You Need These Pancakes

Good morning. My meat consumption’s dropping, I’ve noticed. Mostly this is because I’ve been serving less of it. Sometimes I don’t serve it at all, which those who know me well regard with some suspicion, even alarm. I’ve generally been the guy who orders a veal Parm to accompany the steak. I think the proper…

Canned Elegance

Good morning. I write from Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts, where I’m with my colleague Carolyn Ryan to visit with colleagues at the Vineyard Gazette and address friends new and old at the Martha’s Vineyard Wine and Food Festival. (Missed the Derby, sadly, but was excited to learn they’re moving toward catch-and-release competition.) It’s beautiful here,…

Helping Alt-Meat Grow Some Muscle

The alt-meat industry has created quite a sizzle, promising delicious burgers, steaks and even sushi that is grown from animal cells in the lab. But most cellular agriculture still looks like mush. The manufacturing process — which starts with animal muscle and fat grown from stem cells in petri dishes — is fine for making…

A Truly Exceptional Sheet-Pan Meal

Hi and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. Some personal news: After months of languishing on a wait list, I have finally been able to join an elite bean-delivery club — elite not because membership is carefully controlled or restricted, but because, as I understand it, there are only so many spots, and pounds of beans.…

Desserts Over Darkness

Good morning. Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, is celebrated on Sunday. Technically a Hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil, it is has become something of a cultural event in America, as Priya Krishna reported in The Times this week. “It’s a symbolic holiday that unites us as a diaspora,” Representative Raja…