Friday, June 14, 2024

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Wolmania. Check this stuff out:

Item 1: a link

Apologies to the vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, and buttered noodle aficionados out there, but I found this guide to "Argentina on two steaks a day" quite elucidating:

The classic beginner's mistake in Argentina is to neglect the first steak of the day. You will be tempted to just peck at it or even skip it altogether, rationalizing that you need to save yourself for the much larger steak later that night. But this is a false economy, like refusing to drink water in the early parts of a marathon. That first steak has to get you through the afternoon and half the night, until the restaurants begin to open at ten; the first steak is what primes your system to digest large quantities of animal protein, and it's the first steak that buffers the sudden sugar rush of your afternoon ice cream cone. The midnight second steak might be more the glamorous one, standing as it does a good three inches off the plate, but all it has to do is get you up and out of the restaurant and into bed (for the love of God, don't forget to drink water).

The afternoon steak is the workhorse steak, the backbone of the day. It's the steak that gets you around the city, ensures a successful nap, steers you into the bar and (most importantly) gives you the mental clarity to choose the right cut of meat in the restaurant that night. Misorder the first steak and you will either find yourself losing steam by eight o'clock, when no restaurant is open, or scampering to find an awkward third bridge steak, to tide you over until dinner.

Title (and excerpt) notwithstanding, you'll find information and guidance here across the culinary spectrum. Next year in Buenos Aires?

Item 2: a list

James Beard “Best Chef” Award regions, ranked:

1. California
2. Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) 
3. New York State 
4. Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA) 
5. Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV) 
6. Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
7. Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK) 
8. Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
9. Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) 
10. Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
11. Texas
12. South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR) 

Item 3: a media recommendation

For more info, see this Wired story about the same subject.

Item 4: word of the week

Lollapalooza

I really thought Hit Man was going to be a lollapalooza, but it turned out to be kinda dumb. And the ending was morally abhorrent! But not in a fun way. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Item 5: a photograph

See ya!

Thanks for reading. I'll see you again next week.