Love Archives - Food And Recipe

March 22, 2023

Shop these Amazon kitchen gadgets that our reviewers love

— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

With all the dizzying options for kitchen products on the market, it can be stressful to decide whether your purchase will be worth the investment. Luckily, kitchen product testing is kind of our thing. We’ve spent countless hours trying out a wide range of kitchen gadgets and tools that are (and aren’t!) worth adding to your countertops.

Make smart choices without hours of googling. Subscribe to The Checklist newsletter for expert product advice and recommendations.

Here are some of our favorites that you can quickly and easily buy on Amazon. Be sure that they will all deliver on performance. (And, you don’t even have to leave your couch to buy these Amazon kitchen gadgets!)

1. Ninja Speedi

The Ninja Speedi is our favorite air fryer—and it can do so much more

Ranked as our pick for the best air fryer, this little appliance can do more than just frozen fries and chicken nuggets. The Ninja Speedi is a multicooker that features convection and steam technologies, which means you can whip of a full meal—grains, veggies and proteins—in under 30 minutes with very little effort. If you’re frequently strapped for time before dinner, this tool could be a game changer.

$160 at Amazon

2. Noya Tofu Press

Yes, you need a tofu press. The Noya makes the pressing process a breeze

Whether you’re on a strict plant-based diet or are trying to experiment with more meat-free proteins, you need a good tofu press on hand. Because even extra-firm tofu holds extraneous water that needs to be dried out before cooking, and—let’s face it—using the old books-and-paper-towel method isn’t sustainable.

We love the Noya Tofu Press because it includes handy features, like a drip tray, pour spout and marinating lid. And it pressed tofu with ease during our tests (I even had to buy one for myself).

$23 at Amazon

3. Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus hand mixer

This Cuisinart hand mixer can mix batter and knead dough with ease

Bakers: If you’re not yet ready to invest in a stand mixer for your homemade cookie dough and bread endeavors, a good hand mixer is a must. Our favorite hand mixer, the Cuisinart Power Advantage Plus, outperformed the competition during testing thanks to its supreme dough kneading capabilities and intuitive speed controls. It also includes several dishwasher-safe attachments and a snap-on case for tidy storage.

$80 at Amazon

4. Nespresso VertuoPlus

The Nespresso VertuoPlus is our favorite single-serve coffee maker

The Reviewed staff has been personally relying on this single-serve coffee maker for our office caffeine needs for several years now. That’s because the VertuoPlus brews rich, tasty pod coffee with very little effort on our part.

We also love it for its compact design and automatic pod ejector that keeps you from burning your fingers after brewing. Plus, it can be used to brew both short espresso shots and larger, Americano-style cups.

$200 at Amazon

5. Cuisinart Digital Air Fryer Toaster Oven

Our favorite air fryer toaster oven is a delight to use

If you’re looking to streamline two go-to kitchen appliances—a toaster and air fryer—you’d be hard pressed to find anything better than this Cuisinart model. Not only can this air fryer toaster oven crisp batter-fried chicken and evenly toast bread, it features a digital screen with pre-programmed settings that make food prep easy. Plus, despite its compact design, it’s spacious enough to fit a whole chicken.

$238 at Amazon

6. Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Logic rice cooker

This Zojirushi rice cooker makes dinner prep easy

Rice is a staple food in countless global cultures because it’s delicious, filling and versatile. But cooking it just right on the stovetop can be a challenge (and time-consuming). Enter the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Logic: our pick for the best rice cooker, thanks to its ability to produce consistently flavorful batches brown rice, sushi rice and more.

$190 at Amazon

7. NutriBullet Select blender

This NutriBullet is our favorite personal blender

Our favorite personal blender, the NutriBullet Select can do more than just morning smoothies (although, it certainly excels at that task). It features four settings—Extract, High, Low, and Pulse—which can do anything from blend soups to chop veggies to crush ice. Plus, it comes with several handy accessories: a pitcher, a cup, a tamper, and to-go lids.

If you find yourself looking for something to blend or chop small servings of food with ease, this machine is a no-brainer.

$76 at Amazon

8. Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central Slow Cooker

The Cuisinart slow cooker boasts several features that make dinnertime even easier

Getting home from work—or just logging off remotely—after a long day usually means the last thing you want to do is whip up dinner. That’s why we like to plan ahead with slow cookers, or more specifically, the winning Cuisinart slow cooker.

This machine does more than perfectly slow cook everything from pot roast to chili, it can also brown and sauté foods in the same pan to save you on time (and dirty dishes). It also switches to an effective “keep warm” setting after cooking, so your dinner won’t overcook even if you come home late.

$160 at Amazon

9. Breville Control Grip immersion blender

The Breville immersion blender comes with several handy accessories

Whipping up anything from homemade soups to nut butters and pestos is made easier with a good immersion blender. Our favorite, the Breville Control Grip, goes above and beyond typical immersion blender functionality.

That’s thanks to its accompanying attachments—a whisk, chopper bowl and storage jug—that stretch its capabilities even further. We also love its comfortable handle and non-scratch base that keeps you from damaging nonstick pans.

$130 at Amazon

10. GE Profile Opal 2.0 ice machine

If you’re serious about ice—in everything from iced coffee to cocktails—it might be worth investing in an ice machine for your countertop. The GE Profile Opal 2.0 is our top pick because it boasts a few standout qualities: WiFi-compatible smart features, delightfully quiet production and—perhaps most importantly—the ability to make delightfully crunchable nugget ice.

$579 at Amazon

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews and more.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

March 18, 2023

Novices and master chefs alike will love this 43-piece kitchen utensil set for only $33

Attention, cooks! Whether you’re a novice or a master chef, you’ll want to snap up this 43-piece kitchen utensil set right now – sale prices start at just $33 for ALL of the essentials

By Tanya Sharma For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:23 EDT, 17 March 2023 | Updated: 14:23 EDT, 17 March 2023

SHOPPING – Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this Mail Best article are selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, DailyMail.com will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information.

Everyone loves a great deal. If it’s something for the kitchen that you can actually use, that makes said deal doubly appealing. The Umite Chef 43-piece silicone kitchen utensil set is exactly what every novice and expert cook needs to make meal prep easier.

Right now you can snap up this set for a reduced price, with many of the attractive colorways starting at just $32.99. These offer an easy and affordable way to add everything you need (and more) to your kitchen.

Here’s everything you need to take your kitchen from so-so to spectacular. You’ll receive 43 pieces made with smooth, heat-safe silicone.

The set has all of the basics, like spatulas, measuring cups, and measuring spoons, along with a range of other items you might not expect, like hooks, oven mitts, and even a container to store everything.

It’s available in a range of stylish colorways, so you can easily find one that best flatters your kitchen.

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Each piece in the set is BPA-free and made with food-grade silicone — and it even includes a utensil holder that contains the utensils so your kitchen stays organized.

Plus, every item in the Umite Chef 43-piece silicone kitchen utensil set is heat-resistant and odorless. They’re designed to withstand temperatures up to 446°F, so you can prep food without the risk of damaging them.

The Umite Chef 43-Piece Silicone Kitchen Utensil Set is available in a broad range of colors, including black and turquoise.

Plus, silicone is a naturally pan-safe material that protects the integrity of your cookware and minimizes the chances of developing scratches. Speaking of integrity, these tools are built with a stainless steel core that adds to their durability and resilience.

The set has everything you need, including a variety of spatulas and turners. You’ll also receive tongs, a pizza cutter, whisk, grater, egg separator, basing brush, dough scraper, measuring spoons, and measuring cups. There’s even an oven mitt, a set of hooks, and a silicone mat.

Heat-safe up to 446°F, the Umite Chef utensils make it easy for you to prep your favorites for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The set has earned consistent five-star ratings for its high quality, exceptional details, and solid construction — not to mention its excellent value.

‘Great everyday set,’ reports one user. ‘I bought really nice pans and needed something that wouldn’t scratch the surface of the pans. This set came with every utensil I needed and then some. Super convenient with holder as well.’

Another shared, ‘I love these utensils!! They are wonderful and a great alternative to plastic ones. So glad I bought these, they are excellent quality for the price and beautiful! Made my drawer aesthetically pleasing.’

The set includes a sleek and convenient utensil holder that keeps your kitchen organized.

You can’t beat the price of this 43-piece utensil set from Umite Chef. It’s packed with all of the essentials you need — and even some you probably didn’t know you needed.

February 20, 2023

My grandmother’s indulgent recipes show how Indian women express their love | Indian food and drink

I never learned how to eat an orange. It is a shameful admission. But it is because every winter, when oranges arrived in the Mumbai markets, my grandmother would make her kheer komola – sweetened milk condensed over a stovetop for hours and then cooled and mixed with fresh orange pulp. That’s how I consumed oranges through most of my childhood, with all the goodness of the fruit forked out and mixed with condensed milk. Why would I eat an orange any other way?

Bengalis are infamous for their consumption of sweets. A dessert after every meal was a requirement in our Bengali household – yes, even after breakfast. Ingenuity was sought. The rains brought a variation of the kheer. My grandmother, who I called Didu, would take on the task of peeling and deseeding a dozen custard apples for the family, coaxing out the hard black seeds from each fleshy white globule with her fingers. I often asked her why she couldn’t pick an easier fruit and she would always tell me to ask her the question after I’d had my first spoonful.

When Didu passed away at the age of 96, two years ago, my family wanted to commemorate her by recreating the dishes she appeared to make with so much ease well into her early 90s. She was a celebrated cook, but when we discussed her recipes, we were astonished by the amount of labour that went into each of these dishes, recipes she offered to make to mark birthdays, marriage anniversaries, to welcome guests or simply to enjoy during an important India-Pakistan cricket match.

The crispy fried onions that were an integral part of her yakhni pulao had to be sliced and salted and squeezed in a specific way to prevent them from over caramelising and becoming bitter. Her dimer devil (closer to Scotch eggs than devilled eggs) was a couture upgrade of the basic version that comprised half a boiled egg wrapped in minced mutton and then breaded and fried. She used to mould the minced mutton – spiced with cumin, coriander, turmeric, sliced green chilli, ginger and garlic – around the boiled egg, dust it in flour, give it an egg wash and dip it in breadcrumbs. To get a really crisp texture, she would do this twice. Her recipe had additional layers of mashed potato flanking the minced mutton to make the egg more imposing and grand in appearance. When you sliced through with a knife, you could hear the breading give way. The layers were even all around. Nothing short of slicing through an elaborate dacquoise. It was food as craft.

Anindita Ghose’s grandmother, Didu, with several dishes in front of her. — Kitchen queen: Anindita Ghose’s beloved grandmother, Didu

It was also food as care, when she made a sugarless rice pudding, year after year, for my father’s diabetic friend. For a son-in-law who struggled with deboning fish, both she and my mother went to great lengths to debone large hunks of freshwater fish, mash it with spices and pan-roast it as cutlets.

When my brother was moving to California for his masters degree, among his books and clothes was a jar of the fried dough balls we call kucho goja. They are usually dipped in a sugar syrup that is left to form a crust on the surface, but my brother was instructed how to do this in his dormitory instead, so that the treats could have an extended shelf life. It was food as a memory. (He polished them off in a week.)

“Have you eaten?” Indian mothers ask their children and husbands when they return home. The 19th-century Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki is said to have encouraged his students to translate “I love you” to “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Its literal phrasing was too direct for the Japanese. “Have you eaten?” is Sōseki’s wisdom for Indians. A certain vocabulary is implicit in the exchange of food. Tea is presented to guests without inquiries being made in the north and east. In the southern parts of India, it is more likely to be coffee. As tea and coffee cannot be served by itself, there are accompaniments. We are more at ease today with serving things out of packets, but I remember visiting family in Calcutta during the summer holidays, and someone was always going out the back door as we were entering the front door. Then, 15 minutes later, shingaras and milk sweets would appear wrapped in newspaper, and these were presented on pale ceramic plates with floral patterns.

If we visited two homes the same evening, we had to eat twice, so as to not offend the host. If it was a planned visit, the accompaniments were usually prepared at home. My grandmother’s tea-time specialities were the kucho gojas and koraishutir kochuri (fried bread stuffed with peas). My other grandmother, my mother’s mother, was a champion of the dimer porota (egg roll with onions and chillies) and the Indian French toast that is savoury and loaded with onion and pepper, and certainly not something the French would recognise.

In an extended family, each woman seems to assume a trademark dish early on. That becomes her food identity in large gatherings. She is begged to make it, she is lauded for it. An aunt makes a steamed yoghurt pudding with raisins, another makes melt-in-your-mouth kebabs flavoured with rose water. My mother is an excellent cook with all manner of dishes in her repertoire, but what I need from her when I visit are the simplest of things – pink lentils, stir-fried cauliflower, fish croquettes. Food as comfort. She knows what to make, and pack for me to take back, just from looking at my face.

For food as comfort, there is no time like death. We don’t cook when there’s a death in the family. Relatives, friends and women from the neighbourhood bring food for the mourners. In reverence to the deceased, it is simple fare, austere even. But the end of the mourning period is marked with a grand feast. The menu usually comprises the favourite dishes of the departed. For Bengalis, two kinds of fish preparations are a must.

Food can be flattery. Food can be regard. I remember a heated discussion after my aunt (the one known for her steamed yoghurt) first visited her son’s girlfriend. Her son had proposed already, but she was worried the girl’s family was not serious about the marriage, because they served okra – lowly okra – for lunch.

Food memories do not always come with the trappings of love and warmth. In theories of social stratification, the preparation of food is deeply tied to the sexual division of labour. Until recently, “knows how to cook” was a perfectly acceptable requirement in matrimonial listings. In a country where millions of women often have no choice but to cook for large families – whether it is in airless kitchens in cities or bent over rustic charcoal stoves in villages – it is labour that is best not romanticised. But somehow within those limitations, a certain skill with cooking becomes a badge of resourcefulness, artistry, self-expression and identity.

Many later feminists have reframed the kitchen as a space of agency, even resistance. Didu’s sister, who survived a difficult marriage and came to live with her in Calcutta, used to make golden and glorious crisp potato slivers. She is perhaps the last person in my family I’ve known to use the traditional boti, a long curved blade that sits on a wooden platform held down by foot, and provides excellent control to the user. In a pre-food processor age, it allowed for the potato to be cut very finely. She made them in large batches and sealed them in glass jars. When we visited grandparents in Calcutta, we couldn’t have a single meal without these. If she went away for a few days, we would plead with her to come back. She also made various kinds of chutneys with mango and jaggery for us to take home after the summer holidays, ensuring she was with us until we met again the following summer.

Only as an adult did I realise the deep intelligence in these acts. I based a character in my debut novel, The Illuminated, on this grand-aunt. In the story, the otherwise disenfranchised young widow, Lata, widowed at 20, “rules the tastebuds”. Food is power. And it can be a weapon, too. For the man in his mid-40s who told me he remains in a marriage that is long over, it is a trap. He can’t leave the house because he is too accustomed to his wife’s breakfast spread. She instructs the cook to make what he has been used to since he was a child. I remember laughing when he started describing the food that had enslaved him. But I did understand his helplessness.

The Illuminated by Anindita Ghose (Head of Zeus, £15.99) is available from guardianbookshop at £13.91

February 13, 2023

Celebrate love with our top 8 dessert recipes for Valentine’s Day

No subject who you are investing the night with — a lover, mates, spouse and children users, a pet or just yourself — there’s usually reason to celebrate, no matter if you might be a Valentine’s Day man or woman or not. In addition to, desserts are constantly great any day of the year.

Moreover, there is certainly plenty extra to “passionate” fare than just chocolate-included strawberries … even although all those are always welcome at any occasion, far too.

Whether or not they are prosperous and creamy, light and airy, crispy and crunchy or smooth and delicate, these desserts are a wonderful way to cap off a passionate meal or just to take pleasure in a rapid minor chunk though looking at Tv set or a dependable, go-to motion picture. These desserts are also quite darn uncomplicated, allowing for you to spend the vast majority of your time with your cherished ones. Even though it is really also fun to get your liked ones involved in the kitchen area with you!

As Elisha Cuthbert’s Alex Kerkovich repeatedly intones in the St. Valentine’s Day episode of the permanently beneath-appreciated sitcom “Pleased Endings” — “For adore!”

So make a single of these beautiful options, perform Sarah Vaughan’s insurmountable stay rendition of “My Funny Valentine” on loop and cuddle up. You have a lovely evening in advance of you, comprehensive with a marvelous dessert, no issue the business. And that is something to celebrate, is it not?

Peanut Butter Pie (Mary Elizabeth Williams)Picture_placeholder

Continue to be in and enjoy diner vibes at home with this stellar pie. As Salon Senior Writer Mary Elizabeth Williams writes, “At house, chocolate peanut butter is a remarkably simple indulgence. It arrives alongside one another in minutes, and it truly is ready to try to eat pretty much immediately.”

It will not get a great deal improved than that, does it?

Brownie (Getty Photos/Jennifer A Smith)Image_placeholder

Columnist Bibi Hutchings attributes her adore for foods to her mother and grandmother and their respective prowess in the kitchen. As she notes, “these brownies are a ideal example of what my mom did best: provide anything remarkable from anything most foods is normal.”

These are so exclusive in Bibi’s family that they’ve attained the title “The Brownies” due to the fact no one other brownies can evaluate up.

A swift phrase of warning from Hutchings herself: “Never say I did not warn you: be very careful when you make these. They are rich and wield great ability. They are unachievable to disregard, and you will more than-indulge. They will phone out to you like Sirens, significantly in the evening, beckoning you over to their foil included pan with the promise of pure bliss. They supply on that assure as you will see.”

Whiskey Pear Cobbler (Mary Elizabeth Williams)Graphic_placeholder

Though other cobblers may perhaps discover by themselves in the spotlight far more usually, this particular cobbler — jam-packed with heat, tender pears and the sharp chunk of whiskey — generates an wonderful mattress for numerous scoops of ice cream or maybe whipped cream.

You may definitely want to heat this up a bit if you might be having it after it is really thoroughly cooled down a chunk of this when it really is warmed via is a comforting, enjoyable expertise.

Creamy yogurt panna cotta with fresh strawberry sauce in glass

Creamy yogurt panna cotta with contemporary strawberry sauce in glass (Getty Photographs/yumehana)Impression_placeholder

Panna cotta may at 1st seem a little bit daunting to make at property, but do not fret! It is basically pretty simple and the bulk of the “method” asks the refrigerator to do the work — not you.

As Bibi Hutchings poetically puts it, “Adore is a evening in with do-it-yourself panna cotta.”

Want a lot more great food stuff crafting and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food’s publication, The Bite.

Teddy graham tiramisu (Mary Elizabeth Williams)Picture_placeholder

A serious blast from the previous, this cute, Teddy Graham-topped tiramisu melds two worlds: the nostalgic pleasurable of the sweet, graham cracker common and the timeless pleasure that is the Italian stalwart, tiramisu.

Tiramisu is a tradition for a explanation: it can be scrumptious, it is really forgivable, it is customizable and it is a blast of comfort. By swapping ladyfingers for Teddy Grahams, though, the dish feels a bit additional approachable — and downright entertaining.

One notice: will not skimp on the cocoa powder! It definitely can help increase that special, last contact, each aesthetically and taste-sensible.

Chocolate Snaps (Mary Elizabeth Williams)Picture_placeholder

Veering much more into the Milk Bar-inspired, savory dessert realm, this gem is probably as salty as it is sweet. For people who are not primarily fond of saccharine desserts, this could be the great selection for you and your cherished types.

Very very simple but outrageously flavorful, this distinctive assortment of flavors (entire with peanut butter, potato chips, darkish chocolate and cookies!) is combined to make a handheld dessert that is certain to each impress and fulfill.

Purple Wine Whoopie Pies (Courtesy Meghan McGarry/Buttercream Blondie)Picture_placeholder

A prosperous, comfortable dessert “sandwich” containing red wine? Your Valentine is absolutely sure to thank you.

Combining mascarpone with a pink wine reduction and then stuffing it concerning whoopie pies redolent of cocoa, vanilla and buttermilk is certainly a statement that says “I enjoy you” (just will not give it to your pet dog).

This is 1 of the much more time-consuming recipes on this list, so truly feel totally free to make the cream one particular day and the whoopie pies a different, so that that way, all you have to do on Valentine’s Working day alone is merge and adorn.

https://www.youtube.com/enjoy?v=tI4NvrKF2I4

Sicilian Really like Cake (Mary Elizabeth Williams)Impression_placeholder

If you’re not acquainted with this cake — there’s never been a much better time to acquaint on your own.

As Salon’s Williams describes it, “Like the warm fudge cake or the St. Louis gooey cake, the Sicilian adore cake is a tiny little bit of culinary magic. A cheesecake-ish filling is spooned atop a frequent previous chocolate cake mix batter. The filling sinks as the cake bakes, transforming the overall dessert into a little something new and astounding. What’s much more, it gets topped with a chocolate pudding frosting. The conclusion consequence is a sheet cake certain to make any group swoon.”

There could be no improved way to celebrate the getaway. It really is even heart-shaped!

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February 11, 2023

Is Food Your Love Language? Here Are 28 Ways BA Staffers Say ‘I Love You’

I’ll say it—Valentine’s Day is a food holiday. Sure, on the surface it’s all about ooey gooey romance, but speaking practically, it all comes down to food: boxes of fancy chocolates, bottles of bubbly, expensive prix fixe meals where every course is somehow red. Right up there with Thanksgiving and National Pizza Day, Valentine’s Day is a food holiday, and that makes us here at Bon Appétit an authority.

And sure, going out to eat on Valentine’s can be tough—between the lack of reservations and overrated holiday menus—but showing love with food is something BA staffers feel passionate about year-round. So passionately, in fact, that when we asked on Slack for people’s favorite food-y acts of care, nearly everyone on our team had a story to tell. Maybe it was cooking an intense meal for a beloved friend, or a romantic partner being especially thoughtful with the takeout order, or just taking time to stop for a bite to eat with someone.

So to help you get in the mood for February 14, we gathered this list of 28 romantic and platonic food gestures from our staff (for every day of this month), from traditions to rituals to long-running inside jokes to random acts of kindness. Try them on a friend, a crush, or anyone you want to feel special and well-fed.

I only break out the pasta machine for special occasions. I made my best friend a cozy bowl of cacio e pepe with fresh linguini the night before he took the LSAT, and rolled out a ribbony tagliatelle for the first night I ever cooked for my partner. Fresh pasta is definitely a lot of work, but it’s my favorite way to say “I care enough about you to make my arms sore for days.” —Alma Avalle, digital production associate
My spouse’s culinary capabilities begin and end at boiled eggs. Once, when I was sick, she told me she would make me anything I wanted to eat. I requested my ultimate comfort food—mashed potatoes. She googled a recipe and brought me the most soothing, revivifying meal of my life. She even figured out what a ricer was. —MacKenzie Chung Fegan, senior commerce editor
I’m a firm believer in little-treat culture. My boyfriend and I live near each other, so when it’s nice out he’ll stop by in the middle of the work day for a quick snack break with a little pastry—a delicate madeleine with a golden slice of pineapple embedded in the center, or a soft-in-the-center chocolate chip cookie—and we’ll share it in the park nearby. As an added bonus, he’ll listen to me talk about the way the pastry tastes, looks, and makes me feel for the half hour we’re together. —Sam Stone, staff writer
When they do the dishes or unload the dishwasher without being asked. —Kelly Janke, director, culinary production
When they simply take care of making a dinner reservation without me even having to think about it or be involved. —Chris Morocco, test kitchen director
When someone orders Taco Bell for me and they remember to get a crap ton of mild sauce because it’s my absolute fave. —Julia Duarte, art assistant
When the delivery person writes a nice message on the bag for you. —Hazel Zavala, art director
When my partner makes me coffee and brings it to my bedside table. —June Kim, vice president of digital video
When they take the time to learn how to make something from my culture! The past month has been devoted to my partner creating countless iterations of miso soup. —Jen Osaki, creative producer
Early in our relationship, my girlfriend and I started quoting the “gave me cookie got you cookie” scene from the show New Girl whenever someone gets food. Much like Nick from the show—who has a meltdown while gifting his friend Schmidt a pastry treat—we’ve become less and less intelligible the longer the bit has gone on. We’ve been told it makes us nearly insufferable to be around. How romantic. —A.A.
When they allow me to eat most of the crust of the pie or leave me the bone of a rib eye or pork chop to gnaw on. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations associate
For me, it’s, “Hey, I went to the bakery you like and I bought you a loaf of bread.” —Adam Moussa, associate director, social video
When my partner lets me take the last spring roll when there are three of them and we each ate one already. —Esra Erol, senior social media manager
I like to give my plants encouraging compliments when I water them. —Karen Yuan, lifestyle editor
With few exceptions, I don’t really eat animal flesh. Meanwhile, my boyfriend loves a chicken sandwich or a burger fresh off the flat grill. It’s the cutest thing ever when he eschews meat and surprises me with a bowl of Tuscan vegetable soup from the nearby Italian market, a tofu-filled banh mi we saw in half and devour, or a homemade sheet-pan dinner covered in toasty pierogies and kimchi. These little acts just say, Girl, I might not agree with you, but I fully see and support you. Ain’t that love? —Ali Francis, staff writer
When I’m having a super busy day, my husband surprises me by knocking on the door with lunch. And he almost always brings along an open jar of chili crunch with a spoon in it. —Emily Farris, senior commerce writer
I also love getting to be the one to squeeze the lemon wedge on a dish. –K.K.
My partner and I love cracking our fortune cookies together and comparing our fortunes. —E.E.
Airplane meals—the meals someone readies for you when you walk through the door from a trip. My mom does this and prepares a specific favorite dish whenever we arrive (mine is chicken korma; my brother’s is apple pie). My partner started doing this for me too. —Olivia Quintana, associate social media manager
My dad used to wake up at 6 a.m. to go pick up fresh bagels every time I had friends sleep over. I never asked for the bagels. They were always just on the counter when we walked downstairs. —Zoe Denenberg, associate editor
Love is your family overseas rearranging your entire suitcase to better fit all the homemade jam, almond cookies, chocolate wafers, sesame sticks, tea biscuits, loose-leaf teas, dried apricots, pistachios… —E.E.
When my husband worked for a big tech company that got a wild delivery of crazy new snacks every week, he’d squirrel away things he thought I’d like into his backpack, and then do a big presentation reveal for me when he got home. —Kendra Vaculin, food editor
This week I baked cornbread and cut half of it into little cubes to feed as treats to the dog. And that is peak love. —Z.D.
When he pours me water even if the carafe is closer to me. —Shilpa Uskokovic, food editor
It’s a small thing: My husband fills my thermos with cold water every night so I have fresh water to drink as soon as I wake up. —Vivian Jao, recipe editor
When we have dinner parties, he always goes to the store the day before and lugs back the heavy stuff, like bottles of water, seltzer, wine, etc. —S.U.
When they’re busy, my partner often just forgets to eat. It’s tough considering their girlfriend is a food journalist. When we’re apart, sometimes my love language is just sending a text around noon to say, “It’s lunchtime, you’re on my mind, and the world’s not ending—you’re just hungry.” —A.A.
Shortly after my future wife and I moved in together, I woke up one morning to an empty apartment and found this note (pictured below) left by her. —Dan Siegel, senior director, creative development

January 30, 2023

‘Food’s my love language’: the Palestinian Americans behind San Francisco’s renowned dining scene | Food

San Francisco’s Reem Assil is a new kind of restaurateur, fusing her work as a chef with activism. She says foods like manakeesh flatbreads she serves at her San Francisco restaurants help diners appreciate Palestinian culture and empathize with her people’s ongoing struggles. “I’m part of a new wave,” said Assil, who is easily the Bay Area’s most high profile Palestinian American food entrepreneur. But she’s not the only one.

If you take a 20-minute drive along South Van Ness Avenue, you can stop for a mint mojito coffee at Philz in Russian Hill, hit the Ike’s Sandwiches eight minutes away in Cathedral Hill for a Super Mario meatball sandwich and then pop into Bi-Rite Market in the Mission for some olive oil and salted caramel ice cream. But here’s something you probably didn’t know these beloved Bay Area chains have in common: they were all founded by Palestinian Americans.

grocery store interior — Inside the Divisadero branch of Bi-Rite. Photograph: Jen Fedrizzi

Most of these entrepreneurs came to San Francisco in the period from the late 1940s to 1960s, when Israeli military forces expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The relatively warm climate attracted Arab immigrants. In those days, Americans didn’t know hummus from a hammam, so they opened shops selling groceries, later expanding into coffee, sandwiches, ice cream and breakfast foods.

Assil said she was grateful to the people who came before her: “There’s a real subculture of young Palestinians who grew up in the stores and watched the entrepreneurship of their parents.”

Jamal Shamieh, who grew up working in his family’s market, was one of them. Geneva Super Mini Mart sold eggs, milk, cigarettes, and newspapers. Jamal, known as Jimmy, and his siblings worked there every day: after school, after dinner, and on weekends. “The whole family understood that we had to work hard to make it in America,” he said. “They were hard lessons working very long hours.”

Mini markets did much more than provide recent immigrants a way to make a living, said Ramzi Salti, a lecturer in Arabic at Stanford University. Whether in the Sunset, the Mission, or Castro neighborhoods of San Francisco, these stores were a California version of the baqalah, a vital part of Arab culture. “Those are traditional stores in the Arab world and they tend to be a hub for the community,” said Salti, who hosts the Arabology podcast and blog. “You go in to buy milk and you end up in a conversation.”

The Arab community in the Bay Area is estimated at 200,000, according to the Arab Resource & Organizing Center.

Shamieh eventually earned an MBA and in 2010, he and his family launched Cream, a small chain dishing up made-to-order cookie ice cream sandwiches.

Hospitality through food has always been central to Arab and Palestinian culture, says Salti. For Palestinians living in the US, cuisine has become a meaningful way to introduce others to their culture. “They take pride in the food of their ancestors, even if they don’t live in their ancestral lands any more,” said Salti. “Passing it from one generation to the other is an essential part of Palestinian identity.”

The third season of the culinary documentary Migrant Kitchen explored how Assil of Reem’s California is bringing Arab street food like the manou’che flatbread, chicken musakhan with caramelized onions and sumac, and the sweet cheese dessert knafeh to a broader audience.

Reem Assil and Wendy Giron prepare food at Reem’s California. Photograph: San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

Growing up in suburban Boston, Assil knew her maternal grandfather had lost his wealth in Gaza in the 1967 Israeli invasion. He started over in Lebanon and again had his property confiscated when civil war broke out. “People who’ve been at war and displaced, they have this … amazing and incredible will to build up from scratch,” she said. “It’s just like survival. And you could say that about a lot of immigrant groups.”

Assil worked as an organizer and activist, but, as she details in her acclaimed book Arabiyya, she became burnt out. “Food became my love language and also my tool for change,” Assil said. Her colorful restaurants in the San Francisco Ferry Building and the Mission reflect her heritage and the neighborhood’s Latino roots. Assil, who describes herself as an entrepreneur and activist, is turning the restaurant into a worker-owned cooperative.

As a boy, Ike Shehadeh, founder of Ike’s Love & Sandwiches, remembers his parents talking and laughing with friends late into the night over Turkish coffee and mint tea. His drink was milky mint tea with rosewater.

He was five when his mother taught him how to make sandwiches. She cooked three traditional meals daily and didn’t believe in all-day dining. But Shehadeh was a hungry kid who liked snacks. He’d toast bread and mix different jarred condiments to keep his sandwiches juicy. His garlicky Dirty Sauce and spicy names like Ménage a Trois make Ike’s Sandwiches stand out. Today, Ike’s has 80+ locations across the western US.

Shehadeh says it never occurred to him to make Palestinian dishes when he launched in 2007. “I wouldn’t go make some hummus and falafel because my mom made that,” he said with a laugh. Still, his rose iced tea and lemonade are a nod to beloved flavors.

His parents, a former professor turned market owner and stay-at-home mom, taught him important lessons that made Ike’s Sandwiches successful. “I learned to show up to work every single day whatever is going on in the world. I learned that from my father in the market business,” he said. And his mom, who didn’t speak much English, taught him to be brave. “Being uncomfortable, being in a new place … and not letting that faze me,” he says. “I used to do it and figure it out along the way.”

As seen in the Netflix series Mo, meeting over coffee to discuss news and politics is part of daily life for many Palestinians, both in Ramallah and the US. In late-70s San Francisco, the universal love of coffee meant every Palestinian market owner sold it for 70 cents a cup. It brewed all day and was muddy and bitter by the afternoon.

That’s where Phil Jaber, founder of Philz Coffee, saw an opportunity. He started making drip coffee fresh by the cup and creating international bean blends. According to the Philz Coffee website, Jaber moved his kitchen table into his market at 3101 24th Street and launched Philz Coffee in 2003.

A Philz Coffee in San Francisco. Photograph: Directphoto Collection/Alamy

People loved the fresh grinds, careful attention to each cup of coffee, and original drinks like the chocolaty mocha tesora or the mint mojito, served sweet and creamy. The chain has expanded nationally with close to 70 locations across California, Chicago, and metropolitan Washington DC. When Philz closed a 2016 funding round, bringing its total investment to $75 million, the company was valued at $100m to 500m, according to Crunchbase.

Sam Mogannam was six when he started helping his father Ned and his uncle Jack at Bi-Rite, the little market on 18th Street that the brothers bought in 1964. Over the years, Mogannam learned about life and people, watching neighbors come and go, find partners and start families, and share their lives with his family.

Creating community through food still informs how Mogannam runs his business, including Bi-Rite Creamery and markets, which recently announced a third location. “It’s all about hospitality, when you’re able to make people feel welcome and create a public space where your neighbor would come in and be a part of your daily life,” Mogannam says.

man poses in front of store — Sam Mogannam at Bi-Rite. Photograph: Courtesy Bi-Rite Market

The 2010 documentary Corner Store explores the Arab market’s significance through the story of Yousef, a Palestinian man who works in a corner grocery for 10 years to bring his family to the US. But when he returns to Palestine, he realizes his new community in San Francisco has changed him.

After this first wave of Palestinian immigrants found success in starter businesses, they expanded into other ventures. “Those small stores served their purpose for that group,” Nader Mike Musleh said. “Property values went up like crazy, they naturally migrated to the suburbs, and they’ve become a part of American culture.” His father, Naseef “Nick” Musleh, bought a deli when his family moved to San Francisco in 1979, expanding into real estate investment and restaurants a decade later.

Naseef Musleh’s most influential venture may be the Pork Store Cafe, a Haight Street institution he opened with his sister Nadia. She ran the grill, serving omelets, griddled hash browns, and salty humor in a classic diner setting.

Growing up in a family of store owners and entrepreneurs, their cousin Nimr Musleh says he didn’t consider another career. He and his brother Omar own Flipside Burger near Oakland’s Lake Merritt, plus Main Squeeze juice bars in Oakland and Alameda. “Most of us were in groceries and we ended up in restaurants,” said Musleh. “You are what your father was.”

Nick Musleh sent his sons Mike and Nabiel to college and bankrolled their large DJ dance parties at the Warfield and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. They went on to become nightlife pioneers and owners of Harlot nightclub. Nabiel Musleh sits on the San Francisco Arts Commission while Mike Musleh is an attorney and real estate investor. Running the Pork Store Cafe keeps him connected to his family’s roots.

woman smiles in front of restaurant — Chef Mona Leena Michael at Lulu. Photograph: Will Blunt

Meanwhile, Musleh’s cousin Mona Leena Michael represents a new generation of Palestinian American food entrepreneurs. The first thing she remembers doing in the home kitchen is helping her mother pull parsley leaves to make tabouleh. Michael studied speech pathology but wasn’t excited about grad school. Instead, she started her restaurant career, spending 12 years working as a barista, opening a wine bar with her cousin Mike at the French-California restaurant Jardiniere and running the kitchen at Dyafa before opening her bustling cafe Lulu in Berkeley.

Every weekend, crowds flock to her Insta-worthy dining room with pink and green fig wallpaper, glittery floors, and a pink neon sign for her fresh, inventive menu. Dishes range from buttery biscuits and harissa lamb breakfast sandwiches to pita salads with fried chicken and a generous brunch mezze platter with eggs in labneh, mini manou’che, bright green falafel, lamb-topped hummus and sprays of champagne grapes. She calls her menu Californian with Palestinian influences. “I didn’t think doing the purest Palestinian restaurant would do all that work justice, and it was very limiting,” she said. “This is my soul food.”