Last week, I spent time at Service Brewing brewing beer, and my Dad told me something that really surprised me. My Granddaddy Charlie used to brew beer in the basement of their home. Charlie was a home brewer before I was born so I never knew about it. I guess you do learn something new everyday.
Nope, Kansas City
I met José Ralat when I lived in Brooklyn. In fact, we were neighbors in Sunset Park and once we hung out together at a food event at SXSW. Now José is an author and the taco editor at Texas Monthly. Forbes magazine named Kansas City the taco capital of America. Kansas City is known for its barbecue, and they may have some good tacos there, but calling the city the capital of taco is disrespectful.
Short stretches of some Texas roads have more than fifty taco spots. More than that, though, to christen any one city as the nation’s taco capital is an impossible, reductive task.
The Incredible, Indelible Legacy of Sylvia Hunt
Patrice Yursik (AKA Afrobella) is known for her blog about natural hair. Recently, she wrote about Sylvia Hunt who is a legend in Trinidadian foodways for Food and Wine. I had never heard of Sylvia Hunt before but she is considered to be like a Julia Child who hosted her own cooking show and authored several cookbooks.
Squeeze Every Drop Out of Citrus Season
I made grapefruit syrup last week and it was refreshing. If you are getting citrus from the farmer’s market, check out these recipes to take full advantage of citrus season before it is gone.
Wanting a Cook's Recipe But Not Their Humanity
I was a food blogger who about cupcakes. When I wrote about cupcakes for a major food site, and I was told that about to reach a minimum of at least 500 word count for search engine optimization (SEO). Armed with that information, I was never bothered when a food blogger shares two to three paragraphs of their story before delivering the ingredients and instructions of a recipe. However some people don’t like the backstory and want to skip to the recipe. That’s fine, but don’t skip over the cook’s humanity.
Plug 1
Check out my podcast on Spotify and my Bookshop list of cookbooks.
Generation X
This is not a food-related recommendation, but a cultural one. While Millennials and Gen-Z are having silly fights on TikTok about middle parts and skinny jeans, Soleil Moon Frye has a new documentary about her growing up in the 90s. Soleil (of Punky Brewster fame) was the one friend in Hollywood who documented everything via video camera, voice messages and journal entries. It’s actually very touching to see the friendships of young actors in Hollywood before the internet. Kid 90 is streaming on Hulu.
Have a delicious week,
Nichelle
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