So the book for March is a collection of pieces about food and it is a book that I get every year to catch the pulse of food and what is being written about in the last year.
The Best Food Writing of 2015 has quite a few recipes that I flip right by because I enjoy the commentary and how food affects people.
This year there was a sorta running theme of “not having time to cook and that being OK.” which probably came as a relief to anyone (OK, mostly women) who have to generate a dinner a day if not more for 52 weeks a year. The piece by Tamar Haspel about less complaining struck a nerve with me.
I also was fascinated by Nashville Hot Chicken which I had never heard of up until this year plus the story of bringing non-meat meat-like products to market from El Segundo, California. Another cool piece was At Your Service? By Oliver Strand about “omotenashi” or extra hospitality, as I call it.
To pair with the stories, I would go with some spice accented beers. And I will recommend two from Burnside Brewing.
First would be Spring Rye a pale ale with Ultra hops and Coriander. Next up would be Sweet Heat a heated mix of Apricots and Scotch Bonnet peppers on a base of wheat beer.
For those not near Portland, Saison du Buff from the trio of Victory Brewing, Dogfish Head and Stone would provide the herbal kick that would nicely accent the book.