I’ve (finally) finished reading The Best American Food Writing 2021 and there’s a piece by Rebecca Onion (real name, I double checked) and it’s one of my favorite arguments in food writing. I always laugh when the headnote is a joke, and when it’s thoughtful and real I don’t even need to read the recipe or cook the food, but feel like I’ve been on the journey with the author.
But it’s true, they can almost seem like satire in how emotional they can be, but they are necessary. They add a context that can be important in a world of constant borrowing of culture and it helps avoid the Alison Roman move of borrowing till it’s appropriated. It’s ok to borrow, just acknowledge the origin and history.
The other thing that the headnote does is build trust in the creator of the recipe. If someone just wants to know how to make a dish, Allrecipes is right there. But which recipe is better? The one with better pictures? Higher Rating? The one with the easiest to acquire ingredients maybe? But if you’re looking to make something new to you, you’ll read the headnote, or google the author, but you want something you know will be good to eat and within your ability to recreate in your kitchen.
But a really good headnote doesn’t need the recipe. It’s probably why I love Anthony Bourdain so much. He’s a food writer who was a chef but who’s food I have not eaten or cooked from any of his recipes. I don’t need to. I’ll read his cook book and the food will be an irrelevant side quest.
My favorite headnote though is the Oscar winning short film, The New Tenants. It’s a movie that takes place as a couple settles in to their new apartment and they meet their new neighbors and the acquaintances of the old the tenant. I won’t give it away, because it has all the twists and turns of a Cohen Brothers movie in 20 minutes, but it has a recipe at the end (that I’ve made with my partner), and it’s almost as good as the film.
I think the headnote is more important than the recipe. The only way the recipe is more important is if the recipe is for world peace or a cure for cancer. Can’t think of a recipe that’s better than great writing. It doesn’t matter how incredible the recipe is, you still have to cook it, and we all know how good you are at cooking.
What I’m Reading…
I’m rereading Tao Lin’s, Shoplifting from American Apparel. Really can’t believe that time in Literature was real. Very nostalgic to go back and read it.
Jobs!
There’s this adjunct teaching job that I am actually interested in if it is online, but the job posting is very vague. I have so many questions that I might have to apply just to get them answered.