Day: October 13, 2020

Some of you may know of the drama behind Condé Nast/Bon Appétit that blew up a few months ago and resulted in various social media posts, break from YouTube content, resignation of eight of the BA test kitchen members/staff, and more. Today, they resumed their YouTube content and posted three videos today. The first video is about BA’s new leadership team of, surprise surprise, Black and South Asian people. The second video is a “___ makes ___” of Chris Morocco, a member of the BA test kitchen who decided to stay with BA, and who was aware of the way his POC co-workers were treated prior to the drama yet did not speak up or out for them (Chris has not always been my favorite, although his brown butter cookies are bomb). The third video featured a new BA video host, Chrissy Tracey, who is a vegan chef specializing in comfort food! Though the first video about the new leadership group gives off “I have black friends” vibes (stated by user RitabTajj that I couldn’t agree with more), Chrissy’s feature seems somewhat promising. I wonder who else they have added to their video team and if they’re being compensated properly now.

Here are some links about BA’s blow up and to Chrissy’s video:

https://www.insider.com/bon-apptit-timeline-allegations-drama-culture-race-andy-alex-sohla-2020-6

As I read through A Book of Salt, my mind went immediately to my favorite Vietnamese food, banh mis, and brought me to Atlanta last summer where I begrudgingly tried it for the first time (I am sort of a picky eater). Normally, I would pick out the carrots, onions, and daikon, but I decided to try it with an open mind and was so incredibly surprised by the complex flavors and the pop of acidic flavor that the pickled vegetables punched. As I read, I wondered where the origin of pickling came from and wanted to explore it more.

Pickling began 4,000 years ago and started with cucumbers in India (Grimaldi). Interestingly enough, pickling served to preserve food and was used for long sea voyages. The term pickle is derived from the Dutch word “pekel” which means brine (Grimaldi). Pickling can be done with brine as the name suggests or can be done with any type of vinegar and can store food for months on end. Pickling is essentially a form of anaerobic fermentation Most people tend to add other ingredients to their pickling solution to enhance the flavor such as garlic, dill, mustard, hot peppers, salt.

*Tip: reusing pickling solution once you have eaten all the contents of the jar will enhance the flavor of the next batch of pickled food. My mom likes to add slivered habanero and a dash of sugar to her pickled onions that she keeps in the refrigerator and serves with empanadas.*

Pickling is not done exclusively to cucumbers as it is the common association in the United States but can be done with many other vegetables including onion, carrots, daikon, cabbage (see: sauerkraut or kimchi), etcetera.

Also, feel free to check out this cool Pickle History Timeline I found here

Works Cited

Grimaldi, Julia. “History of Pickling.” Mass Great Outdoors Blog, 6 Aug. 2014, blog.mass.gov/greatoutdoors/education/history-of-pickling/.