I Yearn For Small Bites
Pining for the petit treats
As I often do at the beginning of these newsletters, I invite you, dear reader, to sit back in a comfortable chair and close your eyes. Imagine you are in a cool little bar. The decor is fun and interesting. There are lots of lamps giving off warm light. Slightly off-beat local paintings line the walls. Some Medieval Art inspired floral wallpaper decorates the place, Nothing too ostentatious or fancy, but all high-quality. The chairs are comfortable, and the place is bopping, but not too packed. You don’t have to bump into ten people just to make your way to the bathroom. The speakers are playing some fun tunes, but nothing overpowering or too loud. You’re there with 2-5 of your best pals. The cocktails are good but not crazy expensive. It’s about 4pm on a Saturday and you’ve got no plans for Sunday. The waiter comes over and tells you that a table just opened up on the patio and it’s yours if you want it. You get it and don’t even have to close your tab inside. They transfer it outside. The vibes get even more immaculate. It’s 78 and sunny. A slight breeze ruffles everyone’s hair now and again, but never causes anything to get knocked off the table. There are no bugs. You take a look at the menu. It’s full of Pinchos. Dim sum. Pintxos. Tapas. Canapés. Cicchetti. Appetizers. Amuse Bouché. Bar Snacks. Charcuterie. Whatever the hell you call them, this places only serves little tiny snacks and they freaking rule.[1] Now that’s a freaking perfect day.
Okay, you can open your eyes now and read the rest of this. Or just like live in that world for a bit. Seems fun. Hell, maybe don’t read the rest of this and start planning a day like that. You’re probably reading this on a Monday. You can get started.
I am an avowed believer in the idea that the best meal is just like a bunch of apps. Bites in the modern parlance. If I could eat every night like I was a guest at a wedding cocktail hour I would. No need for an entree and a side, just toss three different combos of bruschetta and a cocktail shrimp down my gullet and I’m a happy man. It would be impossible to convince me that the world would not be a better place if everyone could just have pintxos for dinner every night. There’s a reason that so many different cultures around the world have designed their little treats as pre-dinner bits or for eating at bars. For one, they just taste great. Little flavor bombs that go great with drinks or on their own. They can usually be eaten without plates, making clean up and presentation a lot easier as well. These little cicchetti promote conversation, increase appetites, and just generally make for a good time. Who doesn’t like to hang out, eat, drink, and be merry with friends after all? It’s like literally the best thing to do. Maybe winning the lottery is better? But I have no experience with that.
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So why don’t we just eat them all the time? Well for one, it sucks to make a lot of different dishes. While it might be easier for a bar to serve twenty different tapas than a whole menu, it’s a different story for home cooks. Needing to source all the ingredients for twenty different dishes would take forever. You’d have to visit like tne different stores. Even if you’re just slapping some pesto and mozzarella or tomato, basil, and mozzarella, or hot honey and mozzarella on some baguette slices and calling it a day, that’s still a hassle! You need to get so much mozzarella! Not everyone has Mozzarella Money![2]
Preparation and storage are a whole other thing for home chefs as well. Much easier to make two dishes on a busy weeknight than it is to craft a bunch of apps on a random Wednesday after you’ve worked all day. Plus, most people don’t have either the fridge space, or the counter space to keep that many different plates of pinchos. Square footage is expensive. It’s hard enough to find room to make a damn roast chicken as it is! Let alone have to find serving plates for ten different types of egg rolls.
I guess I also need to say here that some people don’t like having a lot of different flavors in one meal. I like don’t really understand that whole scene, but it certainly is some people’s preference. Some people also don’t like “bold” flavors. Imagine like saying that out loud. Could not be me. In this case, I will try not to look too poorly upon those people.
So, these little bits of flavor are treats rather than standards.[3] Cute two chew heroes.
I thought about just like listing a bunch of my faves here, but that seems like it would be rather boring. So I’ll just close this out with another thought experiment. Close your eyes - but keep reading - and imagine that you are in a backyard. It’s about 84 and sunny, but there’s some shade if you need it. About 20 of your pals are there, listening to some chill tunes. Something like “Green Light” by Lorde. People brought blankets to sit on. The yard is big enough to also play some cornhole[4] and not get in anyone’s way. You and your partner are running the boards. Someone made Aperol spritzes and the host batched up some Moscow Mules. There is plenty of sparkling water and beer. People are passing around pigs in a blanket, grilled jalapeno poppers, and you think you saw a cheese plate. The corner store has ice if you need more.
Beautiful.
[1] Am I glossing over a lot of cultural history here? Yes! Do I regret it! No! This isn’t that type of newsletter.
[2] Mozzarella Moolah.
[3] You can tell I didn’t grow up in a household that ordered apps whenever they went out to dinner. We were a no apps household for sure. Generally no desserts at restaurants either.
[4] That’s bags to all the realheads
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