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- The Fruit Detective Syndrome 🍐
The Fruit Detective Syndrome 🍐
SB205
Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with AI bakers, fruit detectives, Japanese clutterers, and Addams Family cocktails
Image from bakery.ai, a quite cool bakery chatbot
Hi there!
I don’t know how much your life depends on AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, but I’ve found something cool.
On Recomendo Mark Frauenfelder wrote:
…instead of asking “Write an action-item list for planning a trip to Kyoto next fall,” ask “I’m taking a trip to Kyoto next fall. Write a prompt I can use to ask you to create an action-item list.”
This simple trick leads to better results.
That makes me think: what if going meta, shifting up a layer, could drive us to better results?
In cooking, we already do that. We bake bread instead of buying it. Chefs grow crops to get the best vegetables. Good wineries pick the terroirs they know better.
We all improve by being active and asking for a better way to make things.
Piero
PS: still working for the right font size…
PPS: hey, I added a “listen online” option. You tell me what you think of that.
ONE ✤ QUOTE
✦ Martin Scorsese, director, probably talking about me making mistakes while cooking.
 | A few years ago, I decided 2019 was “the year of fermentation”. I bought jars. Scobys were my friends (and enemies). Batteries were my allies. And I still haven’t poisoned any of my guests or close relatives. It was the time of the iconic hand of The Noma Guide to Fermentation, long before The Bear’s set designers decided to bring that book on the set. What’s left with fermentation in 2024? Sam Cooper’s answer is this well-done manual. Expect that from Nov 12, now it’s still… fermenting. |
The Fermentation Kitchen by Sam Cooper
→ Shortplot: 🥬 🧂 🍓 🫙
THE ITALIAN FRUIT DETECTIVE
Photograph by Simona Ghizzoni
The Smithsonian Magazine has an incredible story about Isabella Dalla Ragione, a scientist who studying famous paintings and frescos has discovered many fruits that were once common in Italy but have since disappeared.
Some examples include:
Acquaiola cherries. These cherries were once common in Italy but have now almost disappeared. They were pale red with a white tint and were seen as symbolic of Christ's blood.
Api piccola apples. These apples were once common in Italy but have now become rare. They are crunchy and tart and can be stored at room temperature for about seven months.
Cow-nose apples. These apples were once common in Italy but have now become rare. They are so named because their shape recalls an elongated snout.
Bufalini pears. These pears were once common in Italy but have now become rare. They are known for their diversity and adaptability to different conditions.
Why does this work count so much? Well, Dalla Ragione's work is important because it helps to preserve the genetic diversity of Italian fruit trees. This diversity is important for the future of Italian agriculture, as it will help trees to adapt to the changing climate.
Juicy content from food creators
This is the space where I share some food (un)related stuff of my week
🏝️6 Vacations That Could Help You Live Longer and Healthier 🦇Pour Yourself a Morticia Mimosa (★recipe) 👤Have you ever tried an MBTI test to frame your personality? The first search result lands here, I’m an INFJ 🗓️October is the second New Year 🇲🇽Make Your Birria Bomb (★recipe) 🌊Why Earth’s oceans aren’t all equally salty 🍬An Updated List of the Most Common Halloween Candies in the US 💰The economics of free school lunch 🇯🇵Bye Marie Kondo, Japanese are clutterers too 🐽Dong Po Rou (东坡肉) is the ultimate dish of braised pork belly (★recipe) 🥔The tiny potato at the heart of one tribe’s fight against climate change 🍁Maple Cream (★recipe) 🐟Noma people doing their fish stuff
Men on Trips Eating Food | Why TV is full of late-career Hollywood guys at restaurants |
➤ Last week's most clicked link was Your Personality, Explained by Your Annoying Household Habits. And that's all for today.