#111 | Brandish Your Mini Fork!
The Tinned Fish Stack
Grocery Story
today i went to the grocery store
and bought several organic fruits
and vegetables so as to keep my health
tip-top i carried the little blue
cherokee card in my wallet
there was a good deal on seltzer
a song played
that reminded me of my ex-wife i paused and cried
by the frozen pizzas then put a frozen pizza
into my cart i walked around the store listening to the music
looking at the cans and stacks the weird
infinite finite nature of the grocery store it was sunny a woman softly
crying by the bread
i am never more alive
than when i am filling up my cart i walked more
and more through every
aisle it came time to put
my things on the conveyor belt and have them
Continue reading Grocery Story by Franklin K.R. Cline
Hello, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. If you’re new here, welcome to EAT.DRINK.THINK., a newsletter spotlighting seasonal recipes, the latest SF Bay Area food news, poetry and more!
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The Tinned Fish Stack: Brandish your mini fork. Here are a few favorite tins of sardines, anchovies, mussels, and more, according to the little fish obsessives. In the latest issue, Becky Duffett chatted with a few chefs for their top tins, as well as fun snacking tips.
Stuart Brioza of the Anchovy Bar, loves little fish in all forms—fresh, cured or tinned—and he painstakingly preserves our local anchovies. But tinned anchovies also star on the menu, namely Don Bocarte from Cantabria in Northern Spain. Not heat treated, they must be refrigerated, and Brioza says you can taste the difference, with delicate filets layered in olive oil. The restaurant serves them with griddled bread, whipped butters and grated tomatoes brightened with sherry vinegar, alongside a crisp white wine. But at home, he simply toasts bread and scrapes it with garlic. “It is magic,” Brioza insists.
Dario Barbone of Alimentari Aurora, has five shelves stacked at the deli, and a monthly tinned fish subscription. The most extravagant is El Capricho ($35 a tin!), from the same region of Spain, and it always sells out. “It almost tastes like cheese,” Barbone says. “It’s life-changing. It disintegrates on your tongue. There’s a little bit of meatiness but it goes away. It’s superbly umami.”
Ali Hooke, a “tinfluencer” (tinned fish influencer), whose “tinned fish date nights” on TikTok are viewed by millions, loves mussels, especially Fangst from the Limfjord Channel in Denmark, pooled in rapeseed oil with dill and fennel seeds. “There’s a sweetness and deep richness of umami,” Hooke says. “Almost like fish sauce gives you.” She’s a maximalist, tricking out boards with sourdough, pickled onions, avocado, even cheese.
QUICK HITS
5 Things to Read
🏅 Pocket’s Best of 2022: Deeply satisfying stories about what—and how—we ate this year. Pocket
🥖 Breaking Bread: Just in time for the Biden & Macron meetup, the baguette gets UN world heritage status. AP News
🤢 Why the Worst Recipes Imaginable are Blowing Up On TikTok: The grosser, the better. But do they taste good? The Verge
🤮 While We’re At It: Hellmann’s wants you to put mayo in your eggnog this holiday season. Food & Wine
🍝 Cal-Ital? 2 Californians bought Barilla pasta thinking it was made in Italy. Now they're suing. NPR
5 Things to Cook:
🤔 Tempting: Gochujang Caramel Cookies. NY Times
🍔 Veggie Burger Challenge: Rick Martinez’s Miso Veggie Burgers with Cheat Aioli (we’ll cook anything from Martinez, his recipes deliver!). Food52
🔥 True Blue, Authentic Real Deal Mapo Tofu: The spicy, tongue-numbing, rice-is-absolutely-not-optional, can’t-have-just-one-scoop mapo tofu that you get in restaurants. The Woks of Life
🍽 Best Appetizer for Dinner Parties: Jessica Battilana’s Roasted Carrots with Burrata and Salsa Rustica. Cup Of Jo
🍄 What We’re Eating Tonight: Claire Saffitz’s Oven Polenta with Roasted Mushrooms and Thyme with the intensely corn-flavored (as it should be) cornmeal from Tierra Vegetables). Bon Appetit
5 Local Things
📚 California Fall Cookbook Roundup: Books to cook from (and gift!) this holiday season. The California Table
🏆 Best of the Bay Area: The 2022 Eater Award Winners for restaurant, chef, and bar of the year — and more. Eater
California Soul: In her new cookbook, Chef Tanya Holland, the acclaimed owner of the former Brown Sugar Kitchen (Oakland), traces the Great Migration’s influence on West Coast cuisine. NY Times
🍺 Locally Brewed: Chef Corey Lee’s Korean Lager SHW (4.6% ABV), highlighted by its light, crisp body, is a collaboration with SF’s Fort Point Beer Co. and exclusively available at San Ho Won, as well as Fort Point’s SF locations. KQED
🎁 Stocking Stuffers: Think unusual liqueurs, fiery spices, and hip wine glasses, all from local businesses. SF Chronicle
Haven’t You Always Wondered Why is Peanut Butter So Hard to Swallow?
👀
We could all use one of these to get through this cold snap.
Pre Instacart:
On repeat this week: Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart play Kick It Out with the Foo Fighters on the David Letterman Show.
That’s all for this week.
We’re outta here. Be well and take care,
–Bruce
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“The only war is the war against the imagination.”
―Diane Di Prima