Mountain View
Lizzy Saxe
On the Freaky Foods of Fictional Worlds
Pick a science-fiction character. Doesn’t matter where they’re from. Now, tell me what their favorite food is. In most fiction, the characters eat. You might know instantly that Homer Simpson loves donuts, that Winnie the Pooh yearns for honey, that Bugs Bunny eats carrots with abandon, or that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are all about pizza. Your friend with an MFA might wax poetic about Proust and his famous madeleines, and any Harry Potter fan can tell you all about treacle tarts and chocolate frogs and butterbeer. There’s even a Game of Thrones cookbook.
The Strange Story of the Stinky, Exploding Squid
When I was a little kid, I was wholly unable to discern fantasy from reality. Like, Snow White and The Great Mouse Detective may as well have been horror movies. Because my adorably non-neurotypical brain had such a hard time with this stuff, my parents made the executive decision to shield me from the news. It was never on in our house except in their bedroom, and then with the door closed. This trend persisted up into my elementary and middle school years. But they couldn't keep me away from the mail.
How Tasting History's Max Miller Grew His Channel to 500K Subscribers in Less Than A Year
When Max Miller got furloughed from his job at Disney at the start of the pandemic, he was bored, to say the least. Miller, who's spent much of his adult life in the film industry, technically still had a job, which was great. But he didn't have anything to do to occupy his ample time.
Free JASAEats Recipe Book (Deliciously) Highlights Food Insecurity in Older Adults
Senior citizens are consistently one of the most vulnerable populations in the United States. In New York City, one dedicated nonprofit supports them more than any other. Since 1968, JASA has provided critical services like housing, meals, and mental healthcare to 40,000 older adults so that they can age with dignity and economy. It has more than risen to the challenge of supporting the city’s seniors in this deeply fraught moment of American history, delivering “approximately 11,200 meals monthly to our homebound older adults.”
The Little Mermaid's Mussels with Bacon and Seaweed
When the Little Mermaid falls in love with the human prince, she has a very difficult choice to make. Does she stay with her family and the world she’s always known in the sea? Or does she delve into the unknown with the help of the nefarious Sea Witch and make her way to land?
New York's Prince Street Pizza Issues Statement Addressing History of Racist Behavior
Over the past couple of weeks, self-described food antagonist Joe Rosenthal has been reporting on the very public racist statements of staff at SoHo and West Hollywood's famous Prince Street Pizza on platforms like Yelp, Twitter, and Instagram.
The Emperor's New Spring Rolls
In The Emperor’s New Clothes, the Emperor is tricked into buying “cloth” so beautiful that it can only be seen by the worthy. The trickster merchants charge him a ridiculous, one might even say kingly price, and then deliver the “garment,” promptly leaving again. Shortly after they leave, The Emperor makes a public appearance, and everyone laughs and laughs because of his state of undress.
Don't Try So Hard in the Kitchen in 2021
Against all odds, 2020 is over. The year that took forever has passed into the sands of time yet not much is different. Sure, soon we will (finally) have a sane adult in the White House, but Joe Biden will not magically save the country from itself.
How Will the "Murderless Meat" Market Change in 2021? A Flavor Historian Weighs In
Nadia Berenstein wants you to know that she is not a market researcher. But that doesn’t make the James Beard Award-Winning flavor historian any less of an authority on the plant-based food market. Mostly vegetarian herself, Berenstein has also been studying the world of synthetic flavors—both natural and artificial—and why we buy them for years.
The Best Restaurant Grocery Stores in and Around Prospect Heights
New York City has always been a town that welcomes entrepreneurial spirit. Making it up as you go and seeing what works is arguably the whole mood here, so when the pandemic hit, the New Yorkers who had the time, money, and nimble business sense to do so pivoted on a dime. For restaurants, this moment has been especially awful, and now that indoor dining might be banned again, the margins in this razor-thin industry are as sharp as a diamond-tipped blade.
Want to Save Your Local Restaurants? Download These Delivery Apps
You've seen all the news stories by now. You know, the ones about how delivery apps are killing the restaurant industry? Or, a few months back, all the disingenuous ads by GrubHub, Postmates, UberEats, and DoorDash claiming that local restaurants are the soul of America and that you're doing a great thing for your community by ordering from their apps.
Brooklyn’s Flip the Senate Bake Sale Sells Out of Nearly Everything in One Night
If you, like me, were too distracted yesterday to order sweets from the Flip the Senate Bake Sale happening at The Fly in Bed-Stuy, you are going to be disappointed when you discover that all but two varieties of cookies are already gone.
Make a Rum and Tonic Tonight - It Might Change How You Drink
So the other night, I found myself in a bit of a pickle. I wanted to have a cocktail, but the only things I had available to me were cheap honey whiskey that resembles lighter fluid (someone left it here after a party back when parties were a thing), fancy tonic water, Japanese plum wine so saccharine I’ve been considering trying to cook something in it rather than drink it, tonic water, some limes that had seen better days, and the last dregs of a bottle of Kraken spiced rum.
Combat Clutter This Christmas with a Dishwasher-Safe Bamboo Cutting Board
Despite having a seemingly infinite well of curiosity about all things food, I am somewhat abysmal at cleaning up. My mise en place is always a mess. The pandemic has only exacerbated this issue. I live alone, which gives me all kinds of lovely excuses to simply not bother. If I’m the only one home, then who cares!
The Bon Appetit Scandal Just Refuses to End.
Bon Appetit Magazine started as a free giveaway item at liquor stores around Chicago in 1956. It was targeted at white, middle-class housewives who wanted to experiment with upscale ingredients in the kitchen. Like all magazines of the period, it had a narrow, homogeneous audience in mind and was staffed accordingly.
Lizzy Saxe
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I write about the past, present, and future of food and the human condition. Also sometimes snacks.
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