The MezzaDigesta Volume 49

May 15th, 2020: Been cookin' with the pot, Chef Curry with the sauce

What it do baybeeeee,

We back babes. Let’s get right to this week’s longer piece. Some quick hitters and tunes to follow.

Sending love.

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The Roman Empire: Who Is Alison Roman and Why Is She All Over My Instagram Feed?

I had never heard of Alison Roman until 6 weeks ago.

I remember the first time I heard her name vividly. I was having a conversation with my wife, as husbands and wives do. Becca and I had started to settle into the “new normal” of our quarantine routine - our living situation was figured out, we had each attended multiple Zoom gatherings, we were doing virtual workouts to keep that body right…..we were really starting to hit our stride.

However, one thing that was assuredly NOT figured out was our cooking routine. Since we had gotten back from our pandemic-shortened global travels, we were cooking the most basic, bum ass, college-esque meals possible. Eggs and toast for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, pasta for dinner. Real bare bones shit. It was dark. We both knew we needed to up our game and start to “adultify” our quarantine meals. Our friends were posting enviable, tasty-looking meals up the wazoo on the gram. We were getting shown up.

I broached the subject with the wifey. “Don’t worry, mate,” she said (this conversation is paraphrased. She most certainly did not call me “mate”). “I just ordered a new cookbook and it’ll be arriving any day now. Once we get that, we’re golden.” “Oh nice,” I said. “What’s the deal with this cookbook?” To which she answered, “It’s gonna be a game changer. It’s by Alison Roman, you know, that chick who’s been blowing up recently.”

Huh? I most certainly did not know of this chick who had been blowing up recently. “Who?” I asked. “Alison Roman! You’ve definitely seen her on Instagram. People are making her recipes left and right.”

It turns out that the wifey was right. The wifey is always right. I had not yet heard of Ms. Roman, but sure enough, I logged onto Instagram later that day and BAM - someone had posted a picture of a homemade meal and tagged Roman in it. Soon, she was freakin’ everywhere. It was almost like how ads for a particular product show up on your phone after you’ve brought it up in conversation. Since I had first heard of Alison Roman, I could henceforth not escape Alison Roman.

And this is the story of how I BECAME Alison Roman.

Just kidding. Let’s keep it movin’.

Seriously though, I found myself somewhat obsessed with the rise of Roman. I like food but I’m definitely not a hardcore foodie - I don’t read food sites, follow food social media accounts, or know all the celeb chefs. I’ve never watched an episode of Top Chef or Hell’s Kitchen. And yet, this Roman character had fully broken through the pop culture barrier and become a fixture in my social circles. She seemed to have become *the* voice of cooking in a very short timespan, and her rise was intriguing to me. It was a thought-provoking case of virality in a world that doesn’t usually cross over to the mainstream.

So how did it happen?

For the uninitiated (of which there are seemingly few), Alison Roman is a prominent cook and food writer who grew up in LA and now lives in New York. She served as a Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit before leaving for Buzzfeed Food, and she currently works as a columnist for the New York Times Cooking section. She has published two well-performing cookbooks, including last year’s NYT bestseller Nothing Fancy. Over the last year, some of her recipes have gone impressively viral, garnering definitive nicknames such as #TheStew, #ThePasta, and #TheCookies.

Roman’s ascent has been a crash course in defining a brand, fine-tuning it, and sticking to it to great effect. At 34 years old, she’s a millennial woman creating cooking concoctions for a millennial audience that had previously lacked a go-to source for recipes. The millennial generation is now of an age primed for more cooking content - past the post-college years and gearing up for the “real” adulthood long haul. And yet, up until now, I think it’s fair to say that millennials as a whole have been somewhat reticent to throw themselves fully into cooking. Millennials are career and purpose-focused; they work long hours and order out rather than cook in. And for a generation that has largely put off home ownership and opted for the city life and apartment renting, it can be a bit daunting to try and take up cooking as a craft.

As a working woman who has lived in LA, SF, and now New York, Roman identifies very well with her audience. She gets it. And she does an expert job of making cooking seem easy - at making it seem like not such a big deal. Her recipes call for pretty basic ingredients; she’s not asking you to buy an expensive jar of olives that you’ll end up using ⅕ of. She doesn’t require that you have the latest and greatest cookware from Le Creuset. And her demonstration videos aren’t like your mom and pop’s cooking shows of yesteryear - there are no massive homes or cooking sets with kitchen island space aplenty for all chopping needs. No, Allison films her videos right where she cooks - in her small-seeming New York apartment. She’s just like us!

This relatability and accessibility carries over to her writing style and the way she displays her cooking creations. In Nothing Fancy, she writes about drinking while cooking, and how she loves spritz drinks. Spritz drinks, 10 points to House Millennial! But she doesn’t like to measure out the portions of her spitzes too carefully, because she’s casual like that, ya know? The photography in her articles and books is also amazing. It’s very simple and straightforward but also eye-catching. Her dishes sure pair well aesthetically with all of the succulents that millennials own these days.

So, she’s a well-oiled branding machine. It’s impressive, and I’m awestruck by how quickly and forcefully she’s risen into the zeitgeist of this cooking-in-quarantine period. Alison Roman’s rise is certainly one that is worth appreciating.

Now, here’s what some of you may have been waiting for: the “buuuttt” part of the piece where my opinions become a bit more strong-willed. I do have some issues with Alison Roman. At first, I bristled a bit at what I perceived as a lack of substance in her work and a popular praise of style over substance. Her recipes didn’t seem that groundbreaking to me, but they sure are pretty to look at and simple to cook - does that mean we should be deeming her the next big thing in food? What was her credibility? That probably was more me being a hater than anything else.

As I’ve thought and read more about her, more substantive concerns have come up. One deals with a certain “whitewashing” prevalent in her recipes. She often seems to disregard the multicultural influences present in her dishes - this even goes for her famous “stew” that got flak for being more of a curry with Asian roots that had been ignored. It’s one thing to put a spin on a traditional recipe; it’s another thing to withhold credit or ignore a culture’s previous contributions altogether. The other issue I see is a glaring case of white privilege. This issue had come up before but fully revealed itself in Roman’s very public dustup involving Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo last week. Taking unprovoked shots at two successful women of color whose achievements have nothing to do with yours? Not the best look. Alas, Roman has apologized and on we move.

Alison Roman is a notable force in the food industry. I respect the hell out of the name she’s made for herself and the way she’s cultivated a consistent, trustworthy, respectable brand along with her delicious recipes. She’s made a lot of people excited about cooking, and that’s amazing! As someone who’s trying to become a more public person and expand my audience outside of my social circles, I think I can safely say that I admire her rise.

But with all that said, there’s something about her that I’m not sure I’ll ever really “fuck with,” to keep it real. The Romanaissance is here, but I’m not sure I’ll be commissioning that Roman-brand cookware anytime soon.

Special thanks and shout-outs to my pals who are more clued in to the “foodie” world than I and contributed to this piece - Mar, Keeks, Ritty, and Nickie C.

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Alright. Let’s keep it moving! Here are some bits and pieces of what’s kept me busy over the last week or so, other than thinking about Alison Roman lol.

Sports Thing

1) Bleacher Report’s Game of Zones

For whatever reason, I’ve never religiously watched Bleacher Report’s segment that merges NBA humor with Game of Thrones. The NBA and GoT are (or, were I guess now) two of my favorite things, so it’s weird that I didn’t give the show much of a chance. Maybe it’s because Bleacher Report relies waaayyyy too heavily on the 😂 and 👀 emojis.

Anywhom, I’m ready for any and all sports material right now. And in that vein I’m glad that a couple friends sent me the link for the new season of Game of Zones. The animation is very well done, and the show pokes a lot of fun at NBA players such as Paul Pierce and Dwyane Wade, and even media members like my beloved Bill Simmons.

Music Things

1) Sylvan Esso’s new live album WITH

Sylvan Esso is one of my favorite bands out there right now. The husband-wife duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn have a fantastic musical dynamic and have put out two stellar albums in 2014’s Sylvan Esso and 2017’s What Now. But their live show up to this point has been notably sparse - usually it’s just Nick behind a DJ deck and Amelia prancing around stage while singing their jams.

The band’s new live concert film, WITH, changes all of that. Filmed during their 2019 tour, they added a slew of talented musicians, from Bon Iver’s drummer to a live saxophonist and keyboardist.

I highly recommend working away to this album for an hour. You can catch Amelia in a big dress in the film version on YouTube or opt for the audio-only version on Spotify or your streaming service of choice!

2) Post Malone covering Nirvana for a good cause

I can’t say I listen to Post Malone’s music all that much, but I like it! He’s got good tunes. He also just seems like a stand-up, down to earth dude as far as massive superstars go. One example of this is when he straight vibed out with a mariachi band while they were performing one of his songs in front of him (with a Bud Crispy in hand, no less).

Another example of his good vibes is the recent Nirvana tribute concert he put together a couple weeks ago. Playing with Travis Barker and a couple other talented homies, Posty calmly crushed some Nirvana covers in front of millions. He just came off as a huge Nirvana fan who happens to be able to slap the hits. And, the concert raised almost $5 million for COVID relief.

I don’t think you have to be either a Post Malone or Nirvana fan to appreciate artistic efforts like this! Good stuff.

3) I’m glad the A-Listers workshopped the whole “Imagine” thing

Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding, the gawd Dave Grohl and crew performing the Foo Fighters comes off a wee bit better than Gal Gadot singing “Imagine,” I have to say.

TV Things!

1) Curb Your Enthusiasm

I’m not a confrontational person. I’m a people person - I like to find common ground with people and make every effort to get along with everyone. I’m the type of guy who stresses out at parties because I try to make sure that everyone is having a good time.

To put it briefly, I’m quite unlike Larry David.

And yet, watching Curb makes me want to stop the next random guy I see out in the real world and start an argument with him for no apparent reason (at a socially acceptable distance, of course). It makes me question everything. It makes me aspire to some day start a business exclusively out of spite.

I just finished Season 10 of the show, and boy was it a fun one. If you’ve never tried the show out, here’s a nudge for ya! And if for whatever reason the show hasn’t been your cup of tea (or cup of Mocha Joe) in the past, may I list off the cameo appearances this season? Larry busted out the big guns! This season featured appearances from Vince Vaughn, Isla Fisher, Chris Martin, Nick Kroll, Jonah Hill, Sean Penn, Mila Kunis, Abbi from Broad City, AND Jon Hamm!!!! What a list!

**For fans of: Seinfeld, Wedding Crashers, Broad City, literally anything funny

2) ZeroZeroZero

One disclaimer about this show: it is not for the faint of heart. It is not all rainbows and unicorns. In fact, it is maybe the most violent TV show I’ve ever watched.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s proceed! ZeroZeroZero is my favorite show of 2020 thus far. It follows the three major players of a massive cocaine shipment - the Italian buyers, the Mexican sellers, and the American brokers. Agreements are made, hands are shaken (hands are shook? people shake hands?), and chaos ensues. It’s gripping!

It’s also one of the most beautifully shot shows I’ve ever seen. Movie cinematographers have a lot to learn from this one. One last note in favor of this show - Scottish post-rock masters Mogwai provide the addictive score.

Watch ZeroZeroZero! Just be prepared for shit to go down.

**For fans of: Sicario, Gomorrah, Narcos, mob shows, crime shows, chaos

3) Normal People

Speaking of people who have been *everywhere* lately, Alison Roman might not have shit on Sally Rooney!

Seriously, Rooney is on a roll right now. This year, I haven’t been able to log onto my dearly beloved Goodreads account without seeing yet ANOTHER friend reading either Normal People or Conversations with Friends. It’s really and truly Rooney SZN baby!

Because I need to do everything that everyone else is doing, I, too, read Normal People. And it was fine. But then I logged onto Hulu and watched the show. And the show, you guys, the show! The show is electric! It’s undeniable! It’s great TV!

There’s so much to like about it. There’s the Irish actors, the Irish accents, and the way Irish people say “thanks.” There’s spicy, steamy young love. There’s phenomenal character development. And of course, there’s Connell Waldron’s chain.

Great show. Highly recommend.

**For fans of: Modern Love, Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., shows about love, shows about relationships, shows about coming of age

Book Things

Because the fans have asked for it, I’ll try to devote more attention to what I’ve been reading these days - it’s only fair to the written word!

I’m currently making my way through my second read of George Orwell’s 1984 - in case you hadn’t heard, it’s more relevant than ever in today’s world.

Before that, I read Normal People as discussed above (3 stars) and also powered through Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys (pumped that it just won the Pulitzer Prize but also somewhat surprised that it did. 4 stars).

Thanks for tuning into Joey’s book club.

3 Song Recommendations from your Dear Pal

1) SiR - John Redcorn

Another W in the books for Top Dawg Entertainment. I just came across SiR this week, and I can already tell that he’s going to be in my regular rotation from this point forward. Kendrick and crew sure know how to find ‘em. This jam is a smooth breezy one.

2) Daði Freyr - Think About Things

This group is from Iceland, they wear fantastic sweaters in their music videos, and the song slaps. What else do you need to know?

3) Limp Bizkit - N 2 Gether Now feat. Method Man

Sometimes you just need a little Durst in your life. This song has bars too! My most memorable lines:

Who can be the boss?

Look up to the cross

Stranded in the land of the lost

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Mic check

So what's it all about?

Where we gonna run?

Maybe we can meet up on the sun

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I sing those lines every time I hear this song. Long live Durst.

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Thanks (tanks) for tuning in once again. Love you all. Be well.

Joey

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