croissant granola, gut-friendly tasting menus, and food film festivals
croissant granola, gut-friendly tasting menus, and food film festivals
Ten Things #4: Ocotber 14, 2024
This post is too long for email and will be more enjoyable in the Substack app.
Hi friends and happy fall! I’ve been deep in essay mode but I’m excited to get back into a good writing groove. Writing always get me in deep consuming mode so I’m passing the time (aka procrastinating) by bringing you another edition of 10 things. These are my long-winded thoughts and musings on 10 food-related things that I love to consume.
While summer produce and its freshness are undefeated, I think the bounty of fall is a worthy contender. Veggies and fruits from this short season encourage us to slow down, savour and let things simmer and savour for the right amount. It’s also the time of year when we start to experience peak gathering at the dinner table. I know Canadian readers are deep in Thanksgiving prep mode today and American friends are probably scheming on turkey day. It’s my favourite time of year, and I would love to hear your favourite fall food traditions. Okay, let’s do it.
Also, I want to take a moment to send love and good thoughts to those who are affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. I hope that people are getting the help they need and are surrounded by their love and by those in their communities.
Thank you to the 24 new subscribers who’ve joined this week! It’s so lovely having you here!
SUPPORT HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS
Over the past few weeks, hurricanes Helene and Milton have decimated the Southeastern United States, leaving thousands of people without housing, potable water, or access to quality food. It’s devastating watching the carnage left by the natural disaster as people figure out what to do next. Yet amidst all the horror, I’ve been really moved and inspired by those using their resources to strengthen their communities and get each other back on their feet. After all, we are all we got.
If you’re feeling compelled to donate, World Central Kitchen and Mercy Chefs are seeking donations to support their efforts on the ground. East Fork Pottery, the ceramics studio based in North Carolina, is donating 5% of all sales to local relief efforts. For grassroots organizations, Earthrise published a list of places to donate organized by geographical region. If you know of any places to donate, please comment them below. Thank you.
FRIEND OF THE OIL(Graza)
Alt title: amiga de aciete (this is the Spanish version!) A few weeks ago, the team at popular olive oil brand Graza interviewed me in one of the most fun chats I’ve had about food this year. I talked about my perfect food day, who inspires me in the industry, my pinch-me moments, and my opinions on trends. Check out the other Graza interviews to read about some awesome food folks!
CERES FOOD FILM FESTIVAL, NEW YORK CITY
As a Scorpio, I love when I’m asked to give my opinions on anything so it was a true honour when the Ceres Food Film Festival asked me to participate on the 2024 Juror panel. As someone obsessed with film and a deep passion for food, this was my dream job. I spent the summer watching shorts, films, and docs that captured the beauty, importance, and tensions of food systems around the world. I’m not sure if I can share my favourites, for fear of breaking juror’s honour, but watching these films opened my eyes to facets of the food world I didn’t know and gave me hope that there are people who are constantly working to make food better for all.
This week, the Ceres Food Film Festival will be hosting its opening night on October 17th from 6:30-9:30PM at NYU’s King Juan Carlos Center. There will be a curated screening of shorts and film excerpts as well as a panel with esteemed filmmakers and farmers like James Beard Humanitarian Award Winner Karen Washington. Tickets are limited and invitation-only but if you’re super interested, use code ceresfamtable to snag a free ticket.
There’s also an opportunity to see more of the 50 films curated for the festival by purchasing a day pass for October 17th, attending another curated panel on Saturday, October 19th at ReThink Food in Soho, and checking out all the films virtually from the 17th to the 25th. More info can be found here. Happy watching!
DINING WITH THE DIASPORA (NYTimes)
Lately, my Sunday mornings have been dedicated to finishing the NYT crossword and perusing the styles and food sections. I read this really touching piece by Brooklyn-based photographer Melissa Alcena on how she felt a connection to her Bahamian homeland after spending some time in Dakar, the coastal Senegalese capital. The author beautifully describes the market trip and delicate preparation that goes into the dish, a communal activity that leaves the room “buzzing with collective purpose.” I especially loved the dining scenes, admiring the photos of the family sitting on mats, spoons in their hands ready to partake in this vibrant meal together. It reminded me of the stories my dad told growing up and sharing one giant pot with his siblings for dinner time.
This article is part of the Food Voyages series, a new NYT Magazine column that chronicles personal food memories with the joy and wonder of travel. It’s a brilliant and beautiful expression of how food can allow us to connect with a place on a deeper level or learn more about ourselves. Highly recommend reading all of them. There’s a great piece about a kid whose parents fly him out to Paris to change his aversion to eggs, an artist who travels back to his mom’s native Hong Kong in search of the wok hei flavours of her youth, and a New York City multi-hyphenate who ventures to Naples reminiscing on the gelato that she had after surviving a brain tumour.
DAVID ZILBER DINNER, MEXICO CITY
While Mexico City may be a missed stop for some of my favourite artists (looking at you Beyoncé and Vampire Weekend), that is certainly not the case for the culinary scene. In the last few months, there has been a solid crew of guest chefs gracing the cities’ eateries.
Like any millennial with an enthusiasm for global cuisine, I’ve been fascinated by some of Noma’s practices and cultures and how much they’ve influenced the international food scene. A few weeks ago, my partner and I got to experience an exceptional tasting menu from David Zilber. Zilber was the head of fermentation at Noma, co-wrote the infamous Noma Guide to Fermentation with owner René Redzepi, and now works as an application scientist at Danish firm Novonesis. I love following him on Instagram partly for his fermentation discoveries but also for the incredible meals that he makes for his son. While he’s spending more time in the lab than in the kitchen, it was a treat to see him step up the kitchen.
Partnering with the recently opened zero-waste restaurant Baldio, Zilber prepared an exceptional tasting menu pairing locally grown Mexican produce with his expansive knowledge of fermentation.
We were greeted with a welcome cocktail, a concoction brewed and fermented from the skin that covers the cacao pod. It was tangy, slightly sweet, and tasted like the essence of kombucha.
I also loved the “three sisters” dish: a corn tostada dressed with tangy masa miso, topped with stewed pumpkin leaves, tender butter beans, and edible flowers that I failed to recognize.
There was a brilliant remix of a tamale, with pork stewed in onions, a creamy corn espuma, and seared mushrooms. And you know we never skip dessert in this house. There was a delightful horchata-inspired dessert with ice cream reminiscent of the rice drink, rice koji pudding, and a coconut cream saboyan.
It was one of the best tasting menus I’d ever experienced and didn’t wake up the next day feeling bloated. S/O to the microbiomes!
SAVE ME THE PLUMS
I’ve been in a bit of a creative rut (should I write more about that?) and have been leaning on books and articles to revive me and serve as sources of inspiration. A couple of months ago, I finished Ruth Reichl’s The Paris Novel, a delightful novel chronicling the adventures of a timid woman encouraged by her deceased and estranged mother to find herself in the City of Light. I read that book in 3 sittings and as soon as I finished, I knew I needed more Ruth in my life.
I rarely reread books but I gave that rule up and leaned into Ruth Reichl’s Save Me the Plums. In one of Ruth’s many memoirs, she recounts leaving her job as the New York Times restaurant critic to lead Gourment magazine till its final days. Reichl beautifully narrates what it was like coming into a leadership position with little experience, the ins and outs of editorial curation from the hallowed halls of Time Warner Center, and her musings on food culture and how she participated in it through her work.
I especially love it when she talks about her friendships in the industry. Spending late nights with culinary greats in the kitchens of New York’s esteemed restaurants for Chef’s Night Out, vibe-checking career decisions with homies like farm-to-table legend Alice Waters and grand dame of Chinese American cooking Cecilia Chan, kiking with Laurie Ochoa on office gossip, and letting David Foster Wallace publish his controversial but poignant essay Consider the Lobster. You can tell she was energized by the folks in the industry, inspiring and encouraging her to do her work. It’s a beautiful history of pre-internet food culture and the tension between creatives and financial benefactors in producing cultural content. Funny enough, it took Reichl nearly a decade to create a digital home for Gourment. I won’t say more, you just read the book.
The book affirms that a creator’s journey, even those at the top of their game, is one filled with self-doubt, constant worrying, and a yearning to create content that is worthy of consuming. Yet the journey is only made better with a persistent dedication to your craft and fostering relationships with people who fill you up. Oh and also enjoy savouring and experiencing the best food anytime you can and finding comfort and joy in the beautiful art of cooking. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook (yes it counts as reading). Makes for a great companion while you’re cooking dinner!
CROISSANT GRANOLA, ATHENS
My favourite thing to do when I travel is to simulate local living. I find a cute bakery, park myself on a stool, and take in the daily habits of strangers. On my last trip to Athens, I walked around and discovered Kora, a beautiful bakery in Kolonaki, a chic neighbourhood considered by locals to be the place to experience peak Athenian café culture.
The details of the bakery were captivating. The subway tile with light blue grout doubled as a placard with educational and storied tidbits on the history of bread and how the bakery came to be. The sleek industrial shelving prominent displays the yeasty fare, the golden crust basking in the morning light. Naturally, this place appears to be a product of the Copenhagen bakery with fermented sourdoughs, exceptionally laminated croissants with some variations with Mediterranean flavours, and a well-calibrated espresso machine ready to wield locally roasted coffee. Ahh, the joys of globalization. Peep their Instagram for a better understanding of their aesthetic.
Once I collected my morning pastries, I was stopped in my tracks at the register. Croissant granola? Who knew a carby healthy breakfast combo could exist like this? The packaging is eye-catching, there was a good amount of cereal in comparison to the box, and it would survive the 11-hour flight across the ocean. It was worth giving it a shot.
The granola has become my new favourite breakfast and I’ve been savouring it by having it every other day. It has the strong foundations of traditional granola, well-spiced oats, dried fruits, and a variety of seeds. Yet what makes it different from the other ‘nolas are these chunks of dehydrated croissants that add a surprising bite and the right amount of sweetness you want in your breakfast that feels like a treat but won’t warrant a crash later on in the day.
Should you find yourself in Kolonaki after a Grecian adventure, stop by Kora for treats and invest in your future self with the breakfast granola! If you love me, you’ll bring me a box too hehe ;
THE LORE AND HISTORY OF ALLRECIPES (The New Yorker)
The holy trinity of how I fell in love with food stems from keen observations of my mom in the kitchen, binging way too much Food Network before I was considered the target audience, and spending hours on AllRecipes and printing my favourites for the family kitchen binder. Iykyk!
I stop everything when I see a Ruby Tandoh byline and this New Yorker piece was another banger. Tandoh illustrates the tension every gastronome faces, relying on the internet as an index for inspiration when your library of cookbooks is staring at you. She dives into the history of collectively author recipe content, how AllRecipes established itself in the early innings of the internet, and the editorial lawlessness of the site that seems to encourage community rather than deter it.
Although Instagram has eclipsed AllRecipes as the town square for recipes and culinary content, there is still a strong community element spanning the site’s hundred and thirteen thousand crowdsourced recipes. There are no editorial standards yet you can sense the importance of a recipe based on the reviews and comments indicating substitutions and tips. It’s a thought-provoking read that demonstrates how far we’ve come when it comes to food as it exists on the Internet and in a way how far we have to go.
KAMALA HARRIS’ COOKBOOK COLLECTION (Esquire)
As a Canadian who studied politics at an American college, political campaigning is so fascinating to me. The whole song and dance of candidates schmoozing everyday people, making well-positioned small talk with cashiers, and restaurant owners, and digging into hyperlocalized grub has become a core part of campaign culture that I kinda look forward to.
It’s refreshing to see a presidential candidate who has a deep love for food. And no I’m not talking about President Biden and his infatuation with ice cream. Vice President Kamala Harris talks about her favourite turkey brining method while testing mic levels, chides her niece as any Black aunty would for not knowing how to cook, ogles dessert like a true sweet tooth would, and makes sure to make it home for Sunday dinner. Presidential candidates, they’re just like us.
In this brilliant piece, journalist and author Joshua David Stein analyses a stack of the president’s hopeful cookbooks drawing connections to her ancestral heritage, the cities she calls home, and her culinary nerdiness in the stacks. This is the type of investigative journalism I want to see. Although a small curation, it’s evident that this is the curation of a gastronome who finds joy, inspiration, and tidbits from a diverse field of voices. I love what Stein says about how “the authors, recipes, traditions, and stories represented in Harris’s collection comprise an international, diverse, underrepresented, community-minded cast who make delicious food is certainly a hopeful portent.” Do we think she’s subscribed to food Substacks? Will she give a round-up of her favourite cookbooks like Obama does with novels?
Also if Kamala wins, is there a publication that would assign a reporter to be the chief presidential culinary correspondent? I need updates on the White House garden. On a serious note, I also wonder how much her deep love of food will impact foreign and domestic food policy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIDEWAYS! YOU’VE AGED WELL! (Los Angeles Times)
They aren’t making movies like Sideways, the iconic 2004 film starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Harden Church on a rambunctious pseudo bachelor party trip exploring Napa County one wine tasting at a time. It’s one of my favourite food films and I’ll find any excuse to pop open a bottle of Pinot Noir and just unwind.
Not since Miles’ (Giamatti) fierce defiance against Merlot has a movie had such a profound impact on how we consume a particular food. Dubbed The Sideways Effect by the wine industry, this scene, small but mighty, caused a 2% drop in Merlot sales from January 2005 to 2008. Talk about influence!
In honour of the upcoming 20th anniversary of this canonical film, LA Times reporter Heather Platt chronicles the movie’s impact on the Santa Ynez Valley where the film was shot, Alexander Payne’s connection to food and what inspired him to write the Merlot scene, and if the movie still holds water in wine culture today(spoiler: it doesn’t!). While the conversation on wine has shifted away from spiting Merlot and embracing natural wines,
Sideways changed the way we talked about wine, normalizing how the everyman can become a passionate oeniphile with one good whiff of a good pour. Miles, considered an oddball when the film came out, would thrive in the wine bar scene today. Hitching Post Winery, one of the locations where the movie was shot is partnering with Searchlight Pictures to host some screenings, events, and dinner parties over the next few weeks. If you’re a collector, the winery released a 2021 Highliner Pinot Noir just for the big birthday. I know what I’m putting on my Christmas wishlist.
And now events for you!
10/16: Paola Velez (Bodega Bakes) at Omnivore Books, San Francisco
Friend of the newsletter Paola Velez released her debut cookbook, Bodega Bakes, a few weeks ago and has been on a roll with her cookbook tour. SF friends, Paola will be in town on Wednesday, October 16th in conversation with Amy Guittard of Guittard Chocolates at my favourite bookstore, Omnivore Books. It’s free to attend but it will get packed so get there early, hear Paola talk about her book, and stay to get it signed! More info here!
10/16: El Califia de Leon at Tacombi, New York City
New Yorkers who can’t stop raving about CDMX tacos, your time is now! Newly crowned Michelin taco spot El Califia de Leon is taking their talents north for their first U.S. pop-up experience. On October 16th at their Flatiron location, sample the signature bisteck, costilla, gaonera, and chuleta tacos, top them with salsas made by proprietor Mario, and wash it down with chelas, aguas, and cocteles. If you close your eyes, you’ll feel like you’re in the CDMX rush! I think this is a brilliant move by the Tacombi team, fostering a connection with local Mexican taquerias and giving them a platform to showcase the authentic craft of taco making. I hope we see more collabs like this from Tacombi!
After this one-day event, limited options will be available at Tacombi locations across the city till the 31st.
10/17: 10 Years of Cosme con Sonora Dinamita, Rainbow Room
Cosme, one of famed Mexican chef Enrique Olvera’s NYC outputs, is celebrating a big bash in New York City with a fiesta for the ages. Legendary cumbia band and key artists on my Latin bops playlist, Sonora Dinamita will be performing, a selection of classic cocktails from Cosme’s menu will be flowing, and the Rainbow Room will be the setting for this soiree. The shindig starts at 9pm and tickets can be found here. Don’t forget your dancing shoes!
10/23-10/30: Four Horsemen Cookbook Tour, various cities
I’m normally skeptical of restaurant cookbooks because they seem more like art projects and less like functional cookbooks but once in a while, there comes a book that changes my mind. Like most of Brooklyn, I treasure every visit to The Four Horseman and always leave with a newfound appreciation for wine culture and a wonder at how they take simple ingredients and turn them into delicacies. The popular eatery began almost a decade ago with four friends who had little restaurant experience and an unknown chef and has now blossomed into a notable NYC culinary destination with an award-winning wine program.
Now all us Four Horsemen fangirlies can attempt to bring the experience to our homes. Chef Nick Curtola brings us recipes with help from writers Gabe Ulla, owner and LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy along with notes on wine from the late Justin Chearno, Four Horsemen’s sommelier who tragically passed away earlier this year. I’ve loved seeing the previews of recipes Chef Curtola has shared online, making the book feel approachable. The book (snag here) comes out October 23 and I think this will be a great book to gift your friend who is always on the Resy app and constantly riffing remarkable restaurant bites at home.
The Four Horsemen crew kicks off their tour with a shindig at Brooklyn Brewery on the 24th. Then it’s off to the West Coast for a collab dinner at Anajak Thai as well as a conversation with Las Jaras and Master’s Big Buddy Eric Wareheim at bookstore Now Serving in Los Angeles. It will be cool to hear how they balance the importance of wine culture with their menu selections.
Fear not for there are more stops on the tour. So if you’re in London, San Francisco, and Nashville, you’re in luck! More info can be found here!
11/20: Matty Matheson at City Arts and Lectures, San Francisco
Canadian chef legend and annoying cousin Neil on The Bear, Matty Matheson, has blessed our shelves with a new cookbook, Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches. I appreciate Matty’s positivity in contrast to broey chef culture, his hearty approach to food knowing where sophistication is needed, and have always enjoyed his food when visiting his spots in Canada. Real ones know the best thing to get after a tennis match in Trinty Bellwoods is a Matty’s Patty burger. He’ll be in conversation with host of KQED’s Focus Alexis Madrigal at City Arts and Lectures on November 20. So snag tickets here!
That’s it for this week! Thank you for reading! Hope you’re making all the best fall dishes! I’m excited to be in New York this week catching up with pals over great meals and seeing INA GARTEN in conversation. Now I understand how Swifties feel. This is my Eras Tour!
Eat well and be well!
Your friend in food,
Abena
Q for you: After almost two years of living in CDMX, my Mexico City guide is due for an upgrade. It currently lives in a Google doc and I want to bring some life to it by publishing it here on Substack! What would you love to see in a guide? Lemme know in the comments below.