Eat Your Pineapple Cores
Also, a quick update
Hi Friends,
Due to an unforeseen circumstance, this week’s dispatch will be short.
Free sign-ups, hi there! *waves* I know it’s been a while since you last heard from me. A lot has been going on since then, and we’ve been cooking many dishes. One of my Thai New Year’s resolutions this April is to send out at least one newsletter for everybody, both paid subscribers and free sign-ups, in the coming year, so you’ll hear from me more often.
Also, if you’re on the fence about becoming a paid subscriber, please consider jumping in (check out the archive). I’m a cook, a language nerd, and a writer and not much of a marketer.
However, I just got an idea from one paid subscriber, Jen, who just wrote me to say how much she loved The Epestle. “I cook along with you every week, and I know at the end of each year, I will have learned how to cook over 50 new Thai dishes. I’ve paid three times as much for a one-day cooking class that only taught me how to make no more than five dishes. This is a bargain!” See, I’d never thought of The Epestle as a weekly cooking class, but Jen’s right.
If you’d like to join Jen and hundreds of other paid subscribers. Please click on the button below or help share the link with people who may be interested. I appreciate you regardless! Thanks for your support of me and my work over the years.
By the way, don’t throw away your pineapple cores. Slice them thinly crosswise and snack on them. You can also blend some sugar, salt, and a finely chopped red chile into a dipping salt and serve it with the pineapple core “chips.” Delicious!
Paid subscribers, hello! You didn’t hear from me last week, so I’m making it up to you! I just wanted to let you know that these are what you can expect this coming week.
Monday 4/4: The so-called “fish sauce-fried cabbage” with commentary, as usual. This 3-ingredient dish may look humble, but it commands a pretty steep price at many chic restaurants in Bangkok.
Wednesday 4/6: My essay on how the power of observation makes you a better cook, featuring the ever-so-brilliant J. Kenji López-Alt and a recipe from his new book, The Wok: Recipes and Techniques.
Friday 4/8: What to do with pineapple cores other than what I wrote above.
Sunday 4/10: Fish sauce! I know some of you have just started fermenting your anchovies (or sardines), so you still have a long way to go. But I started one batch earlier last spring, so it’s ready now. I’ll show you how to finish off your VERY OWN FISH SAUCE HOORAY!
Then we resume the normal Sunday schedule.
Sometime this summer when it’s warm and sunny, we will also make dried shrimp and shrimp paste from scratch. Get ready!
Lastly, did you know you can read The Epestle in the new Substack app? Check it out.
Thanks, everybody! Appreciate your support. I literally cannot do this without you.
Leela