Food & Writing Sites for October 2025
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
The lazy days of summer are gone, and harvest season is in full swing. It’s time for writers to roll out of their hammocks and get back to work. With that in mind, this issue of food and writing updates—the three hundredth!—contains a veritable cornucopia, or market basket, overflowing with ripe ideas for new projects.
Get cookin’...
Since the last issue of these updates, we’ve posted seven more pages via Substack:
“Food for Thought...,” on the eating preferences of literary types;
“In Vero non Veritas…”a newly-added story, “Placebo,“ to Unbelievable: A Modern Novella (the Extended Edition);
“In the Eye of the Beholder…” on authenticity, memory, and their differences (maybe);
“No Ketchup!” an essay about mustard, and Chicago;
“Thinning the Herd…” a short story about downsizing;
“n-Stage Biblomania…” on the perils and pleasures of book addiction; and
“Yet Another Addition…” another chapter in a work-in-progress.
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 couple of selections—not too corny, we hope—from On the Table’s culinary quote collection:
Gardens, scholars say, are the first sign of commitment to a community. When people plant corn, they are saying, “let’s stay here.” And by their connection to the land, they are connected to one another. Anne Raver
I have no hostility to nature, but a child’s love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing rekindles my spirits, gives comfort to my heart and mind, more than a visit to Mississippi... and to be regaled as I often have been, with a platter of fried chicken, field peas, collard greens, fresh corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes with French dressing... and to top it all off with a wedge of freshly baked pecan pie. Craig Claiborne
Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Gary
October 2025
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 Jan Whitaker)—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 —
Ask a Wine Pro: What Is Solera Aging?
(Hannah Staab, on the making of sherry—a VinePair article)
(Grace Linden’s Smithsonian article)
Club Devoted to Celebrating Great Britain’s Great Puddings, The
(Lottie Gross’s GastroObscura piece is mighty fine—but not My-T-Fine)
Differences between Coconut Water, Milk, and Cream, Explained, The
(Pete O’Connell takes the lids off for VinePair)
Eggs Again, Old and New: Whipping Whites
(Harold McGee demonstrates that food science is an ongoing process)
Don’t Be Fooled—There Really Is a Difference Between Shrimp and Prawns
(some clarification from The Takeout’s David Stringer)
Essential Guide to Aperitivo Liqueurs, The
(Brad Thomas Parsons’ Punch article on Italian bitter beverages)
(Lynn Hill’s index of food writers and their publications)
(Garritt C. Van Dyk’s article about those tasty mollusks—in Smithsonian)
Get to Know Uruguay Wine, South America’s Best-Kept Secret
(Laura Linder’s VinePair account of Uruguay’s 160 wineries and Bordeaux-like climate)
Great Parmesan Cheese Enigma, The
(Willa Paskin, for Slate, follows a curious trail leading from Parma, Italy to Plymouth, Wisconsin)
Head to Head: Food & Wine Pairing
(Alder Yarrow and Fiona Beckett debate the subject, in Decanter)
Home-Packed to Hot Meals: How School Lunch Got Its Start
(Jenny Ashcraft’s article at newspaper blog Fishwrap)
(evidence from Africa on how diet influenced the development of our species)
(a let them eat cake substack page comparing some traditional sauces of New Mexico and Singapore)
How Not to Choose a Restaurant
(Alicia Kennedy warns against putting your trust on fakelore)
(their secrets revealed, at Jan Whitaker’s blog, Restauranting Through History)
Sweet Science of Corn, The: From Fields to Flavor
(Nik Sharma’s substack post on Zea mays)
Taste-Testing the History of the Hamburger
(Jackson Landers’ culinary research for Smithsonian)
Where Our Food Crops Come From
(interactive maps and circular plots from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture)
(Kerry McInerney, in Vittles, on foods some consider too hot-hot-hot)
You Don’t Need Much to Cure Meat at Home
(Maria Scinto’s how-to article in The Take-Out)
— inspirational (or useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
12 Funeral Foods and the Stories Behind Them
99 Problems: The Ice Cream Truck’s Surprising History
A Word, Please: Debunking Em Dash Myths
Commotion: The New Industry Standard—or Vice Versa
Computer Architecture Lessons from the Kitchen
Cookbook that Became Every Bartender’s Trusted Companion, The
Eggs, Tomatoes, Sandwiches: The History of Food as Protest Projectiles
Food for the Ages: 7 Historical NYC Dishes You Can Still Order Today
Food’s Fragility Is an Aesthetic Gift
Here’s Why Maple Syrup Bottles Have Those Tiny Handles
How Libraries are Creating Community Through Food
I Tracked a Wild Salmon from Sea to Plate—What I Learned Surprised Me
Intro to Historical Recipe Development
Is the Bread in Europe Better for you?
L’addition: French on the Menu, Drat It
NOTICED: The French Dips Arrive
On Recipes: Changing Formats, Changing Use
ON RECIPES: CHANGING FORMATS, CHANGING USE
Philosophy of Gastronomy—Volume 2: Modernism and the Philosophy of Modern Foods
Poetry-Loving Cook Who Fed Detroit’s Soul, The
Recipes & Rationing: How WWII Changed the Way Americans Cooked
Return of the Raines Sandwich, The
Tequila Isn’t the Only Spirit to Use Additives. Why Aren’t We Talking About the Others?
Wait, Pasta with Yogurt? On Food, Storytelling, and Migration
What is American Food?: Spilled Milk #359
What the Hell Is Data-Driven Cooking?
When Two Economists Scientifically Ranked New York’s Best Deli Sandwiches
Why Are There So Many Exclamation Points in Cookbook Titles?!
Worldbuilding and the Future of Cookbooks
Writing Recipes that Teach: A Conversation with Author Kenji López-Alt
— podcasts, et cetera —
5 Foods that Help You Stay Fuller Longer
5 Steak Sauces You Need to Know, The—and How to Make Them
At Julia Child’s French Home, Makenna Held Is Leading a Recipe-Free Revolution
Cookies & History: David Parr House
How the Oldest Chocolate House in New York City Survived a Century; Still Standing
How The World Became Spicy (In Only 20 Years)
VinePair Podcast, The: Can AI Write a Wine List? Should It?
You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why.
— 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 #300, 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 ©2025 by Gary Allen.
