Culture

Weekend Reading: Chili Nachos, Omani Cuisine, Illustrated Recipes, and More

A look at what we’re reading, cooking, and clicking this week

• I may be totally checked out of the actual game during the Super Bowl next weekend, but I'm already getting really into the food-and-snacks situation. Chili? Nachos? Chili and nachos? Chef Art Smith developed a crazy-delicious-sounding turkey chili recipe with black beans for natural-products web store Abe's Market, which he recommends dumping on top of tortilla chips and running under the broiler with some queso fresco. Perfect. —Helen Rosner

• While there's a glut of restaurant review blogs out there, Riyadh Al-Balushi's is the only one I know of that covers the Omani capital city, Muscat. Reading his top 10 restaurants roundup this week, I learned about Muscat restaurants ranging from diners and pizza parlors to Thai and sushi joints, but his grand finale, an upscale restaurant featuring modern Omani cuisine, made me want to jump on the next plane to this unsung international dining destination. —Felicia Campbell

• From my old colleague Stacy Finz at the San Francisco Chronicle comes this fascinating article about a new technology that might transform our food system. Hay and grain prices are soaring but with this hydroponic sprout set-up, farmers can grow enough grain sprouts in six days to feed 300 dairy cattle, 800 horses, or 400,000 chickens. The space needed? 3,000 square feet, as opposed to an equivalent 160 acres. —Sophie Brickman

• I am such a suds lover, I'm happy to say I have actually tasted almost everything on this list of the 20 most influential beers of all time, compiled by some of my favorite beer "thinkers." —Betsy Andrews

• Being a former member of the service industry has taught me lots of life lessons including patience, service with a smile and how to carry more plates in one hand than I ever thought possible. When I get together with former comrades of mine for a few drinks every now and again, we like to reminisce about some of the crazy things customers have done to annoy us and have a good laugh. One of those same comrades then sent me First We Feast's 20 Most Annoying Things Servers Do at Restaurants and, I have to admit, I've done almost all of them. —Lauren Sharkey

• Step-by-step instructions with accompanying photos certainly make a recipe very clear to follow—but where's the love? In my opinion, the only thing that beats a handmade treat is a hand-drawn recipe book. When I need some artistic inspiration in the kitchen, I go to They Draw and Cook to find recipes designed with creativity and care from artists all over the world, like the delightfully illustrated "Herring in a Fur Coat" from Natasha Konechnaya in the Ukraine. —Camille Bromley

• I am pondering this visual recipe my kid sent me with via email the subject line "Shall we make this!!!" Despite his ungainly punctuation, I can't quite look away. —Betsy Andrews

Continue to Next Story

Want more SAVEUR?

Get our favorite recipes, stories, and more delivered to your inbox.