I was a teenager in the 1980s, and therefore saw plenty of David Letterman’s Top Ten lists. So here’s one of the 10 things I was consuming this summer, but I’m starting with number one. I’m not Letterman.
The Bear: This television show that has had two seasons on FX (you can watch it on Hulu) may be the best fictional food production in at least a decade. This comedy/drama spans the full range of emotions as an award-winning chef played by Jeremy Allen White returns home to Chicago to take over the sandwich shop that was his brother’s. Over the two seasons, the show has plenty of swearing and yelling, but also kindness and great food scenes. The soundtrack is memorable. This show is a feast loved by viewers and critics. I can’t wait for a third season.
Beet quinoa: This is the find of the summer. I love beets and in Abra Berens’ amazing book “Ruffage,” saw a recipe for mixing beet puree into cooked couscous and adding feta and dukkah (see below). I used red quinoa, which got even redder, and the dish was a hit. I’ll puree beets in a heartbeat from now on.
Unreasonable Hospitality: If you are a fan of “The Bear,” you may have seen a copy of this book go by as Richie learns about hospitality in Season 2, Episode 7. This is a version of a story in Will Guidara’s book on how to overwhelm people with hospitality. It’s a remarkable book about how we all long for magic, and hospitality can provide that special feeling of belonging. This is a book about how Guidara and his team used hospitality to make Eleven Madison Park the world’s best restaurant. Guidara reads the audiobook. (And if you have HBO/Max, you can see him on “The Big Brunch” as a judge.)
Dukkah: I love things that are both fun to say and fun to eat. Dukkah (pronounced doo-kah) fits that. It’s a Middle Eastern combination of nuts and spices that becomes a crunchy topping for salads, grains, and more. Various recipes often have three or four kinds of toasted nuts and spices such as coriander and cumin. I made Abra Berens’ recipe from “Ruffage,” which has a 1/2 cup each of hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, and sunflower seeds. The spices were a teaspoon each of salt, coriander seed, and cumin seed, with a tablespoon of smoked paprika. A friend sat and ate it by the handfuls and said, “You’ve gotta write about this. It’s so good.”
Tomatoes: I’m a lazy gardener, but the tomato crop from my small garden has been amazing this summer. That has meant BLTs, tomato salad, and homemade pizza sauce, plus giving some away. As a kid, I couldn’t eat tomatoes. Now, I don’t eat them like apples, but a fresh, garden tomato is inimitable. (By the way, Bud Wulliman wanted me to tell you that he had 37 tomato plants this year, not 37 varieties. I got that wrong in the last missive.)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Hungry Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.