The Juicy Bits
Move aside umami. Ammonium is now the sixth basic taste, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications. Those findings have yet to be widely recognized, but elsewhere in the food world, there is a new kid on the block that's 100% verified: Pepper X. This chile pepper is now the world's hottest, dethroning the Carolina Reaper with up to 3 times the tongue-scorching heat. Ouch. There's also a new World's Best Bar, a fun place called Sips in Barcelona, and in Atlanta, you'll find five new Michelin-star restaurants. What else is new? This year's winners of prestigious culinary awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. But some things never change. Like Carolina whole hog BBQ. Fourth-generation pitmaster Sam Jones shows you how it's done in this detailed video. And since today is All Souls' Day and DĂa de los Muertos (another thing that never changes), my condolences to the friends and family of Food Network star chef Michael Chiarello, who passed recently from a mysterious anaphylactic shock. Rest in peace Chef. âDave Joachim
Cooking
IACP Announces 2023 Cookbook Award Winners
Image Source: Eat Your Books
Every year, the International Association of Culinary Professionals recognizes excellence in cookbooks and other food media with its prestigious culinary awards. I was lucky to attend this year's award ceremony in Brooklyn, where Rick Martinez's book Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico, won both Book of the Year and best International Cookbook. Other winners include Reem Assil's Arabiyya, which won in the Chefs And Restaurants category, and Kristen Miglore's Food52 Simply Genius, in the General category. Check the full list of cookbook winners at the link here. Congrats all!
Restaurants
Atlanta Restaurants Receive First-Ever Michelin Stars
Georgia's capital is home to the world's busiest airport and, now, the world's newest Michelin-star restaurants. In its first-ever guide to Atlanta, Michelin awarded stars to five restaurants: Atlas, Bacchanalia, Hayakawa, Lazy Betty and MujĆ. Another 10 restaurants earned Michelinâs Bib Gourmand designation, given to spots that feature good food at moderate prices, and 30 others were listed as recommended. Kudos to all the winners â and if you're at the Atlanta airport, stop by One Flew South, one of the world's best airport bars!
Beverages
Barcelona "Drinkery" Sips Named Worldâs Best Bar
Image Source: Sips
Step aside New York and London: the "World's Best Bar" has now resided in Barcelona, Spain, for two years running. This year, the "World's 50 Best" organization named Sips to the top spot. (Last year, Barcelona's Paradiso bar won the coveted title.) Judges loved Sips' inventive cocktails, multi-sensory drinking experience, and playful âbar without a bar,â where bartenders serve drinks from behind a futuristic workstation rather than a fixed counter. New Yorkâs Double Chicken Please, which was recently crowned North Americaâs Best Bar, took the runner-up slot on the global list, while Mexico Cityâs Handshake Speakeasy rounded out the top three. Cheers y'all!
More Beverage News
Winemakers Explore Alternative Yeasts As Climate Change Increases Alcohol In Wine
World's First "Beanless" Coffee Launched To Help Combat Deforestation
International Wine Group Commits To More Sustainable, 25% Lighter Glass Bottle
Bottled Water Conglomerate Threatens Maine's Public Access To Water Supply
BBQ Hot Spot
VIDEO: North Carolina Legend Sam Jones Reveals Secrets Of Whole Hog BBQ
Image Source: Eater
Fourth-generation pitmaster Sam Jones says "if it aint broke, don't fix it." Here, the BBQ legend shares his tips for cooking whole hogs over a wood fire. First he wets the skin with water, then he sprinkles on salt (water helps the salt stick). "That is the only thing thatâll be applied to this animal until itâs finished and carried inside tomorrow, roughly 18 hours from now,â says Jones. Sounds simple enough. Check out the video to see how Jones checks to tell if the meat is done and how he creates a crackling crisp skin.
Supply Chain
Scientists Determine Why Billions Of Alaskan Snow Crabs Vanished, Crippling Local Fishery
Image Source: National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from Alaska's Bering Sea in recent years. Population declines are so severe that the state's Department of Fish and Game canceled the snow crab harvest season for the second year in a row. Catchers have attributed declines to overfishing, but a new study from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) found a different cause: it's more likely that warmer ocean temperatures caused the snow crabs to starve to death. Climate change is restructuring earth's food chain in ways we are just beginning to understand.
Agriculture
Pepper X Dethrones Carolina Reaper As World's Hottest Chile Pepper
Image Source: Jeffrey Collins/Associated Press
Hotheads rejoice! You can now enjoy/endure the pain/pleasure of 2.69 million Scoville units in a single bite of the world's new hottest chile pepper, Pepper X. The new pepper relegates the Carolina Reaper, clocking in at 1.64 million units, to second banana, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Both peppers were bred by South Carolina pepper expert (and sado-masochist) Ed Currie. âI was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came,â said Currie, after sampling his creation. âThose cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.â Go ahead and try one. I double-dare you!
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Science
Ammonium May Join Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, and Umami As Sixth Basic Taste
Image Source: Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Are you familiar with Scandinavian salt licorice? Only a little sweet, this pitch-black candy has a taste that's somewhere between sour, salty, and bitter. Some call it an acquired taste, but researchers from the University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences say it's a basic human taste that should join the ranks of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Ammonium chloride, a.k.a. salmiak salt, is the key component in Scandinavian salt licorice, and scientists say this compound activates our taste receptors as a survival mechanism. Who knows? Maybe chefs will soon be using salmiak salt to push flavor boundaries in their most avant garde dishes.
Last Bite
Pasta Tools Come Of Age
Image Source: Imaikouba
Just a decade ago, quality handmade pasta tools were found mostly in Italy in the occasional specialty shop or from a local craftsperson. Today, a new wave of artisan pasta toolmakers has emerged around the world, mostly outside of Italy. Take, for example, Japan's Imaikouba, Oregon's Wooden Essentials, or Nonna's Wood Shop in British Columbia. These boutique companies make gorgeous hand-carved wooden ravioli molds, brass pasta wheels, and intricate corzetti stamps with stunning details. If you like playing with pasta dough (or know a cook who'd appreciate a unique gift), beautiful pasta tools are now much easier to come by.
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