Staying Entertained During Confinement: A Food Writer's Essay

Like most people, those of us in the publishing world are stunned by the current state of affairs in our country, and throughout the world. Whether someone is a journalist covering hard news, a features writer, a copyeditor, a managing editor or somewhere in between, we’ve all been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and those of us who cover the food industry, well, it’s rough. When restaurants and food products aren’t flourishing, their advertorial budget decreases (or disappears entirely) and without ads, magazines can’t make money. And without money, they can’t pay writers let alone go to publish. It’s a trickle-down effect—not to be confused with trickle-down economics, but you get the point.

I’ve been asked to write a little blurb about what me and my fellow food writers are up to during this down time. And while I can’t speak for all the other food writers and editors out there, I can at least speak for myself and tell you what I’ve been doing while quarantined. Who knows, maybe my attempts at trying a few things will inspire you too. 

• Made the same brownie recipe three different times: with coconut flour, almond flour and chickpea flour. Why? Why not? I had the time. Seriously though, I’ve transformed my diet to be pretty much entirely plant-based and in doing so I’ve taken gluten out, so experimenting with different flours is not only fun, but also necessary.  And no, I don’t have a preference, yet … in all honesty I found them to all cook and taste pretty similar.  

• Learned (finally) the difference between cacao and cocoa AND maca and matcha. What? You want me to tell you? Nah, Google it yourself. Gives you something to do. You’re welcome.

• Bought tofu and made a vegan-friendly, plant-based salad dressing. And ended up eating all of it in one day because it is that good—recipe below. But hey, at least I got my veggies in. What? You didn’t think I drank it, did you. No silly. I dipped vegetables (and maybe a corn chip) into the tasty concoction. Get the recipe here.

• Taste tested a merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and a pinot noir all from the same label and same vintage. And to quote Miles from the film Sideways, "If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving, I am NOT drinking any x%#$@!!! Merlot!"

• And so yea, while I was at it, I may or may not have done a vodka taste test too. Does vodka made from corn (Smirnof and Titos) really taste different than one made from potato (Chopin), wheat (Absolute, Kettle One, Grey Goose, Three Olives)  or grapes (Ciroc)?  As it turns out, once you’ve tasted enough of it, it all kinda tastes the same. Oh, and backtracking to what I said about me being gluten-free, according to many industry experts, supposedly the distillation process removes the gluten … I’m not entirely convinced of this, but I haven’t fully researched it yet either. Oh fun, something to Google tomorrow ;)

• Tried making a vegan queso dip with buckwheat flour for the rue. Not even going to tell you how that one turned out but I will tell you it’s one of those things “not to try at home.” You know, like on television commercials when they warn people not to try something at home—yes, it was that bad.

• Watched (for the second or third time) every episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, and not only found myself salivating for the exotic and hole-in-the-wall eateries all at once, but also found myself sympathizing with a man whose perceived loneliness brought him to an untimely, and sad end …

And, so not to end this on a somber note, let me just say this .... while social distancing is the new and necessary norm and probably will remain so for our near future, don’t let distancing become dissociation. Stay connected with people. Stay involved, the best you can, with friends, family, and co workers alike because social interaction is so important—even if it's over facetime. Just don’t do it over a bowl of cornships and buckwheat queso, trust me peeps, it’s not something to try at home.