episode 16: shrimps, sandwiches, and very good scallops
in this episode, we learn about crustaceans, the Costco Couple, sandwich bread, a Very Good scallop dish and much more!
the Costco couple
couple goals am I right!! a NYC couple named David and Susan Schwartz love Costco so much that they made it their mission to visit at least one Costco in every state that has a location (of which there are 46) and wrote a book about it! in their book, “The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt From A to Z,” you can find many fun facts about the bulk grocery store, which the Schwartz’s gathered from many visits and conversations with Costco employees. “the book is somewhat of an alphabet book for adults — a bedtime story for folks with a 401K, if you will” sounds like me!! check out the book here.
its sandwich time
POV: you open your fridge to make a sandwich, but which bread do you pick? this beautiful Eater piece outlines all your best options, discussing the different categories of breads, the types of bread in each category, and the pros and cons of each bread for sandwich use. here’s an overview: there’s sandwich rolls (think: hoagies, potato rolls), deluxe sandwich breads (focaccia, sourdough), pre-sliced bread (classic wheat and white), breakfast sandwich breads (English muffins, bagels, milk bread), and health breads (spinach wraps, Ezekiel). I was writing this while enjoying a breakfast sandwich on focaccia and the author was right, my hands were indeed oily for hours after! but hey, that fluffy and crispy texture was so worth it. I enjoyed this piece because I hadn’t thought of categorizing breads like this, and it really shows that there’s a perfect bread for every mood and for every sandwich!
ring ring, its a cookie delivery
sometimes you need a cookie and you just cannot be bothered to turn on the oven. this is where the DTC (direct-to-consumer) cookie delivery service comes in. as Sam Stone from BA posits, the problem with a DTC service is that you can’t try a cookie before ordering a dozen to your door. don’t worry, this journalist tried them all and ranked them for you! no surprise, Crumble was ranked last (playdoh texture, all sugar, no flavor), a few I hadn’t heard of like Taylor Chip and Maui Cookie Lady landed in the middle, Levain and Last Crumb at the top. check out the full review here!
NYT top 50 restaurants list
yet another list of restaurants is out!! NYT had its reporters around the country gather restaurants that “excite” the most, comprising a list of new and older spots. while there aren’t any DC restaurants on the list (hmph), Ellie Bird in Falls Church, VA, made the cut, a restaurant from the chefs at Rooster & Owl on 14th street. so cool to see an Iowa spot on list too! check out more here.
HBD 2 PSL
our girl PSL is almost of legal drinking age! the pumpkin spice latte turned 20 years old this August — they grow up so fast!! this NYT tribute piece lovingly outlines the history and cultural impact of the drink. she was born in 2003 from a debate amongst Starbucks executives for a new seasonal flavor, and they landed on pumpkin. the drink was then tested in some locations across DC and Vancouver and soon picked up celebrity interest, increasing its national appeal. the PSL brought a lot of people into coffee culture and became synonymous with enthusiasm for the fall season and the term “basic.” read more about America’s favorite latte to hate, here.
GBBO gets slightly less awkward
on every episode of the much-loved baking competition show, the Great British Bake Off, contestants have three baking challenges under one theme. many of these themes are types of desserts, like cakes, chocolate, and bread, but sometimes the theme is a nationality/cuisine. during Season 13, the show did a “Mexican Week” where hosts Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding made very awkward jokes mocking the Spanish language - like calling guacamole “glockymolo” (yikes!!!!) its not the first time these uncomfy jokes happened - during a “Japanese Week” in 2020, Indian and Chinese ingredients were conflated with Japanese food. this season, GBBO has decided to stop doing national themes all together, and focus more on traditional desserts. Noel and Matt’s bizarre banter maybe became a bit less awkward! (maybe).
seemingly ranch, obviously ketchup
all Taylor Swift has to do to make news is…eat, apparently! as many know, the pop star was pictured at a Kansas City Chiefs game, sparking rumors about her connection to football player Travis Kelce. what is arguably more interesting (to me) is what she was eating at said game. a picture of her with a few fans, plus her dinner plate was posted on X with the caption, “Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!” now what, you may ask, is “seemingly ranch”??
the tweet caught on and became a meme, naturally. the Empire State Building X account posted a picture of the building lit up in red and white with the caption “Ketchup and seemingly ranch,” Hidden Valley changed their username on X to “seemingly ranch,” and Heinz made a limited-edition 100 bottle batch of “seemingly ranch” sauce. staff writers at BA went down this rabbit hole to identify the sauce - getting a hold of the stadium’s catering menu to determine which sauce options could have been served to Taylor. the options could have been a French onion dip and a blue cheese dip. however, the stadium did have ranch on a new catering menu that was perhaps debuted after Taylor’s visit. will we ever know? who knows! do we care? i’d like to say no but I think I will be hunted by the swifties. that’s all for now.
registered dieticians vs. TikTok ads vs. WHO
this summer, the World Health Organization released the results of a risk assessment on the health impacts of aspartame, a very popular artificial sweetener used in soft drinks and other beverages. the results determined “limited evidence” for classification of aspartame as a possible carcinogen, and health professionals started using the hashtag #safetyofaspartame to spread the word about potential risks of the ingredient. on the other side of health TikTok, registered dieticians and nutritionists began to release content calling the WHO warnings “low-quality science” and “clickbait.” turns out the dietician influencers were releasing these videos under a paid ad campaign funded by the American Beverage Association (ABA) - a trade group that represents soft drink, juice, water, and tea companies.
this stewed some controversy. online creators are required to disclose to viewers when they are being paid to create content, which many did in the caption of their videos, indicating a #ad or a #paidpartnership. but it wasn’t obvious to viewers who had paid for that content to be produced. when the connection to the ABA was uncovered, those dietician accounts sought to defend their content and opposition to the WHO findings. the concept of paid influencer ads isn’t new, but has complicated implications when applied to content about health safety and food safety.
r u calling me a shrimp??
or maybe I’m calling you a prawn! mm that doesn’t really roll off the tongue. I’ll admit I really didn’t know the difference between shrimp and prawns for years (I thought prawns were just smaller shrimps) but apparently, they are entirely different creatures! they both belong to the decapod family, as they have external skeletons and 10 legs, but different sub-orders, which consists of differences in their gills, claws and pincers, body structure, habitat, size (prawns are larger! silly aditi!), and taste. for all of you crustacean nerds, read more about the differences here.
follow up: Lana at Waffle House
the answers you have all been waiting for! a few months ago, indie music star Lana Del Rey was pictured serving customers at a Waffle House in Alabama, and understandably everyone was very confused. was it a PR stunt? turns out, the singer is tight in the Waffle House community. she is a regular at that location and was dining with her siblings when a server offered them shirts, and encouraged Lana to bring a fellow customer a Coke they had ordered. not a Waffle House #paidpartnership, just a regular ‘ol day for Lana.
restaurant review: Daru
I had some of my favorite food of 2023 at Daru the other weekend. this place has been on my list for a long time (especially after making BA’s best new restaurants list last year). the “snacks” section of this menu was really fantastic - I loved the mango shrimp bhel, the pani puri, and the curry scallops were literally perfect - probably my favorite thing I ate this year. check out more of what we got in the post below!
f*cked up food
is this the next Cheeto cake?
d.c. happenings
Malai Ice Cream from NYC coming to DC next year (HUGE!)
Hiraya, a new Filipino spot, opens today!
new brewery/wine bar opening in space of H St Country Club
Taqueria Nacional closed in Mt. P, Purple Patch owner opening a spot in its place
Hawthorne closing on U St (lol?)
Fancy Radish closed on H St
Wawa maybe coming back to Columbia Heights?
Casamigo Bar & Grill coming to Mt. P
Baker’s Daughter coming to Georgetown
Pi Pizza closed in Penn Quarter
Wok and Roll perhaps opening a new spot in the old Big Hunt space
home cooking: random things
have made and ad-libbed a few things in the last few weeks:
Boursin mac and cheese - remnants of cascatelli pasta, a little basic roux and added Boursin and a lot of black pepper - topped with fried onions.
vegan Caesar salad - had a mishap with my blender trying to make this dressing, but so worth it! vegan Caesar dressing with tahini, nutritional yeast, capers and more - on gem lettuce with homemade croutons from TJ’s sourdough.
the last of summer, halloumi and corn - grilled some corn, fried up halloumi, a few tomatoes and scallions with some sliced jalapeno and good olive oil.