Food Notes: 10/22
I eat some popcorn, Apple cider everything, Philadelphia has restaurants, and more.
Popcorn: who knew?
I’ve wanted to snack on popcorn lately, but for weeks I kept forgetting to make some with the air popper before our toddler heads to bed. Air popping machines sound like a jet engine, and who wants to wake up a grouchy three-year-old just for a salty snack. Well, last night we read Frank Asch’s Popcorn, a Halloween-themed children’s book about a bear who fills his house with popcorn. (Sam, the bear, now dresses up like a pirate. In my childhood edition, he dresses up like a member of the Village People. Only ‘80s kids will know). After lights out for our kiddo, I headed to the kitchen to make myself some pop corn. I pulled out a sauce pan, poured in some oil, grabbed our stockpile of Rancho Gordo Crimson Popping corn, and four minutes later had a big bowl of crunchy snack. Who knew it was so easy to make popcorn on the stove? Why does anyone need a Jiffy Pop? Why have an air popper that inevitably leaves me with second degree burns? It was a revelation. I wouldn’t be lying if I confessed to making even more popcorn just this afternoon. And to think the gourmet bodega on the corner wants $5.99 for Original Sea Salt flavor.
What Is UV Treated Apple Cider?
Food & Wine explains why you might see stickers showing UV treated apple cider. Unlike pasteurization, UV treatments don’t use heat and won’t leave behind the taste of cooked cider, as some people claim, and a lot lower risk of death than from unpasteurized cider.
Has Technology Gone Too Far: Apple Cider Hot Dogs
A New Jersey apple orchard is serving up dirty cider dogs. Rather than boiling hot dogs in a traditional bath of dirty water, they bathe in hot apple cider. The cider dogs are topped with baked beans, sauerkraut, and chili.
Reservation Books Are Back
Like vinyl records and 35mm film, restaurants are bringing back analog reservation books, according to Eater. High tech solutions like Open Table are expensive, and the book-plus-landline provides a personal connection.
Classic Red Sauce on Cape Cod
At the end of the summer this year I finally got to eat at the classic Cape Cod red sauce joint Montano’s. I look back at the history of restaurant, and reflect on the meal.
Philly Has Restaurants Too
Margaret Eby has put together a list of 76 of the most vital restaurants (A few of them are even in Camden?). But there’s a lot of great stuff in this list, and its a fun presentation that should help with discovery.
One-Person Pizza Hut
Earlier today and tomorrow only, there’s a single-person Pizza Hut popup in Queens.
New York Nico’s Guide to New York
If you’re into TiKTok and Instagram pseudo celebrities, check out New York Nico’s Guide to NYC. He was dubbed “mayor of 16th Street at age 3,” which admittedly pre-dates TikTok. But more importantly, his co-author is food writer Jason Diamond, so I’m confident it will be good.