Comfort food and competitive destruction šŸ”„

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Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with fast food mermaids and comfort food with an edge of competitive destruction

Even mermaids like fast food.

Hi there!

Iā€™ve been back home from an incredible journey in Israel. I hope next week I can organize my thoughts and share what I saw and ate in a meaningful way.

In the meantime, we go on with the usual extravaganza, like a mermaid eating fried chicken.

Piero

Picture: A woman in costume holds a cup of beer at a restaurant during the Mermaid parade in Coney Island. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

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THE BEST QUOTE

āœ¦ Alan D. Wolfelt, probably he was talking about grief, but the quote works for many situations.

āŽš

THE MISSING INGREDIENT

COOK LIKE A DAD

I missed Fatherā€™s day but this New York Timesā€™ feature about man-food is something interesting.

The food that dads cook sometimes seems to have a performative quality that mirrored so-called dude food, which the author Emily J. H. Contois memorably describes in her book ā€œDiners, Dudes and Dietsā€ as ā€œcomfort food with an edge of competitive destruction.ā€ A dad, after all, is just a dude with more responsibilities.

ā€œComfort food with an edge of competitive destructionā€. I love it. ā€œDude food was a reaction to the cognitive dissonance men felt as they entered the realm of the home kitchenā€. I love it even more.

Photo by Anca Dorneanu

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THE BOOK

Dump, dump, dumpling
ā˜…ā˜…1/2

Do we really need a book to learn how to waste less? The honest answer is probably in our trash bin. But even if you donā€™t waste so much, do you really recycle food in a tasty way? Thatā€™s where I fail. Perfectly Good Food, by chef-sisters behind Bostonā€™s acclaimed Mei Mei Dumplings, gives away 80 recipes and 150 ideas to use up what you have.

Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking by Margaret Li and Irene Li
ā†’ Shortplot: šŸ„¬ šŸ  šŸ„• šŸ„

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RANDOM ACTS OF HUNGER

This is the space where I share some food (un)related stuff of my week

šŸ³Yotam Ottolenghiā€™s breakfasts from around the world (ā˜…recipes) šŸ‘¾McDonald's Just Dropped A Brand New Game Boy Game šŸžHow to Bake Sourdough Bread in Summer šŸ·Everything You Need to Know About Wine Right Now šŸ„¬Chantelle Nicholson, the chef-owner of green-starred Apricity in London shares a zero waste idea: Roasted Cauliflower, Caramelised Cauliflower PurĆ©e, Emmer Wheat and Zhoug (ā˜…recipe) šŸ§¬Climate resilient crop and the six innovations that can help feed the world šŸ”„Blogger Frankie Gawā€™s Scallion Buns (ā˜…recipe) šŸæNetflix Opens Pop-Up Restaurant in Los Angeles šŸ›’A peek into Japan's Convenience Stores šŸ® Always order a dessert to go (but I donā€™t agree with that) šŸ½Why We Love Old Restaurants

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FOOD FOR LATER

ā€œNow, all of a sudden, everyone wants cake tattoosā€. And also Brussels Sprouts and fermented stuff.

Agnes B. Marshall, a 19th-century culinary entrepreneur, mastered the art of subversive gelato: ā€œShe tried her hand at spinach, cucumber, pumpernickel, and fish curry ice creams; a frozen gruyere souffle; a Neapolitan mixed with tomatoes, peas, and artichokes. Food historian Sarah Lohman called her recipes ā€˜genius, to the point of madnessā€™ā€.

āž¤ Last week's most clicked link was the one about the meaning of Israeli breakfast. And that's all for today.