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The Bittman Project

@bittmanproject

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Food is everything. A publication from the @markbittman team. (Be sure to also check out @communitykitchennyc, our “sister” enterprise!)

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Did someone ask for whole grain, raw sugar candy? Maybe not, but we made it anyway and it’s so good, we’re sharing the recipe immediately.

This quinoa-caramel crackle starts with exploded quinoa, turbinado sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt—and the best part is that the whole thing happens in the oven. There’s no need for a candy thermometer or a glass of cold water to fret over whether the sugar is the right temperature. The magic happens all by itself.

Get the full recipe, made with @bobsredmill organic quinoa, bittmanproject.com (link in bio). by @bittmanproject

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17 days ago

On this week’s episode, Jennifer Siebel Newsom (@jennifersiebelnewsom), First Partner of California, joined Kate and me to talk about what actually happened when the state decided every public school kid deserves two free meals a day, and that more than half of those meals should come from California farms. It sounds like a policy conversation, but it’s really a story about scratch kitchens, nacho bowls, salad bars, fountain milk, and what it looks like when someone decides to treat school lunch like it matters. We covered the Farm to School roadmap the First Partner built from the ground up, how California became the first state to pass universal school meals legislation, why LA Unified now only buys local, and what it would take for other states to do the same.

Search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast to listen, or tap the link in my bio. by @bittmanproject

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18 days ago

On our latest episode of Food with Mark Bittman, Kate and I interviewed Nik Sharma (@abrowntable).

Nik is a former molecular biologist who left his lab for a kitchen and never looked back. He’s a three-time James Beard finalist, an editor-in-residence at America’s Test Kitchen, and the author of Fundamentals of Flavor.

We chatted about what baking soda actually does to meat (the meatball revelation alone is worth the episode), why you can marinate all day in yogurt but never in vinegar, and the four elements of nature as a framework for understanding everything that happens in a kitchen.

Search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast to listen, or tap the link in my bio.

Plus, we’ve got two recipes from Fundamentals of Flavor: Sparkling Water Pancakes with Spiced Stewed Pineapple, and Poached Eggs with Green Chutney + Yogurt — find those at bittmanproject.com. by @bittmanproject

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21 days ago

Today is Marion Nestle‘s (@marionnestle) 90th birthday, and boy is she is a woman worth celebrating. Marion is the doyenne of food politics, my friend, my mentor — and the author of more than 20 books, including the all-important Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. For today’s newsletter, Marion generously allowed us to excerpt her newest book, Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America’s Favorite Breakfast Food, and we also have her on the podcast to talk about this book, which she co-wrote with former Kellogg’s VP (and current Interim President of Jacksonville University) Lisa Sutherland.

Search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast to listen to the conversation, or tap the link in my bio. Plus, read an excerpt from Marion’s new book at bittmanproject.com by @bittmanproject

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a month ago

I met my friend Jean-Georges Vongerichten (@chefjgv) in 1987 when he first moved to New York. I could talk about him for a half an hour without stopping. I really could. But instead of doing that, I talked to him for the podcast, almost 40 years later.

Search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast, or tap the link in my bio to listen. by @bittmanproject

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2 months ago

Baker Paola Velez (@smallorchids), Kate and Holly talk about their biggest recipe development fails.

Tap the link in bio to listen to the full episode, or search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast. by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

You’re not likely to get cyclospora, and you’re even less likely if you eat at home. That’s not so much because your kitchen at home is cleaner than an industrial or restaurant kitchen. It’s probably not, actually.

But when you cook at home, fewer people touch your food — in fact, once it leaves the store, it’s unlikely to be handled by anyone but you, whereas in commercial settings it’ll get touched by many different people.

And although small farms may have less sophisticated handling systems than more industrial operations, they are also part of a shorter supply chain and supply fewer people. It’s not like lettuce from Mexico, which is distributed all over the country; anything that goes wrong on a small farm, by definition, has a limited impact. This is especially true of cyclospora, which is a parasite, not a bacteria, and therefore not contagious.

The big problem is that local, state, and federal health agencies have lost a lot of funding. CDC staff has been cut by twenty-five percent under Trump, and a lot of that was senior leadership. The administration has also made some cuts to FoodNet , which is a tracking system that helps figure this type of outbreak out. Twelve billion dollars in cuts to public health agencies that would be helping with the situation. Plus, people have lost health insurance. Some of them are getting sick and aren’t able to go to the doctor, or they do go to the doctor and it puts a financial strain on them.

The source has not yet been identified, and it’s a challenge, because the parasite takes at least a week and up to two to make you sick. So you’re saying to people, “What’d you eat two weeks ago? Where’d you eat that lettuce two weeks ago?” And everybody’s like, “Well, I don’t know.”

The Trump health-related budget cuts really hurt, and now you’re seeing that. It was predictable. It’s been demonstrated all over the world that Trump budget cuts are killing people. Now they’re making Americans sick. At the same time, I don’t want to say people are overreacting, but any individual is very unlikely to get cyclospora. – mb

Image: Unsplash by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

Thanks to those of you who participated in this social experiment — you know who you are. And thanks to the therapist that commented, concerned about my wellbeing.

Tap the link in bio to read on. by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

I don’t think we’ve had a restaurateur on the show until now — correct me if I’m wrong? But today’s guest, Kevin Boehm, wrote a memoir, and I am a real sucker for memoirs; his is very good, too — emotional and candid, and I really enjoyed reading it. It’s called The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants, and Forgiveness — and it gets into everything from parenting and being parented, to learning how to open restaurants, to hospitality, to alcohol and bipolar disorder, and marriage, and having kids — you get it.

Kevin co-founded Boka Restaurant Group almost 25 years ago now. With his business partner, Rob Katz, Kevin operates 35 restaurants in a bunch of cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York — like Laser Wolf in Brooklyn and Girl and the Goat in Chicago. Kevin and Rob won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur in America in 2018.

In all honesty, this was one of the best chats we’ve had so far. My dad even texted me afterwards to tell me he felt the same. Kevin is very charismatic, as you’d expect, but also very candid and warm. Hope you enjoy, too! — Kate

Tap the link in bio to listen, or search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast.

Here’s what was mentioned in today’s podcast:
The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants, and Forgiveness, by Kevin Boehm
Pizza Spinello, Wellfleet, MA
Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill
Salty Market, Truro, MA by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

Dan Jacobs (@chefdanjacobs) was the runner up on season 21 of Top Chef; he is the chef and co-owner of DanDan (@dandanmke) and EsterEv (@esterev.mke) in Milwaukee; and he is a passionate advocate for positive change in the restaurant industry, among many other things. And in 2016, he was diagnosed with Kennedy’s Disease, a genetic neuromuscular condition that’s often mistaken for ALS.

Despite his condition — a condition, we learned, that Dan’s brother has, too, although it presents differently for both of them — Dan almost won his season of Top Chef and he continues to consistently work in his kitchens, with some adjustments. He was open with us about what that looks like, about how much he loves Milwaukee — even though, as a Chicago native, he’s still a die-hard Cubs fan — and about his awesome restaurant team, wife, and family.

Tap the link in bio to listen, or search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast. by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

Within the past two years, the chef Shirley Chung (@chfshirleychung) was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer, she went through treatment, and she entered remission. Upon diagnosis, she was given a 50% chance of survivial. This year, she opened Night Rooster, a modern Chinese restaurant in Dallas.

Shirley was born in Beijing and immigrated to the US when she was 17; she was trained in classic French and Italian cuisine and has worked and opened restaurants for José Andrés, Thomas Keller, and Guy Savoy. She’s a star in many ways, and I think you’ll feel inspired by the energy and enthusiasm that she brought to today’s conversation, which, by the way, is just Shirley and Kate — I’ll be back with next week.

Search “Food with Mark Bittman” wherever you podcast to listen. by @bittmanproject

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3 months ago

Plantain chips with your new favorite dip, an herby rice salad, and, of course, a tasty sandwich — whether you’re headed to the beach, the park, or just a picturesque patch of grass, look toward these recipes for this season’s best picnic spreads.

Find all of @erikahoule’s picnic-ready recipes at bittmanproject.com (link in bio).

Photos: Sam Muller by @bittmanproject

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