#82 | Beautiful Blue Skies and Golden Sunshine
All Along the Way!
Hello!
INTERLUDE When I have baked white cakes And grated green almonds to spread upon them; When I have picked the green crowns from the strawberries And piled them, cone-pointed, in a blue and yellow platter; When I have smoothed the seam of the linen I have been working; What then? To-morrow it will be the same: Cakes and strawberries, And needles in and out of cloth. If the sun is beautiful on bricks and pewter, How much more beautiful is the moon, Slanting down the gauffered branches of a plum-tree; The moon, Wavering across a bed of tulips; The moon, Still, Upon your face. You shine, Beloved, You and the moon. But which is the reflection? The clock is striking eleven. I think, when we have shut and barred the door, The night will be dark Outside. —Amy Lowell, from Pictures of the Floating World (1919)
By the way, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. If you’re new here, welcome to EAT.DRINK.THINK., a newsletter spotlighting seasonal recipes (strawberries! asparagus!), the latest SF Bay Area food news, poetry, and more!
👉 ICYMI: The most-clicked link from last week’s newsletter was our strawberry storing tips.
Do you know someone who enjoys beautiful blue skies and golden sunshine all along the way? Send them this newsletter 😉
Everyone, have a great day!
Grilled Baby Fava Beans: Springs's most delectable finger food! Baby fava beans are harvested at 3-5 inches long and have a silky thin pod, making the whole bean edible—no need to peel them! But the season runs short as the beans grow bigger and thicker, so now’s the time to grab some at the farmers market when you see them. Grilling is our favorite way to prepare them, it only takes a minute on each side. Get the recipe: Grilled Baby Fava Beans Edible SF
Sam’s Spring Fattoush Salad: Part of what makes this salad from Sam Mogannam of Bi-Rite Market so great is the dynamic textures; the cracker-like baked lavash croutons and the crunchy cucumbers and radishes contrast with the creamy feta and soft herbs. Though it’s simple, the devil is in the details. Jessica Battilana for Edible SF
Down The Wok Rabbit Hole: The Serious Eats Wok Digital Issue. Simply astounding, what a resource! Serious Eats
#Protip: Why You Shouldn’t Snap the Ends Off Asparagus and Why You Should Overcook It. Dan Souza for America’s Test Kitchen
Caleb Leisure 2020 Ah Um
Joshua’s Starry Night Vineyards, Calaveras County
35% Syrah, 40% Viognier, 25% Mourvèdre
• Organic/Biodynamic
• Unfined/Unfiltered
• No added SO2
Bright acidity with a ripe fruity profile, mainly cherries, and raspberries. Savory finish with minerality shining through. Leisure’s winemaking is steeped in traditional Georgian winemaking methods and co-fermented in qvevri, 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. {We purchased this bottle direct from the winemaker.} More on Leisure’s winemaking methods here.
Forty Acres and Not Enough Food: “America’s farmers’ markets aren’t prepared to feed the country. But if the president is on TV warning us that the global industrial agriculture system might not be prepared to do it either, then we need to start thinking realistically—and collectively—about how eating is going to change.” Malcolm Harris for The Nation.
SPONSORED
San Francisco is all about local and coastal like Rías Baixas, and it’s no surprise that our many talented somms get creative pairing Albariño. Head over to A16 this month to try a line-up of Albariño from Rías Baixas with your favorite coal-fired pizzas, antipasti and more. Click here to learn more.
Told You So: “Alternative proteins and their sustainability credentials rest on shaky ground—as chemical-intensive, heavily processed foods, they have major impacts on human health, biodiversity, and climate change.” Philip H. Howard for Civil Eats
Slimy Or Sneaky? Jane the Bakery hadn’t given the Popcorn app permission to sell its baked goods, neither had the owners of Tartine, Arsicault Bakery, B. Patisserie, Midnite Bagel, or Third Culture Bakery. Yet, they were on the app, some depicted by regular stock photos that look nothing like the real thing. The practice is illegal in California. SF Chronicle (paywall)
Related: Grubhub, Uber Eats and the rest were hailed as saviors during the pandemic. But restaurants, fed up with exorbitant fees and other aggressive tactics, are forming local delivery co-ops in an effort to drive the apps out. FERN
Sadly, It’s Come To This: Trans farmer says “I Would Love to Fly a Trans Flag, But It Might Put My Animals in Danger.” Eater
Tainted Juice? Alexander Pumpyansky, the owner of the celebrated Jura natural wine estate Domaine Ganevat, is also the son of Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, who was recently added to the EU’s sanctions list. Aaron Ayscough, of the wine newsletter Not Drinking Poison asks “As wine lovers in general, and admirers of the Ganevats in particular, how complicit are we for supporting a business owned by a Russian oligarch?”
No Antibiotics Ever? Not Even Close. Labels on beef that tout the “Raised without Antibiotics” label lack integrity and validity. Among the more than 9 billion animals that are slaughtered in the US for meat each year, the USDA tests fewer than 7000 for antibiotics through the US National Residue Program. Science
One For The Road: Adrienne LaFrance’s 12 Most Unforgettable Descriptions of Food In Literature in The Atlantic includes Proust, Hemingway, Richard Brautigan and Maurice Sendak, from Chicken Soup With Rice: A Book of Months.
In September for a while I will ride a crocodile down the chicken soupy Nile. Paddle once paddle twice paddle chicken soup with rice.
And that’s our walk off poem for today 😉
LISTEN:
On repeat this week: Don’t Explain (Dhizan and Kamien remix), in honor of Billie Holiday who was born on April 7, 1915.
Have you listened to our April playlist yet? EAT.DRINK.THINK. APRIL 2022 The Tidal playlist we listen to while cooking dinner every night. That’s all for this week.
BTW: we listen to KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show almost every day, which also features David Lynch’s daily weather report and his signature signoff, “beautiful blue skies and golden sunshine all along the way. Everyone, have a great day!”
We’re outta here. Be well and take care,
–Bruce
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"Despite its artistic intentions and its many accomplishments, humankind owes its existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains." —Anonym