Food & Cooking

A new digital cookbook celebrates the food of migrant communities

By Jaime E. Love 2 days ago
Riaz Phillips, curator of Community Comfort: Recipes from the diaspora - Javie Huxley/Kindima Bah
Riaz Phillips, curator of Community Comfort: Recipes from the diaspora – Javie Huxley/Kindima Bah

Starring recipes for buttermilk fried chicken, ackee and saltfish fritters, and Mauritian mutton curry, a new cookbook bringing together dishes from a diverse range of cuisines has been released today, with profits going towards helping the families of victims of Covid-19. Over 100 mostly UK-based contributors have submitted a recipe for the e-book, Community Comfort, which is the brainchild of Riaz Phillips. 

The food writer, activist, and author of Belly Full: Caribbean Food in the UK (Tezeta Press; £20) dreamed up the idea in late May, when news broke that the pandemic was disproportionately affecting ethnic minorities in Britain. Phillips had been volunteering with his mother, delivering shopping to a local estate in north London, but wanted to do something on a bigger scale. 

During lockdown Phillips, like many people, was cooking more. He

… Read More

How Food Businesses Nationwide Are Responding

By Jaime E. Love 4 days ago

These are unprecedented times. It seems like the whole world has been brought to its knees, from the rapid and destructive spread of COVID-19 to the protests in response to police brutality and the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. The food industry isn’t exempt. So as things develop, we’ve asked people working in the food industry, from coast to coast, to share what they’re seeing in their communities, how they’ve been affected, and how they’re responding.

Tuesday, July 7

“The American Indian Movement and the Black civil rights movement—we’ve always supported each other.”

Robert Rice, Pow Wow Grounds, and Frank Paro, American Indian Movement, Minneapolis: Ed’s Note: Robert Rice is the owner of Pow Wow Grounds, a coffee shop and gathering place for the Native American community. He counts students and Native elders among his most loyal customers. Partway through this conversation, one such

… Read More

Inside the Brighton community food hall opening for the first time on 4 July

By Jaime E. Love 6 days ago
Shelter Hall Raw Brighton - Christopher Pledger
Shelter Hall Raw Brighton – Christopher Pledger

For the majority of hospitality businesses opening their doors on 4 July, its a chance to dust off tables and switch on ovens that have remained dormant for the past few months. 

However, for Shelter Hall Raw, a food hall built in a Victorian rotunda on Brighton’s seafront, Super Saturday is a grand opening for the very first time – even if the builders are still there. In fact, the project – which has been in the planning for a year – has so sped up proceedings to be ready for this weekend that the walls are unpainted and the counters still MDF. ‘Raw’ is no understatement.

“We wanted to be able to offer something on 4 July to help spearhead the regeneration of the industry and the community, to help to bring things back,” explains Dan Warne, the CEO and co-founder of

… Read More

Grilling your burgers wrong could kill you this Independence Day

By Jaime E. Love 1 week ago

With multiple food recalls from chicken nuggets and bagged salad to ground beef, you shouldn’t skip grilling safety at your socially-distanced Fourth of July cookout.

Food safety experts, consumer groups and health officials have been stressing food safety precautions for years, particularly when recent recalls have again raised concerns about E. coli contamination.

In mid-June, nearly 43,000 pounds of ground beef, including packages sold at Walmart stores, were recalled because of possible E. coli. Four-pound bags of “Pilgrim’s Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Nuggets” shipped to stores in four states also have been recalled.

Meat isn’t the only food carrying risk. Fresh Express has recalled dozens of different salad mixes sold at stores in 31 states, including Walmart, Hy-Vee, Aldi and Jewel-Osco that may be linked to a Cyclospora outbreak that has sickened 206.

Save better, spend better:  Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign

… Read More