Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with ox hearts, butter novels, and onion and garlic peel marbled (Easter) eggs

Hi there!

It’s been a peculiar week.

Traveling. Working from waiting rooms. Having virtual meetings sitting on the sidewalk. Eating pizza from the cardboard while walking. Being served Tortellini soup at 5PM. Binge-watching tv series I expected for ages (Shōgun, 3 Body Problem).

Don’t be surprised if this week things are more asymmetrical than ever.

Piero

PS: the “Food for later” section has three great links.

Martin Elizalde Valenzuela paints houses in the morning and is happy to sell his churros in the afternoon. The photo was taken in Jalisco, Mexico, on Dec. 26, 2022. Yolanda Escobar Jimenez for NPR

✦ James Clavell, Shōgun. Up here you see the TV show adaptation of the original quote. If you want to take it further, you can follow this link to cook one of the most surprising meats you can try, Ox Heart (★recipes)

I’LL DRINK TO THAT

Paloma Cocktail (★recipe) is a Margarita made with grapefruit and lime juice. The TV show 3 Body Problem does not have much food in it (except for one of the main character’s snacks), but at one point the latino-scientist Eiza González is supposed to make some Palomas for her brainy friends. It’s not the perfect cocktail to sip on a freezing British beach as you see on the show, but it’s a great idea for your next party.

The whole show is alcohol oriented. One scene struck me: after a funeral five friends (and one boyfriend) gather in a pub. It’s the opposite of the food-centered funeral party, with lots of people, we see in American movies.

Well, I had some of those bar gatherings now, and I can still recall the sense of bonding I had on those occasions, where laughs - in that cold air - become stronger than tears.

Friendship is a pretty unique ingredient, after all. I’ll drink to that.

Picture: 3 Body Problem, Netflix

Food, Feminism and Butter

★★★☆☆

The title. This book’s here only for that. Butter is about a female serial killer and a journalist, Rika, who interviews her. Then Rika starts to gain weight, which challenges societal beauty standards in Japan. It’s an interesting novel exploring the themes of hunger, gender roles, and body image in out society.

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki
→ Shortplot: 🧈 🍽️ 🍞 🐄

sos_kuhinja_kitchen

View more on Instagram

🍯Start your morning with some Honey-Butter-Toast (★recipe) 🧀A gift from Italy: Easter Cheese Crescia (★recipe) 🌽The Bon Appétit Guide to Gluten-Free Baking 🍬Swedish Candy Is Suddenly Inescapable 🍔How to Make McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce at Home, According to an Ex McDonald’s Chef (★recipe) 🧑🏼‍🚀If You Can Afford to Eat in Space, You’re Too Rich 🚮Everything you need to know about food waste 👶🏼Researchers explain the dissimilar smells of babies and teenagers 🥥Make a 10-minute coconut jam (★recipe) then eat on a toast with 2 thick cols butter slices 🐓Not just Chizza: A look back at KFC’s weirdest menu items 🔥How to Clean an Oven 🥩France bans the term steak for vegetable meat

When a Recipe Says It’s “Quick and Easy” 
Jiji Lee and Patric Clair / McSweeney’s
This one is short and really fun. “Step 1. Go to your local specialty market that is more than five but less than twenty miles away to procure your ingredients. Step 2. Stop by the meat counter and address your butcher by first name. If you are not on a first-name basis with your butcher, this recipe will not work”.

The Brutality of Sugar: Debt, Child Marriage and Hysterectomies
Megha Rajagopalan, Qadri Inzamam, Saumya Khandelwal / The New York Times

This is a report about the brutal working conditions in sugar cane fields in Maharashtra, India, where big companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo should better monitor their supply chains. Sugar cane workers are married young (often illegally as child brides) so they can work as couples (koyta system). And instead of proper medical care, they are pressured into hysterectomies to avoid taking time off work.

They Ate at My Table, Then Ignored My People
Reem Kassis / The Atlantic

Palestinian food writer Reem Kassis used to believe sharing Palestinian cuisine could build empathy for Palestinians. She hosted dinners and gatherings, hoping people would see the humanity of Palestinians beyond the conflict. However, after a recent attack on Gaza, she felt many who enjoyed her food remained silent about the suffering of Palestinians. This disillusioned her about the power of food diplomacy.

➤ Last week's most clicked link was The couples’ guide to moving in together. And that's all for today.