It’s not a Rom-Com, it’s a Food Saga 🍿

SB203

October 08, 2024

Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day with long-legged croissants, Trojan horses made of prosciutto, and other delicacies that will walk you through the interesting entrails of the world

Hi there!

Every November this newsletter debuts with a new “season” and something new.

I allowed myself to be in “Beta mode” starting right now to see if the changes are positive for the readers.

I went big: a bolder design, clearer sections, and - I hope - a more rewarding reading time for you.

You’ll find a quick poll at the end of the email so I can get feedback about all those changes.

Enjoy!

Piero

ONE ✤ QUOTE

✦ Tommaso Melilli, Cucina aperta.

The Alchemist and the Matrix

In chess, each possible move represents a different game. By the second move, there are 72,084 possible games. By the third, 9 million. By the fourth, there are more possible games than atoms in the universe. In cooking, well, it depends on the ingredients. In this book, Julia Turshen shows the rules and the alchemy of the everyday cook, with the help of 20 f***** fabulous matrices, like this one.

What Goes with What. 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities by Julia Turshen
Shortplot →  🥗 📈 🍛 🍓

“NOBODY WANTS THIS” IS NOT A ROM-COM.
IT IS AN UNDERCOVER FOOD SAGA

Hot rabbi in bed with a bowl of spaghetti

Nobody Wants This is the rom-com series of this Fall, featuring Adam Brody as a steamy Rabbi Noah who falls in love with a fiercely agnostic woman, Joanne, portrayed by Kristen Bell. Where’s the food in that? You’ll see.

🚨Spoiler alert, go on only if you’ve watched it or you don’t care about cool blonde podcasters and hot rabbis.

Even if the series does not explicitly mention food, it can be inferred that the show explores themes of Jewish culture and identity, which often intersect with food.

Judaism has a rich tradition of dietary laws (kashrut) and specific foods associated with holidays and celebrations.

Then you deserve this…

The power ranking of the best food moments on the show:

  • Old-fashioned dinner parties where people meet and fall in love.

  • Crab cakes (★recipe) used as an analogy for non-Jewish women.

  • Charcuterie boards and prosciutto used like Trojan Horses.

  • Chopped liver paté (★recipe) as an act of love.

  • Gefilte fish (★recipe) as an example of bad Jewish food.

  • Giant sandwiches for desk lunch.

  • Home-cooked spaghetti to make your loved one surrender.

Did I forget anything else?

Picture: Netflix

Juicy content from food creators

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

🍯Bake it before bees disappear: Honey Layered Cake (★recipe) ⚖️DASH, the Heart-Healthy Diet Hardly Anyone Is Talking About 🍲19 Fall Soups to Keep You Cozy (★recipes) 🫙Boost Your Immunity with This Easy Kitchen Remedy 🧈Briny, Buttery, Summery: “-y” Adjectives in the NYT Cooking Section 🍏A State-by-State Guide to New England’s Best Apple Cider Doughnuts 🍗Nicholas Sparks’s 16-Splenda Chicken Salad Is Absolutely Diabolical  🇲🇽Birria is Everywhere 🎃Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (★recipe) or Pumpkin Shaped Gnocchi (★recipe)

The age of the tasting menu is coming to an end (alternative link)
Howard Chua-Eoan / Bloomberg

In recent decades, fine dining restaurants have often prioritized the chef's artistic vision over customer preferences, offering rigid tasting menus. However, a growing trend is towards a more flexible dining experience, allowing customers to choose their own dishes.

Lunch options at chain stores are boring, aren’t they? Here’s a tour of some independent grocery stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

➤ Last week's most clicked link was Algeria’s Mhajeb recipe. And that's all for today.