episode five: cherry blossoms, culinary diplomacy, and cheddar
happy peak bloom! in this episode we discuss flowers, cheese, and crunchy fruit
cherry blossom szn baby!
with cherry blossom season comes all the flower-themed paraphernalia in the DC food scene. yes yes, I am an absolute sucker and i did pay $7 for a cherry blossom latte at Compass (i deserved a treat for doing work!) but if you’re cooler than me, the Washingtonian has a roundup of nicer cherry blossom food and drink specials around the city. the list features some pop-up bars and fancy teas if you want to venture outside the realm of artificial cherry flavoring. union market’s insta did a good roundup of the cherry blossom goods from their vendors as well, and I know my favs at Mt. Desert Island and Rasa (pictured above) are doing cherry blossom ice cream/soft serve too! sign me up!
a new crunchy fruity snack
last episode, i brought you the cheesy pickle. this week, i bring you the frozen fruit roll up! yes, you heard that correctly! the newest food mashup TikTok trend is a fruit roll up (take the plastic off!) with a scoop of sorbet in the middle, rolled up like a burrito. the cold ice cream essentially freezes the fruit roll up, resulting in a chewy crunchy treat. i actually tried this one and, yea this is a good reason to buy fruit roll ups and ice cream with your adult money! i endorse!
here’s a video explaining it, though i’m not sure who exactly was the original creator. pls enjoy these pictures of Emma’s cat Rhubarb testing out the frozen fruit roll up for us!
culinary diplomacy
there is no question that food helps us learn about cultures different to our own. many people’s first (and perhaps, only) encounters with those different to them is by visiting a restaurant and trying new food. some nations have identified this and utilized it in diplomatic efforts.the recognition of this concept, and the term gastrodiplomacy/cultural diplomacy was coined in the early 2000s. countries that employ this tactic seek to improve perception of their country and its people through food, boosting the “brand” and aiding in international relations.
a stellar example of this is the Global Thai Program, launched in 2002 by the government of Thailand. they gave Thai investors grants and training programs to open restaurants abroad part of a $15 million USD campaign, as a part of a mission to increase Thai agricultural exports and produce more foreign income. there was even a formula for the names of the restaurants people were guided to open (Elephant Jump for fast food, Cool Basil for mid-priced casual cuisine, and Golden Leaf for high-end meals) and a qualification/awards program for qualifying restaurants. this effort has clearly worked - which is why there’s so many Thai restaurants across the country, and tourism to Thailand is so popular.
there’s even more about the history of this program, and why Pad Thai became such a popular dish, in this Food and Wine profile here!
get ur bread
I was having a lovely dinner with my dear friend Emma (who inspired much of this episode) eating roti at Thai Diner (more on that below). we were thinking about how much overlap there is between types of bread across the world. for example, roti is traditionally an Indian flatbread but also served in Thailand, which I did not know! we got to thinking more about how much cross-cultural influence plays a part in the basic foods we eat, like bread. what i would really like is for someone to make a map showing the cultural influences of bread around the world, all connected with travel patterns of migrants - how this made two countries far apart eat the same types of food.
welllll the closest I could find was this map of the favorite breads of major countries, which, is interesting in and of itself! roti is loved in the Netherlands which is funny - and so many countries like crackers! I didn’t even think of crackers as bread! I also didn’t know all of Europe seems to love banana bread! if anyone finds any more bread maps, send them my way!
an interesting categorization
I don’t have a good intro to this, but basically I saw a good TikTok and wanted to talk about it, lol. many times we seek recommendations on food for different reasons - we want something open at a certain time, in a certain neighborhood, a certain cuisine, etc. but what does “the BEST ____” food really mean? can a cookie or a slice of pizza really be that different from one another? this girl named a framework for recommendation lists that I found interesting on this.
here’s how she lays it out. binary foods are either good or bad. an example of this is a black and white cookie, which is either good or bad, where its really hard for one particular cookie to outshine the rest. stoplight foods are either red, yellow, or green, where you feel averse, neutral, or really great about the food. pizza, she says, is a stoplight food - school lunch pizza is red (only eat under duress), a dollar slice or a chain restaurant slice is yellow (meets the need, pretty good), and green is really great (specialty/artisan pizza). and lastly, there’s spectrum foods, where the small differences really make an impact - like sushi.
she argues that we don’t need lists/recommendations of binary or stoplight foods because the difference in quality and satisfaction between restaurants that make these foods is not large - but it would be useful in a spectrum food like sushi. I really like the framework overall, but I think there can be debate about what foods we put in each category. I disagree that people shouldn’t share their opinions about binary/stoplight foods (people should share their opinions! I want to hear them!) but perhaps they can be taken with a different weight depending on the category. tell me what you think!
the color of cheddar
have you ever wondered why cheddar is different colors? well, back in the day, cheddar cheese was more orange because the grass that cows ate was high in beta-carotene which made the milk more orange. this became a sign of high quality cheese, so lower-quality cheesemakers started adding marigold and carrot juice to imitate the color.
fast forward to cheese in the US - cheesemakers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana have cows that eat grass with higher beta-carotene in the spring and hay in the winter, so additives are incorporated to ensure the cheese has a more orange color year round. it also differentiates from more white cheddar styles on the east coast. so, the color isn’t really as important - what’s more important is how long the cheese has aged, which effects the flavor. now you know!
our lord and savior (taco bell)
insider food did a deep dive where this man, this poor man, tried every single item at his local taco bell and ranked them from worst to best. I really, truly admire his commitment but y’all I have some thoughts!!! he is transparent that he doesn’t like black beans but as a no-red-meat girly I neeed the black beans, so off the bat my ranking would be different. i like his takes on the nachos (good cheese bad chips) and his description of the potatoes (fascinating indeed) but he ranked the crunchwraps way lower than they should have been and weighted the cheesy roll-up wayyyy too high. take a look for yourself!
It still left me wondering how something with so much inside can feel so underwhelming.
I did think this bit from his black bean crunchwrap review was quite poetic though. ill leave you with that!
dc happenings
d’vines possibly closing :/
local fav little sesame did a hummus collab w/ fly by jing
little red fox (which closed) made a cute cookbook
VAN LEEUWEN OPENING!!!
taylor gourmet closing (again?)
new shouk location
new dessert spot called Peach Cobbler Factory opening
new spot announced to take over old ABC Pony space
new Mexican spot, Cinco Soles, opened in Columbia Heights
restaurant highlight: thai diner
visited Thai Diner after peeping through
's recs on insta (@highlycuratedeats) and seeing this absolutely GORGEOUS ice cream sundae. we had such a fantastic experience here - the decor is unlike anything i've ever seen, with floor to ceiling bamboo, cozy vibes, but also somehow we felt like we were on a beach (during 40 degree weather outside).the crab fried rice was fantastic, the roti with pumpkin curry was so flaky and buttery (almost as good as my mom’s!) and the sundae…….huge YUM. it was one of those moments that I prayed for my metabolism to work faster so I could finish it but alas, what is a girl to do. anyways - a Highly Recommended spot for you NYC girlies + visitors!
f*cked up food
i can’t stop thinking about it. now you can’t either.
aditicooks: chaia taco duuuupe
after a real spendy NYC weekend I did cook a good amount this week (pls clap!) if you’ve ever been to Chaia, the vegetarian taco shop in D.C. you know their creamy kale and potato taco is one of the best things on the menu. thankfully, food blogger Figs and Flour has a great recipe if you want to make these at home! i’ve been using this recipe for years whenever I find myself with an abundance of kale to finish, and I use my trusty TJ’s pepperjack shredded and kept in the freezer for emergency late-night quesadillas (hack!) for this too.
and thats it folks! see you next time!
So glad you loved Thai Diner!! That sundae is a thing of beauty.
Enjoyed reading this episode. *I have never heard of Cherry Blossom themed food. Seems cool! *Fruit rollup Quality Control by the cat is hilarious. *Thanks to Global Thai Program - I can enjoy Thai food at local Cool Basil. *I am intrigued by lumping banana bread with Roti. The former is clearly a desert for me. *Thanks for introducing spectrum food concept, makes sense to me.