Anna Francese Gass joins our Cookbook Club!
Cook along and join our Virtual Dinner Party on Jan. 27. Plus: New podcast episodes airing soon!
Hi there,
Brian Hogan Stewart, host of Salt + Spine here. A quick note that our email might look a little different: We’ve moved distribution platforms, so please let us know if you have any troubles.
Wishing you a Happy New Year! As we happily leave much of 2020 in the past, we’re starting a new year off in the kitchen, continuing to cook more than ever as we deal with a still-surging pandemic. (And, of course, supporting our local restaurants with takeout when we can.)
Read on for an update on Salt + Spine episodes, our Cookbook Club, and more. –Brian
After a December break, the Salt + Spine Cookbook Club is back!
JANUARY COOKBOOK CLUB: I hope you’ll join us this month as we welcome Salt + Spine friend Anna Francese Gass to the Salt + Spine Cookbook Club! Anna is the author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women, a wonderful volume of recipes and stories Anna collected from dozens of women who migrated to the United States. We’ll be cooking from Heirloom Kitchen all month and coming together for a Virtual Dinner Party with Anna on January 27 — hope to see you there!
Check out a welcome message from Anna below — and stay tuned as we share more behind-the-scenes content from Anna on our social media:
Anna was born in Italy and grew up in the United States. After going to culinary school and working for major food companies, she realized she didn’t know how to make her mother's meatballs—a recipe that wasn’t written down but held in her mothers’ memory. And that launched a multi-year project, chronicling the stories and recipes of these immigrant women.
WHAT BRIAN’S COOKING
I started the month off by cracking open Heirloom Kitchen and making a big pot of Sheila Brathwaite Haire’s Arroz con Pollo — a comforting take on the classic chicken-rice dish with a flavor-packed sofrito, fall-off-the-bone thighs, and studded with bright, briny manzanilla olives. (Sheila grew up in Panama, but influenced culinarily by her grandparents from Barbados and Jamaica.)
Just last night, I pulled out a bunch of stoneware bowls and made all the components for Amina Hedayat’s Koshary, a rice bowl popular on the streets of Cairo where Amina grew up. The combination of carbs—rice, pasta (I was out of ditalini and subbed in small shells)—aromatic lentils, sautéed chickpeas, and dema’a (a spiced tomato sauce) were perfect after a long day. The crisp fried onion strips sent it over the top.
Next up, I’m eyeing Shekaiba Wakili Bennett’s take on Afghanistan’s national dish of palaw; Nikita “Nikki” Théodore’s poul ak nwa, the cashew-chicken dish popular in Haiti; and something sweet: the kaab el ghayal (Moroccan “gazelle horn” almond cookies) from Safoi Babana-Hampton.
What are you making from Heirloom Kitchen? Share with us on Instagram using #TalkCookbook tag!
See some of the ways you can take part in our Cookbook Club below—from sharing the recipes you’re cooking to joining our Virtual Dinner Party with Anna on Jan. 27:
We’re happy to share that this month’s Virtual Dinner Party is presented by Hardcover Cook, the subscription box and ingredient shop for cookbook lovers. And as always, our club is in partnership with our friends at The Civic Kitchen cooking school.
Make sure to reserve your seat for our Virtual Dinner Party with Anna Francese Gass so you’re the first to know the featured menu! Click here:
Upcoming Cookbook Club Authors:
And get ready for a great spring Cookbook Club: In March, Julia Turshen is the star—and Gaby Dalkin is featured in April. (Stay tuned as we announce the February featured author soon!)
New podcast episodes coming your way:
In other news, regular Salt + Spine podcast episodes will also resume this month. I’m ever grateful for our listeners’ support—especially over the past year as we adapted to virtual recordings. We have some really wonderful conversations to share with you this spring, and new 2021 cookbooks are already piling up – gonna be a good year!
What cookbooks are you most excited about this spring? You can share with us by replying to this email or commenting on this post:
That’s it for now. Thanks to all of you for helping us bring cookbooks to life, and here’s to a cookbook-filled 2021!
Brian Hogan Stewart, Salt + Spine