Hello!
CARRYING FOOD HOME IN THE WINTER
I walk uphill through the snow
hard going
brown paper bags of groceries
balanced low on my stomach,
heavy, my arms stretching
to hold it turn all tendon.
Do we need this paper bag
my love, do we need this bulk
of peels and cores, do we need
these bottles, these roots
and bits of cardboard
to keep us floating
as if on a raft
above the snow I sink through?
The skin creates
islands of warmth
in winter, in summer
islands of coolness.
The mouth performs
a similar deception.
I say I will transform
this egg into a muscle
this bottle into an act of love
This onion will become a motion
this grapefruit
will become a thought.
☑️ Don’t forget to check off your holiday shopping list by sending an Edible SF gift subscription to your favorite food-loving friends.
By the way, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. Welcome to all the new subscribers this week! If you'd like to hop off anytime, simply unsubscribe. I appreciate you reading (and sharing) this newsletter.
Here we go.
Don’t Call It A Comeback: “You can call it fusion, you can call it however you want to call it — but I call it our food.” Crystal Wahpepah, a member of the Kickapoo nation of Oklahoma, on her restaurant Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland. Our Food From This Land: A new Native American restaurant plates a contemporary take on precolonial gastronomy. High Country News
Soul Food For Thought: Mark Bittman interviews Rev. Dr. Christopher Carteron about his new book, The Spirit of Soul Food: Race, Faith, and Food Justice, which asks a provocative question: Given the harm that our food production system inflicts and has inflicted on Black people, what should soul food look like today? Food With Mark Bittman Podcast
Got Paper or Plastic? Milk producers grapple with a lack of green packaging alternatives to satisfy customers who want the smallest environmental footprint possible from their dairy products. Civil Eats
Dumpster Diving: A new state law taking effect Jan. 1, 2022, requires supermarkets to divert as much as a quarter of edible food now destined for dumps to food banks and mandates that cities buy mulch and compost, thereby creating new markets for the byproducts made from organic waste. California goes to war with food waste. Composting is its next climate crusade. SF Gate
🦀 The Only Cioppino Recipe You Need: Mae’s San Francisco Dungeness Crab Cioppino from John Birdsall, who says: “Cioppino is properly a home dish, or not even a dish but a big, seasonal gesture that should last hours and stain shirts and leave fingers stinky for a day or more, even after frictional washing.” Edible SF
SPONSORED
Bayonne Ham For The Holidays
We traditionally celebrate every Christmas Eve with a raclette dinner. Raclette, the French word that means “to scrape,” refers to both the type of cheese and the traditional way it is served. If you’re visiting a restaurant in France or Switzerland during the winter, look for one that has a fireplace in the dining room, they’ll most likely have a wheel of raclette cheese next to the fire. As the cheese melts, it’s scraped onto a plate, topping boiled potatoes, cornichons, and savory slices of Bayonne Ham.
While we always include the French and Swiss versions of raclette cheese (to see who can guess which is which) in our dinner, we look to France for the ham accompaniment and the choice is always Bayonne. You can find Bayonne Ham in the Bay Area at Fabrique Délices, an artisan producer of some of the finest charcuteries in the country.
While we consider ourselves Bayonne aficionados, we’re not experts and are always looking to learn more about French culinary traditions. Sébastien Espinasse, president of Fabrique Délices, generously answered some of our queries about Bayonne Ham.
Edible SF: What is your favorite presentation of Bayonne Ham?
Sébastien Espinasse: Traditionally, Bayonne ham was knife sliced into thick slices, mostly because people cook with it. I like to enjoy it very thinly sliced so that it melts in your mouth, literally. It is a versatile product that makes the best sandwiches or is an excellent addition to a raclette. I have even grilled it once to add it to a burger instead of bacon; thinking about it, I need to do this again soon.
Edible SF: Do you serve Bayonne during the holidays? If so, how?
Sébastien Espinasse: Nature does things very well: There are four seasons and four legs to a pig… one leg per season, that is. For the holiday, to offer something special to guests and family, people go for longer aged hams, up to over 20 months. A thin sliced of such a mature ham truly gives the feeling of a special moment.
More from Sébastien Espinasse, president of Fabrique Délices, on Bayonne Ham.
Best Cookbooks of 2021 via The New York Times
Books include Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes, by Abra Berens; Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day, by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie; Super Natural Simple: Whole-Food, Vegetarian Recipes for Real Life,” by Heidi Swanson, and more. Complete list here.
Third Culture Cooking: A term referring to people who are influenced by a combination of their parent's culture and the culture in which they are raised. “It’s the first time mom acknowledged that we grew up with different palates — her in Hong Kong, me in Toronto — without judgment.” Chili crisp and spaghetti? Chai spice in an apple pie? It’s what happens when you grow up in Toronto. Toronto Star
Just Like Grandma Used To Make: Green Bean Casserole, the holiday dish that has graced American tables for generations, owes its popularity to Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. “There’s a reason why Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup is so delicious—it’s because there’s so much crap in it,” says Alana Chernila, the author of The Homemade Pantry in Just Like Brandma Made. Taste
Frosted Flakes Picket Line: “Calls to boycott Rice Krispies and other Kellogg’s cereals haven’t swayed the company yet.” Eater
EAT. DRINK. THINK. FINE ART PRINT SUBSCRIPTION
We're making hoshigaki (dried and cured persimmons) as holiday gifts for our family this year. Each person will also receive a two-color linoleum block print that we created from a photo of the Hoshigaki hanging in our kitchen (above).
We used to give our handmade prints as gifts every holiday season, and it was great to break out the carving tools to create something special again. The process inspired us to create a series of 12 unique lino block relief prints that we’re making available through a monthly subscription, beginning in January 2022.
Here are the details of the program:
One ~10” x 10” limited edition hand-carved lino block print by the artist (Bruce Cole) printed on archival paper (suitable for framing), and signed, will be mailed to every paid subscriber via USPS on the 15th of each month starting January 2022.
Featuring seasonal ingredients, each unique monthly print will be accompanied by a recipe highlighting the food depicted in print.
A subscription to the 12-month exclusive print series is $10/month, or $100/year (a $20 savings!).
Note: This series does not include the hoshigaki print.
If you're a current subscriber to the EAT DRINK THINK newsletter, you can opt in to the new lino block print subscription below.
We hope you’ll join us on this artistic and culinary adventure!
That’s all for this week.
At the top of our playlist this week is the song Bussifame, from New Orleans R&B singer Dawn Richard, who says “the song plays into the meaning behind the album’s title (Second Line), which takes its name from a jazz band tradition in New Orleans parades and funerals.” Rolling Stone
We’re outta here. Be well and take care,
–Bruce
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"Humans — despite their artistic pretensions, their sophistication, and their many accomplishments — owe their existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” Anonymous