episode 18: peppers, onions, and Panda Gourmet
in this episode, a new hot hot pepper, onion tears, and a visit to panda gourmet!
why onions make you cry 🧅
the answer is science! duh! when you cut an onion, it expels a substance with sulfur atoms that dissolves into the water of your eyes and turns into sulfuric acid, which translates as a pain message to the brain. it is commonly thought that the smell and taste of the onions is what causes the eye stinging, but those are actually different compounds entirely. what makes up the taste is an unstable sulfuric acid, when ingested it interacts inside your body to expel unpleasant breath and even body odor. fun!!! an author named Mark Kurlansky wrote a whole book about the biology of onions and its presence in various cultures called The Core of an Onion, if you are interested in more.
big week for restaurant lists
in big news, Washington DC had new additions to both its Michelin Star list (fancy restaurants) and its Bib Gourmand list (normal people restaurants). Causa, the Peruvian spot in Blagden Alley was newly awarded one star, and Rania, the downtown Indian spot was awarded one star as well. these two join the other starred restaurants, including Albi, Gravitas, Imperfecto, Maydan, Oyster Oyster, Tail Up Goat, and more. one restaurant, Cranes, was removed from the list.
the tire company also has a Bib Gourmand list, which is a designation for high quality food at more affordable prices, defined as a roughly $40 for 2 courses plus a dessert or a glass of wine. they added La Tejana, the breakfast taco spot in Mt. Pleasant and the bakery Yellow to the Bib list - very well deserved adds in my opinion! they join 20+ other restaurants, including spots like Astoria, Red Hen, Toki Underground, Elle, Makan, Maketto, and more. however, 10 restaurants came off the Bib list, including Thip Khao, Timber Pizza, Jaleo, and Federalist Pig.
a new pepper in town 🌶️
there’s a new hot pepper in town! the PuckerButt Pepper Company (lol) has claimed a new Guinness World Record for Pepper X, a new pepper that kicks the Carolina Reaper out of its spot as the hottest pepper in the world. Pepper X has a Scoville Heat Unit rating of 2.698 million, compared to the Reaper’s a 1.64 million rating. that’s HOT! 🔥
the Food and Fashion museum exhibit
guys! I went to the most exciting, made-for-me museum ever! ahead of my New York City trip last month, my friend sent me info on this free exhibit at The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) called Food & Fashion - so of course we went! the exhibit spanned two rooms and covered a variety of themes, like social media, body image, gender, and more topics intersecting with food. I can’t possibly cover everything so i’ll include a couple of fun bits: they had a display on the “bread bag” trend, showing the Fendi Baguette bag and Dauphinette plastic bread bags; “fast food chic” with the Moschino McDonald’s uniforms and Delveaux bag charms, and I loved the Schiaparelli sandwich hat and this crazy lobster dress. it covered clothing production and its intersection with agriculture, like with the Pineapple Air Forces made of Pinatex and Stella McCartney’s journey creating cruelty-free bags. I could have spent all day here, I swear! if you’re in NYC you have until the end of the month to check it out.
DC restaurant reservation tips! ✍️
last week we talked about the NYC reservation game, and this week we talk DC. the Washingtonian came out with articles containing tips and tricks on how to snag coveted restaurant reservations. this list has tips catered to restaurants on Resy - like signing up for cancellation alerts, setting timers for when reservations go live, and last-minute patio seat openings. it also included other tips like how to email a restaurant for spaces properly, showing up right when the restaurant opens for walk-ins, and more. in order to set those alarms for live reservations, they also released this list with a round-up of the times that reservations go live for a lot of DC spots. happy reserving!
the Half Baked Harvest takedown
if you have ever searched for a recipe on the internet I am sure you know of the legacy food blog, Half-Baked Harvest. founder Tieghan Gerard publishes “delicious wholesome family-friendly” recipes almost every day and has published three cookbooks. but alas, there is no rise to stardom without controversy. the New York Times came out with a piece on her food empire delving into her issues around cultural appropriation, body shaming, privilege, and more.
I was struck by the fact that she has only been outside of North America once, and yet publishes recipes from a variety of different cultures to her 700k email subscribers and 2 million cookbook readers. she has been called out many times for mispronouncing and misidentifying foods from other cultures - like a “pho” recipe that was very incorrect, a recipe for “banh mi rice bowls” which she mispronounces as “bon-my” and includes Thai instead of Vietnamese ingredients, and a “Thai” stew with distinctly Middle Eastern ingredients. each time it seems as though followers called out her mistakes, she apologized, and then…continued this behavior.
“Ms. Gerard characterized her missteps as respectful enthusiasm for flavors from other cultures. Her critics say she enjoys unearned privilege because of her wealth and whiteness; she says she has worked hard for a decade to earn her following and success. They say she has no particular cooking skills and posts the same recipes over and over again; she says she meets her readers where they are.”
the piece goes into further controversies, like allegations of plagiarism, paying her employees to delete negative comments about her, and the presentation of her body image. overall, the piece gave a more holistic view of her internet presence and impact, and left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth about her company and her recipies.
advent calendars 🗓️
December is approaching and you know what that means! its my bday!! jk, its advent calendar time! I don’t do Christmas but I looove an advent calendar - who wouldn’t want a smol little surprise gift every day?! obviously the chocolate calendars are the most standard form of advent calendar, but the food advent calendar world has really expanded. last year, I did a fancy tea advent calendar which was perfect for a daily warm treat. the most loved food advent calendar is probably the Bonne Maman advent calendar, it has 24 jams and honeys in cute little jars. the other one i’ve been dreaming of is the Aldi cheese calendar - like come on! a daily cheese! so cute! if you need some more ideas for food advent calendars at all price points, Eater, Food and Wine, and Food Network have some lists here!
scooped bagels 🙄🙄🙄
allegedly its normal in LA to order a bagel “scooped,” meaning the interior of the bagel is scooped out and discarded, leaving a bagel half-pipe. its unclear where this practice originated, but its probably something rooted in fear of carbs and icky diet culture stuff. it rose in discussion recently when this LA dude went to NYC and asked for a scooped bagel at a bagel shop and the employee was like “uhhhh no r u crazy!” as people always get with the subject of bagels, the strong opinions came flying! there’s the pro-scoop people (better crust to cream cheese ratio, not too doughy) and the anti-scoops (“Scooping bagels is a crime. What’s the point of getting a bagel?”). I do think adherence to cultural norms is a consideration when ordering - NYC is a busy place and there is no time for dilly-dallying in line, so asking for something unfamiliar holds up the employees and customers. you can read more about this trend you may love or hate here.
oozing from chicken. ew 🐓🍗🐔
raise your hand if youre scared of cooking raw meat!! its me!! when I saw this headline, “What Is That White Stuff Oozing Out of My Chicken?” I was even more turned off from ever bringing raw chicken into my home - I mean could you blame me! the “white stuff” sounds gross, but apparently its just extra protein! “‘It’s kind of like how egg whites start off either transparent or translucent, and then when you heat them up, they solidify and turn white.’… The heat causes the excess water and protein that oozes out the chicken to solidify, going from clear and runny into white and gooey” says BA. for more details on the science of this for all of you chicken lovers, read more here.
“i will never eat a slice again” 🍕
Wawa came out with pizza. that pizza is very bad - long story short! Wawa released a pizza on their menu with a huge marketing campaign, but the pizza itself is convenience-store-esque, Eater Philly reports. what sucks even more is that they’re advertising this pizza in direct competition with locally-owned pizza shops. basically - don’t even try it, get a local slice instead!
restaurant review: panda gourmet
literally. finally. I went to the coolest restaurant in a Days Inn in D.C., Panda Gourmet. this WCP piece highlights the journey of the restaurant and how the Chinese food from the Shaanxi and Szechuan provinces came to be in a motel on New York Ave. we got to go for a bday dinner with some friends who previously lived in China and expertly ordered many dishes for the table to share. everything was really fantastic — but my favorites were the wood ear mushrooms, the eggplant, the hand pulled noodles and the dan dan noodles. but nothing topped how much my life was changed by the simple tomato and egg stir fry it was so incredible! read and see more here!
f*cked up food
an easy lunch idea! ◡̈
d.c. happenings
2 New Bib Gourmand Spots in DC - Yellow and La Tejana!
Melange Burger opened in Shaw
Bistro Pastis, Parachute Pizza, and Mecha Noodle Bar opening soon in Union Market
Halal Guys opening in Union Station
Crazy Aunt Helen’s closed in Capitol Hill
Roofers Union closing in Adams Morgan
Philotimo opened Downtown
Valley Brook Tea reopened in Embassy Row Hotel
Baker’s Daughter opened in Georgetown
NaanStop Indian Kitchen coming to Mexicue space
Mixxed Food and Drinks opened in Adams Morgan
Amelie Wine Bar coming to Logan Circle
Hum Yummy Middle Eastern opened in Woodley Park
Himalayan Doko replaced Sakina Halal Grill in Downtown
home cooking: Chinese tomato and egg
its my new life mission to ensure I get the texture of this dish as close to Panda Gourmet’s as possible. while scrambled eggs have been a part of Chinese cuisine for decades, they got mixed with tomato likely as a result of some Arab and Western influences. there’s many different ways people make this dish so i’ll let y’all find your own recipies, but put simply it is fresh tomatoes cooked with oil, spices, and some cornstarch to make a sauce, with scrambled eggs and some rice on the side. this will definitely become a part of my repertoire!