Iâm a meteorologist, I should know.
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[bon appetit](
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Where the free samples floweth
âWe get our freak on in kitchen!â said a decidedly un-freaky lady handing me a spoonful of carrot pesto. Here I was again, at the Fancy Food Show, a gigantic trade expo where [grocery shops go to grocery shop](. And where I go to scope out new snacks. The pesto I was tasting was from [Freak Flag Foods](, and I really canât emphasize enough here, they were very normal (the people and the pesto). (Yes! I was disappointed!)Â
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Among the thousands of booths of too many honeys, 14 types of coconut yogurt, and ânewâ takes on popcorn, I had some special moments. Like when one of the [keto ice cream]( bros handed me a taste of the coffee flavor and the act of scooping made his biceps bulge and quiver in ways Iâd never seen before. He looked deeply into my eyes and said, âitâs made with three plant-based sweeteners.â A samplinâ man, mistaking me for a brand rep, asked if my mushroom jerky would be sellable to the kosher market. I heard a butter broker broker a deal for butter!
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My favorite snacks included Pasha Delights [tahini gelato](. Owlâs Brewâs [Boozy Tea](âyes, like Twisted Teaâis something I would like to drink in a [flamingo floatie](. Brins [lemon saffron jam]( (and chili jam). And Iâm strangely drawn to MudLrkâs [shitake chips]( (bbq flavor), which reminded me of a bunch of little Toads in Super Mario Bros.
The friendlist folks I met were in town from Minnesota promoting [Terroir Chocolates]( (try the salty nibber). It was their first time in New York City. Their review? âWeâre havinâ a hoot!âÂ
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Fire up the grill
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As they say, for Andy Baraghaniâs [glazed summer squash](. I made them last weekend and will continue to make them all summer. Theyâre like the vegetarian version of our awesome [sambal chicken skewers](: sweet-and-spicy glaze gets cooked down and brushed over the veg while grilling. (But this oneâs easier.) The cross-thatched cut on the squash soaks up the glaze. I didnât even do the very-Andy herb salad on top, but Iâm sure it plays against the heat nicely.
Get the recipe: [Sweet and Spicy Grilled Summer Squash](
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Reporting from Crabfest
A tall, tan man with flowing white hair glided over to my table at Red Lobsterâs Crabfest event this week. âDo you work at Red Lobster?â a RL employee asked him politely. But no, this Poseiden in a pale blue Hawaiian shirt was Captain Wild Bill from Discoveryâs Deadliest Catch. He was going to show us how to make fettuccine with crab, scallops, lobster, and a tomato-alfredo sauce. Next to me, an Instagram star took a selfie in her plastic crab bib and told us about her journey from being a school teacher in the Bronx to a full-time jet-setting influencer. âI loved it,â she professed, âbut this is so much more fulfilling.â
Read it
Alex Delany wrote about [Anthony Bourdainâs influence]( on the way he eats-while-traveling in honor of #BourdainDay this week: âThere was real reward in his unbridled curiosity for places more honest than famed.â
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Thanks for the ice
Poor Jesse Sparks was late to cookbook clubâthis monthâs pick was [Yasmin Khanâs Zaitoun](âat Carla Lalli Musicâs house last weekend because he aimed to make little spinach and feta parcels and...things didnât turn out in the dough dept. âI tried the windowpane test...over and over, it wasnât happening,â he sighed. He brought ice for our wine instead. Thanks, Jesse! (Sorry, Yasmin!) I was also late, making fried onions for my mujadarra, but it was worth it. Julia Kramer stole the show with her pan-baked lamb kibbeh, and Alex Pastron ended things on a sweet note with a custardy fig and almond tart (above). And then we got to take home tahini chocolate chip cookies, made by Carla. To make any of these fantastic recipes, though, youâll need to [buy the cookbook](!
Unnecessary food meme of the week
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Unnecessary food feud of the week
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Itâs been around 94 degrees in my hometown of Houston, and thatâs snow cone weather. We had a snow cone shack in my neighborhood that made a wedding cake flavor, doused in condensed milk. Thatâll do it for me. But not my colleagues, who feel that snow cones can melt in hell (where they would melt very quickly according to my sources). âItâs not a good eating experience,â said measured Meryl Rothstein, âyou suck the syrup out and youâre left with ice!â âYou might as well drink straight syrup,â added Sarah Jampel, who prefers sno-balls, the New Orleans version made with finely shaved ice (more syrup-absorbent) in flavors like ambrosia. âNo one has eaten a snow cone and not had sticky hands after,â complained Alex Delany. âThat paper cup is BULLSHIT!â On the other, non-sticky hand, âitâs nostalgic for me,â said pro-snow Emily Schultz. Hilary Cadigan nodded along, âIâm never going to argue with their right to exist.â Elyse Inamine and Jesse Sparks teamed up in favor of Hawaiian shave ice, or âany Asian ice, because they all have milk products in them, which makes them soooo good,â said Elyse, who proceeded to list a few off the top of her head: âkakigÅri, the Japanese kind thatâs like a mound; bingsoo, the Korean kind with lots of beans and stuff; bao bing, Taiwanese shave ice...â
Have a snowy weekend,
Alex Beggs
Senior staff writer
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