Did COVID-19 Kill Food Snobbery?
Whether it’s the Michelin Guide sharing world renowned chef’s homemade recipes or YouTube clips of chefs from Bon Appétit fancifying boxed mac and cheese, food media in the time of the coronavirus has somewhat abandoned elitism in favor of more universally appealing content.
This ethos has been displayed before COVID-19 as well, notably through The Great British Baking Show. The low stakes baking competition show has captured the spirit of non-ostentatious food prep for years, and season 6 winner, Nadiya Hussain, is now bringing this attitude to her Netflix series, Nadiya’s Time to Eat. When the show first aired on BBC last year, the prospect of a global pandemic was not in mind. Hussain speaks with compassion as she visits families to discuss stresses they face in their everyday lives and how their daily struggles affect their ability to cook. This focus on the food life of workaday people seems especially timely as the pandemic continues to scramble daily schedules for people around the world.
Unsurprisingly, pandemic-specific food programming has been surfacing recently. Samin Nosrat, author of the cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, now hosts Home Cooking, a podcast targeted at foodies of all skill levels trying to curb their home-cooking anxiety. Bon Appétit‘s YouTube channel consists mostly of informal recipe tutorials that make cooking feel less intimidating, and the host’s pragmatic personalities help the viewer feel they are learning to cook from a friend rather than a teacher. This lighthearted approach in food media takes a turn from elitism in the food world, at least for now.
Bill Buford was the founding editor of Granta literary magazine and the fiction editor of the New Yorker for eight years. His first nonfiction book, Among The Thugs, explored the fickle psychology and brutal reality of soccer hooligans hellbent on committing acts of violence in the UK. For his 2006 book, Heat, Buford threw himself into a culinary apprenticeship at Mario Batali’s acclaimed Italian restaurant Babbo in New York City as well as in other restaurants in Italy. Fifteen years later, Buford has gone all-in with his culinary obsessions, moving himself and his family to the gastronomic mecca of Lyon, France, where he trains as a chef.
In Dirt, Buford tells sharp-tongued stories of attending a pig slaughter, befriending a local baker, and apprenticing with some of the most decorated chefs in the world, including Michel Richard, the acolytes of the late Paul Bocuse at Institute Bocuse in Lyon, and the demanding chefs at three-Michelin star restaurant, La Mére Brazier, which first opened in Lyon in 1921. Gradually, the Lyon locals come to accept the expat and his family into their community.
With characteristic ease and humor, Buford’s writing captures the intensity of working in a professional kitchen, where “unregulated bullying and humiliation” remain acceptable paths to perfection, where there is only one correct way to peel asparagus, and where it has always been and will always be about following the rules. In the process, the author plumbs the latent connections between Italian and French gastronomy and reveals the secret to what make Lyonnais food so exceptional: “a chef’s access to nearby ingredients” in a storied place where the soil is sometimes revered more than those who walk on it. At times hilarious, ascerbic, intimate, and heartbreaking, Dirt is a juicy read even if you don’t know your brunoise from your bavarois.
Michelin Guide Shares Recipes From World Famous Chefs
In an effort to bring restaurant quality meals to your home kitchen, the Michelin Guide is sharing some of the world’s top chef’s favorite homemade recipes on its Instagram, every day. Though big names like Gordon Ramsay and Andy Yang may spark some intimidation among home cooks, these recipes don’t discriminate when it comes to skill set.
The recipes keep coming, and there’s a huge variety of options to choose from. If you’re craving dessert, try Jacques Faussat’s orange cake, Jean Sulpice’s chocolate cake, or Christophe Hay’s strawberry charlotte cake. If you want to up your pasta game, try Gordon Ramsay’s marinara sauce or Alex Atala’s palm heart fettuccine carbonara, or bake your leftover noodles with Isabella Poti’s spaghettoni and green beans. The possibilities grow greater each day, and there are so many different dishes to choose from, all from the home kitchens of the world’s most renowned chefs.
Celebrity Chefs Make Viewer’s Recipes On Virtual Potluck
Actor John Krasinski, best known for his work on The Office and as CIA officer Jack Ryan, began the online video series “Some Good News” to explore uplifting stories amid the coronavirus pandemic. One of Krasinksi’s episodes ended with a potluck, where he invited viewers to share their family recipes and then invited them on the show. Krasinki didn’t tell them that several celebrities would also be on the show to not only meet them but also make their recipes.
One viewer named Nana (only first names were used) sent in a recipe for a strong Quarantini with vanilla and orange vodka. Nana got the chance to meet actor Stanley Tucci, who whipped up her cocktail and loved it. Martha Stewart made the family pierogi recipe from another viewer, named Sarah, and she devoured the pierogies with glee. David Chang made a viewer named Shannon’s saucy chicken dish, while Guy Fieri whipped up the sloppy joe recipe from another viewer named Penny. All the viewers were completely surprised and elated at the opportunity to meet the celebrities, who truly enjoyed their recipes. Krasinski ended the feel-good show by announcing that some friends at PepsiCo were donating $3 million to Fieri’s “Restaurant Relief America” initiative, bringing Fieri’s total raised to more than $20 million. The initiative, in collaboration with the National Restaurant Association, sends $500 checks to restaurant workers who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus.
Big Brands Give Away Top Secret Recipes
As coronavirus shutdowns keep restaurants closed, more and more people are cooking from home. In response, big brands are releasing their secret recipes so consumers can enjoy their favorite tastes at home.
This month Pret A Manger released its chocolate chip cookie recipe, McDonald’s released its sausage-and-egg McMuffin recipe, and Disney released its churros recipe “for a little taste of Disney magic.” It’s a PR move meant to gain favor for food and hospitality businesses that are struggling amid the closures, and the move seems well-intentioned. “We know this is an anxious time for everyone,” DoubleTree by Hilton senior vice president Shawn McAteer said in a statement accompanying the hotel chain’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. “A warm chocolate chip cookie can’t solve everything, but it can bring a moment of comfort and happiness.”
Everyone Can Bake: Simple Recipes to Master and Mix by Dominique Ansel
You may know Dominique Ansel as the creator of the Cronut®, but his true love is kouign amann, the famously buttery, flaky, multilayered caramelized sugar pastry from Breton. This master of baking technique, crowned the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017, revealed his professional secrets in his 2014 cookbook, The Secret Recipes. In his new book, Ansel keeps things simple. The recipes appeal to aspiring home bakers and are divided into Bases, Fillings, Finishes and Assembly. The idea is to learn principles rather than specific recipes, so you can mix, match, and get creative with your own combinations. The Bases chapter includes recipes for basic cakes, cookies, and tart shells. In Fillings, you find recipes for creamy additions such as pastry cream, lemon curd, chocolate ganache and soft caramel. While Finishes provides the frostings, glazes and other final touches, Assembly shows you how to put all the components together into specific desserts.
This approach provides bakers with building blocks that can be re-arranged in numerous different combinations, allowing you to get creative with your own desserts. It’s a clever way for a master pastry chef to impart his considerable knowledge of not only specific dessert combinations but also the principles behind them. If you want to see how the mind of brilliant pastry chef works–or just tinker with his recipes–it’s worth a look.
American Tacos: A History and Guide by José R. Ralat
José R. Ralat’s day-job title is Taco Editor at Texas Monthly magazine. If that doesn’t sound like a dream job, how about criss-crossing the country to taste tacos everywhere from Los Angeles and New York to Chicago and Kansas City? And then writing a book about it?
Tacos may have been created south of the border, but Ralat’s new book shows how Americans have made this Mexican food their own with each style reflective of a time and a place. American Tacos explores them all, taking you on a detailed and delicious journey through the evolution of this dish. Even though it’s not a recipe book, after reading Ralat’s detailed descriptions of the tortillas, the fillings, and the preparations, you should be able to replicate most of the regional interpretations of what has become one of America’s most beloved foods.
