episode two: eggs, etiquette, economics
in this episode that encompasses yogurt, eggflation, and the social script
v day chocolate?
gorls don’t want chocolate from walgreens for valentines day! gorls want a red plastic box with fries and 10 dipping sauces! see example below!
but actually, if you’re looking for ideas for your v day evening here are some suggestions for a romantic dinner w/ your partner or spots for palentines day with your friendies!
jellycat babies
gorls also want a stuffed animal in the shape of a brie cheese slice!!! when I was window shopping on a trip a few years ago, I saw these cute little stuffed animals in the shape of food and thought, “aww, these are clearly for children, but I MUST have one.” soon after, Mischievous Egg and Al (short for Allium) the Vivacious Onion came home with me (pictured here).
Egg and Al are a part of the Jellycat family - a UK toy manufacturer that makes an array of cute little stuffed toys. think of them as squishmallows but smaller and less pillowy with more attitude. Al and Onion made their first TikTok debut last week, natural STARS for sure!
eggflation
okay so last week I went to Whole Foods, and the egg section was WIPED! all that was left were $12 pasture raised and duck eggs, tell me why the vegan Just Egg was in stock and cheaper too? there are a myriad of problems impacting the egg industry right now: the supply of eggs was decimated due to a huge outbreak of the avian flu, killing millions of birds in early 2022. inflation was also a huge factor - hens need to be fed, farmers need to buy feed for the hens, and prices of grain used in feed have risen. key suppliers of these grains include Russia and Ukraine, whose operations have been clearly impacted by the ongoing war.
in all of this, demand has stayed persistent (or sticky) - people continue to want eggs despite the rise in prices. I mean not me, instead of $12 for fancy eggs I did buy Just Egg, the vegan eggs instead, and honestly, they’re good. but should I have started buying chickens at home to produce my own eggs…..
ethiopian and indian food, a history
last time my parents visited me in D.C. I brought them to an Ethiopian restaurant, and my dad truly couldn’t get over how similar the food was to our South Indian cuisine. the use of lentils, fermented grains, and spices in both cultures is comforting and heartwarming. and of course, turns out there’s a reason for it! this piece in The Juggernaut does a great job of explaining the thousand-year history that impacted sharing between both of these cuisines.
the present-day shared love for Bollywood and all types of dal originates from a long history of trade dating back to the 6th century, of gold, salt, and spices between the two empires. its important to note there are certainly similarities, but also limits to this overlap. “Many Ethiopians hold firm that it is because of Indians’ turmeric-tinted glasses, they are unable, and sometimes unwilling, to categorize other people’s food outside of their format. Yet, many Indians still claim that even though Ethiopian food isn’t exactly like Indian food, it has the essence of it.” The full article does a great job highlighting the two cuisines - and the shared history of Indian and Ethiopian cultures over centuries.
aditieats, aditibops
mostly for my own entertainment, every time I post an instagram story on ad.itieats, I post a song to go with it - which i’ve started compiling into playlists. there is literally no theme to this playlist, just that I simply enjoy these songs, and hope you do too!
amelia and andrew, sittin’ in a tree
Chicken Shop Dates is a wonderful and joyous YouTube series where British journalist Amelia Dimoldenberg goes on “dates” with famous musicians, actors, and celebrities at small chicken shops around London. you simply have to watch one (don’t ask me how many times i’ve watched the Matty Healy ep) to get a sense of her character, but its something between cringe and charming that just works.
Amelia has recently started hosting red carpet interviews, and a clip of her and Andrew Garfield went viral, in which she almost invited him to her birthday party last week. of course instead of just actually inviting him, she had Colin the Caterpillar cakes made with his face on them? honestly, iconic crush behavior, and I support.
do you know how to behave?
this past week’s big conversational piece was the New York Magazine’s guide on manners and the social script, “Do You Know How to Behave?” while I actually agree with the vast majority of these, as any social commentary piece ends up doing on the internet, a few of these stirred up some controversy! here are my food-related highlights and thoughts:
“if your burger is becoming a salad, your restaurant-order modifications are going too far.” okay, sure, but honestly, idc that much. do what you need to do.
“for group dinners with friends, always split the bill evenly. but if you’re drinking and i’m not. offer to pay the entire tip.” if everyone actually gets the same thing, sure. but so many times when everyone is ordering very different items at different prices, you should not rely on others to subsidize your meal! there’s little excuse when technology has made splitting a bill fairly so easy! apps like Tab will let you let you assign menu items based on what people ordered individually and shared, and will split the tax, tip, and total tab proportionally - doing all the math for you. this is a hill i’ll die on - when its so easy to make these things fair, its just lazy to say “its just easier” and evenly split it, making people pay more than their share.
“the correct number of slices of pizza to order for a group of X people is 2X + X/3.” this is the only algebra I endorse using as an adult - so correct.
“don’t comment on other people’s food at work.” yes. you don’t know other people’s food issues and trauma (we all have some!) nor is it any of your business at work. unprofessional.
“never send an edible arrangement.” wrong, I really want a bouquet of fruit cut into fun shapes. someone send me one, pls and thx.
opens + closes in d.c.
estadio on 14th street closing :(
new taco bell in chinatown!!
new Gordon Ramsey spot on the wharf
new Taqueria Habanero location wooooo!
movie memorabilia version of last Burger King in D.C. closes
Navy Yard location of Yellow closes
the yogurt chart
we recently encountered a trivia question on the calcium content of different types of milk (fun fact, cow’s milk is not the highest!) and then I came across this chart comparing yogurts which was equally interesting! i’m a greek yogurt girl and sometimes dabble in siggi’s but dang that skyr has so much protein for all you gym rats! I also didn’t know bulgarian yogurt was a thing! I love Cooks Illustrated.
restaurant highlight: tonari
ah, how I loooooove Tonari <3 went there last week for restaurant week and it really redeemed my restaurant week experience. the first course soups were so good, the celery root pasta was a standout, and the chocolate budino was!!! omg! (I did have to look up what chocolate budino was - its an eggy custard!) the ambiance here is so lovely and the service has been great every time. I ammmm tryna go to their dessert tasting menu - 4 courses of desserts!!!!! - come with me!!
f*cked up food
pineapple on pizza is sooo controversial according to every person’s hinge profile ever. personally, this looks totally normal to me, I don’t see it.
today’s internet recipe!
big marshmallow girl, medium peanut butter girl, HUGE rice krispy girl <3 these turned out really good actually, and like any rice krispy recipe these are super simple. ingredients: miso, PB, marshmallows, rice krispies and butter. when I do these again, I would even go for more miso and mini marshmallows too.
and that’s it for episode two :) have a great week everyone!
could not agree more re: edible arrangements. whoever wrote that one is so wack for that
and i had the same exact thought about maybe just purchasing a chicken. this is the perfect newsletter