2018 Was the Year That Netflix Ruled Food TV

By adopting a ravenous approach to the food world, and relying on fresh voices to tell their stories, the streaming giant ruled the culinary TV game this year

"I think one of the main reasons I like Domino's is because I'm being told by the culinary snob patrol that I can't like it,” says David Chang in the pilot of his Netflix series Ugly Delicious. The Momofuku chef/restaurateur is setting up a scene wherein he works a shift as a pie-maker and a delivery driver at America's most popular pizza chain. "It's not something I eat all the time, but it reminds me of growing up — because this is literally the pizza I grew up eating,” Chang says as he enters a suburban Domino's location.

In the Domino's kitchen, Chang looks like a kid in a candy store, admiring the toppings bar, the conveyor belt oven, and the digital order-expediting system. "This is very exciting for me to see,” he tells his manager during training, "because this is years and years and years of a lot of people's efforts to make it as streamlined as possible.”

By expressing his un-ironic love of Domino's and its delivery operation, one of the most acclaimed chefs of his generation is forcing viewers to rethink their own conceptions of "quality” in the food world. This moment and many others in 2018 helped make Netflix a singular player in the food TV space, one that is broadening the scope of culinary entertainment, and bringing new audiences into the mix with each new release.

The company that gave the world the the Upside Down, Zoya the Destroyer, and Hot Santa likes to do things differently than its peers in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. While a lot of food media companies spun off an endless stream of top-down recipe videos and edgier versions of Diners, Drive-In and Dives in 2018, Netflix went in a completely different direction by finding a group of new TV stars and building series around their unique culinary points of view. Meanwhile, the company also quietly amassed a number of excellent non-original food shows to add to its library.

With a heady mix of celebrity food crawls, no-nonsense cooking segments, and smart conversations about the legacies of the foods we love, Ugly Delicious got the year off to a roaring start. Queer Eye launched a new kind of celebrity chef in Antoni Porowski, the makeover show's charming and effortlessly cool food expert. Nailed It!, a comedic ode to cake fails with a delightful hosting duo, became a viral sensation. Tim Burton-esque series The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell explored the craft behind show-stopping spooky desserts. The docuseries Rotten turned a seemingly snooze-worthy subject — big agriculture — into a scorching expose about American greed. The Final Table married the international fine dining scene with a high-stakes culinary competition. And Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat introduced TV audiences to the genius of Bay Area chef/author Samin Nosrat.

It's an impressive slate for a company that previously only released two original food series: the auteur-obsessed Chef's Table, and the Michael Pollan-starring origins-of-cooking show Cooked. Whereas those shows were serious and borderline-scholarly in nature, the 2018 class of Netflix originals presented a much more democratic approach to the world of food. The message from shows like Ugly Delicious and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, it seems, is that good food is everywhere — in home kitchens, tiny lunch counters, open-air markets, and Michelin-starred restaurants — and the world is a better place when you know about the techniques involved, and, most importantly, who's making it.

This eclectic roster of shows is a product of Netflix's unusual production style. Instead of acquiring and creating content to fit demographics — an old TV term used to describe groups of people categorized by age, race, and gender — Netflix aims to appeal to niche audiences that the company refers to "taste clusters.” The biggest hits play across several taste clusters, and build steam as more of these small audience groups discover the shows that embody their specific tastes and interests. Many new Netflix series — take Nailed It! or The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, for example — were rolled out with little fanfare, but became hits as more viewers made a connection to these shows and started spreading the word throughout their social circles.

Although most of the best shows usually have a travel element of some sort, there's really no unifying thread to Netflix's 2018 food slate, other than the emphasis on distinctive personalities — and this, too, fits in with the company's master plan for building a bigger audience. "There's no such thing as a ‘Netflix show,'” chief content officer Ted Sarandos recently told New York Magazine. "That as a mind-set gets people narrowed. Our brand is personalization.”

Most of Netflix's new food shows were also aligned with the big conversations happening this year regarding diversity and representation. But there were, however, a few missteps along the way. Although the critics generally praised Ugly Delicious, some viewers and publications took issue with the fact that the barbecue episode completely omitted African-American chefs' contributions to the genre. A season of Chef's Table focusing on pastry — a field that is full of lauded female chefs — only included one women out of the four people profiled. Despite its international focus, The Final Table's grand finale focused on two North American chefs and two Australians, all of whom were white men. And the new season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee was peppered with gay jokes, as well as a condescending remark about a non-Anglo name, from host Jerry Seinfeld.

Taking all of the Netflix original output into consideration, these sour moments are relatively few and far between, and both the company and its creators seem receptive to the feedback. After a few publications (including this one) criticized the Chef's Table series for its tendency to profile white men, the makers of that series announced two new seasons profiling more women and people of color than ever before. And while promoting Ugly Delicious at last year's Code Conference, David Chang also addressed the issues with his show, live on-stage. "I've read every criticism, whether it wasn't inclusive enough through African Americans or through women, I just know that we had one season, and we did our best, and we had no intention of trying to be exclusive,” he told Eater's Amanda Kludt and Recode's Peter Kafka. "And hopefully there's a second season, and we'll be able to do it better.” Chang and his partner Morgan Neville are currently working on that second season.

Now that Netflix has established itself as the hottest brand in food TV, its growth may depend on its ability to keep telling more stories that have never been told before. In anticipation of the release of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Nosrat hinted at this idea while pondering the future of her show (though no announcement about a second season has been made yet). "Whatever I do next, I do think that the most meaningful part of this for me was getting the opportunity to work with a lot of different people who are not historically shown on television,” Nosrat told Eater. "Not only people of color, but focusing on home cooks rather than restaurant cooking — focusing on the grannies. Any time I could, I was bringing that kind of stuff in, because I do feel like what we get to see on TV is pretty limited.”

In typically secretive fashion, Netflix is keeping much of its upcoming food TV calendar tightly under wraps. But if this year's growth is any indication, there's a good chance that TV audiences will be introduced to a whole new set of people, places, and delicious things in 2019.

Afyonkarahisar: City of heroic history, delicious food

Due to its location on the crossroads of favorite holiday destinations, Afyonkarahisar province has always been our stopover point during our car journeys; hence, it was high time for me to get in the car and discover Afyonkarahisar for good. I do not have an eye on its famous sucuk, which is a kind of dry, spicy sausage. Turkish cherry bread pudding was the one that whet my appetite. I still remember the taste of the dessert served with delicious Afyonkarahisar's kaymak, which is a creamy dairy product similar to clotted cream. Lamb kebab, döner and village bread with poppy seeds are other dishes also still haunting my memory. So, let's take a quick visit to Afyon as the weather cools and winter is at the door. Let's rest in its healing thermal waters, eat and drink plenty.

We can divide Afyonkarahisar into two sections, new and old. Old Afyonkarahisar is the area where old mansions now run as restaurants and boutique hotels are located. We can also call it the bustling and crowded part of the city. The bazaars and the famous castle of the city are also here. It's perfect for getting lost in the streets and photographing historic buildings.

First stop: Afyonkarahİsar Castle

We can start our visit to the city with Afyonkarahisar Castle. The castle, which has continuously passed through different hands, starting from the Hittites to the Ottoman Empire, was the subject of many legends. Today, we can only see the walls of the castle, located across from the Grand Mosque in the center. To reach the castle, you need to climb 1,000 stairs. The food in Afyonkarahisar so delicious that the idea of doing a little exercise by climbing up to the castle doesn't sound so bad. An endless Afyonkarahisar view is waiting for you on the hill. The entrance to the castle is free. Afterward, you can take a breather in the old mansions that have now been converted into cafes or eat gözleme, a flat bread filled with meat, spinach or cheese. Both the stairs and the fresh air tend to make people hungry.

Where Great Offensive started

Apart from the thermal hotels, Kocatepe is often the place visited first. You will have an interesting experience if you go with a guide to the place where the Great Offensive was kicked off on Aug. 26, 1922 by Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In almost every city, there is a grand mosque. This one is known as the Mosque of 40 Pillars, as it was built on a total of 40 wooden pillars. You can visit the mosque dating back to the Seljuk period between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Afyonkarahisar Mevlevi lodge is one of the oldest ones in Anatolia. Afyonkarahisar has become an important center of the Mevlevi order. The Mevlevi lodge, which is thought to have been built in the 13th century, was restored in 2008 after having survived many fires and was put into service as a museum. There are dervish rooms, kitchens and cemeteries in its garden. You can visit the museum free of charge.

Journey to the past

You can visit Anıtpark, which was erected in the memory of the city's salvation from Greek occupation in 1936.

Triumphal Museum next to the government office was used by Atatürk as headquarters during the Great Offensive. It is open during working hours.

If you are interested in antiquities, there is also an archaeological museum with a rich collection. It is open every day but Mondays.

Çeşmeli Konak (mansion with a fountain) is also the first special museum and serves as a culture and art center.

Pastries, sucuk, kaymak and more

Afyonkarahisar definitely deserves a gastronomy tour; moreover, its cuisine offers much more than the bread pudding, kaymak and sucuk, which I mentioned in the beginning.

Everyone has heard of İkbal Restaurant, which was founded in 1922. It has two branches: One is on the main road, while the other is in the center. In general, vacationers take a break on the road; however, the taste of the restaurant in the center is different. Its tandır is delicious. Do not forget to leave space for cherry bread pudding.

Have you ever tried sucuk döner? It is a dish you should absolutely try in Afyonkarahisar, and the best place to eat it is Gamze Döner. Don't forget to order some foamy handmade ayran, Turkey's famous yogurt drink, with it.

Almost everyone has visited Şefika Aunt's house in the village of Ayazini. She is also famous and was on nearly every television channel. Her gözleme with potatoes, cheese, spinach and mixed ingredients are very tasty. She grows the products she uses in her own field.

Aşçı Bacaksız (Chef Bacaksız), which has been serving since 1840, is now one of the cornerstones of the city. You should stop by to try famous its lamb kebab, which takes three days to prepare.

Salim Chef was a cook at the palace in the past. His grandchildren run the restaurant, which was named after him in the grand bazaar in the center. In the restaurant, you can try dishes like tandır and güveç kavurma.

If you want to take some cherry bread pudding home, visit Aftat. They pack it so well that it will reach your home still ready to eat.

Here's exactly what to eat when you're getting over food poisoning

One second you're enjoying some food from your favorite takeout spot, and the next you're logging your best running time yet while frantically searching for the nearest toilet. Anyone who's ever experienced food poisoning—which is caused by food that's been contaminated with bacteria or other infectious organisms—knows it's all sorts of miserable. And the recovery process is anything but easy-breezy. Rather, it's a full-time job looking searching vetting the proper food for upset stomach.

A couple hours after eating contaminated food, the wave of nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea hits like a brick. Then as you're getting over it—which can take days—the sheer thought of food can be traumatic: something you ate just caused you a whole lot of pain, and no one wants to experience round two. Because of that, there are some rules to keep in mind in order to ensure your stomach stays happy.

First, skip out on eating things that can upset your stomach even more—including dairy products, caffeine, alcohol, and anything that's high in fat or highly-seasoned, says the Mayo Clinic. The Oregon Clinic also recommends avoiding any raw veggies, citrus fruits, or hot or cold beverages, which can also make your symptoms worse. Once you start adding foods back into your diet, it's best to go for bland options that are easy for your body to digest, such as saltine crackers, bananas, toast, and rice. On top of that, it's also recommended to replace any fluids you've lost by slowly sipping on water, as well as options like apple juice, weak tea, and vegetable broth.

As long as you take things slow and don't get fancy with your food, your body will be able to get the sustenance it needs to recover. Unfortunately, that means ditching avocados and matcha lattes—at least for a while.

5 Ingredients for Health: Starting with Food

On Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg, Dr. Robert Graham—board-certified physician and founder of FRESHMed NYC—combines mainstream medical practices with therapies inspired by ancient wisdom: an integrative model of medicine. "My dad was a biochemist, so I grew up in this integrative model. One of the things that really stood out is my mom was distrustful about the conventional Western model. She still thinks she's the only doctor in the house, because food is such a powerful medicine, especially from her culture," said Graham.

You can listen to Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg on Apple iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music or wherever you consume your podcasts. While you're listening, subscribe, rate and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback.

"I realized there had to be some new model of healthcare that honors the ancient wisdom or traditional medicine approach and incorporated, safely and effectively, into the conventional medical model," explained Graham. In 2016, Graham started FRESH Med, an integrative health and wellness center. Through his practice, he aims to address the root causes of today's diseases, rather than the symptoms of them, with traditional medical methods such as yoga, meditation, and healthy food. "I'm just a new messenger of an old story," said Graham.

At Graham's practice, however, science supports every treatment. "My three pillars of what I do, from food, to meditation, to positive psychology—whatever I recommend—I always tell all my patients: it has to be safe, effective, and evidence-based. That's what we call science," said Graham.

Food is Graham's first ingredient for health at the practice: plant-based diets can cure diseases for patients and the planet. In 2013, Graham created Victory Greens, the first edible organic garden on a rooftop hospital that provided patients with healthy food. Graham also recently completed culinary training and has taught more than 200 healthcare workers and medical residents how to prepare healthy meals—inspired by his belief that if doctors have healthy habits, their patients will too. "The best thing you can do for your health is cook your own food," said Graham.

With five new ingredients for health—food, relaxation, exercise, sleep and happiness—Graham is seeking to place the tools for healing directly in the hands of patients facing disease. "I don't believe hospitals are where health begins; it happens in our communities, our homes, our kitchens, and our gyms," said Graham.

Easy ways to reduce your food waste

The week-long Eid Al Adha holidays have come to an end and people all over have shown the precarious symptom of being unable to find the will to go back to work. Many decided to travel; some expats flew back to their home countries, while the rest stayed back in Oman and enjoyed the long holidays with their friends and family here.

Festival holidays are always special, as you know there is always something to look forward to. Celebrations galore, new clothes, exchange of gifts, and of course the delicious food that you always overeat, which can send you into a food coma for the next couple of hours. During these nine days, Oman did not just celebrate Eid Al Adha, but the Indian expats from Kerala also celebrated their harvest festival, Onam. The celebrations are as grand and large for both festivals. They involve new clothes and lots and lots of food. While during Eid, the meal is meat-heavy with shuwas and biryanis, Onam is associated with the sadhya, which is a number of vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf.

However, what follows after savouring the sumptuous meal is what people fail to ponder over. Huge quantities of food are prepared, a lot of it eaten, but a lot more goes to waste. According to Be'ah, Oman Environment Services Holding Company, food accounts for 27 per cent of municipal waste and its cost is estimated to be OMR57 million in a year. The amount of food is generally higher during festivals, especially Ramadan and Eid.

It's not just in homes that we find food being wasted in painful portions; it's the same in restaurants too. Food wastage is a huge problem that needs to be looked into. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted. This is equivalent to the amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

But for those who wish to consciously reduce the amount of food they are wasting at home, there are some easy ways that may just lead to saving kilograms of food. Cook less and count the number of people you are preparing the food for instead of cooking in bulk. Make sure you look at the expiry date on products before buying them and use them before they expire. Avoid impulse buys and always keep a grocery list that you will stick to.

Most importantly, make use of your leftovers. There are many innovative ways to use leftovers that you can find on YouTube and prepare a delicious meal for yourself. Every time you have the urge to waste some food on your plate, remember there are thousands of people starving in different parts of the world without even one square meal. In fact, one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger.

It is also up to hotels and restaurants to adapt sustainable practices that help in stopping/avoiding the mass wastage of food. Certain hotels in the country resort to methods such as recycling and reusing leftovers in innovating ways. Excess food is quite often recycled to the staff cafes. Hotel chains have even urged charities to focus on food wasted in hotels and restaurants and redistribute them among those in need.

World chefs gather to tackle issue of food waste

If you have ever thrown out food because it's started to spoil, or left food on your plate uneaten because you were too full or didn't like the taste of it, then you - like many others, myself included - have been guilty of food waste.

Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world is lost or wasted before it ends up on the table.

Food loss is food that's spoilt before it reaches the retail stage. Food waste is food that's fit for consumption but not consumed and discarded.

In a world where one out of nine people goes hungry, reducing the amount of food waste can be said to be a moral imperative.

And when you factor in the greenhouse gases emitted by food that ends up in the landfill, then it becomes an issue of sustainability as well.

The World Association of Chefs Societies, or Worldchefs, is tackling this issue head-on, through Feed the Planet, a Worldchefs initiative run in partnership with Electrolux and AIESEC.

At the Worldchefs Congress in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur, Chris Koetke, chairman of Feed the Planet, told an audience of chefs and culinary students, "If you can improve your bottomline through looking at food waste and improve things on the planet, why wouldn't you?"

Feed the Planet has launched what's called the Food Waste Challenge - a plan that encourages chefs worldwide to start measuring the amount wasted from their kitchens, and make a commitment to cut the mountain of discarded food.

"Those of us in white coats - we cook a lot of food; we use a lot of energy; we use a lot of water; we make a lot of waste," said Koetke.

"So we have a responsibility to the larger society, to the planet, to make sure we're doing well in each of those categories."

ReTaste, a pop-up, not-for-profit restaurant in the Swedish capital of Stockholm takes the concept of reducing food waste one step further.

Twice a week, ReTaste serves up seven-course meals using mostly produce that would otherwise have been thrown out by supermarkets.

It's a collaboration between two companies, Retired Hen, a food sustainability consultancy, and Pauls Kok, a restaurant.

In an on-site demonstration at the Worldchefs Congress, ReTaste chef Christopher Ekman whipped up some dishes using produce given by local supermarkets. His menu included pasta made from stale bread that had been ground down and then mixed with flour, eggs and salt.

Ruth Osborne, cofounder of Retired Hen, had a message for her audience: "You make incredible food out of premium products. And … if you use your imagination, take those skills, you can also make incredible meals out of less than premium products. And teach people that actually, they're valuable and worth the enjoyment."

My takeaway from Worldchefs Congress is this: we all have a part to play in reducing food waste - whether it's finishing the food on your plate, or consuming that misshapen fruit.

7 delicious foods you never thought to grill

Sure, hamburgers and barbecued chicken are backyard grill staples. But for a special side dish—or even an unexpected main course—you can put your gas or charcoal grill to work! From a crispy sandwich to "grilled guacamole," we've got a bunch of unique grilling ideas to help you make the most of your next cookout.

1. Flatbread

By now you probably know you can cook a pizza on your grill. (Seriously—it's so good. These 15 ways to make pizza on the grill will prove our point!) But have you ever made a flatbread? Here's a recipe for Grilled Cheese & Tomato Flatbread that brings together the best of smoky grilled pizza with creamy cheese and bright garden-fresh tomatoes. Yum!

Test Kitchen Tip: Keep your eyes on your flatbread at all times. It will go from lightly browned to burned faster than you can say "Parmesan."

2. Grilled cheese

Let's say you're craving a grilled cheese—you know, something like our Best-Ever Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Did you know you can make grilled cheese, literally on the grill? (It's called a "grilled" cheese after all!) Simply build your sandwich, and place it directly on the grill grate to toast, the same way you'd toast a hamburger bun. Be sure to use thick slices of bread and plenty of butter.

Test Kitchen Tip: As with flatbread, this baby browns up rapidly. Keep your eyes on the grill; don't let it cook for more than a minute before lifting it up with a spatula to check on it. You might even want to consider using a copper grill mat since the cheese gets good and drippy.

3. Quesadillas

If you think about it, what are quesadillas but a Mexican-style grilled cheese? It stands to reason that you can grill up a classic quesadilla just like you would a traditional grilled cheese sandwich. Here's a recipe for Grilled Caprese Quesadillas to get you started, but once you get the hang of grilling quesadillas, you can improvise with the ingredients!

Test Kitchen Tip: You can place the quesadilla directly on the grates, but might consider using a copper grill mat. You could also consider using a parchment paper sheet. Just make sure the temperature on the grill doesn't go higher than 400° F.

4. Fajitas

It's no surprise that you can cook the meat for your fajitas on the grill. But you can cook your veggies over an open flame, too. Simply slice 'em into one-inch strips (so they won't fall through the grates), toss with oil and grill over direct heat for six to 10 minutes (or until crisp-tender and slightly blackened). For skinnier vegetable slices, you can place an oven-safe skillet over direct heat, and with the grill cover open, sauté those peppers and onions as you would over the stove.

Test Kitchen Tip: You might lose fewer veggies if you place them on a…wait for it…cooling rack! It needs to be all metal, oven-safe and able to withstand the heat of your grill. It will keep those veggies from falling through, and when you're done cooking, pick the rack up (wearing an oven mitt, of course) and serve!

5. Anything in a cast iron skillet

Literally anything you can make in a cast-iron skillet can be made in that same cast-iron skillet on your outdoor grill. For example, how about this Southwestern Spaghetti? Or a tangy Lemon Pepper Tilapia? It's also easy to use your grill for baking, especially when it has a temperature gauge. Both the Fudge Brownie Pie and German Apple Pancake are real crowd-pleasers!

Test Kitchen Tip: When using your cast-iron skillet on the grill, you're getting the best of both your oven and your stove. When a recipe calls for pre-heating your cast-iron, simply do so on the grill with the cover closed (as if it were your oven).

6. Fruits

Maybe you've tried grilled peaches and realized how wonderfully sweet the fruit gets on the grill. Just about any summer fruit can benefit from a little heat. Start by grilling pineapple with brown sugar (it's heaven!) or mangoes for a Grilled Mango & Avocado Salad.

Test Kitchen Tip: Fruit is another great opportunity for using a cooling rack or grill basket. Be sure to spray it lightly with oil to keep things from sticking.

7. Avocado

But wait…there's more! Why stop at the grilled mango for your Mango & Avocado Salad? Go ahead and grill up that avocado, too. Just cut them in half, remove the seed, brush with fresh lemon or lime juice and olive oil and grill them cut-side down for two to three minutes. For anyone who loves avocados, you'll want to give this recipe for Grilled Guacamole a whirl.

Test Kitchen Tip: When grilling avocado, keep in mind that it's a delicate fruit. It's important to brush it (or spray it) with oil to prevent sticking.

Obese people enjoy food less than lean people – new study

Global obesity rates have risen sharply over the past three decades, leading to spikes in diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. The more we understand the causes of obesity and how to prevent it, the better.

We are interested in understanding reward-driven eating. Laboratory experiments have shown that obese people are less rewarded by food than people who are lean. We wanted to know if this held true when people were in a more natural environment – that is, going about their everyday lives.

For our study, we developed a smartphone app to record spontaneous patterns of food wanting and liking as they occurred.

The participants used the app to score the intensity (on a scale of 0 to 10) of how much they wanted food whenever the thought of food popped into their head, regardless of whether they then ate or not. If they did eat, they rated the intensity of how much they liked their food (0 to 10), straight after eating. The app also recorded the time the participants ate and how long they took to eat.

Participants used the app continuously for two weeks. They also completed a questionnaire about their food cravings and attitudes to food, and had their various measurements taken (such as height, weight and body composition).

We grouped the participants according to their body fat. Of the 53 participants, 20 were a healthy weight and 33 were obese. Our analysis showed that obese participants reported slightly fewer food-wanting events per day – an average of five, compared with six in the healthy weight group.

Both groups resisted about the same proportion of food-wanting (30%) events. And the duration of meal times was about the same: about 18 minutes.

The intensity of the obese group's food wanting was not significantly different from the healthy weight group's food wanting, showing that obese people don't have more frequent or intense food-wanting episodes.

However, obese participants reported significantly less intense food liking than healthy weight participants, revealing that they enjoyed or were rewarded less by the food they ate. There was a strong correlation between wanting events and craving traits measured by the questionnaire, which was not seen in healthy weight participants. Thus, obese participants showed that their decision to eat was strongly driven by cravings and not by hunger.

In the healthy weight group, the intensity of wanting food when people resisted temptation was less than when wanting was followed by eating, as one might expect. And the scores for liking were high after eating. This suggests that, in people with healthy weights, the decision to eat or not to eat is based on the intensity of wanting, and that food enjoyment supported the decision to eat.

This pattern, however, was not seen in the obese group. Their decision to eat, or not, didn't seem to be driven by conscious wanting intensity, and their food satisfaction did not support their decision to eat. Emotional motivation in connection with cravings seems to be more influential in eating decisions in obese people than in healthy weight people.

Simple, Delicious Food For The Intermediate Days Of Passover

The Cooking's Just Begun — Pesach Part 2 And Healthy New Snacks To Pack For Play and Work

The Passover Seders are over and it's time to replenish your refrigerator. But don't fret: if you try my quick and easy fish ideas, you'll be out of the kitchen before you finish that last cup of coffee.

Fish Cakes

Use your own favorite croquette recipe with binder of choice. Use some of your fresh leftover herbs and mince into very small, chewable pieces.

I use Dagim tuna, fresh salmon that I grind or even fresh white fishes like flounder. To make it very simple, use any brand of gefilte fish. I use both Ossie's Fish and Raskin's Fish logs, both available in my neighborhood. Slice logs into pieces.

However you choose, bake mini cakes, slices or even ball-shaped cakes until golden brown on both sides and fully cooked on the inside.

Serve with your favorite condiments — I like to make a fruit salsa and a lemon, garlic, dill sauce.

Strawberry Rhubarb Salsa

1 Bag frozen bodek frozen strawberries and rhubarb, thawed and drained
1/2 box fresh strawberries, cut in quarters
1 Small red onion, diced
1 Yellow or orange pepper, seeded and diced
1 small Jalapeño Pepper, seeded and diced
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to Taste

Mix all ingredients together, let settle together in refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Lemon Garlic Dill Sauce

1 Cup mayonnaise of choice (full, low fat)
2 lemons squeezed for juice and some zest
1 cube gefen garlic
1 cube gefen dill
A taste of sweetener of choice

Blend together and refrigerate for at least one hour until ingredients to settle together.

Pack Those Healthy Snacks — Three New Products I Love

I can't keep enough of these products on my shelves. The children are even grabbing them, preferring these treats to the traditional goodies they enjoyed previously. All are available online as well.

Fruits By Pesha Dehydrated Fruits
Sea Castle Seaweed Snacks
Fresh From The Heart Cookies

And A Tip….

Now is the perfect time to make your lists of what you need, what you want and what is readily available. For example, I need two new pillow case covers, as my nephews wanted me to give them mine as their afikomen gifts.

I also need a bigger food processor and some more dairy cooking utensils. Make these lists now and also put them in a very visible place so that when you start unpacking next year you have time to purchase and tovel before the holiday.

Also, now is a great time to stock up on coconut and almond flours, ketchup made without corn syrup, new bottles of spices and many kosher spirits and wines.

Take advantage of the competitive prices and availability. Also support Made in Israel goods and foods, especially those manufactured in facilities boycotted by the BDS Movement.

Have a fun and relaxing Chol Hamoed!

New friendships, delicious food at Eagle's Trace: Culinary pros mentor students from Cordon Cool

Since 2005, residents and employees of Eagle's Trace have carried forth a proud tradition of giving back to the greater Houston area.

In 2017 alone, they volunteered more than 35,000 hours on campus and in the surrounding community, serving local schools as mentors and creating partnerships with nonprofits such as the Houston Cannery.

That spirit of service is continuing in 2018 as the culinary professionals of Eagle's Trace enjoyed a unique opportunity to share their talents and expertise with a group of students from the Cordon Cool Cooking School.

The Cordon Cool Cooking School is one of the newest programs offered by The Next Step Academy, a day treatment program specially designed to meet the educational needs of individuals with developmental delays, specifically individuals with autism spectrum disorders. There are two Houston-area locations, one just north of the Heights and another in Sugar Land.

On Feb. 22, executive chef Donald Mutin Sr., along with sous chef Keesha Oldham and lead cook Adam Perkey, hosted six students from Cordon Cool for an exclusive, hands-on cooking demonstration in the kitchen of the Garden Room Restaurant located at the Erickson Living retirement community.

Together, they prepared a popular signature dining dish enjoyed by residents of Eagle's Trace: marinated lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and a lamb mint demi-glace, served with a chocolate black bean budino cake.

"The students were incredible. We worked with them on fundamentals of the culinary profession, such as proper measuring and mixing of ingredients, portioning, baking and garnishing of the finished dish," said Mutin, who has more than 25 years of experience in the dining industry in the United States and Asia.

"To be involved with the students of the Cordon Cool Cooking School is one of the highlights of my culinary career," Mutin said. "As a teenager, I benefitted from the mentorship of many skilled chefs, even the great Emeril Lagasse when I was the sous chef at the Commander's Palace. So I understand the value of these rewarding partnerships and consider it a true privilege to spend time with these amazing young adults."

Those who attended the session from the Next Step Academy agreed, including Lauren Harrington Abel, the school's founder. She said that "it was so encouraging to see the staff of Eagle's Trace willing to meet our students where they are, without judgment or preconceived expectations. They seemed to have as much fun with us as we did with them. We need more partnerships like this in order to help children with autism become productive members of our communities."

Barbara Haney's son Bobby participated in the session. Haney is the creator of the Cordon Cool program.

"Our visit to Eagle's Trace marked the first time our students enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to visit a commercial kitchen and experience the real-life, day-to-day activities of a professional culinary team," she said. "These experiences are invaluable to creating relationships with professionals in the industry throughout Houston. Our ultimate mission is to create future employment opportunities for our students."

Taste Buds: Pennsylvania Dutch Market — eat delicious food with old people

When I entered the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in Hagerstown, I was interested in how the place compares to the Amish Market in Germantown, which is practically an institution. On Saturdays, the Germantown Amish Market looks like the United Nations — if the United Nations involved constantly bumping into people and waiting forever for fried chicken.

I went to the market during a non-peak time of Thursday afternoon, but it seemed the building had a wider walking path that prevented the bumper-to-bumper traffic of Germantown. Also, the Dutch Market in Hagerstown accepts credit cards for all of the stations, including the pretzel stand, where in Germantown, I would be required to count the coins in my hand like a pauper.

But traffic patterns and credit cards are nothing compared with the actual taste of the food. Thanks to my coworkers, I had a list of items I absolutely had to try. Slippery chicken pot pie, sticky buns, apple dumplings and hog maws were highly recommended. Hog maws, which are made from a pig's stomach, was something I knew I would never try — but I didn't tell them that.

Fortunately, I did find slippery chicken pot pie from the Farmer's Cookhouse. For the $6.99 combo, I chose baked corn as a side, but I was confused about my second choice. I asked the server, and he suggested Triple Beans, which includes lima beans. Now, I hate lima beans with a passion. They taste like nasty paste full of everything that is wrong with the world.

I was offered a sample, however, and I immediately fell in love with the sauce in which the side was drenched. I asked another server, who was so young I tried to ignore my understanding of child labor laws, who told me what was in the sauce. This is just a paraphrase, but she pretty much told me the Triple Beans sauce is basically a lot of sugar and ketchup. So there you have it folks: Sometimes, it's better not to know.

I took my soupy tray of food along with a bag full of desserts like a whoopie pie, sticky bun, shoofly pie and apple dumpling. I planned to share a dessert feast later, but I did get a cinnamon sugar pretzel and ice coffee to eat with my meal.

From the first bite, the slippery chicken pot pie tasted like someone giving me a warm hug from the inside. There's no crust, but the doughy pieces provided all the carbs I needed. The baked corn reminded me of mac n' cheese, with corn. The cheesy top layer and the creaminess below was delicious. I could honestly eat baked corn as a main dish. The Triple Beans were enjoyable to eat as well, but I'm pretty sure I could have tossed the beans out and just eaten the sauce.

Hours later, I realized that Triple Beans might as well be called Triple Farts. And so I beg of you: Make sure you place distance between yourself and the people you love after eating this food.

I may not order Triple Beans again, but I didn't regret getting a cinnamon sugar pretzel. If someone told me I could only buy one item from the Amish Market, I would choose a Dutch Twist Pretzel because you can get everything you need in one pretzel. If you want something that is savory that you could substitute as a meal, get a pretzel roll that's filled with delicious meat. If you want a dessert, get a cinnamon raisin pretzel and stuff your face with icing.

Pretzels are the one thing in Germantown that I feel is better than the facility in Hagerstown. Because Germantown is so crowded on Saturday, pretzel batches are constantly made, meaning a hot pretzel straight from the oven is almost always available. I thought I would be disappointed with my room temperature cinnamon sugar pretzel in Hagerstown, but I was pleasantly surprised that the flavorful interplay of butter, soft, chewy pretzel, and cinnamon sugar was still there. I recommend if you have the discipline, wait until you get home to heat up the pretzel.

Here's a quick rundown on Dutch desserts: Whoopie pies taste like huge swiss cake rolls made of love. The apple dumplings are delicious, but I wish there were more apples and a little less dumplings. I have no idea what Shoofly pie is (is it caramel filling? Why do the pie crumbs taste like powder?), but despite my confusion, Google cleared everything up when it told me that Shoofly is made with molasses, and that didn't stop me from finishing my dessert.

Overall, when you go to the Pennsylvania Dutch Market, be adventurous and don't worry about making a little mess.

Imade Borha can't cook rice and once burnt Top Ramen, but she is the adventurous foodie her friends rely on. She's ordered fried chicken through bullet proof glass and ate at a bowling alley that hosts Questlove every month. She believes food doesn't have to be pretentious or pricey for it to be good.