Week after week we’re out here on these mean streets talking about food, and there are, for whatever reason, various and sundry items that enter into our personal lexicon that we don’t quite know how to pigeonhole into some newsletters. That’s a long sentence, but we typed it to say that we know some cool things but couldn’t or just plain didn’t do entire Forks about ‘em. So we’re going to put them here. Consider it a random (but hopefully enlightening) lecture based on snippets we found interesting enough to remember but innocuous enough to not write a billion words.
Like, for example, we now know that when ice became more readily available in the 1850s, snot-nosed kids would run after the wagons and beg for shavings from the blocks (you know the ones—they were all big and you had to use those weird ice tongs to pick ‘em up?). They’d then add stuff like custard or vanilla or what have you to the shavings, which was like a nice little treat. Cut to 1919, and some doofus named Samuel Bert invented the first-ever sno-cone machine (we don’t know why there’s no “w,” but likely because it’s not *actually* snow.) Anyway, he took that bad boy to to the Texas State Fair in 1934, where it was a hit. How and when and why did the juice flavors come into it? No clue, and we couldn’t find any info about that.
We also happen to know that the first food ever consumed in space was apple sauce, and it was John Freaking Glenn who did the eating during the Friendship 7 Flight in 1962. So next time you’re eating apple sauce, remember you’ll never eat it in a cooler way than that.
Ever heard of that annoying DJ Steve Aoki? Yeah, he’s annoying, but anyway, turns out his dad, Hiroaki Aoki, was not only a professional wrestler at one point, he was the founder of Benihana. Must be amazing to have a rich dad who also makes you rich. We prefer Jackie Chan style, by which we mean we saw an interview with Jackie Chan once wherein he was like, and we’re paraphrasing, “I’m not giving my kids my money.” God, how cool is Drunken Master, though?
We also know that, per calorie, broccoli contains more protein than steak. Our curse, though, is that you’d have to eat so much freaking broccoli for it to matter that you’d turn into the Jolly Green Giant’s kid. We think their name is the Pretty Convivial Green Non-Giant.
Raspberries are roses. That’s it. That’s the fact. Don’t believe us? Look it up. Actually, no, just blindly follow and believe us. Figs are flowers, too, in case you didn’t know. And as our mom so often reminds us that she learned from watching The Big Bang Theory (a show which sucks because its one central joke is that a beautiful woman liking a nerd is absurd), Fig Newtons are named for a town, not the scientist who invented gravity in the 1970s. Class is in session, nerds!
Per the FDA, a jar of peanut butter can legally contain up to four rodent hairs. Per The Fork, Skippy is better than Jif and Peter Pan is right the eff out.
We heard from a farmer friend in Oregon (by which we mean trust fund recipient who acts like no longer having a job is somehow an act of bravery despite their hordes of gold) that rhubarb grows so quickly, you can hear it. True story! We even looked it up because we were so sure this was false, but apparently rhubarb has buds which crack open and make a sound, and farmers have reported an ongoing sound in their rhubarb fields. Kinda cool, kinda creepy.
Mad scientists playing God have developed so-called fruit salad trees, on which grafted bits from other trees can grow disparate fruits. We understand some of these trees can grow up to six kinds of fruit. Weird!
A 2012 report from the NRDC says that 40% of food in America goes uneaten. Now, we know that’s more than a decade ago at this point, so take it how you will. Our guess? It probably didn’t get better.
Lastly in little things we know, McDonald’s reportedly sells 75 million burgers per second on average PER SECOND! That’s a lot of kangaroo meat! Haha! Just kidding, though there seriously was a rumor about Mick-Dee’s and kangaroo meat. In reality, they don’t do that, though plenty of people DO eat kangaroo meat. Honestly, it’s probably better for you than whatever is in McDonald’s now.
How awesome is Drunken Master? Soooooo awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAY2LYoYCAU
Also
-You’ll find a new spring menu over at Terra, which is the restaurant at the long-name-bearing Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe. Good lord, that’s a long name. Anyway, Chef de Cuisine Alejandro Di Bello (you can say CDC if y’all are looking to use cool industry lingo) is going Spanish and seafood for the menu, and this includes bison tartare, Spanish octopus and scallops and more.
-According to the newly released Feeding the Economy Report (now in its seventh iteration), the food and agriculture sectors of New Mexico support soooo many jobs and bring sooooo many dollars into the economy it’s kind of bonkers. We’re talking more than 250,000 jobs, $11.5 billion in wages and huge tax and export numbers, too! You can see that dang thing here.
-Sad news out of Santa Fe as former Ore House executive chef Oliver “Ollie” Greer has died. Greer got super into insects following his stint at the now-defunct Plaza restaurant. His bug collection even made its way around the state for various viewings. Greer was 56.
-Eagle-eyed readers tell us they’ve spied a new brick-and-mortar location for Santa Fe’s Craft Donuts, which has thus far been a truck-only kinda donut biz. The sign is up now in the San Isidro Plaza at 3482 Zafarano Drive, right next door to eatery El Milagro.
-We know we tell you about wine stuff at Arroyo Vino regularly, but this time we’re just here to say the restaurant is hitting 10 years in business this week, and that’s pretty cool! Way to go, Arroyo Vino!
_The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute announced longtime market vendor Adan Manuel Encinas of Trilogy Beef Community, LLC will take over as its executive director. Encinas has all kinds of advanced degrees and is the first market vendor to ever hold the position. Cool! He’ll take over April 1, and you can read more here. While you’re on the site, too, maybe check out how the institute and the market itself are two different things. It’s wild.
This song is incredible and you should just listen and then hold onto the information because it’ll become usable after you read an item in a later section. Seriously, we’re so into this song and the Moebius-esque visuals from the video game Sable don’t hurt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej5-CHAGr34
SHOUT-OUT FROM A READER!
“I just wanted to write to say a good word for the extraordinary hidden gem that is Compas Tacos, waay down on Airport Road (the fire-engine red trailer in the empty lot between Fields Lane and Buffalo Grass Road). Secret: they have the best burritos in town—huge, luscious, avocado included without you asking, wickedly hot salsa, tasty meats, just enough rice and pintos...Their tacos are perfect. Their breakfast burrito is an eggy, chile-y wonder. Everything is undeservedly cheap. And they’re family owned, super warm and welcoming to all sorts. I love El Chile Toreado as much as the next person (a lot), but Compas has my heart. They deserve a line down the block.”
YES! Reader Caroline K. coming in hot with EXACTLY the kinda shout-out we want. We’ve never been here, but we’re sure as shootin’ going to visit now. See? This is why we wanted to do shout-outs. Caroline K.? We love you.
More Tidbits
-Do you know about Too Good to Go, the anti-food-waste app? We know about it now thanks to stalwart reader and email send-er-er Tess H. In short, it’s an app that connected diners with food that would have been wasted. We’re into it and assume it’s better than some of you are thinking right now. (We picture you saying, out loud and to no one, “Oh, no, I’m not eating someone else’s leftovers!”) Anyway, there’s a review kinda thing here and it’s an interesting read.
-S-N-DOUBLE-O; C-O-F-F-E-E—Snoop Dogg’s getting into the coffee game with a new line of coffee inspired by his trips to Indonesia which we can all agree were probably about smoking the craziest weed, right? Anyway, learn more here.
-The Atlantic has a super interesting read about the much ballyhooed Danish fine dining eatery Noma, often considered the greatest in the dang world, and how that all means nothing if its higher-ups treat the workers like shit—which, in this case, reportedly includes uncompensated labor. Hard agree. You could make the best fucking piece of fish in the world and I’m still gonna be bummed on you if you aren’t cool to your employees. Read it. Read it now. And, as always, The Fork sides with the workers of places, not the bosses.
-Heads up there has been a recall of frozen fruit sold at stores like Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s over an outbreak of hepatitis A in Washington state. Now, we know that’s not New Mexico, but you can’t be too careful with something like this. Here’s a link to more info so you can see what’s up.
-Lastly in not-local news, Michelle Zauner, AKA Japanese Breakfast, has announced she’s found a director for the upcoming cinematic adaptation of her best-selling memoir, Crying in H Mart, and it’s Will Sharpe, whom you might have seen recently on The White Lotus and who has directed before, including that Louis Wain movie with Benedryl Humperdink, which we think was called The Rat That Cooked. Anyway, Japanese Breakfast is really good, and while we haven’t read the book, we’ve heard it is food-related somehow from a friend who did, and we trust them that that’s for real. If it weren’t, would Eater-dot-com report on it? WOULD THEY?! Anyway, Japanese Breakfast is gonna do the soundtrack, too, which is really great to know.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In the print edition of SFR this week, you know SFR’s Julie Ann Grimm got super into this new cookbook about chile and the people behind it.
Number of Letters Received
39
*Y’all love us and told us so kind of a lot. Thank you!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“Who thinks Cyndy Lauper sucks?!”
*Some jerk!
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
A reminder to visit Tibet Kitchen.
*Reader Anthony G. reminded us we gotta get back there!
Learned,
The Fork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WBFFoHATx8
Like so.
