Dollar Stores Are Targeting Struggling Urban Neighborhoods and Small Towns.
In our last podcast we tried to tease out whether food deserts are a symptom or a cause in conjunction with poverty. Katie F. shared a related link about the role of dollar stores in either exploiting or exasperating these poorer areas that don't have access to high quality food and grocery options. Some towns are even using zoning and ordinances to try to keep the dollar stores out, in order to promote better nutrition. -Brian
Oaxaca’s Potent Secret, Mezcal Is Born of Time, Tradition and a Slow-Growing Plant
I haven't really had a chance to try out mezcal. But I do love a nice tequila (añejo or reposado please) so I keep meaning to check it out. Hopefully I can do that before the demand and over-harvesting bring about the extinction of the mezcal plant. We only hurt the things we love... -Brian
Generic Tips for Becoming a Casual Wine Snob
My favorite Medium food blogger returns! -Brian
My favorite Medium food blogger (some of you have met him too I believe) is back again to teach us about manly drinking. My only disagreement with his advice is limiting yourself to just one cocktail...like, what? -Brian
Exploring a 'Treasure Trove' of Medieval Egyptian Recipes
A food writer who also happens to know a lot about Middle Eastern cuisine AND speak Arabic as a first language translated a 14th-century Egyptian cookbook. Pigeon omelets, anyone? -Calvin
$155 tasting menu created by 19-year-old chef
Business Insider content trends toward clickbait garbage but this is really interesting. Skip the article, watch the video. I love that this kid had been cooking for his mom and her friends since he was ten years old. - Calvin
There's this food author I really like on Medium. I'm going to drip in a few of his articles over the coming issues. His writing voice just really kind of sounds familiar to me but I can't really place it. -Brian
Koks, the World’s Most Remote Foodie Destination
Here's your nerdy, foody, long read. I've eaten most of the major global cuisines, many of them in their native settings. To be honest one of the weirdest was Scandinavian (no country in particular, just the region in general). I guess when its that cold and you really just have like fish and stuff you figure out unique ways to prepare it. I'm not 100% positive but I believe this article described "terroir" as applying to seafood, which is a little weird. -Brian
Here’s Anthony Bourdain’s Foreword to Marilyn Hagerty’s Book ‘Grand Forks’
I'm going to be sharing Bourdain-related content for a long time, because I'm still sad.
In a world of snark and meanness, Anthony Bourdain published and wrote the foreword for a book documenting restaurant reviews by a (at the time) 86-year-old woman who lives in Michigan. In case you think she sounds familiar, it's because she wrote a review of Grand Forks first Olive Garden restaurant and it was widely circulated–you'll understand why after reading this foreword. I'm excited to read this book. - Calvin
As a chef or cook, what is your least favorite dish to prepare?
It's fun to read paragraphs of chef's ranting about the worst foods they're required to cook regularly. It also makes me nervous to accidentally order something that will make a chef hate me. - Calvin