#20 | Just put the F*cking Turkey in the Oven!
đ Hives are Not Saving Bees
T-Day is eleven days away, so have you ordered your turkey yet? I imagine youâve seen the headlines in regards to farmers worried about not having enough small-sized birds ready for the holiday.
The Washington Post: The pandemic will entail more, smaller Thanksgiving and holiday gatherings â and more anxious first-time cooks.Â
The New York Times: Without big gatherings, will Americans buy whole birds? Smaller ones? Just parts? Farmers and retailers are already placing their bets.
SF Chronicle: Itâs already time to reserve Thanksgiving turkeys, with sellouts expected for small birds.
Not to worry! We have professional advice for you from Aunt Mary below.
Btw, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. You're getting this email because you subscribed. If you'd like to hop off at anytime, simply unsubscribe. I appreciate you reading this newsletter.
EAT
If youâre stressing about the upcoming holiday in a couple weeks and youâve never cooked a turkey yourself, hereâs some good advice from Aunt Mary: âJust put the fucking turkey in the oven!â Aunt Mary of course, is Mary Risley, founder of Tante Marie Cooking School and Food Runners. Mary goes on to say: âDonât worry about it, turkey never really tastes good. Iâve never had an OUTSTANDING turkey, whether itâs been brined, whether itâs been cooked in a paper bag, whether itâs been barbecued or deep-friedâŚit still never tastes any good. Itâs just turkey, it tastes like cardboard and I say just put some butter salt and pepper on it and stick in the oven!
We will be back next week with more detailed turkey advice, which includes brining and the easiest way to carve a bird, but donât tell Mary.
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Preeti Mistryâs Guide to Eating Out for Diwali this Weekend
I have always secretly wished non-Hindus would take up Diwali the way (as obnoxious as some patrons are) Mexican or Irish places get inundated with business on Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day. âPreeti Mistry in Where to Eat Indian Food in SF Right Now for Thrillist
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DRINK
Jolie Laide Trousseau, Poulsard, Gamay, Valdiguie 2019
Nothing like getting three of your favorite wines, Trousseau, Poulsard, and Gamay, all in one bottle (with a little Valdiguie thrown in for good measure). Our last visit to Europe included a jaunt through Arbois in the Jura, a narrow valley in between Burgundy and Switzerland, and home of the Trousseau and Poulsard grapes. Wines made with these varieties are most often delicate and pale, a bit rosĂŠ-like in color, yet characterized by their earthy and gamy flavors. With Thanksgiving a few weeks away, itâs a good time to grab a bottle of this blend as its distribution is very limited (we purchased our bottle from Other Avenues), and it would pair nicely with mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts and you know it, roast turkey. Also, a shout out to Kate Scott Studio for the stunningly beautiful photos on the labels of this release.
Jolie Laide winemaker Scott Schultzâs tasting notes: An infinitesimal amount of these varieties are planted on these shores, but we are hoping to be a part of the movement shifting that paradigm. Fermented partially carbonic for brightness and all whole cluster adding to the complex spice aromas. Delicate and lean, mineral-driven, tart pomegranate and raspberry scented with incense and tobacco.
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THINK
Iâll Take âInsult to Saladâ for $200 Alex
Not naming names, but you know when a restaurant has slipped a few stars when the sandwich you ordered for lunch comes with a slapdash-dressed, and what now seems obligatory, side of soggy âSpring Mix.â Indeed, itâs an insult to the word salad.
âI was at a pizzeria with my husbandâs family in upstate New York about 15 years ago, and I ordered a salad at a pizzeria. I had this total epiphany. I thought:Â Oh, my god, this is so bad! Itâs no wonder people think they donât like salad. Theyâre having this? Itâs awful. . . It was like something you get on an airplane.â âGabrielle Langholtz on American Salads in The Dept. of Salad: Official Bulletin #5
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Iâll Take âInsult to Breadâ for $400 Alex
Ireland's Supreme Court has ruled: Subway bread isn't actually bread.
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Beehives: Youâre Doing It All Wrong đ
The popularity of keeping backyard beehives has not only increased the population of honey bees, their local foraging habits now leave less resources for native bees and other pollinators that are in real decline. No one seems to have a hive in our hood because when our backyard cilantro is blooming we can count at least six different types of bee/pollinators that are buzzing the blossoms, all of them distinctly smaller than the average honey bee.
âBeekeeping is for people; it's not a conservation practice,â says Sheila Colla, an assistant professor and conservation biologist at Torontoâs York University, Canada. âPeople mistakenly think keeping honey bees, or helping honey bees, is somehow helping the native bees, which are at risk of extinction." âAlison McAfee in The Problem with Honey Bees: Theyâre important for agriculture, but theyâre not so good for the environment for Scientific American
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Searching for Ethical Sugar
Thankfully, thereâs not a sugar processing facility within whiffing distance of SF. Our hometown in Ohio was headquarters of a huge sugar beet plant and when the wind blew in our direction, the scent was definitely odiferous.
Sugar that originates in the US â 70 percent of what we consume â is derived mostly from âRoundup Readyâ GMO sugar beets, which are grown on large-scale, highly mechanized commodity operations in the Upper Midwest and on the West Coast.
Want to know where the sugar in your jar or your jam or your juice came from? âThat requires consumers to do their own investigations, which is a luxury only for the most affluent,â says Alex Bjork, a senior director in private sector engagement for World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which is part of an international consortium, called Bonsucro, that certifies sustainable sugarcane. âLela Nargi in Searching for Ethical Sugar for Foodprint
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Define Food Desert
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A Deep Dollar Dive on the Cost of Keeping a Restaurant Open During Covid from Pim Techamuanvivit of Kin Khao and Nari
A frank conversation with Pim Techamuanvivit in which she details the true costs, financial and otherwise, of operating a restaurant in these times.
Cost of goods on the last couple P&L [profit and loss] periods before the pandemic varied between $80,000 to $100,000; thatâs about how much we lost on products and goods when we closed. The financial loss was mostly in the fresh goods from the first month of closure. Another way to look at the damage is itâs that much money every month that we are not spending on or buying from the farmers, purveyors, and companies we do business with. Thatâs how much the closure of Kin Khao took out of the food economy. And thatâs not counting the wages we pay to our staff who then turn around and spend into the economy. âPim Techamuanvivit to Charlotte Druckman in The True Cost of Keeping a Restaurant Open During a Pandemic for Eater
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đ§ LISTEN: The Main Ingredient Podcast with David Nayfeld of Che Fico and guest Tanya Holland
David Nayfeld and producer Manny Jimenez chat with Tanya Holland, chef/owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, Ca, a former top chef contestant, and host of a new show, "Tanyaâs Kitchen Table," that will launches today, November 14, on Oprah Winfreyâs TV channel, OWN. They discuss the systemic challenges facing black chefs in America, being a female in a male driven profession, all the while succeeding at the highest levels of culinary arts and media.
Listen on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe to The Main Ingredient.
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SPOTTED đ
CHATTER:
ONE MORE THING
Just a reminder.
Thatâs all for this week.
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âBruce
p.s.
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"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end" âJohn Lennon