#112 | Fruit & Vegetable Prints for Holiday Gifts!
Google Says...
Hello!
One more story he said In a restaurant in Amsterdam
a young woman came in speaking Arabic I said you are Iraqi she said I haven't eaten for three days I said what do you mean she said I need to turn turn myself in this was a strange language to me a different logic Come and sit I said food brought out she ate finally spoke her husband now in Istanbul they'd escaped Iraq her was taxi driver sold his car paid $5,000 to Turkish driver to send her Instanbul to Amsterdam a big truck crates of fruit and vegetables had a tiny space in the middle kept her there gave her food and water supposed to last seven days lasted four strange language mouth of the truck she was stuck in one position for seven days could not move crates of figs pallets cracked blocked lodged then they just dropped her in the middle of Amsterdam right then she was hoping waiting turn myself in my husband not far behind strange language to me I did not understand turn myself in in the middle of Amsterdam do you speak speak
—Phillip Metres, from To See the Earth
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!
👉 ICYMI: The most-clicked link from our last newsletter was the California Fall Cookbook Roundup from Georgia Freedman’s The California Table.
🎁 MAKES A UNIQUE HOLIDAY GIFT! Last January, we started a paid monthly linoleum block print subscription program. And a huge THANK YOU to the 75 Eat.Drink.Think. subscribers who signed up! Each month, they received a fruit or vegetable print and an accompanying recipe. Since we produced 90 editions of each print this year, we have a limited number available for individual purchase, just in time for holiday gift-giving. Click here for details.
Top Recipes in Google Search: Sugo, Cinncinati Chili, Marry Me Chicken, Quick Pancake, and Mango Pie were Google’s most searched-for recipes in 2022, but let’s dive into Google’s local search.
Guess the #1 trending recipe in the SF Bay Area this year via Google’s Local Year in Search:
Sugo
Garlic Confit
Anchovy Toast
Guess the type of restaurant the SF Bay area was searching for more than anywhere else in the country:
Indian Buffet
Sushi Hand Roll
Mission Burrito
Answers below 👇, but what the heck is Marry Me Chicken 🤔?
Was “Got Milk” One of the Greatest Ad Campaigns of All Time? It was smart. It was everywhere. Chances are, you remember it vividly. But did it succeed? Saveur
Reconsider the 🦞 if You Want to Save the 🐋: Whole Foods is phasing out Maine lobster. Even President Biden got backlash for serving butter-poached lobster at the state dinner he hosted Thursday for French President Emmanuel Macron. The Washington Post
Obsessed With Soondubu Jjigae: Maybe meeting a new flavor is alchemy. Today, you can’t stand it. Tomorrow, it’s all you can stand. The New Yorker
And You Thought the Swiss Invented Fondue: The man who invented God’s Sauce. 🤣 Andrew Rousso
Not Just How, But Why: Recipes That Teach: All recipes instruct, but not all teach. Stained Page News
In Defense of Recipes: No-recipe recipes are great, but some of us need actual precise measurements to make the magic happen. Eater
Did You Say You Were Thirsty?
🍎 Name That Apple: Our favorite farmers market apple this time of year is crisp and juicy with lively acidity and yet is, apparently, no better than horse food according to Apple Rankings, which names the SweeTango as the greatest apple of all time. Our favorite Malus domestica is described as “yet another demon spawn of the Red Delicious (crossed with a Ralls Janet). This gravelly choking hazard named after Fujisaki City has the taste of used sponge water and the consistency of the dirty leftovers it cleaned.” Guess our fav before you click. Apple Rankings
What’s That Smell? The federal agency would not confirm nor deny the probe, but a letter declining to release thousands of additional documents requested by The Chronicle cites an open investigation. And Belcampo remains embroiled in a slew of lawsuits from before and after the controversy. SF Chronicle
Raw Deal for Beef Lovers: Chloe Sorvino, financial journalist for Forbes, argues in her new book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat, that the money being invested into securing the future of food is focused on continuing to accumulate power among the wealthy at the expense of more equitable solutions, such as universal food access. Civil Eats
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk Fast Food's Chicken Sandwich Wars: The staggering toll on poultry farmers, meat processing workers, chickens, and the environment while corporations profit. Bon Appetit
Math Always Wins:
Everybody Got Choices: Would you order this pizza because the box was designed by local legend Jeremy Fish, because it comes with a joint 💨, or just because you are hungry?
Google Search Answers:
Garlic confit was the SF Bay Area’s top trending recipe this year.
The SF Bay Area searched for Indian buffet near me more than anywhere else in the U.S.
On repeat this week: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, technically not a holiday song, although it ends up on many Christmas-themed playlists anyways. The popular song is a 1983 instrumental by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto recorded for the film of the same name. The movie is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.
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