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Canada grocer Sobeys hits out at rivals' fee hikes

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Lamb Weston/Meijer eyes control of Russia plant

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How 'Tikim' Shaped Filipino Food Writing—and How It Was Resurrected

In 2017, an internet friend sent me a message: "Would you be interested in a PDF copy of Tikim?" She was referring to Filipino food scholar Doreen Gamboa Fernandez's 1994 book: over 200 pages of essays exploring the culinary culture of the Philippines, from home cooking to street food to restaurants. "I have access to it and I'm going to scan it, then put it on those book sharing sites […] because it's not fair people can't have access to it unless they wanna pay $500. I got mine from the library."

I'd read Tikim, which means "taste" in Tagalog, in college a few years earlier during an independent study on Asian food. My professor, a Filipino food historian, put the book on our syllabus, and we talked about the ways Fernandez's writing helped the country—and the world—take Filipino cuisine seriously. With academic libraries at my disposal, I skimmed the book not realizing that I wouldn't read it again for years. 

As I started to write professionally, at times about Filipino food, I encountered exactly the problem this friend took issue with: I couldn't get my hands on a copy, without hundreds of dollars to blow. Yet as much as Fernandez's work eluded me, I saw references to it in stories and podcasts about Filipino food, in a writing workshop I took with the New York Times' Ligaya Mishan in 2018, and in conversation with food writers and people in the diaspora. Tikim was the perfect historical source—but one I couldn't read or cite beyond the few bits online, and I wasn't alone in the search. People with copies of Tikim also have stories about how they struggled to find it. 

"I think of her as the most pivotal figure of Philippine gastronomy."

Before the West took vocal interest in the vibrant cuisine of the Philippines, Fernandez was writing articles in the Manila Chronicle and the Philippine Daily Inquirer showing Filipinos that even their daily food deserved reverential, historical treatment. Treating Filipino food as what it was—a cuisine—was a revolutionary act, Mishan wrote in the Times last year in a memorial of the writer, scholar, teacher, and historian who died in 2002. In that piece, the paper's former food editor Raymond Sokolov called Fernandez "the most impressive food writer and historian I ever encountered."

Fernandez wrote a culinary history that, to that point, hadn't been given serious attention. In plain but beautiful language, she identified the indigenous and colonial influence behind the Filipino palate of salty, sour, bitter, and sweet. Food was more than the act of eating, though she certainly enjoyed that; it was a signifier of culture, and she saw writing about food as not only the work of columnists and restaurant critics but of cultural historians, essayists, novelists, and poets especially. "For it is an act of understanding, an extension of experience," Fernandez wrote in Tikim's introduction. "If one can savor the word, then one can swallow the world." 

"I think of her as the most pivotal figure of Philippine gastronomy," said Martin Manalansan, a professor of American studies at the University of Minnesota and a co-editor of Eating Asian America: A Food Studies Reader. Like "a culinary archeologist, digging up layers of meaning," Fernandez dissected dishes, flavors, and influences: how cuisine skews the most bitter in the northernmost region of Ilocos, where bile is used for flavoring; how the Tagalog word for alcoholic drinks, "alak," mirrors the Arabic "arak" and the Balkan "raki"; how street food was a necessity for a poor country with a young restaurant tradition. With research and reverence that cast a spotlight on everyday people, she explained the foods Filipinos encountered frequently in simple words, printed in newspapers for anyone. But if Fernandez's writing was intended to be read not just by those with credentials, then why is Tikim so hard to find over two decades later?    

---

To learn about French food, one reads Julia Child; Italian food, Marcella Hazan; Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey. To understand Filipino food, one should read Doreen Fernandez, whose work can enlighten ancestral history for the diaspora and explain the foundations of the cuisine for readers outside it. Despite the reputation that precedes her, finding Fernandez's work internationally is a challenge. Tikim isn't her only book on food—there was Sarap in 1988 and Palayok in 2000—but it is the most well-known. After its first printing in 1994, the Philippines-based Anvil Publishing has reprinted Tikim five times since, most recently in 2019. That reissue, with Mishan's piece now quoted on the back, can be found in bookstores in the Philippines or ordered online by local shoppers for 299 pesos, or about $6.17. 

But intermittently out of print and until recently, published and sold only in the Philippines, Tikim is incredibly rare in the American market, despite the size of the Filipino population and the growing interest in Filipino food. Before Anvil's recent reprint, I'd seen online sellers list copies from $300 to $500; listings on Amazon currently range from $130 to $230. Even the reissue is pricey because without large-scale American distribution, sellers who've gotten hold of the book piecemeal price it at a premium: currently between $79 and $99 on various sites that ship to the United States. The WorldCat library catalog lists Tikim's print availability in 48 libraries worldwide. 

In the 29 years he's worked at Kitchen Arts & Letters, the New York City seller of rare and out-of-print culinary books, managing partner Matt Sartwell has fielded requests for Tikim, but he can't recall the store ever having had a copy until this year. It's "unfortunately, just so scarce that whenever somebody has a copy, they've decided that it's their meal ticket," he told me last year. "I can't overemphasize the use of that word." Tikim is just one example of a broader issue facing food enthusiasts in search of deeper knowledge about global gastronomy. 

The same scarcity applies to many international books about food, since deep histories of global food cultures written in English are limited and appeal to only a small market in the American book industry. Publishers go where the money is, and translating and distributing specialized, international food books is not likely to make any money, Sartwell said. But bringing international books into the US one at a time, as has largely been the case with Tikim, means that readers are the ones who take the financial hit. 

As interest in Filipino food grows internationally, Fernandez's work has re-entered the spotlight. Immigrants and their children find validation through her writing in foods they might have felt ashamed of eating, Mishan noted. Chefs highlighting the cuisine find its essence in Fernandez's words and a generation raised on Anthony Bourdain seeks conversations about food with substance, leading to vocal clamor for Tikim in the past few years, according to Anvil's former general manager Andrea Pasion-Flores. "We knew that there was a responsibility to come out with this [reissue] because of the limelight that has been cast not just on Doreen, but on Philippine food in general," she said last year. 

"She writes about food, but she does not fall into the fetishization of it."

As much as Manalansan admires Fernandez, people initially underestimated the value of her work, he said. Food writing—particularly in its most common forms—has a reputation, at times, as a pursuit focused solely on chasing pleasure, but Fernandez's approach was journalistic, anthropological, and ethnographic. She offered a framework of cuisine that paved the way for people like Mananlansan, who wanted to think about food and culture with a critical, contextual eye. 

By thinking about how food becomes "Filipino," Fernandez saw cuisine as a negotiated process. "It’s a product of people trying to struggle with what’s available, with their own limitations, the environment, what the government [and] the economic conditions will allow, and how tastes actually are not intrinsic to people living in one location," Manalansan said. "She writes about food, but she does not fall into the fetishization of it—the way a fetish is like this one singular object that you imbue with very specific powers that don’t change." Fernandez's vision of food was dynamic: Though she understood Filipino cuisine's history, she also had an eye towards its future. 

---

I didn't get my copy of Tikim until 2020, when the online store Filipino Food Crawl began selling limited quantities of Anvil's reissue. I winced when I bought it for $69, but now, as one of its admirers, I understand the pull to pass on what I can of Fernandez's work. Though she's inspired many writers, nothing beats the original material, and though there might be denser texts on these topics in the Philippines, if they exist, they're even harder to find. 

"When I had the book and I deep dived into it, this sounds so extra, but I think I kind of had what other people feel closer to a spiritual or religious [experience]," said Pamela K. Santos, an artist-scholar and writer based in Portland, Oregon. During gatherings with friends, often at Filipino restaurants, Santos has, at times, brought a copy of Tikim in her bag and started the meal by reading from its intro: "The experience of food is ephemeral. What one puts into the mouth is the end result of a process that starts with the sea, the soil, animal life," she'd read, like a prayer. 

Santos came across Fernandez while teaching herself to cook Filipino food a few years ago. After seeing Fernandez's name among the sources in the books she got through libraries, Santos marked her down as required reading. "The history and the [origin of dishes] always came back to Doreen," she said. After picking up library fines for keeping the book too long and setting Google alerts for Tikim, Santos got a copy for $50 from a San Francisco Goodwill. Its original sticker remained: 175 pesos, or $3.62 by today's conversion.

"She wanted—and a lot of us want—regular Filipinos to find the specialness of Filipino food rather than it being purely pedestrian."

When Manila-based baker and food writer Chino Cruz started working at the food magazine Yummy, he decided that in order to take food writing seriously, he needed to read Fernandez. "I was like, I'm a big fan of food writing in general, but all my references are American, so there's John Birdsall and Ruth Reichl, but there was never really a Filipina or Filipino to pull from," Cruz said. Though he attended Ateneo de Manila University, where Fernandez taught, he regrets that he didn't matriculate until after she died. 

Cruz had difficulty finding Tikim and Palayok in Manila—without the books in stores at the time, people didn't want to give their copies up—but luck took his side one day when his writer uncle passed Tikim down from his large, varied collection. Fernandez became an anchor for Cruz: taking things that seemed obvious to him as a Filipino living in the Philippines, and presenting them in a way that was interesting, thoroughly researched, and written with love. "She wanted—and a lot of us want—regular Filipinos to find the specialness of Filipino food rather than it being purely pedestrian."

Tikim's influences go beyond the food world. "I think that the word 'revelation' is one that comes to mind when I came across Tikim in the Philippines," said Catherine Ceniza Choy, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California Berkeley. In a branch of National Book Store, while spending a few months between 1994 and 1995 in the Philippines doing research on Filipino nurse migration to the US, she was struck by Joanne de León's cover art of a woman savoring the smells and tastes from a spoon she held before her.

"It's about the people who prepare the food with love and care, and not just the food that's prepared at a highbrow restaurant."

Ceniza Choy knew food was essential to understanding Filipino culture and history: one she barely saw reflected in her American education. Fernandez's research cemented histories missing from the American canon, and her view of food through its cultural, historical, familial, and social contexts resonated with Ceniza Choy. The book renewed her appreciation for the experiences and relationships she had as a second-generation Filipino American, born and raised around the immigrant community of New York City.

"It's about honoring where the food comes from; who makes the food, whether it's farmers who are growing the fruits and vegetables, or the fishermen who are getting the bounty from the sea. It's about the people who prepare the food with love and care, and not just the food that's prepared at a highbrow restaurant," Ceniza Choy said. "It is that, but it's also about the mother at home making meals. It's about people on the street, who are sometimes preparing food, sometimes carrying it to sell it."

Through the glossy banner of food writing, Fernandez could be subversive. As Mishan wrote, Fernandez was known as an ally to leaders of the National Democratic Front who opposed the Marcos dictatorship; rebels took shelter in her home, and she dressed their wounds. When she wrote for the magazine Mr. & Ms., its lifestyle format snuck in an anti-Marcos message. "I saw a lot of her food writing as ways to try to poke holes into a technocratic regime during Ferdinand Marcos," said Adrian De Leon, an assistant professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. 

"I couldn't believe that this book wasn't everywhere."

While her contemporaries were tracing "bourgeois restaurant culture" to highlight modernization, Fernandez suggested that "especially if you're working class, marginalized, poor, rural, and indigenous in the Philippines, you're at the heart of the world-making that becomes appropriated as Philippine cuisine," De Leon said. His work today explores Filipino history from the point of view of the indigenous people of Northern Luzon, the country's largest island—in doing so, he centers those whom history has often excluded from the national image of the Philippines.

As De Leon learned from studying her archives in Manila, Fernandez taught writing to the elite students at Ateneo, then sent them into the streets for interviews and ethnographies of street vendors and the urban poor. "I found that to be her political mission as well: to turn to culture, to turn to the working class, to turn to the vernacular in order to complicate [the] upper class, elitist idea of the Philippine global modernity," he said. Though he prefers Sarap—which he sees as "more explicitly and also locally attuned to the Philippines itself" since Fernandez wrote it before gaining global attention—De Leon said last year he would "teach the hell out of" Tikim if it were more available. 

---

Between 1995 and 2018, Ceniza Choy didn't think consciously about Fernandez's work though she admired it as she worked on her book, Empire of Care, published in 2003. That changed in 2018 when, as a professor at Berkeley, Ceniza Choy invited educator, activist, and cook Aileen Suzara to give a talk about food to students in her Asian American history course.

"I talked to her class and included some quotes from Tikim because it talks about: How do you retrace your food roots?" Suzara said. As a natural chef, former farmer, and member of the Filipino diaspora, Suzara has always felt a longing to be more connected to land and to recover cultural foodways. When she found a copy of Tikim on a visit to the Philippines around 2009, it weaved together threads she'd drawn out around understanding ancestral spirit and connecting resistance and food. "I couldn't believe that this book wasn't everywhere," she said. Holding that documentation in her hands was a reminder of legacy: "I think that [for] all of us doing any of our work, whether we're completely aware of it or not, someone has made the path forward."

Between Suzara's reference to Fernandez and the conversations in class, Ceniza Choy was elated—until Suzara mentioned that many of Fernandez's books, Tikim included, were out of print. "When she mentioned that, I felt deflated. I was just stunned. How could this be possible? Because that work is so seminal," Ceniza Choy said. Since 2017, Ceniza Choy had co-edited Brill Publishing's Gendering the Trans-Pacific World series with Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, and she thought: "I can utilize this role to bring the book back into print."

In March 2018, Ceniza Choy brought the idea to Brill, and the international academic publisher was supportive. As a Filipino American and as a historian in the diaspora, she had an emotional investment in making the work accessible to Filipinos worldwide. Still, she doesn't see its appeal limited to Filipinos or even food scholars: To her, Tikim is instructive for anyone interested in culture at all. After Brill licensed the title from Anvil, it released Tikim in hardcover and e-book form in October 2019, with a forward by Suzara and an editor's preface by Ceniza Choy. Both versions are now available for $198, though the electronic edition is more affordable with institutional affiliation. Thanks to this reprint, Ceniza Choy will use Tikim for the first time this year in the Filipino American history course she's taught since 2004. 

---

De Leon still takes issue with Tikim's current availability though. Hardcover and with small print, Brill's edition seems to him like a text for libraries and academic instutions, as opposed to the paperback version that could be read by anyone, anywhere. "I think the actual material history and the material politics of where [Tikim and Sarap] have gone is precisely the problem," he said. His ideal would be to see the books at $15 to $20 each, so a broad American audience could have access to them, too. And, as Santos said, finding Fernandez's books through libraries requires a knowledge of interlibrary loan systems that can prevent "the average tita and lola" from just asking for them. 

"Publishers can't make direct comparisons and are thus reluctant to take a risk."

Tikim's historical yet accessible approach to Filipino food remains unmatched by options in the American market. Though new cookbooks—like Miguel Trinidad and Nicole Ponseca's I Am Filipino, published in 2018—incorporate historical information, specialized culinary histories remain rare. "Part of it is that people have to buy them," Sartwell of Kitchen Arts & Letters told me last year. "I think, to be quite frank about it, it's the kind of thing where a lot of people feel like, oh my god, of course, this is so wonderful, what a great idea, it should exist—but they don't support it with their money." 

The bookstore finally got Tikim this month, with the help of a local entrepreneur looking to raise awareness of Filipino food in the US. Sales have been "modest out of the gate," Sartwell said, because the book is priced at $80. On this point, the shop's listing is apologetic: "There is no denying that the price, reflecting not only a small print run but the costs of importing the book from more than 13,000 kilometers away, is higher than we would like. […] However, we felt we simply had to offer this book."

The American food landscape is broadening its horizons, but the long held baseline of Eurocentric culture and familiarity is still the axis on which it all turns. Nuanced and specialized stories about global food are easily written off as "too niche" as food media positions itself as always introducing new cultures to this particular, myopic perspective. Though interest in these deep dives is fervent in certain circles, it's still a small market, lowering the value proposition for publishers who have overhead costs to offset. The stories the publishing system deems valuable, as a result, are the ones with financial value. 

But it's a circular problem: "It's often the case that specialized books don't have obvious predecessors in the way that a book on, say, Instant-Pots or soup might," Sartwell said this year. "So publishers can't make direct comparisons and are thus reluctant to take a risk. Which means that they don't ever have obvious predecessors for comparison, and don't ever take the risks."

"For those who have not read something like Doreen in their lives, what will [reading it] plant in them, or what are the questions it will spark?"

Despite the challenges, it's true that Tikim is more accessible today than it has been in a long time. Having benefited from Fernandez's commitment to Filipino food and culture, several of the scholars I talked to saw passing on her work as a responsibility: If it meant so much to them, then what could it mean for others in the diaspora, and how could it enrich the understanding of people outside the culture?

Just as Fernandez saw cuisine shifting in response to social and historical contexts, the way readers can experience her work now—and what it can inspire—are also dynamic. "To continue her work means to think, to critically interpret what her work was in the first place," said De Leon. Through Tikim, Fernandez shaped a new understanding of culture, and the work she started isn't over—it continues as long as people continue to find the path she helped establish. 

"For those who have not read something like Doreen in their lives, what will [reading it] plant in them, or what are the questions it will spark?" Suzara said. "I really want to see ways that people are going to reconnect to that writing and that viewpoint, find ways to make it real for themselves, and to look a totally different way."

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

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Kraft Heinz to reduce SKUs by 20% with sharper focus on innovation

Kraft Heinz has revealed more details on its SKU plans and innovation after reporting a robust performance in the third quarter.

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New products - Bio-tiful launches kefir 'shots'; Dr. Praeger's Sensible Foods chills out; Popchips dialling down on healthier snacks in US

This week's batch of new products that caught the eye include home-made yogurt kits from Danone and General Mills launching a version of its Fibre One Protein bars in the US.

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US meat groups Quirch Foods, Colorado Boxed Beef combine

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Sanderson Farms rejects takeover approach from investor Durational Capital

Sanderson Farms, the third-largest poultry processor in the US, has had an approach from a party interested in taking over the business.

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Fresh Del Monte targets $100m from planned asset sales

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Fortenova buys Croatian dairy plant from Germany's Meggle

Germany's Meggle Group has found a buyer for its dairy plant in Croatia having earlier announced a plan to exit that market due to challenging business conditions.

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Kellogg ups guidance again after Covid, emerging markets boost sales

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Kraft Heinz tweaks up profit guidance as "strong growth" maintained

US food major Kraft Heinz has tweaked its profit guidance for the year and provided an outlook for sales on the back of its third-quarter results.

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Cornelis Vrolijk acquires two seafood processors from Haasnoot Food Family

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Minerva's venture fund makes debut investment, picking plant-based protein firm Clara Foods

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Kepak CEO-designate exits before taking helm

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Tyson, Cargill, Hormel among suppliers to face turkey cartel claims

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Ebro Foods sells Catelli pasta business in Canada to Barilla

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Hershey takes minority stake in US natural snacks business Quinn

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Swiss agri-food co-op Fenaco invests in vertical farming

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US pork processors strike Vietnam deal

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This Hudson Valley Farm's Streetwear Collab Helps Underserved Communities

If you peep the merch for sale on Dover Street Market's website, you'll scroll past the new PLAY and BLACK collections from Comme des Garçons, the debut collaboration between JW Anderson and Moncler Genius, and more than a dozen new additions to Thom Browne's range of animal bags.

But earlier this month, some new gear was quietly added to the shop, and it's the latest installment in a year-long partnership between Dover Street Market and Sky High Farm. The limited-edition merch—which includes t-shirts, hoodies, totes, and beanies—has all been made especially for the Hudson Valley farm. Each of the dozen participating streetwear brands (which include Awake NY, Brain Dead, Fucking Awesome, and Supreme) have pledged to donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these pieces back to Sky High.

The farm, now a 501c3 nonprofit, has spent the past nine years tackling food insecurities in underserved communities in both New York City and New York state. Everything grown on the 40-acre organic farm—vegetables, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs—is given to local food banks and food pantries. As of this writing, it has grown and donated almost 87,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and almost 50,000 pounds of animal protein. 

"I got the property at a moment in my life when I felt a great need for wide-open space and distance from the city,” Sky High's founder, artist Dan Colen, told Modern Farmer. “I intended only to turn an old barn into a sculpture studio, which I did. [But] it started to feel wasteful to have all the land—like all it really was something to point at and say ‘that’s mine.'”

A friend schooled Colen on the prevalence of food deserts in New York's five boroughs and suggested that he could use that land for sustainable farming. He also gave Colen the idea to partner with food pantries so everything grown on the land could be distributed throughout the communities that would most benefit from it. 

Within two years, Sky High grew around 6,000 pounds of produce and 4,000 pounds of beef and, although its production capabilities have grown significantly, it's still trying to do more. The farm has launched a GoFundMe, and is trying to raise $500,000 to double the amount of land it can use, scale up its distribution efforts and to support other small farms in the region. ("By purchasing and distributing produce from a wide network of local farms we can increase our donation capacity and help sustain small-scale farmers at the same time," Sky High explains.)  

The charitable partnership with Dover Street Market is part of its fundraising efforts as well. The Sky High Farm x Dover Street Market Collection is available at DSM New York, DSM Los Angeles, on the DSM webshop, and on Sky High's own online Farmstand. 

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Maple Leaf's plant-based sales short of target

Maple Leaf Foods said plant-based sales were impacted by production disruptions in the third quarter as the Canadian group reported year-to-date results.

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Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours

Ingredients

for the chicken tikka: 
2 pounds|916 grams boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon red chili powder
6 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed into a paste
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and mashed into a paste
2 lemons, juiced 
1 cup|225 grams plain yogurt
¼ cup|60 ml canola oil 
1 tablespoon garam masala 
2 teaspoons ground turmeric 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

for the makhni gravy: 
1 pound|450 grams tomatoes, halved 
1 garlic clove, peeled and mashed into a paste
1 (½-inch) piece ginger, peeled and mashed into a paste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder 
1 small green chilli
1 cardamom pod
1 whole clove
15 grams cilantro with stems
kosher salt, to taste
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
¼ cup|60ml heavy cream
2 tablespoons kasoori methi
honey, to taste

for the onion tomato masala:
¼ cup|60 ml canola oil 
½ pound red onion, diced 
2 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed into a paste 
1 (¾-inch) piece ginger, peeled and mashed into a paste
½ teaspoon red chili powder 
½ pound|225 grams tomatoes, diced 
½ teaspoon garam masala 
kosher salt, to taste

for the chicken tikka masala: 
3 tablespoons|150 grams ghee
3 teaspoons cumin seeds
8 whole dried red chiles 
7 small garlic cloves, chopped
2 pounds|1 kg chicken tikka  
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1 ¼ cups onion tomato masala
1 ¼ cups makhni gravy
5 green chillies, thinly sliced
¼ cup|60 ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons kasoori methi
1 tablespoon garam masala
kosher salt, to taste
chopped cilantro, for garnish
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and julienned, for garnish
steamed basmati rice, to serve

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken: Place the chicken in a large bowl and toss with the salt, 1 teaspoon of the chili powder, half of the garlic paste, the  lemon juice, and half of the ginger paste. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining chili powder and garlic and ginger pastes with the yogurt, canola oil, garam masala, and turmeric. Toss in the chicken to coat, then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
3. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a rack fitted in a sheet tray with the butter and place the chicken on the tray. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 13 minutes. Let the chicken cool slightly, then cut into 2-inch pieces and reserve.
4. Make the gravy: Place the tomatoes, garlic and ginger pastes, and half of the chili powder into a small saucepan and cover with 1 ½ cups water. Place the green chiles, cardamom, cloves, and cilantro stems in a piece of cheesecloth, tie it at the top, and add it to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over high, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the sauce has reduced slightly, about 45 minutes.
5. Let the sauce cool slightly, then discard the cheesecloth. Transfer the sauce to the bowl of a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return it to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until thick, about 12 minutes. Add the remaining red chili powder, the butter, cream, and kasoori methi. If the sauce tastes sour, add honey to taste.
6. Make the onion tomato masala: Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and the chili powder and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook 8 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and dark and the oil has emerged on the surface of the masala, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garam masala and season with salt.
7. Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add the cumin seeds and dried whole chiles and cook until they start to crackle, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook until golden, about 1 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for 1 minute, then add the chili powder. Add the onion tomato masala, the gravy, and the green chiles and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cream, butter, garam masala, and kasoori methi and season with salt. Serve with steamed basmati rice and garnish with the chopped cilantro and ginger.

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New products - Dr. Praeger's Sensible Foods chills out; Calbee broadens Seabrook range; Popchips dialling down on healthier snacks in US

This week's batch of new products that caught the eye include home-made yogurt kits from Danone and General Mills launching a version of its Fibre One Protein bars in the US.

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Japan's Morinaga Milk Industry Co. to invest in lactoferrin production

Morinaga Milk Industry Co., one of Japan's largest dairy companies, is stepping up its production in Europe of a particular ingredient.

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SmartSweets sells majority stake to TPG

The Canada-based supplier of lower-sugar confectionery has a private-equity firm as its new majority shareholder.

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SmartSweets sells majority stake to TPG Capital

The Canada-based supplier of lower-sugar confectionery has a private-equity firm as its new majority shareholder.

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Cooke-owned True North buys up Mariner Seafood

Cooke Inc., a seafood processor in Canada, has acquired a fellow seafood business in the US via one of its local divisions.

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Simply Good Foods to consolidate logistics as sales boosted by Quest

The Simply Good Foods Co. saw a sales benefit from last year's acquisition of Quest Nutrition but its weight-management business suffered from the effects of the pandemic.

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Lactalis eyes closure of France cheese plant in "modernisation" project

The French dairy giant said its cheese business is implementing a strategy of "industrial modernisation" at its factories to make its soft-cheese business more competitive.

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New products - US snack-bar firm Kind eyes energy segment; Danone trials make-at-home yogurt kits in France; General Mills adds to Fibre One range in UK

This week's batch of new products that caught the eye include home-made yogurt kits from Danone and General Mills launching a version of its Fibre One Protein bars in the US.

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Pizza Boxes Are Full of More Than Just Slices Now

Before the pandemic, Hardena, the Indonesian restaurant in Philadelphia run by sisters Diana and Maylia Widjojo, served plates inspired by the elaborate Indonesian meals known as rijsttafel. Focused on variety, they'd cover a large round dish with a banana leaf and top it with an assortment of food: satay, vegetables, sambal, and more, with a mound of rice at its center. Rijsttafel means "rice table" in Dutch, a relic of colonialism in Indonesia.

Though diners often asked for the rijsttafel plate to-go, Diana Widjojo resisted: It was all about the experience of eating in the restaurant, where a bowl of water with lime would follow the meal if one chose to eat with their hands. But during the city's indoor dining shutdown from March to September, Widjojo was looking for a way to bring Hardena to more people. "Pizza is my go-to thing; I work late, and it's the only thing that's available at night," she said. "I was eating pizza [one night in March] and I was looking at the box, and I was like, Oh shit, I can do it in here."

In June, Hardena launched the rijsttafel plate as the "Not Pizza" box. Instead of a hot, cheesy pizza, Hardena's boxes hold a variety of Indonesian food that changes daily depending on what's at the market, arranged with an artful eye on a banana leaf. "I don't leave any empty space," Widjojo said. "There could be almost 18 different things in there, not including the rice." The restaurant opens pre-orders for the boxes on Instagram on Mondays, and they sell out every week.

"With the pandemic going on, I figured that this was a creative way to get people to try our food and try something new, or experience something a little bit different," she said.

With continued restrictions and concers about indoor dining, restaurants and pop-ups across the country have pivoted to sharing their food in new formats, whether that's by adopting take-out for the first time, selling groceries and meal kits, or using Instagram as a marketplace for small-scale, artisanal baked goods. Getting by in the age of COVID-19 is about getting creative, and the classic pizza box, perhaps owing to its spacious format, is experiencing an unexpected second life as a container for feasts that often have nothing to do with pizza.

"Not Pizza" box from Hardena | Photo courtesy Diana Widjojo/@hardenaphilly

After coffee shop manager Erika Costa hosted a kamayan dinner—the increasingly popular format of large and varied Filipino meals eaten by hand—late last year, she planned to do another one this March. Obviously, that couldn't happen. So last month, she started to use the pizza-box format to bring kamayan-style dining to homes in Brooklyn, launching a new side project called The Kamayan Box.

Since the pandemic started, a number of pop-ups have been offering full, curated meals to eat at home—like the Malaysian omakase from Boston's Sekali, which contains an assortment of small containers of sauces, sides, and mains. But the pizza-box format can offer cooks like Costa and the Widjojo sisters a little more control over how people enjoy their food, elevating a take-out meal to an experience. In the kamayan boxes she offered this month, Costa arranged an assortment of savory main dishes, vegetables, flowers, and tiny Filipino flags—all served on a banana leaf, with its sweet herbal scent and tropical appearance. "Kamayan [is] supposed to be laid out, and the food is everywhere, and it looks pretty. […] I feel like it's more authentic that way. When you open it up, you're like, Whoa, that's a lot of food."

The options of variety boxes like these are growing. Also in Philadelphia, Pizza Plus offers a weekly snack box that holds not just a cheese pie but also burgers, chicken tenders, fries, onion rings, and dips in each corner, like every stoner's wet dream. In the Bay Area, the Fish and Bonez pop-up fills pizza boxes with charcuterie or vegan snacks. And with events—along with last year's trend of grazing tables—mostly off-limits, sellers of smaller-format "grazing boxes" are popping up all over the country.

In April, Loryn Purvis launched Orange County's Picnic Artisanal Grazing after the cooking school where she taught closed temporarily due to COVID-19. Filled with cheese, charcuterie, nuts, fruit, and more, her grazing boxes—which, to be specific, are sold in shallow bakery boxes and not pizza boxes—are popular with people who want to eat outside or have a special time at home. "I think right now people are just looking for something fun," she said. Plus, with flowers, lots of colors, and sprigs of herbs, her boxes are Instagram bait.

Purvis said her most in-demand option so far has been the ten-inch picnic box that feeds two to four people, though she also sells one-person boxes. Sometimes, she said, people will purchase the latter for outdoor events to avoid the possibility of cross-contamination: Instead of grazing at communal buffets, attendees can just grab a personal grazing box and add it to their meal. For that reason, even as establishments start to re-open, Purvis thinks boxes like hers will have lasting appeal. "People are a little hesitant to share finger foods," she said.

While gathering in a restaurant will always have its own charm, pizza boxes make the take-out experience more special. They can also function to introduce diners to new restaurants and eating formats, even if they're just dining at home; according to Widjojo, many people who've ordered the "Not Pizza" box haven't eaten at Hardena. Opening a pizza box has always been exciting, but now, it's even more so.

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B&G Foods acquires Crisco brand from J.M. Smucker

B&G Foods, the US-based manufacturer, has snapped up a brand and an associated production facility in its domestic market.

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New products - Danone trials make-at-home yogurt kits in France; General Mills adds to Fibre One range in UK; Bimbo, Land O'Lakes team up in US

This week's batch of new products that caught the eye include home-made yogurt kits from Danone and General Mills launching a version of its Fibre One Protein bars in the US.

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Ferrero announces new emissions targets

Italian confectionery giant Ferrero has revealed new goals to reduce its carbon footprint after earlier committing to new sustainable packaging targets.

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France urges Middle Eastern countries not to boycott French products

France has urged countries in the Middle East not to boycott the country's goods following comments from President Emmanuel Macron in relation to a school teacher's beheading.

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KP Snacks brings Popchips production in-house

KP Snacks in the UK is moving production of its better-for-you Popchips brand in-house to a new manufacturing facility.

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Mississippi Mud Cake Recipe

Makes one 9 by 13-inch cake
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

for the double-chocolate cake:
6 tablespoons|226 grams unsalted butter
½ cup|60 grams unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 cups|435 grams granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten
1 ½ cups|185 grams all-purpose flour
pinch of kosher salt
1 ½ cups|175 grams pecans, chopped
1 cup|175 grams chocolate chips (use whatever kind you like)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the frosting:
2 ½ cups|300 grams confectioners’ sugar
⅓ cup|40 grams unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup|125 ml whole milk, at room temperature
About 3 cups|180 grams mini marshmallows

Directions

1. Make the cake. Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat with cooking spray or butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. In a large saucepot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the cocoa. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and eggs, mixing well. Add the flour, salt, pecans, chocolate chips, and vanilla and mix well.
2. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
3. While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa together into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or into a medium bowl and use a handheld mixer. Add the butter and beat on medium-high speed until no visible clumps remain. Stop the mixer occasionally and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure the mixture is as smooth as possible. Return the mixer to medium-high speed and stream in the milk. Mix until well incorporated.
4. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top of the warm cake and pour the frosting over the top while still warm. (You’re just covering the warm cake with marshmallows so they both kind of melt into each other. It’s nasty-good.) Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake keeps at room temperature for up to 4 days.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This recipe has been reprinted by permission of the author from The Good Book of Southern Baking: A Revival of Biscuits, Cakes, and Cornbread.

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Aryzta takeover talks with Elliott Advisors conclude without any offer put on table

Swiss-Irish bakery group Aryzta has said talks with a potential takeover party have ended without any offer being made.

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Aryzta takeover talks with Elliott Advisors conclude without any offer put on table

Swiss-Irish bakery group Aryzta has said talks with a potential takeover party have ended without any offer being made.

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Aaron Sorkin's 'Chicago 7' Movie Gets This Cocktail's Backstory All Wrong

About halfway through Aaron Sorkin's new flick, The Trial of the Chicago 7, activist Jerry Rubin (played by Jeremy Strong) is seen in a flashback as he chats up a woman in a bar. "I know it's kind of a country club drink," he says, gesturing to the Tom Collins she'd just sent him, "But they're delicious." 

He opens with the drink's origin story—or at least, the story that he kind of remembers. "A man in England named Tom Collins claimed in 1894 to have invented it," he said. "But then another man whose name I've forgotten said no, he'd invented it two years earlier, and I think there was a lawsuit." 

Viewers may find this to be an interesting side story in the film, which explores the 1969 trial of seven defendants (including Abbie Hoffman) charged by the federal government after participating in anti-Vietnam protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But apologies to the Sorkin stans—while the rest of the film was hopefully fact-checked more thoroughly, this cocktail's tale of origin apparently was not. "The drink definitely predates 1894," drinks historian Jeff Berry told VICE. "Like much of what 'Jerry Rubin' said, it's pure tomfoolery, no pun intended." 

Although the Tom Collins really does have a tangled transatlantic history, it wasn't named for an Englishman. And not to go all 'well, actually' on a flick that never claimed to be a documentary, but part of the long drink's backstory is that it was inadvertently popularized by a 'Tom Collins' who didn't exist at all. 

According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, Tom Collins wasn't even the drink's original name. In the 1820s, a man named John Collin ran the coffee room at Limmer's Hotel, a place that was referred to as “the most dirty hotel in London" in the kind of book that served as a 19th-century Yelp page. Collin had adapted another London bartender's recipe for gin punch, frequently mixing his own version, which was a combination of Old Tom gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and soda water. The drink was a hit, and Collin's successor kept serving it until Limmer's closed in 1876. 

By 1865, the punch recipe had been printed in an Australian and a Canadian newspaper, but the drink was being called a "John Collins." In his James Beard award-winning book Imbibe!, Wondrich suggested that the recipe might've made its way across the Atlantic with British army officers who'd downed them in England before shipping out. In 1876, the drink was added to the second printing of iconic mixologist Jerry Thomas' seminal book, The Bar-Tender's Guide, but he'd given it a different first name. Thomas included three versions of the Tom Collins: one with brandy, one with whiskey, and one with gin. 

So what gives? Basically people had to make their own fun in the late 19th century, and sometimes that meant being a dick to people who just wanted a drink. A ridiculously popular joke in the northeast United States involved telling a guy at the bar that 'Tom Collins' had just been there telling outrageous stories about him, but left to go to get a drink at another joint. The now-irritated person would then go to that bar to ask where Tom Collins was, only to be told that he'd been chatting shit before heading to a third bar. HILARIOUS! 

"Have you seen Tom Collins?" The Gettysburg Compiler asked in 1874. "If you haven't perhaps you had better do so, and as quick as you can, for he is talking about you in a very rough manner, calling you hard names and altogether saying things about you that are rather calculated, to induce people to believe there is nothing you wouldn't steal short of a red-hot stove. Other little things of that nature he is openly speaking in public places, and as a friend, we think you ought to take some notice of them, and of Mr. Tom Collins." It describes this premise as the "cheerful substance" of a "a very successful practical joke which has been going the rounds of the city." The Compiler also says the popular prank originated in New York, and spread to other regions after it burned out there. 

So yeah, somehow asking about a fake Tom Collins might've evolved into being served a real drink. Despite what was said in The Trial of the Chicago 7, it existed well before 1894, and it was never caught in a legal battle. "I've never heard of such a lawsuit, certainly not for the Collins," Wondrich told VICE in an email. "There was a lawsuit in the 1930s over the version of the Daiquiri known as the 'Bacardi Cocktail' [because] bartenders were making it with other brands of rum, and Bacardi sued. That was a widely publicized affair. The Painkiller and the Dark and Stormy have had some kind of legal action to protect their trademarks. But back in the 1890s, such things were not lawsuit-fodder." 

He adds that if lawyers had been involved, it would've been hard for historians to miss. "In general, while you never know with this stuff and new material turns up every day, I think if there was a lawsuit about the origins of the Collins in the 1890s, it would have been reported," he said. "That's the sort of item that got reprinted frequently in newspapers around the country."

Back in that flick, after Rubin misremembered a few things, the woman he was trying to impress didn't seem to know what to do with that info. "That's a surprising amount of controversy for gin and lemonade," she replied. 

Now THAT's something we can agree with. 

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European Parliament decision sanctions use of veggie burger branding

The European Parliament has ruled on whether branding such as veggie burger can be used to describe plant-based meat alternatives.

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Oscar Mayer to close plant in Somerset, putting 860 staff out of work

UK-based private-label supplier Oscar Mayer has taken a decision to close one of its three plants as Covid-19 hits demand for ready-meals.

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Danone's nutrition unit Nutricia acquires special needs business Real Food Blends

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Orkla subsidiary Easyfood reveals expansion plans

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Dutch meat firm Group of Butchers gets new private-equity owners

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UK brings in new rules to protect iconic food types post-Brexit

The UK government has taken action to protect marquee food types, such as Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies, after the end of the UK's Brexit transition period.

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Unilever hints at "creative" deal-making on M&A

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Cooperl warns plants would close if cartel fine stands

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Europe plant-protein market set for 10% annual growth but still small beer - study

A new report from Dutch bank ING has forecast the size of the plant-based meat and dairy alternatives food market in Europe in 2025.

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New York City Is in the Middle of a Filipino Pop-Up Renaissance

In a scene playing out across sidewalks all over New York City these days, the makeshift patio in front of Kabisera, a small coffee shop in Manhattan's Lower East Side, is now so bustling on the weekends that one might wonder what alternate universe the critics claiming "New York is dead" inhabit.

Over the course of the pandemic, Kabisera has become a Filipino food hub, not just for their own menu but also for a rotating cast of pop-ups that share their space. The line of people outside might be waiting for drinks from Kabisera and food from the stand on the sidewalk, as a vendor grills skewered meat over coals. To Augelyn Francisco, who owns the shop with her boyfriend Joey Payumo, Kabisera's adoption of the pop-up scene is a way to pay back the community.

Francisco started Kabisera's coffee run in April, bringing baked goods and drinks to frontline workers at dozens of hospitals using donations of food and money from the community and other businesses. Through this effort, she connected with new people and organizations, and when Kabisera began to re-open, she reached out to those new friends to offer a platform to sell their products. "It started [as] a small payback for all of our friends who have been helping us through the pandemic," she said. Through the pop-ups the shop hosts on the weekends, Francisco finds it "very beautiful" to see "how everyone here thrives from what's happening."

The specter of being "the next big thing" has hung over Filipino food in the United States since at least 2012, when chef Andrew Zimmern shared this forecast, and it shaped how American publications have covered the cuisine ever since. It is always "up-and-coming" and just on the verge of breaking through to a white American audience, though it's never clear what's needed to tip the balance before it's no longer "the next" big thing, but simply a popular part of American dining. In New York City, it's time to stop framing Filipino food as something “on the rise,' and to firmly declare it as not only here to stay, but an integral part of the community.

With options from traditional to re-invented, affordable to high-end, meaty to plant-based, pop-up to brick-and-mortar, the Filipino food scene is growing, diversifying, and even thriving—even amid a pandemic that has hammered the restaurant industry. When it comes to pop-ups in particular, the city is in the midst of a Filipino food renaissance, with so many event options some weekends that it can be hard to figure out which one to visit.

The old school Filipino joints in Queens' Little Manila and mainstays like Jeepney and Purple Yam set a baseline for Filipino food in New York, but with that basic familiarity established, new food entrepreneurs are taking more liberties with their approach, especially through pop-ups. As newcomers have entered the Filipino pop-up scene over the past seven months, joining existing projects like Flip Eats and Woldy Kusina, they've also helped diversify the city's Filipino food.

As one of 2,000 people laid off from Union Square Hospitality Group in March, Kimberly Camara started Kora, a doughnut pop-up that had a waiting list of 800 people as of last month. Lamon Lagok wants to expand the idea of Filipino food beyond lumpia and pancit through modern dishes paired with tiki drinks, drawing on the long history of Filipinos in the tiki scene. With dishes like chopped cheese silog, Big Papas Tapas makes "Filo-New Yerrr"-style breakfast bowls that riff on the formula of garlic rice, fried egg, and meat. The Dusky Kitchen describes its desserts as Milk Bar meets Red Ribbon, with nostalgic options like ube cheesecake with SkyFlakes saltine crumbles; The Boiis Co. makes cookies and balls of mochi. Mama Guava cooks Hawaiian Filipino food, while Sweet Angel Baby's brings Filipino cuisine to Ridgewood. You're not lacking for options if you're looking for Filipino food in New York.

It might seem like a bad time to start a food business, with the continued restrictions on indoor dining and predictions that as many as half of the city's restaurants could close permanently within the next year. But the rise of pandemic pop-ups makes sense, as Taste and Resy have explained: Without ties to establishments, cooks—especially those out of work—can be more flexible and creative, and the pop-up format makes their food easily accessible, at the same moment as diners look for new experiences.

So Sarap NYC Filipino street food pop-up outside Kabisera | Photo courtesy So Sarap

Though the pandemic initially seemed to dampen launch plans for So Sarap, a new street food pop-up, it actually forced the hand of co-founders VJ Navarro and Sebastien Shan after both were furloughed from their jobs. "We were thinking like, what better time than now?" Shan said. "We're at home doing nothing. Let's just do something." Serving barbecue skewers and fried fish balls from a curbside cart just as Navarro's father did as a street food vendor in the Philippines, So Sarap is now booked for the entire month of October, with events in Manhattan and Queens.

That's, in part, a result of So Sarap having established popularity at Kabisera. To Shan's recollection, all of So Sarap's September appearances took place at the coffee shop, as a way of giving back after Francisco and Payumo welcomed them with open arms. "I think doing pop-ups is great because it's a good way for us to help small businesses, or big businesses, that have been suffering and have been hit hard," Shan said. Though pop-ups have historically been seen as a path toward traditional establishments, pandemic pop-ups can be a survival strategy.

The Lamon Lagok pop-up, for example, operates out of restaurants during their downtime. Though co-owners Gelo Honrade, CJ Lapid, and AJ Palomo were ready to go all in on a restaurant of their own, they chose to pursue pop-ups thanks to encouragement from the East Village Filipino restaurant Ugly Kitchen. (In a testament to the small world of New York's Filipino food community, I learned during reporting that my father knows Lamon Lagok's co-owners.) This model has worked well, and Lamon Lagok is now aiming to hold events every two weeks. "It's just the spirit of COVID and hospitality where people try to help each other out," said Lapid, a co-owner and a bartender who was briefly put out of work by the pandemic. "It's always a win-win thing for both parties: for us, for the establishment."

The logic of the "next big thing" tends to position food cultures, especially those outside immediate white American familiarity, as fleeting trends that have the spotlight only until something bigger and newer comes along. It implies that there isn't room for everything to succeed all at once, and that idea of scarcity can breed competition as people vie for the same rare, few spots. But New York's new Filipino pop-up scene is proof of a model that sees success as a shared effort, rooted in collaboration instead of competition.

The patio outside Kabisera during a pop-up event | Image courtesy Craig Nisperos

At Kabisera, Francisco helps new pop-ups by tasting the food to make sure it's good; notifying sellers of interest online so they can prepare accordingly, without food waste or hungry guests; and if there's more than one vendor at once, making sure their menus don't overlap so the pop-ups aren't at odds with each other. The idea isn't for one to be the most popular pop-up, but for all of them to drive business to each other through complementary menus. Instead of a model that puts a few projects on a pedestal at the top of the scene, this network of Filipino pop-ups is making space for more people to succeed.

"That's actually what we're [trying] to create: that it's becoming stronger and louder if we go all together as one pop-up," said Francisco. "It's hard to promote if you're a single business and you're doing a pop-up, but if you are collaborating [with] four or five pop-ups, you help each other, promote each other. It will become louder."

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Former Blue Bell Creameries boss Paul Kruse charged in relation to listeria outbreak

A former senior executive of US ice cream business Blue Bell Creameries has been charged in connection with a 2015 listeria outbreak linked to the company's products.

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Natural Order Acquisition Corp. aims to beat record for plant-based IPO

A new US shell company with ambitions to acquire a business in the plant-based food area is aiming to raise a record amount from an initial public offering (IPO).

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French group LSDH snaps up foodservice suppliers

French food group Laiterie de Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel (LSDH) has acquired two local businesses supplying the foodservice market.

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Gathered Foods takes Good Catch plant-based seafood brand to Canada

US alternative-seafood firm Gathered Foods, which has attracted funding from General Mills and Maple Leaf Foods, has added another new international market to its roster.

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New products - Chickpea specialist Banza moves into frozen pizza; Laird Superfood enters snacks category; Tony's Chocolonely in France breakthrough

The week's stand-out product moves include Dutch confectioner Tony's Chocolonely securing its first major listings in France and Perfetti Van Melle giving Vitamin C a push.

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Gebroeders Kramer acquires fellow Dutch fish processor Fishmasters

Gebroeders Kramer, a Netherlands-based seafood processor, has acquired a local peer in value-added fish products.

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ADM-Princes venture Edible Oils invests to meet demand

The UK producer of packaged oils including Crisp 'n' Dry is to invest in its production to meet demand.

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BrightFarms secures funding to expand US vertical-farming network

US-based vertical-farming business BrightFarms has secured a new round of funding to support its expansion across the country.

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Fennel and Artichoke Fregola with Herb Butter Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

8 tablespoons|4 ounces|115 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature  
2 tablespoons|¼ ounce|10 grams minced fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil, or a combination)
1 tablespoon drained and finely chopped capers
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 lemons
1 cup|165 grams fregola
2 tablespoons olive oil 
12 ounces|340 grams canned or frozen artichokes, drained if canned, defrosted if frozen, and halved  
2 medium shallots, diced 
1 medium head fennel, diced, fronds reserved
⅓ cup|65 grams golden raisins 
¼ cup|35 grams toasted pine nuts

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, herbs, capers, salt, and pepper. Zest in half of one of the lemons and squeeze in 2 teaspoon juice. Stir to combine, then transfer to a piece of plastic wrap. Form the butter into a log and wrap tightly. Chill for at least 2 hours.
2. Bring a small saucepan of generously salted water to a boil. Add the fregola and cook until al dente, 11 minutes. Drain and reserve.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the artichokes, shallots, and fennel and cook until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Toss in the reserved fregola, the raisins, and pine nuts. Zest in the remaining lemon and squeeze in all of its juice, then season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine, then divide among plates. Serve each with a slice of herb-caper butter on top and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.

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Nestle raises guidance as third-quarter sales beat market estimates

Nestlé has raised its full-year organic growth guidance to the top-end of a previously flagged range amid a "broad-based" business improvement.

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Aryzta board said to be split over Elliott takeover bid

A newspaper report is suggesting a potential takeover bid for Swiss-Irish bakery group Aryzta is getting a mixed reaction from its board.

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Abergavenny Fine Food streamlines cheese portfolio

The Abergavenny Fine Food Co., a UK-based dairy and snacks producer, is simplifying its cheese portfolio to focus on the value-added portion of the business.

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A Domme Brought a Sub on a Leash Into LA's Bougiest Grocery Store

Erewhon Market is a Los Angeles-based luxury grocer, the kind of place that offers an organic adaptogenic bone broth cleanse, sells four hard-boiled eggs for $7, and has written its own Juice Cleanse Manual to accompany a two-day serving of Hardcore Greens. And although it seems hard to shock a store full of people who'd drop $140 to give themselves loose stools, it is possible—just ask Mistress Lark.

The 21-year-old dominatrix went either the best or the worst kind of viral after a picture of her with her leash-wearing submissive client was posted on Twitter. "Spotted at Erewhon today," the post read, accompanied by a photo of Lark walking the man, who was on all fours and wearing a full latex dog hood. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal—at least not in L.A.—but it's hard to be interested in ethically produced pumpkins when a man is literally being dog-walked past the produce section.

It also started a largely one-sided conversation on social media about consent, BDSM, and whether it's appropriate to bring the general public into your kink scenes. This wasn't the first time that Lark had put this client on his leash and taken him out, but it was the first time that she's faced significant criticism, or that she's been stopped by the retail cops. (She admitted that she'd had to paddle the man for misbehaving shortly before she met with Erewhon's equivalent of Paul Blart.)

"We were asked to leave by security after we had checked out, and they said, 'You know, we respect what you're trying to do but we're going to have to ask you to leave,'" she said. "We left immediately, but we did have to walk back to the store to get to the valet, which was kind of funny. I'm always willing to leave if there's any kind of offense, but not because [I think] what I'm doing is wrong. My willingness to leave is because I respect other people's space and because I just don't want to be where I'm not wanted." 

Lark said that she's both aware of and sensitive to the other shoppers' concerns. No, they didn't consent to taking part in her scene, but she also said that there was nothing "pornographic" occurring: it was just a woman walking her slightly unconventional dog through a store. (VICE reached out to Erewhon for comment but, as of this writing, they have not yet responded). 

According to Dr. Julie Fennell, an associate professor of sociology at Gallaudet University who has done extensive research into the BDSM subculture and community, the formal and informal norms of BDSM can be hotly debated, even among avid kinksters—and Lark's role as a professional dom can further complicate things, because she's working both with and for the benefit of her client. 

"There is a formal norm in the scene that 'audiences must consent, too,'" Fennell said. "The idea is that you should not actively try to piss people watching off without their consent. This norm is hotly contested, and blatantly violates another formal norm at most BDSM events which is 'if you see something that offends you, bothers you, or grosses you out that you are reasonably certain is consensual, just move along.' Many BDSM events try to reconcile these two rules with a formal rule of 'don't be a dick,' meaning that if you're going to do a public scene that many people would object to, warn people."

Fennell also points out that it can be very difficult to determine how to apply these public behavioral norms in 'vanilla'  contexts outside of BDSM subcultural events, parties, and spaces. “There are plenty of kinksters who say, 'as long as it's legal, go ahead,'“ she said. “There are [also] plenty of other kinksters who say, 'why are you trying to piss other people off?'"

Those who participate in pet play say that they aren't necessarily doing it for the "kink" as much as it's a "more complex" form of adult costuming, she added. "Many pet players argue that children are the people least likely to be offended by pet play because they're the most likely to view it as a silly or cool adult dressed in a very fancy costume playing a role," she said. "I also note that I'm hard pressed to imagine why anyone would feel threatened by this woman leading this man on a leash in a store, but I think it's very reasonable for people to feel threatened by someone wearing a Trump hat or T-shirt. But the former is socially unacceptable and the latter is not." 

The motivations for engaging in pet play tracks with what Lark said about the client she was with at Erewhon, and about other clients who have taken their commitment to pet play even further. "It's bigger than just roleplay. Calling it roleplay is removing ourselves from the fact that this is deeper than that for a lot of people," she said. “It can be about the opposite of sexual release, because a lot of these people want to be in chastity for the rest of their lives. They vow never to have sex, they're usually cucks, and they're usually more interested in watching the woman be empowered with who she wants to be with.”

Lark says becoming a domme has given her a kind of power and confidence that she hadn't previously experienced. She was 18 years old, homeless, and trying to process the trauma of a sexual assault, when she read a Craigslist ad for a dungeon. "It said you could live there if you ended up qualifying, and I really needed somewhere to go," she said. "Once I allowed myself to embody it, I felt like some of the traumas that I went through were sort of alleviated. It was very therapeutic. I felt like I'd always been disrespected and taken advantage of, and I felt very bitter towards the way that women are treated in society. This has been… I think it's more than any type of sexual release. It's an emotional release."

After three years of domming, Lark says that she's lost some of her initial reservations and has worked to find new ways to keep things interesting for herself and her clients. She started to take her subs on what she calls "lifestyle adventures," taking them to fetish parties, when she goes out with her friends, or occasionally to the mall or a grocery store. "At the end of the day, I stand beside my decision to do this publicly," she said. "And I respect other sex workers' opinions on it… In the future, I might not go as far as to bring out the paddle again, but I do think we can be more open-minded about these things." 

It's still complicated, and hard to know what the right approach is in some public spaces. "Personally, I prefer to challenge people's thinking more than their sensibilities when it comes to their attitudes toward kink," Fennell said. "I think most of the social science research I have ever seen on changing people's attitudes and beliefs suggests that making them angry or offending them is generally a very bad strategy for doing so. That said, this kind of controversy can generate more knowledge and exposure among people with more neutral attitudes, which might mean that they move from being 'neutral' to 'slightly positive.'"

But still: if you see a leashed man crawling past a Silver Lake supermarket's in-store tonic bar, maybe just mind your own business. 

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Update - Saputo confirms interest in Australia's Lion Dairy & Drinks

Saputo, the Canada-based dairy major, has confirmed it is mulling a move to buy another asset in Australia.

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Barilla buys factory from Italian peer Pasta Zara

Barilla, the Italy-based food group, has snapped up a manufacturing facility from a domestic peer, it has confirmed.

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Saputo wants to buy Lion dairy unit - Australian watchdog

Saputo, the Canada-based dairy major, wants to buy another asset in Australia, according to the country's competition watchdog.

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UK poultry group Avara Foods announces capex investment, new jobs

Avara Foods, a UK-based poultry processor, is investing in a plant in the English Midlands to bring in new technology and equipment.

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Alt-egg firm Eat Just to build Asia factory

The US-based of alternative-egg products is teaming up with a private-equity firm to build a production facility in Asia.

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Dietary food business Nutrisystem acquired by US investors Kainos, MSD

Nutrisystem, a US-based weight-management business offering entrées, snacks and shakes, has been acquired by new owners.

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New products - Laird Superfood enters snacks category; Tony's Chocolonely in France breakthrough; Perfetti Van Melle emphasises Vit C in India; Impossible Foods in Asia retail push

The week's stand-out product moves include Dutch confectioner Tony's Chocolonely securing its first major listings in France and Perfetti Van Melle giving Vitamin C a push.

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New products - Tony's Chocolonely makes France breakthrough; Perfetti Van Melle emphasises Vitamin C in latest India launch; Impossible Foods in retail push in Hong Kong, Singapore

The week's stand-out product moves include Dutch confectioner Tony's Chocolonely securing its first major listings in France and Perfetti Van Melle giving Vitamin C a push.

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US-based Phillips Syrups & Sauces backed by investor Kaulig Capital

US-based Phillips Syrups & Sauces has attracted investment from a local private-equity firm, it has been revealed.

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Key Aryzta shareholder presses for clarify on potential takeover offer

One of the major shareholders in bakery business Aryzta has urged the Swiss-Irish group to provide clarity before the end of the week on a potential "public tender" bid.

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Freedom Foods extends share trading halt again as fraud probe continues

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has issued an update to the market on the suspension of trading in its shares.

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Finnebrogue to invest big in new plant-based facility

UK food group Finnebrogue Artisan has announced plans to increase capacity for the manufacture of plant-based products.

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Australian plant-based meat start-up V2food eyes exports after funding round

V2food, an Australia-based start-up specialising in plant-based meat-alternative products, has attracted investment in a Series B funding round.

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Total Produce's Oppenheimer takes majority stake in avocado supplier Eco Farms

Canada's Oppenheimer Group, the fresh fruit and vegetables business owned by Ireland's Total Produce, has acquired a stake in a California fruit grower.

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Cooperl warns of bankruptcy risk, challenges cartel fine

French pork major Cooperl Arc Atlantique has warned it faces bankruptcy if forced to pay a fine for fixing charcuterie prices.

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PepsiCo invests $170m to "empower" Hispanics, promote diversity

PepsiCo has unveiled an initiative to increase the representation of the Hispanic community across its US business.

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A SF Grocer Is Selling 'Organic Fall Leaves' for $15 a Bunch

It's mid-October, which means it's officially time to wrap ourselves in 17 miles of flannel scarves and fill our shopping carts with so much artificially pumpkin-flavored shit that even the Trader Joe's cashiers don't know what to say about it. It's also leaf-peeping season, which are the four or five weeks a year when we all feel obligated to spend several hours in a car just so we can take four pictures of a maple tree and use the word "chlorophyll" in a conversation with a stranger. 

In California, some of the best spots for fall colors are in the Eastern Sierra, in Inyo, Mono, and Plumas counties. Parts of Inyo National Forest have been reopened after fire-related closures earlier this year, and according to the California Fall Color website, the at-peak display in Bishop Creek Canyon has been "the best ever." But for Northern Californians who don't feel like making the drive or figuring out what exactly "near peak" means, you can get an eyeful of fall colors in the produce section of a San Francisco supermarket. 

Two Bi-Rite locations in the city are selling brown-paper-wrapped bundles of fall leaves, and for $14.95, you can have around two handfuls' worth of seasonally appropriate plant refuse. Spending $15 on what's essentially compost material would seem ridiculous if there weren't SO MANY THINGS that you could use those leaves for: You can throw them in the air and briefly experience what it's like to be in a Hallmark movie. You can arrange them on the counter to give the kitchen a vibe that says either "quirky craft project" or "disused picnic shelter." Or you can carefully press them in a scrapbook, so you'll have a visual aid when your future children ask what 'depression' means. 

According to McGinnis Ranch, the leaves that it provides to Bi-Rite are collected on the farm after they finish pruning their maple trees. And, because McGinnis is certified organic, they haven't been treated with any preservatives or pesticides, so go ahead, eat all the leaves you want. 

But for real though, why are they charging 15 dollars for something that is… largely free and widely available in nature? "Our prices are a reflection of the quality of the food, ingredients, and flowers we sell, which come from farmers and ranchers who use methods that protect the land and the people who work it," a Bi-Rite spokesperson told VICE. "We want to pay these farmers who operate more responsibly a fair price to help ensure they can continue farming for decades to come." 

So for almost a month's worth of Netflix Premium, you'll get a "grower's bunch" that usually includes three stems and all of the leaves that are still attached. "As the maple season winds down, we expect to have other autumn leaves such as oak and pistache from Figone Ranch," Bi-Rite said. (And here we thought there was nothing left to look forward to this year.) 

Honestly, good for the farms and ranches who have figured out how to get paid for something that might've otherwise been mulched. And good for Bi-Rite for realizing that this season is such a mood that we'll hand over $15 to carry a damp bag of dying leaves out of the store. Next year, maybe make them smell like cinnamon and allspice—that's worth an extra $5 right there.

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Crispy Homemade Pizza Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups|560 ml olive oil 
5 ounces|145 grams raw mushrooms, thinly sliced button or loosely torn exotics
1 small yellow onion, peeled and sliced thinly
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 ounces|65 grams pickled hot Italian cherry peppers 
2 sprigs fresh basil, plus more for garnish
1 (15-ounce|425 gram) can whole peeled tomatoes
2 balls of your favorite pizza dough (about 12 ounces|350 grams each)…(we recommend picking some up from your local pizza shop or grocery store)
all-purpose flour, for dusting
semolina flour, for dusting
10 slices of your favorite pepperoni (thin or thick cut)
1 ½ cups|175 grams shredded low-moisture mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat oven to 500°F. Place a (10-inch) nonstick skillet in the oven to heat up and keep in there until you are ready to cook your pizza.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with 2 cups|500 ml olive oil, the mushrooms, and onion. Heat over medium-high until you start to see bubbles, then reduce the heat to low and leave for 10 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and onions well on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the remaining olive oil, the cherry peppers, basil, and tomatoes in the bowl of a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. To knead the dough, dust each dough ball liberally with flour so that it doesn't stick. Then, position your fingers as if you are about to play the piano and start pressing your fingers into the dough as you spread it and shape it into a flat circle about 12-inches in diameter (depending on the thickness you desire).
5. Take a sheet pan and invert it (so it's upside down) and dust lightly with semolina flour and place your dough on top. Now it is ready to be topped.
6. You’ll need to work quickly so that the dough doesn’t get too warm and stick too much. We recommend topping one ball of dough at a time. To dress your pizza, spread ¼ cup|75 grams tomato sauce on each pie, starting in the center and slowing spooning around to the edges as desired. Then dot the pepperoni, mushrooms and onions, strategically placing on pizza in desired fashion. Sprinkle ¾ cup|65 grams mozzarella over each pizza.
7. Now your pizza is ready to be transferred to the hot skillet. Using a dry towel, carefully remove the pan from the oven and quickly slide your pizza from your sheet pan into the dry skillet. The cheese might slide off a bit, and that’s ok! It will make it really crispy and delicious. Just try to carefully slide it back on. Place the skillet immediately in the oven and cook until the crust is firm, about 7 minutes. To check for doneness, carefully use a spatula to lift the edge while still in the pan to check for firmness. It should appear blistered and the cheese should be bubbling.
8. Once ready, remove onto a baking rack to rest for a few minutes, then garnish with the basil leaves to serve.

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Danone executive shake-up, asset review

The French giant is restructuring its management – with the company's CFO deciding to leave – and reviewing its portfolio to adapt to the challenges created by the virus.

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Danone exec shake-up, asset review

The French giant is restructuring its management – with the company's CFO deciding to leave – and reviewing its portfolio to adapt to the challenges created by the virus.

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Synlait Milk sells Deep South ice cream brand to New Zealand's Talley's

Dairyworks, recently acquired by New Zealand dairy and infant-formula business Synlait Milk, is selling a non-core asset to a local food manufacturer.

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Danone reveals "plan" amid CFO Cabanis exit talk

The French giant is refusing to comment on "rumours" finance chief Cecile Cabanis is planning to leave the Actimel owner.

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New products - Nestle rolls out Mezeast brand in Holland; Lindt launches Nuxor chocolate range in Spain; Hooray Foods hits Whole Foods with plant-based bacon

This week's new product selection includes plant-based cheeses from Bel Group and a new brand from Bolthouse Farms.

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