hi!
It’s been soooo long! It’s so nice to see you again! What have you been up to? Eaten anything good lately? I have been really into giant chopped salads with cold, crunchy romaine lately & have been cooking salmon as much as humanly possible. I was also in a weird mood yesterday and uber eats’d a McDonald’s cheeseburger to my house. I have no excuse for my inexplicable absence besides the crushing weight of being a human being during this particular political/environmental/general moment but I’m back & have more thoughts about snacks than ever! Thanks for reading and as always if you have any suggestions or hot tips, please email me at thingsiateandlikedletter@gmail.com.
taste buds
Last summer, a friend and I went on a marathon bike ride from downtown to Sullivans Island and while we were biking, we passed a store with the front door propped open and piles of books stacked up inside. I wonder if that’s going to be a bookstore, I said to my friend. It was! And after lurking around the store long enough and convincing the owner, who is one of my favorite people in the world, that I am a normal/trustworthy person, I now work there every Sunday afternoon and it is absolutely lovely. The only thing about this bookstore job is that we also have a Very Fancy Espresso machine which was mildly terrifying for the first few weeks. I’ve worked in food & bev on and off since I was in high school but always on the front of house side and have no experience with fancy coffee. Did you know that an americano is literally just espresso and hot water?? And people order that on purpose? I have the taste buds of a teenager or someone who only likes sweets and fried things, essentially, so when a hot dad orders an Americano at 3 PM on a Sunday I’m always very impressed. Do you read the NY Times every morning? Can you play bass? What do you know about roasting a full chicken? My espresso skills have improved immensely, you will be happy to know, but I do still enjoy a mug of Cup O Nuts instant coffee in the mornings.
Sometimes I wonder if I have really basic tastebuds. I am the least discerning person in the world and I will essentially eat anything that is put in front of me. I like rare, bloody steak and life cereal and a funky pet nat and an allstar combo from waffle house. My palate is incredibly unsophisticated. According to this article the bumps on your tongue called papillae (which sounds like a very delicious pasta) have some correlation to your sensitivity to foods. Smooth tongued people are not sensitive to food and bumpy tongued people are very sensitive to flavors, i.e. maybe a little bit pickier or have the ability to be sommeliers. My tongue is very smooth so perhaps it is my blessing/curse that I will have a life of liking every food but not being able to taste the tannic notes in a red bordeaux which is a shame.
food adjacent
I do not have a fun recipe or any in-depth food reporting for you this week but I have been consuming (no pun intended) some good food adjacent content lately.
This article/comment section about foods people do not like is fun. I love you bumpy tongued people!
Boredom snacking also known as lonely mouth, via the In Digestion newsletter.
I devoured this novel called Hot Milk which isn’t about food but does have some good food scenes (& is just an incredible novel even if you aren’t into food.)
All I want to look at on Instagram lately is pictures of people having big, fancy dinners. These photos by Charleston photographer Elizabeth Ervin are so good. I can’t wait to go out to dinner with ten friends and hug everyone and share plates.
happy friday!
Hope your weekend is full of brown’s court breakfast sandwiches and a gin & tonic with three limes and a giant chopped salad with lots of salmon. See you next Friday! xoxoxo