#28 | True or False?

Test Your Foodie Cred!

Jan 23, 2021

Hello!

We’re making this email missive a bit more fun by adding a new weekly feature: a food and drink quiz. Some of you may remember our Edible Pursuit nights (back when Trivial Pursuit was a thing), where teams of foodies put their culinary credentials and reputations on the line by trying to answer incredibly challenging questions about San Francisco's local food scene, kitchen know-how, food politics, and more. We’re resurrecting an abbreviated version of that idea and you’ll find the questions in the One More Thing section. Sounds easy right? Heh, heh. First, read each question to yourself and any quarantined foodie friends near you, and then proclaim true or false before clicking through for the answer. Alas, bragging rights 💪 are the only prize we can offer at this point.

Housekeeping: since most of you are opening this newsletter on a mobile device, we’ve streamlined the news digest notes so they are more succinct and take up less room on your screen.

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 anytime, simply unsubscribe. I appreciate you reading this newsletter. Let’s eat.

EAT

Cooking Under the Ban: Nigeria’s Jolloff Rice

AJ+ @ajplus

President Biden signed an order to end Donald Trump's so-called "Muslim travel ban." This couple from Nigeria tell us what life was like under the ban, as they teach us to make their favorite dish from their home country. with @yelmjouie and @NoMuslimBanEver

Be My Valentine ❤️

Intense Anatomical Hearts from Lagusta’s Luscious a 100% ethical chocolate producer in New Paltz, NY. “Painted with red-tinted cocoa butter colored with an all-natural beet juice-based food coloring, because while love does sometimes hurt, it shouldn’t have anything to do with anything fake—especially artificial food coloring.”

🔥🔥🔥🔥 Alert

Kushaan Shah @kushaanshah

When you suck at spicy food but also can't resist the temptation to put mountains of @flybyjing sichuan chili crisp on everything

We just finished our jar of Rich Table chili crisp. Has anyone tried the Fly by Jing Chili Crisp?

DRINK

Caleb Leisure, Mother Knows 2019, Marsanne/Roussanne Sierra Foothills

Beguiling. Delicately crisp. Absolutely bone dry. Definitely not what we were expecting, considering that vibrant orange on fire in the glass! It gets better, with scents of apricot and orange peel, layered on top of slightly chalky tannins and the tiniest touch of oxidation. This marsanne and roussanne blend from Caleb Leisure was conjured from his qvevri (large lemon-shaped terracotta pots) buried in the earth at the Coturri winery in Glen Ellen. Qvevri are the traditional wine-aging vessel used in the region of Imereti in the country of Georgia. Leisure produces all of his wines using the qvevri, which function as both fermentation and aging vessels and notes that:

“The shape of the vessel (canonical at the bottom) necessitates its burial and greatly influences how the wine interacts with the must. The clay itself is "neutral" but it does add a textural element and it can soften a wine more dramatically than a barrel. What is most appealing about working with qvevri is the fundamental simplicity (and tradition) of the vessels and the complexity of what they can do. Beyond the practical winemaking advantages, there is also a beautiful logic, a cyclical completeness, to bringing the grapes--which came from the vine, which came from the soil--back into the earth in the form of clay, and in the literal burying of the vessel. The Georgians say that leaving the wine with the skins is leaving the wine with the mother (thus "Mother Knows"). And I love that idea - the wine is raised and protected and matured under this guidance.”

Above: the qvevri Leisure imported from the Republic of Georgia. Photo: Caroline Leisure

Leisure only works with vineyards that farm organically or biodynamically (with no Roundup sprayed either). Mother Knows comes from a 20-year old organic vineyard in the El Dorado ava (Sierra Foothills) where Rhone varieties like roussane and marssanne thrive. The vines are established in volcanic loam and granite at high elevation so he can pick ripe fruit at lower sugar levels than say Napa or Sonoma. Leisure says “it’s the terroir that gives me the ability to make macerated wines that are still quaffable.”

Quaffable usually not being a term you’d use to describe an orange wine, yet as we noted above, you could no doubt stick a straw in this bottle and suck it down.

Leisure first started as the assistant winemaker at Coturri Winery and eventually was given his own space, in a portion of the cellar that carved out of the hillside. The earthen floor was perfect for burying the qvevri. The 2019 Mother was fermented in qvevri with 100% of skins and stems, with 7 months on skins and stems. 12% ABV.

Tony Coturri, by the way, has been making natural wines for decades before anyone even thought to categorize wines as such.

We purchased this wine at Other Avenues.

THINK

Meanwhile in Florida, Trump Orders another Big Mac…

NPR Politics @nprpolitics

President Biden plans to sign an executive order Friday that will increase food stamp benefits for families whose kids normally would count on breakfast and lunch from school programs.

trib.alBiden To Bump Up Food Assistance For People ‘Hanging By A Thread’President Biden is pushing Congress to pour another $1.9 trillion into the COVID-ravaged economy. In the meantime, his top economic adviser says, he plans to bump up food stamp benefits.

Climate change and diets

Keto may be good for your ❤️ but it’s bad for the planet: Beef, poultry, and dairy, keystones of the Keto diet, but also produce the most greenhouse gas emissions. Mother Jones

Denmark adds CO2 emissions to diet guidelines: Government studies show the country can cut up to 35% of its CO2 footprint by reducing meat consumption while eating more vegetables. Food Navigator

Is Uber Killing Restaurants and Other Dining Notes

“All right, well let’s get into business and you’re not allowed to get away with saying you’re a lifeline for restaurants. I’m not going to let you do that…” Kara Swisher gives zero fucks in her talk with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. NY Times

Having raised billions of dollars, third-party delivery apps tout a mantra of consumer convenience, but it’s restaurants/employees who are paying the price. Eater

Forced to close his SF restaurants and bars (Trou Normand, Bar Agricole, Obispo, and Nommo), Thad Vogler reflects on mistakes made and a new way forward. Punch Drunk

The fine art of pandemic parklets: It’s not exactly the WPA, but this artist is thankful the government has not supported restaurants during the pandemic. McSweeney’s

50 Bay Area restaurants, wineries sue Gavin Newsom over the outdoor dining ban which they claim has no scientific basis and likely undermines public health. Wine Country Coalition for Safe Reopening

It’s not your fault if your favorite sushi bar goes under because you only ordered take-out once. Eating out isn’t going to save restaurants. Wine Enthusiast

Restaurants as we know them are history: Salt Fat Acid Defeat. N+1

New Newsletter rec

Peeled: Stories and analysis for smart eaters who care about people and the planet. Published by Lisa Elaine Held, senior policy reporter for Civil Eats and host of The Farm Report on Heritage Radio Network.