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- James Beard Foundation Awards 2022: Winners, News, and Updates
- Here Are the 2022 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists
- The Ultimate Guide to Colombian Snacks
- The Very Capitalist History of the American Coffee Break
- How Cast Iron Went From Weapon to Skillet
| James Beard Foundation Awards 2022: Winners, News, and Updates Posted: 23 Feb 2022 09:15 AM PST  Everything you need to know about the restaurant, chef, and media awards The James Beard Foundation Awards are among the highest honors in the American food world. After two strained years, the ceremony honoring chefs and restaurants is scheduled to take place as it had in pre-pandemic times, in a ceremony in Chicago on Monday, June 13, 2022. The semifinalist list was announced on Wednesday, February 23. Finalists will revealed in a livestream on Wednesday, March 16. As in years past, there will be a Media Awards, also in June. The foundation hasn't announced the official date, but it has often been within the week prior to the restaurant and chef Awards. Nominees for media awards will be announced in a livestream on Wednesday April 27. The 2022 awards are the Foundation's first following an extensive audit, and will feature a few new key protocols, including a different way of surfacing talent, nominee personal statements, and different awards categories. The canceled 2020 ceremony was, broadly speaking, a mess; the foundation initially blamed the pandemic, but reporting also suggested that it canceled the awards because there were no Black winners, and because of concerns around allegations of bullying and sexism among nominees. Some chefs voluntarily took themselves out of consideration, while others were reportedly told they were being dismissed. The 2021 program was canceled to allow enough time to do the audit and implement changes. All told, the foundation lost a lot of credibility around its most high-profile contribution to America's culinary landscape: its award program. The 2022 awards will be watched to see not only who wins, but also whether the promises of the audit are fulfilled, and if the interventions and changes the foundation has made actually produce a more diverse and inclusive winners' list — and, arguably above all, to see what happens to what has historically been America's most coveted culinary prize. Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards. |
| Here Are the 2022 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists Posted: 23 Feb 2022 09:12 AM PST  Check out the full list Today in a press release, the James Beard Foundation revealed the semifinalist nominees for the 2022 James Beard Awards. At a glance, the list appears to be one of the most diverse — across race, gender, geography, styles of service, and styles of cuisine — in the foundation's history. There are some new categories this year, meant to address the findings of an extensive 2021 audit to address the longstanding biases baked into the awards process. There is now an emerging chef award; unlike previous years' rising star chef award, the nominees below were not subjected to an age cut off. The regional best chef categories have also been reconfigured, with California, New York, and Texas each getting their own categories, in hopes of recognizing a broader geographic range of winners. Voting is also different this year: previous JBFA winners (a group that skews white, and male) are no longer automatically included in the voting body that determines who from the semifinalist lists moves onto the finalist list, and then the winners list. The voting body has broadened to also include food experts beyond traditional food media and chefs, all with a goal of having 45 percent of committee members and judges be people of color this year, and 50 percent next year. Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, March 16, while winners will be feted at a gala in Chicago on Monday, June 13. Check out the full semifinalist list below. Outstanding Restaurateur
Outstanding Chef
Outstanding Restaurant
Emerging Chef
Best New Restaurant
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Outstanding Baker
Outstanding Hospitality
Outstanding Wine Program
Outstanding Bar Program
Best Chef: California
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Best Chef: New York State
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
Best Chef: Texas
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards. |
| The Ultimate Guide to Colombian Snacks Posted: 23 Feb 2022 07:02 AM PST  From tropical-flavored Bon Bon Bum to crunchy, corny Chokis, these are the Colombian snacks to add to your cart Ask any Colombian expat what they usually bring back from Colombia, and they'll likely tell you Bon Bon Bum, Nucita, Chocoramo, or other mecato, what we call our staple sweets and snacks. Colombian snacks spark national pride. Many of them are made by local mom-and-pop shops that use nationally grown ingredients like coffee, corn, and chocolate. And the ones that have been around for decades remind us of our childhoods when, if we didn't get them in our lunch boxes, we would grab a handful at birthday parties or the school's tienda when no one was watching. As an expat myself, some of the foods I've missed most over the past decade I've spent living in the U.S. are these milk-heavy sweets mixed with arequipe (dulce de leche); lollipops with tropical flavors; and savory, cheesy, crunchy, treats. Luckily, living in New York City, I've been able to find many of my favorites at the Colombian bakeries in Jackson Heights, Queens. But for those who don't have a Colombian eatery or convenience store nearby, there are plenty of options for finding them online, including Amazon, shops selling international snacks, and even a subscription box dedicated exclusively to providing monthly shipments of Colombian snacks. Here are 15 savory and sweet mecato that are well worth seeking out. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262747/_MG_8585.jpg) Bon Bon BumThese round, gum-filled lollipops are a celebration staple. They come in a variety of fruit flavors, including strawberry, lulo, tangerine, passionfruit, watermelon, and mango. Bon Bon Bum lollipops are so popular in Colombia that we call all gum-filled lollipops by the brand name. In 2020, Colombina, the Colombian company that makes them, announced that Walmart would start distributing the 50-year-old pops in the U.S. QuipitosMilk is present in many Colombian dishes, and snacks are not the exception. Quipitos is a pouch of powdered milk with candy pieces that pop in your mouth (they're basically like Pop Rocks, but milky). No birthday party is complete without these. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262810/_MG_9177.jpg) Leche Condensada TubitoColombians love condensed milk and basically put it on everything: fruit salads, juices, cocktails, and desserts. So it shouldn't be surprising that we also have a condensed milk snack. Called El Tubito, it's very simple, consisting of just a tube (shaped like a tube of toothpaste), filled with condensed milk. I would eat one almost every day during my school lunch breaks. These days, there's also a chocolate-flavored version. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262813/_MG_8850.jpg) Maní MotoFirst invented by a Japanese immigrant in Mexico, Maní Moto is the Colombian equivalent of Mexico's cacahuates japoneses. They're peanuts with a crunchy, slightly sweet wheat-flour coating. They've long been a Colombian lunch box mainstay. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262824/_MG_8998.jpg) ChocoramoWith over 70 years of history, Chocoramo has been rightfully called Colombia's most famous cake by local newspapers. Family-owned company Ramo started making the individually packaged slices of vanilla pound cake covered in milk chocolate in 1950 and ever since, generations of Colombians have grown up eating them for breakfast or a snack with a glass of milk. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262827/_MG_8450.jpg) ChoclitosMy mouth waters every time I think of Choclitos — and how could it not? They're intensely acidic lime-flavored corn tortilla chips and the perfect savory afternoon snack. A new spicy version debuted in 2019. Tozinetas FredSnacking on bacon is actually possible with these wheat-based, bacon-flavored chips called Tozinetas Fred. They often come with a pouch of honey attached to the bag, to be poured onto the chips for a sweet-salty snack. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262833/_MG_8770.jpg) Bon YurtIn simple terms, Bon Yurt is a cup of yogurt that comes with a serving of cereal on top. But what makes it unique — and different from similar U.S. versions like YoCrunch — is that the yogurt is made by Colombian dairy company Alpina, and it's much sweeter and creamier than, say, Yoplait. My favorite version comes with Frosted Flakes, but crunchy cocoa and granola toppings are also options. BarrileteA chewy, bubblegum-flavored taffy, Barrilete, is ever-present in Colombian celebrations and birthday parties. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262843/_MG_8631.jpg) SupercocoThere's no talking about Colombian candy and snacks without talking about Supercoco. Around since the 1950s, these chewy caramel candies with pieces of shredded coconut started with a family recipe that was itself inspired by the traditional cocadas, or coconut candy, made in Cartagena. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262845/_MG_8816.jpg) Coffee DelightColombia produces some of the best coffee in the world, so of course we'd have a popular coffee candy. Coffee Delight is a coffee-flavored caramel hard-candy made 100 percent with Colombian coffee. Colombina, the company that makes them, also has a chewy version, which I prefer. NucitaColombians of my generation grew up with a jingle promoting Nucita: "Nutritiva y sabrosita" (nutritious and delicious). And maybe that's part of the reason why we're all obsessed with these mini servings of hazelnut and milk pudding that come with a tiny spoon. (Mexico has its own version in Duvalín.) /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262851/_MG_9076.jpg) RosquitasDairy products strike again with Rosquitas: These are donut-shaped, cheesy baked chips made with tapioca starch. There are several brands to choose from, from the more mainstream varieties produced by Frito-Lay, to lesser known versions like La Niña and Rosquillas Caleñas. /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23262855/_MG_8718.jpg) Chocolatinas JetChocolatinas Jet are iconic. Growing up, I was obsessed with these milk chocolate bars, mostly because they came with stickers of Colombian landscapes and animals that you could later add to a sticker-collecting album made by the century-old factory Compañía Nacional de Chocolates. But they're also delicious. The chocolate's particularly creamy taste and soft texture is probably owed to the fact that Colombia is one of just a few dozen countries in the world to produce what's known as "fine cocoa" or high-quality cacao. During the company's 100 years of existence, it has added variations like Jumbo Jet, which is a larger bar and comes with peanuts; Wafer Jet, a chocolate-covered wafer; and Burbujas Jet, chocolate truffles filled with dulce de leche. ChokisChokis combine two of Colombia's culinary staples: the aforementioned chocolate, and corn. The crunchy, airy corn puffs covered with milk chocolate come in fairly tiny bags, so it's nearly impossible not to open up another one (or a few more) immediately after finishing the first. Valeria Ricciulli is a New York City-based Colombian journalist. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, Curbed, DNAinfo NY, and El Diario NY. Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer. |
| The Very Capitalist History of the American Coffee Break Posted: 23 Feb 2022 06:24 AM PST  The best part of waking up... is getting energized for a long day's work Today, we think of the coffee break, ideally, as a respite from our work day. It's a chance to slow down, breathe in the scent of coffee beans, and enjoy a comforting hot or cold beverage that will give you the boost needed to make it until your 5 p.m. — or more realistically, 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. — clock-out time. If you're working the graveyard shift, that cup of joe might be an even bigger necessity: It's the fuel needed to keep you alert when everybody else is sleeping. We view coffee as a relaxing escape or energy hack because we're programmed to experience it that way. As noted journalist and caffeine fiend Michael Pollan says on this week's episode of Gastropod, "Capitalism and caffeine are hand in hand. If you want any proof of that, just look at the institution of the coffee break... Your employer not only gives you a free drug at the at the workplace, but gives you a place and time in which to enjoy it twice a day, in most places. Why would employers do that if it didn't offer them more benefit than cost? And clearly it does. They get more work out of people." As it turns out, what we consider a "coffee break" in the United States is actually explicitly tied to a 1955 court case, the United States vs. Phil Greinetz of Los Wigwam Weavers. Greinetz owned the Denver tie factory Los Wigwam Weavers and, after World War II, struggled to find staff up for the surprisingly arduous task of tie making. To encourage productivity, he introduced mandatory coffee breaks so that workers would have the energy to make it through their shifts fully alert. One problem, though. Like bad bosses throughout history, Greinetz didn't want to pay his employees for the time he demanded they spend drinking coffee. Eventually, the U.S. Department of Labor became involved, with the court ultimately deciding, in a rare win for the working person, that employers had to cover coffee breaks since the business was positively affected by employees being jacked up on caffeine. So what does this mean, sheeple? That we're all just buzzed-up laborers who've ritualized our own daily drugging? Well... yes. But does that make your flat white feel any less necessary? Listen to this week's Gastropod to learn more about the history of coffee, from its use in Islamic prayer in the Middle East, its role in the Age of Enlightenment and U.S. immigration, and how it became the quintessential American beverage. |
| How Cast Iron Went From Weapon to Skillet Posted: 23 Feb 2022 06:01 AM PST  The history of your favorite cast iron pan begins 800 years before the common era Cast iron skillets, pans, and Dutch ovens are among some of the most prized cookware in many modern kitchens. But how did they achieve such levels of adoration and status? On the premiere episode of Eater's new series How we Eat, we sit down with food historian and cast iron lover Dr. Leni Sorensen, who talks us through the history and journey of the material. "My sense of the first use of cast iron is that it's from China," she says, going on to explain how China's early invention of the blast furnace was used to create stronger versions of smelted iron. Early evidence of this smelted iron dates back to 800 BCE during the Zhou Dynasty. The smelting process made it stronger and cheaper than bronze and copper, and made it one of the most important materials in China for the next 1,000 years, where it was used mostly to forge weapons and tools for farming and agriculture. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sorensen notes, "there is an iron industry among the Bantu — again for weaponry. So there are a number of different groups that have a desire for this technology." But in the beginning, the majority of its uses didn't involve cooking. So who discovered that this property would be great for cooking and heating food? And when did it become more widely affordable for the common household? Find out how the material went from sword to skillet in the full episode. |
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