Innehållsförteckning för March 2021 från Bon Appetit

I COLLECT FRIENDS who love to eat like a serious wine enthusiast collects rare vintages. If you don’t want to plan the day around what you’re eating next, I’m not sure we can hang. When my friends and I aren’t hunting down reservations, we’re cooking for one another. Sometimes the meals are elaborate, sometimes they’re simple. Passed down like family heirlooms, the recipes come from binders overflowing with clippings, from cookbooks, and from magazines, especially Bon Appétit, a favorite and trustworthy source for me. So when the call came to leave book publishing to take the helm at this storied magazine as it reckoned with racial and cultural equity, it was impossible to resist, even if that meant working with my beloved authors—and other storytellers—in a different way. As a…

HERE’S A QUICK history lesson: Mission is believed to be the first grape ever planted in the state of California by missionaries back in the late 18th century. But over the years, as California wanted to compete with the world’s serious wine regions, grapes such as Mission were cast aside for more established ones like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Now, as modern winemakers explore the forgotten diversity of California grapes, these thin-skinned table wine grapes are helping them recapture a feel for the state’s wine identity when it was in its early days. You may have had Mission before. It goes by País in Chile and Lístan Prieto in Spain, where it is grown and vinified all over the Canary Islands. With the propensity for producing softly tannic, tart, chillable,…

“WHAT YOU EATING, Gramma?” It’s a question the little one (all of two years old) asks me—eyes wide and full of curiosity—every time I take a bite of anything. But of course it’s not really a question. It’s an invitation…for me to ask her if she wants some. Perhaps she thinks she’s getting away with something: a snack between meals, or a tasty treat she’s not supposed to be eating. But I’m more than willing to be her accomplice. It warms my heart every time I see her curiosity in the kitchen. My mother (the little one’s great-grandmother) loved cooking, and her tastes were eclectic. With Mommy, food wasn’t simply sustenance. It was a stroll through all the places she went and the people she met along the way. It…

1 Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help SOPHIA MAROON, Dress It Up My mother, Suzy, had long been celebrated for her homemade salad dressing, a delicious garlicky vinaigrette. She created the recipe after my dad was diagnosed as prediabetic and had to change his diet. At holidays we’d inevitably say, “You should sell this!” It became kind of a family jest until my brother dared me to actually try. I was a newly single mother with three children under the age of 10 and my job as a documentary filmmaker wasn’t going to cut it. I needed flexible, close-to-home work. So I began mixing dressing in my Maryland kitchen and sharing it with friends. I named my company Dress It Up because that’s exactly what my mother’s dressing could…

Water Works You drink it. You bathe in it. You swim in it. You’re made of it. And no matter where you live or what you eat, you cook with it too. It’s water—and it’s finally getting the attention it deserves. 1 WATER DOES IT ALL! With a little help from H2O, you can cook your vegetables and proteins to tender perfection with little risk of them burning or drying out. Here’s when and how to put these four essential techniques to use: STEAMING This method is fast (steam is hotter than water!), versatile, and water-efficient (no need to fill up a whole pot), all while preserving nutrients and flavors. To do it, bring a pot or pan of water to a simmer, place your food—cut kabocha squash, new potatoes,…

YOU DON’T NEED to be a rice wizard to nail the cozy one-pot chicken and rice on p.12. But it helps to have a few tips from a pro like recipe developer Shayma Owaise Saadat. She employs techniques often used in making pulao, a rice dish with variations all over the world, including her native Pakistan. Saadat starts with the highest-quality basmati (she likes Daawat and Zebra brands). Layering a kitchen towel between the pot and lid prevents condensation from dripping down into the rice below and leading to mushiness. Finally, she’s patient: As tempting as it is to peek at the rice as it cooks, keeping the lid on creates steam that produces fluffy, evenly cooked grains. Turkey Meatballs With Romesco Sauce This versatile, nutty sauce adds rich flavor…

MY SON PHILANDO always loved food and community. Collard greens, macaroni, dressing, and steak. Steak! When he was little we had family potlucks and we’d all bring something. I always made sure Philando had a steak. My brother’s kids used to get mad, like, “Hold up, why ain’t we getting steak? We got ribs and chicken.” I was like, “He’s a king, baby! He’s a king.” A YEAR OUT of high school, Philando started working with St. Paul Public Schools as a nutrition assistant. The ladies there liked him because he was a hard worker; they offered him the supervisor’s position many times before he actually took it—he wanted to know how things were managed first. He was a nutrition supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori School for two years before…

“WE’RE NOT REALLY A RESTAURANT,” says Melissa Miranda, chef-owner of Seattle’s Musang. “We’re a community space.” When Miranda and her team opened Musang in January 2020, they already had a loyal Seattle following built through countless pop-ups and collaborations. Via Kickstarter, they raised money to fund the build-out of their location in the fast gentrifying neighborhood of Beacon Hill, where Miranda spent her youth. The closure of Filipinx restaurants that were once community mainstays pushed Miranda toward her vision of ensuring that the city would always have a place to experience “personal and intimate Filipinx dishes inspired by our childhood memories.” Central to Filipinx culture is the concept of bayanihan—living in community, offering generosity to family and strangers alike. Musang is a contemporary embodiment of this value: During the restaurant’s…

I didn't realize just how much I loved spices until I started working on this story. They were in so many of the dishes I grew up eating: pomegranates my grandfather sprinkled with golpar (ground angelica seeds) and salt, rice stained with saffron-infused water. These tiny seeds, roots, herbs, and powders are magical. They lend sweetness, heat, nuttiness, grassiness, or sourness to a dish in an instant, perking up your mouth, ears, and throat. A little spice can do a lot of things. As I began cooking in restaurants and traveling on my own, I dove deeper into spices. I learned how cinnamon sticks and star anise were essential to good pho; I experimented with the grind of spices to add texture, not just flavor. All these memories and experiences…

SHOPPING LIST WE’RE INTO IT p.21 AGATE CHEESE BOARD, $78; anthropologie.com IPAD, from $369; apple.com LINGUA FRANCA GOOD TROUBLE SWEATSHIRT, $150; linguafranca.com OXO ZESTER, $12; oxo.com TERRO COTTO CAST-IRON POT, $175; dwr.com SQUASH PEACH GINGER MOISTURIZING OIL, $23; iwifresh.com WHAT’S FOR LUNCH pp.34–47 P.44 AURIA’S MALAYSIAN KITCHEN LIME LEAF SAMBAL, $12; snukfoods.com P.44 BROOKLYN DELHI’S ROASTED GARLIC ACHAAR, $11; amazon.com P.44 DIVINA CHILI FIG SPREAD, $5; thrivemarket.com P.44 KEWPIE DEEP-ROASTED SESAME DRESSING, $7; kewpieshop.com HOW TO LAUNCH A FOOD BUSINESS pp.48–57 P.50 BAYOU SAINT CAKE bayousaintcake@gmail.com; bayousaintcake.minimartapp.com P.50 DRESS IT UP 4825 Cordell Ave., Ste. 210, Bethesda, MD; 301-960-9826; dressitupdressing.com P.51 STACY’S PITA CHIPS & BEBOLD BARS; stacyssnacks.com P.52 DEAS NUTS trydeas.com P.52 JUICED UP INC. 1017 Fair St., Atlanta; juicedupbar.com P.52 MARDDY’S 1017 Fair St. SW, Atlanta; 678-861-4688; marddys.com P.52 RAVARRE+CO instagram.com/…

★ To see what I’m cooking, follow me on Instagram @bonappetitdawn…

TAKE A RESTAURANT. Remove the tables, chairs, and diners; add take-out containers and delivery drivers; and you’ve got a ghost kitchen. Also known as delivery-only restaurants and virtual brands, ghost kitchens aren’t new, but during the pandemic they’ve become increasingly common—and divisive. To some restaurant owners a ghost kitchen is a lifeline: It’s a way to feed customers while minimizing overhead costs and an entry point into the $18 billion online food industry. But to others a ghost kitchen is the death knell for restaurants as we know them. For New York City restaurateur Luis Mota, it’s a bit of both. Last spring he converted what was supposed to be the third location of his Mexican restaurant, La Contenta, into a ghost kitchen to keep his business afloat. But what’s…

1. Make Soup Between Meetings While a busy Tuesday may not be the time for my latest pho experiment or pasta e fagioli, I’ve found I can still pull off a pot of lentil soup if I spread out my prep work over the course of the morning. I use five-minute breaks between meetings to chop an onion or peel some ginger (because it’s not like I’m getting any actual work done). Around noon I simply sauté some aromatics, then add lentils, fiery curry paste (Maesri or death!), and coconut milk. Thirty hands-off minutes later, I get my wish: a cozy, protein-packed soup that keeps me going for hours. —CHRISTINA CHAEY, associate editor 2. Fast-Track Your Tofu In theory, tofu is just what I want to eat for lunch—minus the…

CANE VINEGAR Made from sugarcane, which is abundant in the Philippines, this vinegar adds sparky tang and brightness and is available at most Asian grocery stores. Look for Datu Puti, which Miranda loves. COCONUT MILK Keeping a few cans around to bring richness, creaminess, and a silky texture to both savory and sweet dishes is always a good idea. Unsweetened coconut milk is much more versatile. SOY SAUCE While Miranda is partial to Silver Swan, all soy sauce adds salt and umami and makes a flavorful base for sauce and braising liquids, especially adobo. JOHNNY’S SEASONING SALT This blend of salt, garlic, pepper, and other spices is a shortcut for adding flavor to sauces, stir-fries, and meats. Johnny’s is a Pacific Northwest brand, but Lawry’s Seasoning Salt will also do.…

THEY TASTE GREAT Just like with any ingredient you buy, the way spices are grown, harvested, and produced matters. Ethically sourced single-origin spices pass through few to no middlemen compared to some spices, which can change hands up to 10 times and take years to reach the consumer, losing flavor along the way. “[Our spices] get to customers as early as three months from harvest,” says Sana Javeri Kadri, the founder of Diaspora Co. IT BENEFITS THE FARMERS WHO GROW IT Zameen founder Rushi Sanathra built his company around addressing the financial insecurity farmers face. Companies like his and Javeri Kadri’s go straight to the farmer (or a trusted farm network) to share how their business works from packaging to payment. They pay significantly above market price, and some, like…