that your in-box will never be afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
Are Hybrid Grapes the Future of American Wine?
(Chris Cohen’s Saveur article about cross-breeding to deal with climate change)
Cucumber: The Plant That Moves More than You Think
(Andrés Muedano, on the science of Cucumis sativus)
Garlic Confit and the History of Garlic
(courtesy of Andrew Zimmern's Substack page, Spilled Milk)
(Livia Gershon on how an eleventh-century nomadic foodstuff from Central Asia became an American snack food)
(Simar Bajaj, in The New York Times, on beets’ antioxidants and good nitrates)
(the political history of pie throwing, tossed by substacker KC Hysmith)
ISSUE 109, SWEET THINGS, Part 2: Cane Syrup #1-Commercial Production
(David Shields’ Substack page on syrup from Saccharum robustum)
ISSUE 110, SMOKE
Part 1: Smoking Fish
(David Shields’ Substack page on smoking techniques)
(Mitchell Davis’ Substack page speculating on the etymology of “pie”)
(Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton’s article, in Offrange, on trying to grow olives in several southern US states)
The Old Advice about Serving Temperatures for Wine is Incomplete
(Dwight Furrow offers some adjustments)
What We Know About the Earliest History of Chocolate
(Josie Garthwaite’s article in Smithsonian Magazine)
(Erin Somers’ article on the current status of lab-grown meat, in Harper’s Magazine)
— inspirational (or useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
12 Meats Real Cowboys Ate the Most in the Old West
15 Wildest Deep-Fried State Fair Foods Across America, The
40 Museums Devoted Entirely to Food, From the Delicious to the Disgusting
$60 Bread Loaves, The Economy and Food Systems: Spilled Milk #502
America’s Food System Is Too Fragmented
Anthony Bourdain’s Moveable Feast
Behind-the-Scenes:
Cookbook Photography
Carla Lalli Says No to Headnotes
Confronting the “Now What?” in Publishing
Cooking the Victory Garden: 10 Recipes from World War II
Emergence of New Culinary Movements, The
Every Way I’ve Made Money as a Writer, Ranked by Difficulty
Extreme Heat Threatens Italy’s Parmesan Heartland
Food and Beverage: The Last Human Refuge?
Future of Candy is Rotten, The
Future of Gastronomy, The—Volume 02: The Science of Taste—Part 01: Understanding Human Taste
Go Deep without Getting Wet: How to Invite Reflection and Still Get the Laugh (On Humor)
Here’s How Popcorn Became the Ultimate Movie Snack—and Why It Wasn’t Allowed in Theaters Originally
How Scientists are Fighting Food Waste with Phages, Silk, and More
I Miss the Old Days When Aesthetics Mattered
I’m Starting to Suspect That the F.D.A. is Just Trying to Get Me to Cook
Is Cooking Art? The Artifying Process and its Limitations
Is Scarcity an Aesthetic Value or a Pricing Trick?
Just Smelling Coffee May Change Your Mood and Brain Activity
Magical Mould that’s a Mushroom, The
Nik Sharma Turned a Panic Room Into a Cookbook Library
On How to Know When You’re Done
Philosophy of Gastronomy:
Volume 1: Food as Art
Volume 2: Modernism and the Philosophy of Modern Foods
Volume 3: The Philosophy of Senses and Perception in Food
Volume 4: Food, Time, and Place
Volume 5. Ethics and Sustainability in Modern Gastronomy
Volume 7. Futurism in Gastronomy
Pleasure of Almost Remembering, The
Portrait of a Restaurateur: Harland Sanders
Psychology Behind Food Towers, The: Why Are We Drawn to Tiered Meals?
Remembering America’s Forgotten “Fish Evangelist”
The Edit with Kimberly Nichols
The Most Popular Soup in Every State, Mapped
The Roots of the Novel are Parody, Pastiche, and Play
What Ruth Reichl Can’t Cook Without
What Your Microbiome Wants for Dinner
When You’re Accustomed to American Super-sized Meals…
Why Is My Mustard Spicier than Normal? An Investigation into a Global Dijon Mystery
Wine and the Erotics of Attention
Would You Call Yourself a “Mixologist”?
You Should Always Skip These Appetizers When Dining Out, According to Chefs
— podcasts, et cetera —
10 Levels of Nachos | With Babish
20 Worst Discontinued Fast Food Items We Can’t Believe were served
Around the World in 140 Ferments
Carla Lalli Makes Dinner the Best Part of a Bad Day
Cooking and Preserving the Summer’s Bounty with Domenica Marchetti, Giovanna Solimando and Frank Fariello
Emergence of New Culinary Movements, The
Forgotten Cold Drinks of History
Good Things × The Art of Gathering: Creating Ritual and Community with Priya Parker and Samin Nosrat
Granolaville: How San Francisco’s Food Revolution Shaped My Career
Has the Vegan Business Bubble Burst?
Hot Plate with Kristen Hartke, The
How Garlic Took Over the (Culinary) World
I Went Looking for the Last Wild Apple Forests
Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts
Restaurant Industry Is Broken, The. Can It Be Fixed?
Science Finds Eating Ice Cream Regularly Has Inexplicable Health Benefits
South Korean Farmers Find Potatoes “Boiled” in Ground by Record Heat: “I’m So Upset”
Treasure Book by Harold McGee, A
What It Was Like to Eat in Ancient Rome?
Why Nonalcoholic Wine Is So Expensive
— changed URL —
Zester Daily
(online magazine of "the culture of food and wine")
— 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 #312 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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