Food! Glorious Food! | Larry's Blatherings

Cooks Turned Instagram Into the World’s Greatest Takeout Menu
During the pandemic, entrepreneurial chefs have reshaped food culture across the country with tiny, homegrown pop-ups that thrive on social media.
By TEJAL RAO

How America’s Food System Could Change Under Biden
New school meal standards? Help for small farmers? Maybe, but first the new administration has to deal with hunger, food safety and a diminished U.S.D.A.
By KIM SEVERSON

FRONT BURNER
A Taste of Carnival in New Orleans
The parades are canceled and visitors discouraged, but celebrate the season with a king cake shipped to your door.

Brennan’s is sending king cakes nationwide this Carnival season.
Brennan’s King Cakes, $20 plus shipping, brennansneworleans.com/events/kingcakesbybrennans;

Mardi Gras in a Box, $135 plus shipping, bayoubakeryva.com/mardi-gras-box.
By Florence Fabricant

FRONT BURNER
The Impermanence of Beauty
A new cookbook from the restaurant Kajitsu in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan highlights the intricacies of a vegan-style of Japanese cooking.

“Kajitsu: A Shojin Restaurant’s Season in the City” (FUKA Honten, $90), kitchenartsandletters.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

FRONT BURNER
Anita Lo Teaches a Dumpling Class for Lunar New Year
The chef will demonstrate how to make pork-and-shrimp dumplings on the website 100 Pleats.

Anita LoCredit...
Anita LoCredit…
Lunar New Year Dumpling Class, Feb. 12, 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., $49.99 per device, 100pleats.com/group.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Savor Soup Made From Scratch
With this foundation of vegetables and water, delicious, homemade soup doesn’t have to be complicated. Adding personality is up to you.

Carrot-Ginger soup
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

EAT
Treat Yourself to a Parisian Aperitif That Is Easy to Make at Home
In France, savory cakes salé are served as a light nibble before dinner. They’re remarkably versatile and come together in a snap.

By DORIE GREENSPAN

A GOOD APPETITE
It’s Casserole Season. For That, There’s Polenta Lasagna.
Thoroughly miserable weather calls for thoroughly cozy dishes, preferably covered in mozzarella.

Instead of sheets of pasta, this lasagna has layers of polenta.
By MELISSA CLARK