Spring Salads and Pre-Passover Pasta
Plus this month's happy hour and some thoughts on food videos today
Hi friends,
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a weekly newsletter about cooking, eating and making the most of it. Get ready because we’re having an oyster happy hour this Thursday, April 25th at 6:30 at the Pinkerton in Williamsburg. If you don’t eat oysters, they have other snacks as well, plus wine! We’ll be there till at least 8 and you should come by!
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
It’s officially Passover and my parents outdid themselves with seder on Friday. I’ve been eating the leftovers ever since. I always find the Passover seder meaningful even if none of it is historically accurate. The allegory is really powerful and I love a holiday that encourages telling a story in ways that are meaningful and relevant to us, using symbolic foods to guide the conversation. I wrote about why I keep Passover here and there are more recipe ideas in last year’s post-seder dispatch.
Some highlights:
This spring salad pops with brightness and is so green and fresh. You could substitute sugar snap peas or edamame for the broad beans.
As a vegetarian, I’m never disappointed at a big meal because my parents make all the salads and vegetarian matzo ball soup. This rice one is really good and makes great leftovers.
A big recommendation: leftover potato kugel with a fried egg and some horseradish.
We made fresh horseradish this year thanks to Lizzi and it was pungent! If you have any sinus troubles, I think horseradish will solve them.
For the meat eaters, this brisket always gets raves (it’s a two day process).
For dessert, I look forward to this matza brittle all year. My dad once requested it for his birthday in August, it’s that good. We also tried these cookies, which were good but a little too fudgy to be my favorites.
Pre Passover, I ate this feta chickpea skillet, which made four great lunches and made a lovely spring salad with sugar snap peas, radish, lemon, feta, scallion and lemon.
I stopped by the Hungry Root pop up last week and tried their cacao date almond muesli. I like it as an alternative to overnight oats, which aren’t my favorite (I prefer hot oatmeal). Going to look for muesli recipes once Passover is over, so please share if you’ve got favorites.
Something to order:
Pre Passover meals are important so I made sure to eat lots of pasta last week. Dale and I went to Le Fanfare in Greenpoint for their $10 pasta special (they have three $10 pastas Monday-Wednesday). I got the same one as last time with pesto and we had a really nice time. If you live off the B43, it stops right in front of the restaurant.
My grandparents came into town for Passover, which was the best. We kicked things off at Barano with special guests Julia and Lizzi. Barano is not cheap but it’s a great spot for a group or special occasion. We always order appetizers to share and then the pastas. The saffron one is really special, it looks like hot cheetos and is a little sweet.
I had a special bucatini with clams and lemon breadcrumbs and the house bread comes with pesto hummus. Other must orders: some Italian wine and dessert, especially the rainbow cookie, the chocolate torta caprese, and the cannoli.
Friday’s breakfast was a bagel followed by an oat milk latte (not k4p sadly) from City of Saints, which is my favorite source for coffee beans. I got my parents hooked and frequently deliver bags to Queens.
I also got a chance to celebrate Foursquare’s birthday last week with an event for superusers at their office. Does anyone else use it to find restaurants? It’s the best.
Something to read:
An inspired idea for better cookies: making your own chocolate chip blend
Related: dark chocolate is now good for you. Here’s how that happened.
Why do all white people who open Chinese restaurants use lucky in the name?
Love to see more tamales in New York. I miss Loida’s all the time.
Bon Appetit did a really fun Red Sauce America package. Some of my favorite stories covered Penn byos (La Viola was my first as well and we brought green apple vodka) and working the takeout counter.
Milk Bar changed the name of their crack pie, released a very weak statement, and got a bunch of (mostly) very good press. Better late than never, but still doesn’t feel particularly principled.
Loved reading the history of Tequilas, one of the first Mexican restaurants in Philly (thanks for sending, Nicole)
Speaking of Philly, 34th Street wrote about Rachel Prokupek, who launched a baklava business after spending the summer in Lebanon. So cool.
Meet the family behind the classic Gold’s Horseradish.
The Eater Young Guns package is another one to look forward to and this year, all award recipients signed a pledge against discrimination in the industry, which Eater’s EIC said helped narrow the field of candidates.
Passover eating ideas from Lily’s blog
The New York Times wine critic shares his recs for $12 bottles.
Ugh, why the wine industry ignores the $1.2 Trillion Buying Power of Black Americans
I love a sports/food cross over story. Michelin restaurants and fabulous wines: Inside the secret team dinners that have built the Spurs' dynasty
Excited about the Queens Night Market lineup for this year
How a street food vendor in LA opened her own shop (plus, this charming backstory)
Ruth Reichl is the only one having fun on twitter.
This article might make you cry, from Gustavo Arellano about learning to make capirotada from his mother who’s currently in hospice.
Teens are less interested in junk food if they get to rebel against big soda.
Loved this podcast featuring Erica Hall, the GM of Win Son, on the worst behavior she sees from diners. Plus, an ode to Win Son’s eggplant.
For Eater, I wrote about the blue and white enamel trays I’ve been seeing everywhere and for Bushwick Daily, I wrote about Partners Coffee, formerly known as Toby’s Estate.
Some thoughts ahead…on food media/youtube
The prevailing food video style has shifted from the “hands in pans” aesthetic popularized by Tasty to the charming, personable style popularized by Bon Appetit (which I love and watch on a daily basis). The videos get crazy views and feel like an updated version of Food Network, with fun editing and a great cast that collaborates and teases each other like family.
Now, New York Times Cooking (which recently poached a few Tasty producers/editors) is getting in on this game, Bon Appetit style, executed by the people who used to work at Tasty, which btw, is also moving into more personality driven videos. Alison Roman, their marquee host, worked at Bon Appetit for years when videos were um, not as good, and had a brief stint at BuzzFeed. This feels like such a circle, like so much of media. These videos are really fun and food is a great subject, but…
The problem is that so many of these videos look the same: a mostly white set of hosts crack jokes and make food, edit, post, repeat. It’s disappointing to see companies invest so much in video and be willing to experiment with things like editing, locations (BA videos have traveled internationally), and food styling, but they rarely, if ever have a black, hispanic, or asian host. This is of course a reflection of how white the mastheads are at all of these places and it’s really discouraging to see another medium grow with the same lack of diversity. I hope it improves as this platform continues to grow.
Two examples below from the Times and BA to see just how similar the styles are. BA did it first.
Now, let’s talk about sandwiches. Really missing bread right now.
Hilary: My favorite sandwich is rye smeared generously with sour cream, topped with a thick slice of homegrown tomato, sprinkled with good salty salt. Only eat this in the summer, aka tomato time! And eat open face so you can admire the tomato- and have several!
Julianne: There's nothing like an Italian sandwich to ring in good weather! The fresh mozzarella-type of sandwich is mutually exclusive with good weather picnics. I don't eat the sandwiches outside of picnics, and it feels wrong to picnic without a good sandwich! I usually order a whole sandwich and have Ian share half with me.
Hillary: I love a good Italian sandwich. Few things bring me joy like a good chicken parm or eggplant parm sub.
To get very specific, Aversa’s in Brigantine, NJ has the most amazing sandwich I’ve had in a long time: eggplant cutlet, roasted red peppers, broccoli rabe, and provolone. It’s addictive.
This week, I want to hear about your favorite pizza. Reply to this email and let me know. I saw the first episode of a new Bon Appetit video series all about pizza today (more on that next week) and it got me thinking about all the types of pies out there. Here’s a preview:
Remember, happy hour is this Thursday at 6:30 p.m at the Pinkerton. See you there and feel free to bring friends!
Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo, Abigail