Hi there,
Hope everyone’s doing ok. Here in Dubai it’s 102 degrees and I’m torn between wishing beaches and pools were open, and being glad they’re not. Coronavirus cases here went up last week after restrictions eased, so a curfew has been reinstated and there are now higher fines for not wearing a mask. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my balcony reading and watching old Anthony Bourdain episodes (the Marseilles and Iran episodes are my favorite, if you need a place to start).
Then this week, a gift–the Explore Parts Unknown website went back online. If you’re missing travel, it both helps and hurts. Either way, clicking through it is a great way to spend a day. This history of Lyon in seven dishes made me miss travel badly, this guide to Tanzanian cuisine got me very excited to try it, this one minute in West Texas video is beautiful and made me want to take a road trip, and I’ll be making this Kenyan cocktail to sip on the balcony later today. For those of you in Chicago (you know, when you can go out again), I wrote this piece for the site about where you can find samoon, khachapuri, jalebis, and much more all on one street.
Not much new to report. For now, being a better traveler means staying home.
An early Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating! I’ve loved seeing everyone’s iftars on Instagram this month.
Weekend Reading
Stewed Awakening. The best thing I’ve read so far on the Alison Roman debacle. “The question that such representations present for the food world is a difficult one: Who gets to use the global pantry or introduce “new” international ingredients to a Western audience? And behind that is an even more uncomfortable query: Can the aspiration that has become central to the culinary arts ever not be white?” It’s worth noting that most ingredients in Nothing Fancy can be found easily here in Dubai–and not at specialty stores but the normal grocery store (za’atar, labneh, sumac, etc.)–yet the Middle East is not mentioned once in the book. This article–Alison Roman, the Colonization of Spices, and the Exhausting Prevalence of Ethnic Erasure In Popular Food Culture–is also good.
Love In the Shape of Cut Fruit. Happy Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month! Cherry Bombe has been doing really fun Instagram lives and other AAPI events too.
Can Genetic Engineering Bring Back the American Chestnut? Related: I read The Overstory in a few breathless sittings this week, and it changed how I view writing and the world.
Baking Bread In Lyon. Take me there! And I can’t wait to read this book.
The Book of Reese (I will never not be a fangirl)
The Reverend Dr. William Barber on Community in the Coronavirus Crisis. “If you knew you had only forty-eight hours of breath left, what kind of world would you use that breath to fight for? What kind of world, what kind of nation?”
Who Gets an Obituary? Important reading on a major flaw in food media. “The response to Kothari’s death raises enduring questions: Who gets spotlighted by the food media, and how do such decisions determine who publications choose to remember?”
Flour Shortage? Amber Waves of Regional Grains to the Rescue
The Editor of Taco Bell Quarterly Explains How to Make Art Out of a Fast Food Brand
Not Everything Will Be Ok, But Some Things Will Be
Hunger During Ramadan in Lebanon
The Student Translators Battling Middle East Misinformation
Inside the Weird, Get-Rich-Quick World of Dropshipping
How the Pandemic Wreaked Havoc With One of Chicago’s Most Venerable Beer Bars
Pandemic Perspectives from World Travelers (Featuring my thoughts on how travel will change in the future.)
Listen:
If you’re not already subscribed to food history podcast Smart Mouth, you’re in for a treat.
This has been on repeat in my head lately.
Thanks for reading. Send me your thoughts and stay safe. xx
Heyyy, thank you for recommending Smart Mouth! That was a nice surprise this morning!