Our favorite stories written by our food team in 2024

There are many nicknames floating around the internet to describe the blurry time between Christmas (this year it’s Christmas!) and New Year’s Day. “Feral Week” is my favorite. It’s time to immerse yourself in reading. In that spirit, for all of us, I asked my colleagues to reflect on the past year and name their favorite article to be published in The Times in 2024.

Favorite stories written in 2024

“My favorite stories are also the most personal to me,” says Food Editorial Assistant Danielle Dorsey. “This book provides insight into the esophagus of Southern California blacks, of whom I represent the second generation of my mother’s side. Specifically, in this essay I will discuss what I have come to refer to as the “black taco.” First, it delves into the rise of Black families in the area and then Black-owned restaurants. This essay explores the influences and inspiration that Black home cooks gleaned from their Mexican neighbors and local taquerias (especially “gringo” tacos), and how their recipes differ from typical cooking methods. I’m sharing it.

“In addition to the main essay, we also include a list of 9 best places in Los Angeles to try black tacos, and the secret taco that gained international fame after being spotlighted on Issa Rae’s HBO series “Insecure.” Share your stand profile. ”

Deputy Food Editor Betty Hallock visited Arturo Enciso of Gusto, a fantastic bakery in Long Beach, to document how Dia de Muertos’ iconic bread is made. “Enciso likens baking to a spiritual practice, a way to learn about yourself as much as baking,” she says. “Pan de muerto is the most common style in the state of Mexico, round and fluffy and decorated with symbolic bones and the tears of the goddess Chimaruma. Enciso is a traditional orange blossom water and They are flavored with fennel. It’s so delicious that I thought of traveling to Mexico City during the week of Muertos, when families mourn their lost loved ones, and the eponymous sweet bread appears in every bakery in town (St. (You can even smell the pastry from the inside) ) and on an altar built especially for the holiday.

“Everyone I met said, “It’s not Día de Muertos season until you’ve eaten at least five glasses of Pan de Muertos.” Not only in Mexico City, but also in Puebla, (dusted with sugar) and guanajuato (human-shaped, pure white with a frosted finish) Gusto’s version spurred an obsession, and I’m now thankful I know how to make it myself (recipe here). ), but I’ll probably definitely visit the bakery in Enciso during Muertos season.

Gusto Bread owner Arturo Enciso brushes his freshly baked pan de muerto with melted butter and sprinkles some with sugar.

(Shelby Moore/For the Times)

Columnist Jen Harris chose to profile chef Ming Huang, who previously ran restaurants Phenakite and Porridge + Puff. Her feature reveals the collective reasons why Phan left her business to become an artist-in-residence at a non-profit organization called Food Forward. Jen says of this work: “Ming is someone who works tirelessly to bring equity to the entire restaurant industry, from farmers to the people who prepare and serve food. Thank you for sharing your story about your commitment to the arts and why you chose to work for a nonprofit organization.”

It was added to my “favorites” not in a positive sense, but in an important sense. In May, the Times published an article about a spate of restaurant closings in Los Angeles. For that story, reporter Stephanie Blajo spent months interviewing chefs and restaurant owners. While the factors are varied and there are specific circumstances and stories behind each closure, it becomes clear why this year has been a year of crisis for so many in Los Angeles’ restaurant industry. It’s a must read.

Reporter Cindy Carcamo pointed to her highly publicized article, asking, “Fast-growing asparagus once flourished on California farms. Why is it disappearing?” It details the rise and fall of this vegetable as a Golden State crop that only a handful of farmers are dedicated to producing. “At its most recent peak in 2000, California farmers harvested 37,000 acres of asparagus, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Since then, about 10% of that acreage has been lost each year. Latest Currently, there are 3,000 acres of asparagus remaining in the Golden State, according to available data. Farmers and asparagus industry officials say the story of what happened can be read as a warning for California agriculture as a whole.

Ming Fan shows off early food waste experiments in the nonprofit Food Forward’s trailer studio. A lot of it involves dehydration.

(Shelby Moore/For the Times)

Sarah Mosqueda wrote about the profile “One generation after Nobu, Peruvian sushi blossoms in Long Beach”, saying, “It took me a long time to get to know Sushi Nikkei owners Eduardo Chan and Daiwa Wong.” The dynamic of running a restaurant with a partner was familiar to me, but I wasn’t familiar with the history of Peru’s Japanese immigrants and their descendants. I am very grateful to Ta-chan and Wong.”

The entire team worked together for several months on the megaproject 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles, which was announced in July. Food editor Daniel Hernandez wrote an accompanying essay about the meaning behind our signature foods. As he puts it, “digging into some origins and broader cultural analysis of why L.A. is so obsessed with tacos, and why they’re so abundant in tacos, the most versatile dish of them all. ” Why he thinks the city is in a “fourth wave” of tacos, what’s contributing to its “chaotic abundance,” and read truisms like: Please. you are not alone. I’m a believer too, but no one can explain the science of it. ”

Tacos with lamb barbacoa from Arleta’s Barbacoa Ramirez.

(Andrea D’Agosto/For the Times)

Laurie Ochoa has selected two articles from this very newsletter that we’re co-writing that delve into her travels to Italy this summer. Both will leave you very hungry. In the first sentence she writes: “Italy’s Umbria is a part of the world where there are as many roadside porchetta trucks as there are taco trucks in Los Angeles. …But in recent years, Umbrian sandwich makers who are carving their own path I really want to eat panini.”

In the second article, he writes about Castelluccio, a small village in a region famous for its delicious lentils. “A single photograph cannot capture the beauty of the plains that attracts shepherds and their herds and trekkers along the mountain trails of Sibillini National Park.” Fly over wild and trained horses in the park In addition to hang gliders, there are also day-trippers with all kinds of expensive photography equipment and cheap cell phones for selfies. I’m here for lunch. …Taverna Castelluccio, run by Giuseppe ‘Peppe’ Caponecchi and his family, is a destination restaurant like mine that has much to offer to those who seek honest cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients. Not just lentils, but all kinds of salumi. Farro and chickpeas. Pecorino cheese. Black summer truffle. ”

And what about me?

For me, it involves traveling, but Los Angeles is much closer. I spent a lot of time exploring California this year and got a new look at what’s happening in restaurants in San Diego and Palm Springs. But spending a few weeks in the Bay Area was especially fulfilling. San Francisco has been my hometown (I briefly worked at the San Francisco Chronicle in the 2000s), the culinary mecca I knew as a teenager, a fruit-obsessed pastry chef in my twenties, and my home for nearly a year. There were many memories for me during that time. As a critic for a quarter of a century, Lodestar has had an ever-evolving influence on the way we think about food. This guide features 35 restaurants, bakeries, and bars in San Francisco, as well as two great options for coffee and tea. You can just read it as an article, but if you read it to the end, you’ll find that there are also some autobiographies woven into it.

Mysore Masala Dosa at Copra in San Francisco.

(Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times)

Perfect for New Year’s celebrations: The rise of America’s bubble

For your holiday celebration: Patrick Comiskey dives into a new era of great California sparkling wine. “For years, domestic sparkling wine would have been lumped into the ‘less than’ category with ice,” he writes. “But no more. Adjustments in the vineyards and modest tweaks in the cellar have created a new style of California bubbly. At their best, they’re as good as or better than many of the French. You can express your feelings.”

For specific guidance, he also lists 10 of California’s standout sparklers and where you can find them in Los Angeles.

Sparkling wine is aged in California.

(David Huang/For the Times)

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