Ann Mah's newsletter / July 2020
July 2020 newsletter
Hello
Much has happened in the past weeks, but I'll start with this: As the Black Lives Matters protests began in May, I took a look at my bookshelf and realized I didn't own a single cookbook by a Black writer. It was a wake-up call of my narrow world view and privilege as a minority, where the racism I've faced lurks under the surface but has never surged forth to make me feel physically threatened. In the past few weeks, I have tried to broaden my reading (I recommend this list of black voices in food from Samrin Nosrat), to listen and think more, and be more conscious of the media I consume. If you're interested, this is a good article from New York magazine about racism in the food world. It's a marathon and not a sprint and I'm still a work in progress. But I'm trying to do better.
Here's what else I've been up to...
What I've been eating
–Our banana bread has evolved into this vegan peanut butter cinnamon banana loaf from Benjamina Ebuehi (more on her book below) – and I added a handful of chocolate chips for fun. The peanut butter flavor is faint (I suspect it's there to replace the egg) but a slice topped with more peanut butter makes an excellent breakfast.
–I've been getting a vegetable farm box, which has gifted me with bountiful zucchini and I'm planning on making this zucchini alla scapece soon. In this recipe pan-fried rounds of zucchini are marinated in vinegar and mint – they make a delicious sandwich filling or side dish to grilled meat. This recipe is from Domenica Marchetti, adapted from Tasting Rome by Kristina Gill and Katie Parla. (I also recommend reading Kristina's experiences about publishing the book here.)
Other recent farm box-inspired meals?
–A simple dish of tomatoes and scrambled egg, which I used to eat all the time when I lived in Beijing.
–Radish top soup, which cleverly mimics the sharp radish bite with cayenne and mustard. (David Lebovitz)
–Garlicky charred kale pizza is OMG delicious and was the highlight of our recent pizza night (Serious Eats)
What I've been reading
–I loved Benjamina Ebuehi on the Great British Bake-off and I'm loving her cookbook, The New Way to Cake. So far we've made that banana bread mentioned above, and also Earl Grey blueberry muffins, as light and delicate as a summer cloud. Next up: citrus poppy seed loaf cake!
–Bryant Terry's Vegetable Kingdom is a beautiful panorama of vegan fine dining. The recipes are, perhaps, too complicated for every day dinners, but offer wonderful inspiration.
–Like all the best novels, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid reads like a gossipy page-turner but before you know it, you're facing uncomfortable truths about the dynamics of race and class. Funny, sharp, and extremely relevant.
–The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett moves like a heavy dream through 1950s Louisiana to 1980s Southern California, a novel about identical twin sisters who take radically different paths, one secretly passing for white, while the other remains in the deep south.
–For a fun, light-hearted break from reality, I've been loving Jasmine Guillory's rom-coms, which have just the right balance of feminism, food, and fantastic California settings. Honestly can't imagine a better July 4th weekend than starting with The Wedding Date and binging all five books.
–Finally we can end the cliché of the Parisian woman as "white, lithe, and ever fashionable"! Lindsay Tramuta's new book The New Parisienne, profiles 50 modern Parisian women – educators, artists, activists, and more – celebrating them for their complexity and diversity. Bravo!
A bientôt
This will be the first summer in 29 years that I haven't gone to Europe. There is a particular pain at being shut out from the place I consider my spiritual home, especially when the world has turned upside down.
I've found refuge in my research and writing – photos like these from Paul Almasy of post-war Paris. This odd, soundless video of the writer Colette at a party celebrating Chéri at le Grand Véfour in 1950. A Paris métro map from 1949. They provide an escape from an uncertain period, when we're not sure what will happen in the fall.
Wishing you sunny summer days –
XO Ann