Dear reader,
We're in the middle of a heatwave, and I'm not sure my brain is still working. It evaporated some time around the beginning of August, along with my appetite. The second the temperature crosses 27 degrees, it just vanishes, and the thought of eating anything hot is torture.
I’ve heard the reasoning. I've seen the documentaries of people in Thailand or India eating spicy food in 40 degree heat because according to science, it makes you sweat and "cools your core down." Cool story, but I won't be putting the theory to the test. I've been chugging absurd amounts of water to compensate for eight months of dehydration, which just means I now have to pee every 10 minutes. I could rate every bathroom I've been forced into on a random outing, restaurants, gas stations (I know), that one café we’ve been boycotting.
As a kid, I used to open the fridge door and just stand in front of it. Now I still do it, except the fridge is sweating too, which might be a technical issue, but we get each other.
My appetite has shrunk down to anything cold: labneh, fruits, and (brace yourselves) I will now accept fruit in a salad. I don't even care anymore, I've lost all my principles along with my appetite. At this point I'm not eating any hot meals, I'm feeding like a goat. The only hot food I'll accept is a burger, and only if it's served in an aggressively air conditioned restaurant. Even the use of the oven at home is banned, and forget about the microwave, I’m eating cold leftovers out of the fridge, like a raccoon
Anyway, If you're also surviving on pure laziness and the mercy of your AC, here's what I'm willing to eat this week: Caline Chaoul's Tomato Tonnato, Youssef Akiki's feta spaghetti, and Anissa Helou's milk ice cream full of flavors and textures.
Stay cold, drink water, and don't feel guilty about leaving the stove off. It'll still be there in October, or January.
Melissa Manouchakian
Distribution editor
Our recipies:
- Caline Chaoul’s tomato tonnato
- Youssef Akiki’s feta spaghetti
- Milk ice cream, full of flavors and textures, by Anissa Helou
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A year after opening his restaurant Épicentre in Nice, the 30-something chef earned a Michelin star last March. Tattooed arm, hat fixed firmly on his head, he has worked from Monaco to Singapore, crossing paths with chef Maroun Chedid in Beirut along the way.
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