Bettina Makalintal transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to The Future Of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah, and each week I talk to emerging talents in the food world and they share what they're up to, as well as their dreams and predictions for what's ahead. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, a community that's all about gathering people intentionally around food. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their way in the world of food, drink, media, and tech.
Today's guest is Bettina Makalintal, a Senior Reporter at Eater, covering food and culture. Bettina is also a frequent home cook and the creative force behind the Instagram account, @crispyegg420, where she promises no recipes, just vibes. I'm excited to chat with Bettina about her path into food writing, her Filipino-American heritage, and how social media continues to change food culture and food media.
The Cherry Bombe Jubilee conference is taking place Saturday, April 15th at Center 415 in Manhattan. Jubilee is the largest gathering of women in and around the world of food and drink, and this will be our 10th in-person Jubilee. It's also Cherry Bombe's 10th birthday, so there's a lot to celebrate. Jubilee day is filled with great talks, networking, beautiful things to eat and drink, and lots of opportunities for connection, conversation, and community. I've been to an in-person Jubilee and their virtual Jubilee and it is definitely a place to meet fellow foodies and make connections for life. Tickets are sold out, but you can join the waiting list at cherrybombe.com. And while you're there, get more information, including the Jubilee schedule and talent lineup. I can't wait to see you there. If you do plan to be there, please come and say hi.
Thank you to Kerrygold for supporting The Future Of Food Is You. Kerrygold is the iconic Irish brand famous for its rich butter and cheese made in Ireland with milk from grass-fed cows. Let's talk butter first. There's a Kerrygold butter for all of you out there. From soft and spreadable butter in a tub to sticks of salted or unsalted, a perfect measurement option for foolproof cooking. There's a Kerrygold butter blended with olive oil, which is about to become your pantry essential. My go-to is a traditional block of Kerrygold unsalted butter foils. Perfect for baking because of that higher butterfat content and because I can control the amount of salt in the specific recipe. Then there's Kerrygold cheese. The options go way beyond their classic Irish cheddar. There's Kerrygold Blarney cheese, which is a Gouda style, Kerrygold Dubliner, sweet and nutty with a bite similar to aged Parmesan, Kerrygold Skellig, a tangy take on cheddar, and the rich and delicious Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse cheese. For the best cheese board, just accompany these with some grapes, your favorite crackers, and some funky jams for contrasting vibes. You're all set. If you haven't tried Kerrygold yet, don't delay, the future is now. Look for their butter and cheese at your favorite supermarket, specialty grocery store, or cheese shop. Visit kerrygoldusa.com for recipes and product information.
Now, let's check in with today's guests. Bettina, so excited to have you on the podcast.
Bettina Makalintal:
Thanks for having me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I'm such a huge fan of your work as a food writer and just the way that you've contributed so much to the food culture as we know it.
Bettina Makalintal:
Thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You grew up in a Filipino-American household. You were born in the Philippines, but then grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, that's right. I moved here when I was five.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How did food show up in your upbringing?
Bettina Makalintal:
I think it was just one of those things that I always loved. My mom cooked a lot. I've always been the type of person who likes reading cookbooks. I was very much hanging out in the kitchen while my mom did stuff and just watching and learning just by diffusion.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Were there particular things that your mom made that are just so engrossed in your childhood memories?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, totally. I mean, the big Filipino food is lumpia, which is egg rolls because that's such a communal family affair to put it together, but my mom was also just very into trying new things. She made a really, really good gumbo despite never having been to New Orleans. Stuff like that where I feel very lucky that she was open to doing different things and reading books and figuring out what she could try. It was a good way to get exposed to new flavors a lot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And then in college, you transitioned to start working in the service industry and working a little bit in food. What inspired the move to start working in food?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, honestly, at the start, it was completely a necessity. I was just applying for whatever job I could find, and it was like one day I had an interview at Madewell, and then I had an interview at an ice cream shop right after. I feel like that day really dictated my future. I ended up there and realized that I liked food. It was being around people who were excited about the same things as me, and then I just stuck around for a while. I kept being like, I'm going to quit, I need to find "a real job," but I did enjoy it. It was a good place to start thinking about if I could write and reading a lot and then freelancing at the same time.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Ice cream shop, what's the name of the ice cream shop? What was the vibe like slinging those scoops?
Bettina Makalintal:
It's called Toscanini's. It's in Cambridge, Massachusetts, so it's very much an MIT [Massachussets Institute of Technology] student haunt. It opened in like 1981, so it's very established. It was interesting because it made me feel like I was very much part of a neighborhood and a community to have regulars all the time. There were the dogs I would give a spoonful of vanilla ice cream to in the morning, stuff like that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
A nice little pup cup. That's so adorable. You didn't go to school for journalism, but I feel like you have become, at least in my opinion, one of the most prolific writers. When I think of food writers in our generation, you're someone that I just enjoy reading along with people like Emma Orlow, Nikita Richardson, or Eric Kim. What did you study in school and did any of those skills transfer into your writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
First of all, thank you. That's so nice of you to say. I actually studied neuroscience for most of college because I thought I was going to be a doctor. That was the whole plan, very woman in STEM [science, technology, economics, math] situation. And then I decided that didn't work for me, so I transitioned to women's and gender studies with a focus in public health. It sounds kind of like a non-sequitur, but I think, at least in my work now, I think that really taught me to look at structures. I'm very interested in what food says about something bigger or how power and race and gender and all of those different systems affect how we eat and how we understand food. I think that's really what that gender studies major gave me was that lens of analyzing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I feel like that's so important. I'm sure you're reading so much literature, developing critiques, developing your own voice, and I'm sure you're inspired by so many different women and psychologists and sociologists who are thinking about this stuff. Are there one or two books that you read in school that have really shaped or really helped you develop your writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
There's a book called Dubious Gastronomy, and there's also the Asian American Studies Reader. It's a big anthology. There's a piece in there about the Filipino diaspora and understanding that through the lens of watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. There's a really good piece about Cambodian donut shops in California, which is how I learned that was a thing.
I think just reading those pieces just made me realize there was this whole field of people doing what I wanted to do. While I was working in food service, I was just cold pitching publications every so often until I landed a few food writing pieces. It was totally a thing where I felt like I wasn't ever going to get a job in food media. I just felt like an outsider. I was happy with that because I feel like the upside of freelancing was like I was just doing it because it was stories I cared about. It wasn't like I had to pay my bills. I had a job outside of that. So then I just applied to Munchies on a whim. I worked at a cheese magazine as an editorial assistant for-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Wait, that's so cool.
Bettina Makalintal:
-for like a year, but then I left there. A little bit later, I applied for the job at Munchies on a whim and it worked out, which was completely surprising to me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And that's what brought you to New York City?
Bettina Makalintal:
It was, yeah. That was five years ago, so this will be my fifth year of full-time food writing
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Wow, and halfway to becoming a real New Yorker, as the legend goes.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, I guess so.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You worked at Munchies. What types of stories were you telling when you were there?
Bettina Makalintal:
Every food publication has its place. The Times is running the reports and Bon Appétit is running the more cultury stuff. I think Munchies trying to find what it could offer in the food space definitely leaned towards more weird and esoteric and definitely just that scandalous or ridiculous. But I did think that that really offered me a space to play around and not really take things too seriously and also do stuff that wasn't just the run-of-the-mill here's a thing that happened. Instead, I was trying to find a cool angle.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
One thing I've always enjoyed about your writing is you take the dinner party conversation and turn it into an article. I feel like all the takes that people talk about you are exploring from this incredible journalistic lens. You write about the state of why we should be more particular about regional cuisine for different types of cultures. It's not just Italian cuisine, it's Tuscan cuisine. It's not just Mexican cuisine, it's Oaxacan cuisine. It's not just West African cuisine, it's Ghanaian cuisine. How do you think about the ways that you come up with ideas for your writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, I think for me it's just largely being curious, and I feel like that's why I've gravitated toward writing so much. I go to the grocery store and I'm like, why is that font on every bag of fruit snacks now, or something like that. I'm always writing down these questions in my phone. I think that piece, for example, the one about regional cuisine, that was just me doing my reading about Filipino food and being like, oh yeah, there is all this rich stuff and how come we don't see that.
When I have an idea or a question and I keep getting at it, it'll come up multiple times in my life. I'm probably not thinking about the font on the fruit snacks that often, but it happens a lot where I'm like, oh, there's this cool style of Thai food. Why aren't we seeing that more here? It's those types of things that are just nagging at me that I think are worth exploring. I like to think about it also in terms of what are the things I want to talk to people about if I'm hanging out with people who are into food. I think that's a lot of the idea generation.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Are there any particular trends or observations recently that you're excited to write about?
Bettina Makalintal:
The very little silly one that I enjoy right now a lot is I feel like everyone's doing these very huge heaping exaggerated piles of butter.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is this butter board, or are we in the post-butter board era?
Bettina Makalintal:
No, it's not butter board at all and it's not butter candle. It's just a martini glass just full of a mountain of butter that looks like you could ski down it. I think it's playful, and I think it's also funny that this is a micro trend because butter's so expensive right now and I'm being very cautious about how I'm using it. I think it's fun to see it in this exaggerated artistic way, even if I'm not going to recreate it personally.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Julia Child would be shaking in her boots. I mean, I think she told all of us to eat more butter, but I'm sure she's probably thinking, not like this.
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, there is the butter coffee. We've been on this train.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
There's so much exciting stuff there. You're now at Eater. How do you feel like your time at Munchies helped influence or helped get you to start working at Eater?
Bettina Makalintal:
Before I worked at Munchies, I had never... I was just writing these one-off pieces. Everything was so precious to me where I was like, this could be the last piece I'm ever going to write, and so it matters so much. I think at Munchies I realized that part of the work of having a full-time writing job is you just have to write. Sometimes there is stuff that you don't get to spend as much time on it.
Sometimes you're just covering news that is happening because it's part of the cultural moment. I think it's taught me that the practice of writing, even if it's not a piece that I'm so invested in, is really helpful and I feel better at the end of a week if I've flexed my writing muscle a lot than if I'm just sitting there agonizing over one piece.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
For sure. I feel like you write about such interesting things. I'm just looking here at your Eater profile. You've talked about banana ketchup. You talk about the wave of specialty coffee, the conversation of AI and food. We have AI writing recipes now. I'm really curious to hear when you think of your writing practice, how do you normally take an idea from, oh, I saw it in the store, or I'm seeing it on TikTok, and turning it into an article that's fully fleshed out.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, totally. I think the first question is just how big does it have to be? Is this just here is a cool thing that I see and it's enough to just share the fascination and share an enjoyment of it, or is it something where it's like banana ketchup, maybe there aren't as many pieces that I've read about the history of it or how people are remaking it. I think there it's really just looking at what already exists, and has the thing that I'm thinking about it been said already? Not every idea needs to be a super long feature. Some ideas do deserve that, and I think it's nice to have that mix.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, for sure. What are some discoveries or beautiful observations you've made in your writing, like things that have come to surprise you?
Bettina Makalintal:
One of the best things about my job is just that for the most part, it's great that I get to talk to people who are really excited about what they're doing. I think that whatever people are excited about gets me really excited about it in turn. I'm not doing sad stories for the most part or difficult, emotional stories. It's a lot of stories where it's like someone has this really niche expertise and they can just dig into that and that's what I like. I think it feels surprising to see what makes me feel excited and passionate.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've talked a lot about this, especially with representation and food. You do talk a lot about your Filipino American heritage, but you also talk the greater scheme of a lot of first-generation kids and third-culture kids who are now taking the place of food writers. I feel like when we were growing up, a majority of food writers were white and they could only tell so many stories. I think Anthony Bourdain was probably one of the first people who was able to think intentionally about how he was able to take food media and turn it into this thing that was very diverse or showed much more nuance. I'm really curious how you're thinking about the state of food writing right now and what you're hoping to see more of.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the really big thing is because of Substack, because of Instagram, because of TikTok, you don't have to go through the traditional food writing venues so much anymore as it used to feel like you had to. I think that's the thing that feels really exciting is that I can read so many more perspectives now.
Even if there aren't as many publications, for example, there are spaces to get those ideas and those stories, and people can tell their story without filtering it through a lens of an editor or someone interviewing them. I like that direct access to people's thoughts and experiences. In terms of the representation thing, yeah, it's still a difficult line, right? I like being able to explore lots of things and a breadth of topics in my coverage and not just the I'm Filipino representation question.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I also know that you are an incredibly avid reader.
Bettina Makalintal:
Oh, thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I feel like I get so many great book recs from you from your Instagram. Are there three food memoirs or books that you've loved in the last year that you recommend to everyone?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yes. The writer Laurie Colwin, who was really active in the '90s, took me a very long time to get into her work. But when I finally did fairly recently like Home Cooking and then her other essay collection, More Home Cooking, she's so good, just an incredible voice. Her writing is so funny and accessible. I also love the book Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson. It's currently right now only available in the U.K., but I think it's going to be available here in June.
It's very genre bending and very academic inspired, but such a thoughtful way to think about cooking and recipes. I really love that. And then Danny Licht's Cooking As Though You Might Cook Again. It's this very short little book. I think it's probably 50 pages, and it's just little reflections about cooking, like an essay on making beans, for example, or a green sauce. It just is one of those books that I feel like I can go back to whenever, and it just feels like reading it will make you feel excited about cooking and will make you feel like blending up the herbs in your fridge as somehow this really meaningful, beautiful task.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How does your reading and perusing of other food writing help develop your voice and develop your style of writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
I think it just helps me realize that a lot of people, even though we work in the same space, have really similar ideas. And that it's helpful to realize that I'm in this milieu of thought that I find really inspiring as opposed to I think this potentially you can read other people with similar ideas in your competition. But instead, I think it's helpful to read things like that and be like, okay, I'm on the right track, and I still have something to offer to this conversation, even though we're circling the same themes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's awesome. We're seeing so much change in the industry, but I'm curious, what stories are you hoping to see more of in the next years to come?
Bettina Makalintal:
I hope we just continue being curious and excited about producers beyond chefs at restaurants. I think it's really interesting just because of the pandemic people started small businesses and really just began getting really passionate about something. We've seen Lucie made the bakery, for example. I think just continuing to have the attention on people who were not necessarily doing the most obvious thing but are doing farm work and agricultural advocacy and things like that. Those are stories I'd love to see more of.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, that's so awesome. For those of you listening to the podcast, we're talking about Lucie Franc de Ferriere, who is the owner of From Lucie in the East Village. She started a small cake shop in her apartment during the pandemic and has now opened cute little shop in the East Village. Let's talk a lot about social media. I feel like you're present on it. Your stuff's getting published on there. It's the source for a lot of your writing. How do you think social media is changing the way that we eat and discover food content?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, I think for one thing, especially because of TikTok, I feel like it's really broadened people's understanding of global foods. Things just are hitting people's radar in a way that maybe they wouldn't have before if you were encountering them in a restaurant setting or you had to go out and get them. I feel like fufu has blown up on TikTok and it has all these people being like, "I can't wait to try this." I think that's been really inspiring where it's just this accidental discovery. It's feeling like it's happening in a way that feels really accessible for people. It's decreasing barriers, just information access.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I would never in a million years think that fufu would become the next trending thing, where there would be more than 500,000 views on the hashtag fufu on TikTok. But I'm curious, what do you think is the flip side of that? What are some negative ways or not necessarily enjoying about the way that food and food content is showing up on social media?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, naturally the one thing is that because these things are becoming "trends" online, this trend cycle can be frustrating because there is this whole sense of, oh, these people are "discovering" this thing or things spin out where it's the community where food is coming from is not necessarily the community that's controlling the narrative around it on social media.
For example, ube in the Filipino context, which is the purple yam, it's so big online, it's so trendy. But at the same time, the downside is the understanding around it keeps getting diluted. This is happening when there's difficulty accessing the real thing, which is the actual plant. It's this interesting thing where there's hyper visibility to a culture's foods, but at the same time, that community still experiences like a lack of access and trouble retaining that cultural heritage
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, that's such a great point. How do you think social media has made a way for non-traditional storytelling? Because I know you talked a little bit about how there are now more platforms for people to just be able to share. You don't need to get the approval of an editor to post about your family's story or your family's connection to food. How are you seeing that show up on social media.
Bettina Makalintal:
As a writer, I'm obviously very attached to the written word, and that's where I shine personally, but I think the upside of short-form video really taking over and the rise of podcasting is that we are seeing that there are certain stories that benefit from that added.
I can write a great article about something, but sometimes it is helpful to see the process happen on a video, or it's helpful to actually just hear the quotes from people saying them in a podcast format where it's a back and forth conversation as opposed to just the flatness of text, for example. I think I like the way that these formats can work together.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've also written a lot about different trends. You've written about the snackification of caviar, just to name one. What are some trends that you're seeing on TikTok or on Instagram these days?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, one thing that I wrote about recently was vegetable bouquets, which I feel like are appearing everywhere. Still using flowers, but using a bitter melon, for example, as visual interest. I think that's been really fun and I feel like fits into this whole food as art centerpiece, playful food art moment that we're having. Every time I think that mushrooms have hit their peak, they haven't.
They just keep going. I feel like right now we're in this interesting thing with mushrooms is horror fascination with The Last of Us, for example. I think there's a new Melanie Martinez album where she's on the cover covered in mushrooms. I think that has just been interesting to keep an eye on how that's changing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so fascinating. I feel like mushrooms will never die, the timeless vegetable.
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, they'll outlast us, yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I mean, we've seen The Last Of Us, so yeah, most definitely. You just wrote about American Girl just released their new set of dolls and they have this cute little Pizza Hut collection, and you had an article that you dubbed the millennial urge to buy a tiny Pizza Hut-themed toy set. I'm curious how you're seeing food show up in terms of pop culture as it comes to television, music, or movies.
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, just increasingly, food is one of those things that everyone is collectively obsessed with. Going back to The Last Of Us, the third episode, which people loved was very food-centric. I think that we're all interested in seeing the eating that we do depicted on screen. For example, look at the constant Julia Child shows. I think it's just a thing that people will never get tired of. Increasingly, I think it's also has become, especially when I think about the way food has infused into fashion where Rachel Antonoff has the constant food collections, right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Bettina Makalintal:
I think it's just interesting to see how it's not just that you like eating and you going to restaurants, but it's also part of this visual identity and the status symbol that you are bringing out into the world, right? That you are this type of foodie. I think that's just been interesting to see that we just are only getting more obsessed with food and showing other people what we eat.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is there an article that has been top of mind recently that you're excited to write about in the next few months?
Bettina Makalintal:
As I was talking about this, I'm working on a piece about ube that is thinking about all these questions of like, how do we protect culture? What does it mean to protect culture? Why do we want to do that? How do you adapt to things changing once they're no longer in your control?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Well, Bettina, you're not just a writer, but you're also a cook. I would like to dub your fun foodie Insta called @crispyegg420. I just love the aesthetic. You have these delicious homemade meals that are so vibrant, rich with colors. What inspired you to name the account @crispyegg420? And what inspired you to start the account?
Bettina Makalintal:
I made the account because I was like, I'm cooking all the time. I want some way to document it that's cohesive. It was early maybe 2021, so a lot of people were still at home. A ton of people were making these cooking archives, and I was inspired by that. I was like, okay, this approach is like a joke. I'm not taking it too seriously.
That's how the username happened. I was just like, what's the thing I make a lot? It's funny to put 420 at the end of it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I feel like it's your AIM username just to be a little silly or something.
Bettina Makalintal:
I never expected that it would be a thing that I'd have to talk about in real life where I'm like, oh yeah, it's @crispyegg420.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Were you hoping to just live life as this anonymous @crispyegg420 and no one would really know who you?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah. At the start I was, honestly. Part of it was this goal of trying to have a space to be excited about food that felt not connected to my job or the rest of my professional online presence, but I obviously messed up and muddled the two, so now I have to own it. But at the start, I want it to be anonymous.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How would you describe your cooking style for people who have not been graced with the beauty of @crispyegg420?
Bettina Makalintal:
I think it's very vegetable-forward. I do eat meat sometimes, but I don't really cook it at home. I think it's just really like I love vegetables and I'm excited to make them taste really good in a way that doesn't feel like I'm losing anything by not having meat, but also just feels creative and I'm putting care into it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What are three dishes that you think would describe your flavor palette?
Bettina Makalintal:
I don't know. Because it's winter, I think I've just been leaning towards heavier flavors. I've been really into just doing Filipino adobo, which is basically vinegar and soy sauce based on the I guess the opposite end. Really into just a really nice blanched kale blended into a pasta sauce. I think that really speaks to how I like to eat just vegetables, simple, but really good.
And then, I don't know, I think for the next one, probably just using mushroom powder in anything. I think it just tastes really good. I don't know. I've been really craving fried things with a little bit of mushroom powder in the coating.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It adds this more umami depth, if anything.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, exactly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, that's really awesome. Obviously home cooking is such an arduous task. Are you in the team ingredients-only household, or are you in the other team of prepared foods?
Bettina Makalintal:
No, I'm very ingredients-only household. The other day I was like, I need a snack and all I had was potatoes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes. I think you made this really cute fried potato situation. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah. Okay, I was an air fryer skeptic for a really long time.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I still am.
Bettina Makalintal:
And then I got one because I was like, I don't like my toaster oven and it was on sale. Basically, if you just toss potatoes in oil and some spices and you put them in the air fryer for 10 minutes, they're so good. They're better than oven potato budges, and it's so fast. That's what I did.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I'm going to walk out of here immediately going to order an air fryer online because you said that. I'm curious how you plan and put your meals together. I feel like grocery shopping in New York City is super arduous to even have the time to prep and plan. How do you make time to plan your meals, and where are you normally grocery shopping these days?
Bettina Makalintal:
I think I have a lot of privilege in this area, because I actually really growing grocery shopping.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Me too.
Bettina Makalintal:
And going to three different grocery stores, I don't see it as annoying. I enjoy that. That's my goal. I have my store for produce. I have my store for cheap pantry stuff, but I don't really plan out what I'm going to cook. The way I like to describe it is I buy things that I know that I like and that I know that I can cook in a lot of ways. For the most part, my fridge is just stuff that excites me.
I'm going to wake up and I'm going to have a craving for cream spinach. For some reason, that will just happen and I have all this stuff to make that happen. That's how I like to approach it, is just the basics that I enjoy.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You mentioned that you have your favorite spots. What are two New York City spots that you are just loyal to when it comes to shopping?
Bettina Makalintal:
My closest grocery store is Food Bazaar. The one by me is so great. It's in South Williamsburg. There are so many options for everything. It's not like there's one ethnic aisle. Every culture has its own aisle. I'm very attached to that and will never leave. I also just love the Union Square Farmer's Market. I take out-of-towners there when they're visiting. I'm like, "No, you have to see these vegetables."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The cultural institutions like The Met, Union Square Farmer's Market. That's so exciting. I feel like by necessity of the pandemic, we saw a huge proliferation of home cooks. You had to become a home cook because there's no restaurants. Your lunch that your tech startup was offering wasn't available. When people ask you about tips on how to become better home cooks or enjoy home cooking more, what are some things that you offer to them?
Bettina Makalintal:
For me, one of my go-to things to make is eggs on rice. That's the go-to, but I'm always going to put herbs on top of that or a sprinkle of flaky salt. I think a big thing for me is just doing those little final touches that take something that is really basic and feels like survival food and doing something that feels intentional on the end. A little sprinkle of salt makes it like, oh, I cooked. I didn't just feed myself.
On that note, having a really good range of condiments and sauces and fun things where you can do something simple, just have boiled noodles and then you just put some chili crisp on them and it's a sauce. I think it's just finding ways to make those really simple things that don't actually take that much time and making them feel special for yourself.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is there anything that you're really eager to cook as spring and summer come up?
Bettina Makalintal:
I don't know if it's so much spring and summer related, but I've had some really good duck at a few restaurants recently. I've never cooked duck before, so I'm like I kind of want to try cooking it. Meat is the thing that I'm not very good at cooking, so yeah, I kind of want to try that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I want to go back to the caption that you have for your account called no recipes, just vibes. In the last year, we've seen a lot of discussion around people posting and there's an expectation that there has to be a recipe. I'm curious what your thoughts are on that discourse on food social media.
Bettina Makalintal:
I think one thing TikTok has really hasten is it feels like everyone is a recipe developer now or everyone is a home cook sharing how they're cooking. I think the downside to that is that people consume this content and they watch it and they have this expectation that everyone should be making recipes for them and everyone should be providing the information. And that if they don't, they're like "gatekeeping." I don't know. At least to me, I never went into posting my stuff online with the intention that I was going to be a recipe developer because of it. For me, it's mostly an archive and it's for people who know how to cook. They just can see a photo and be like, "That inspires me and I can recreate it."
I think that part of the No Recipe, Just Vibes thing is my attempt at keeping cooking enjoyable and a thing that is mostly a hobby, as opposed to this thing that feels like I'm pressured into providing recipes for people, especially when at least I personally think that recipes should work and they should be tested, and that is a lot of work. Recipe developers have that as a job for a reason. I just don't want to put more food content. I don't want to put bad recipes out onto the internet when there are people who do them well. It just feels insulting to me, and it feels misleading to people to lead them astray by giving them a recipe that's not tested and reliable.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Do you ever have an expectation or do you ever worry about it becoming too performative or feeling you have to perform for this audience?
Bettina Makalintal:
There really have been times. I think the unfortunate thing about posting my food online so frequently is that I can see the metrics of what "does well." I know that certain types of foods are going to get more likes than other things, and sometimes that's not in alignment with how I want to eat. I don't know. That's the thing that I try to be cautious of is it doesn't really matter if which post gets more likes. That shouldn't affect how I want to eat. I'm doing it because I enjoy the food and I enjoy following my cravings, not because I'm trying to mine clout online.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Are there any accounts from social media that you've come to really enjoy as you consume online food content?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, I think just in the Instagram sphere that I'm in, I really enjoy @snarkybutdelish. I love @tenderherbs. I think just people who are doing food at home and don't have intentions of being professionals, but are just making it look really delicious. Clearly, they care about it and it makes them happy.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How does your love of home cooking, just as someone trying to feed themselves, how has it helped develop your relationship to food writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
When you tell people you're a food writer, the obvious thing people think is that you go to restaurants a lot and you're a restaurant critic. I think for me, it's just made me realize that there's so much that matters and there's so much to think about when it comes to just how you cook at home. It's this really valuable space to still write about. How home cooks are approaching new ingredients or trends is something that's really interesting and I don't have to just be a person who's looking at restaurants. It's made me feel like there's a lot more weight and that's a respectable thing to try to write about.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I guess outside of @crispyegg420, outside of writing for Eater, are there any other food projects or aspirations that you have for yourself as you spend more time in the industry?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, I think the thing you learn from writing on the internet and doing things online is that all of that is very ephemeral. People forget about it pretty quickly. I'm definitely at the point in my career where I'm like, okay, I need to do the book thing, the cookbook thing one day because I want something that feels more permanent. It's not just going to like the website's going to 404 one day.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
We can manifest. I feel like we're big manifestors on the podcast. Let's say a publisher comes see and says, "Bettina, we're going to give you a deal. You're going to write us a book." What kind of book would it be?
Bettina Makalintal:
First off, I'm working on a proposal.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, congrats.
Bettina Makalintal:
I do want to do a non-fiction book about food and identity and how we talk about that and understand it. I mean, at some point, I would love to do a cookbook about cooking intuitively and making use of the things that are in your house.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's almost like the No recipe-recipes cookbook that The New York Times came out with.
Bettina Makalintal:
One person I think of a lot is Tamar Adler, who wrote The Everlasting Meal, which has a cookbook accompaniment that's coming out soon. But I think that vibe of it's a book that teaches you how to think about cooking as opposed to a book that's like, here's a recipe.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I think Ruby Tandoh also did something a little bit similar too.
Bettina Makalintal:
Yeah, her work is great.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's awesome. Do you have any advice for people who want to take that leap into the world of food writing?
Bettina Makalintal:
The biggest advice I would give people is that it will always feel scary to reach out to someone cold. At least for me, it will always feel scary to have a new piece published, but I think it's that act of putting yourself out there. You literally have to do it. Every time you do it, I remember at least, that it felt so scary, but then it feels great right after. It's just that anticipation of sending a pitch or writing the piece or publishing it. It's just your excitement, but I don't think you can let that feel get in the way of you doing the thing. It's exciting to wrap something up and move on to the next project.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so awesome. How has this new generation of food writers and this new generation of food commentators helped you and your writing, but also have you found community and those people?
Bettina Makalintal:
I mean, I've always been a very internet person, and I've always been making internet friends since I was 12. That part of it has really worked for me just because writers live so much on Twitter and Instagram. I think it's been a great space to be in contact with people who do the same thing. But at the same time, I also think part of community that I've been trying to do more now that I'm a little bit more "established" is I've been trying to do a little bit more mentorship. Just when people reach out to me about questions, I do always try to make time for that or looking over someone's pitch if they're pitching for the first time.
I think partially it's finding people who are in the same trenches as you and people who've been working in the industry the same amount of time. We have a lot of the same gripes or questions or frustrations, but then also just making sure that I'm trying to continue contact with people who are new to the industry. I'm always happy to answer people's cold reach outs. It takes a lot of bravery to do that, and so I think the least I can do is respond.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Totally. When you think about the state of food journalism, do you think there are ways that it could become more accessible or ways that it could create more of the stories that you're hoping to see?
Bettina Makalintal:
I think it's really just that self-publishing thing, where I think people have to understand the value in their own story. And that if they want to say something they can and that they can make a space to do that. I've been very attached to traditional food media in my career, and it's been great for me and I still enjoy reading it, I appreciate it. I think it's really just this mindset of if you really want to put your story out there, you just can.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's Substack. Bettina, this was such a great conversation. We're about to do our Future Of Food Is You tradition, what we call our Future Flash Five. Are you ready?
Bettina Makalintal:
Yes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Okay, awesome. The future of home cooking.
Bettina Makalintal:
Promising.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of food talk.
Bettina Makalintal:
Very busy.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of food publications.
Bettina Makalintal:
Increasingly introspective.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of cooking brands.
Bettina Makalintal:
Too many.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of condiments.
Bettina Makalintal:
Very exciting.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Bettina, if we want to continue to support you and your work, where are the best places to find you?
Bettina Makalintal:
You can find me on Instagram @crispyegg420. I'm on Twitter as @bettinamak, M-A-K, and my website is makalintal.com.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. Thanks so much for coming, Bettina.
Bettina Makalintal:
Thanks for having me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before we go, our guest is going to leave a voicemail at The Future Of Food Is You mailbox just talking to themselves 10 years from now. You have reached The Future Of Food Is You mailbox. Please leave your message after the beep.
Bettina Makalintal:
Hello, future Bettina. By the time you're listening to this, you'll be 40, which means that you finally paid off your student loans, which is amazing because you thought you were never going to be able to do that. I hope that at this point in your life, you have learned to loosen up a little bit and let your shoulders down and just be a little bit more chill, because you know that's a thing you've definitely struggled with. I hope that you feel a little bit more trust in yourself and a little bit freer to explore and take risks and mess up a little bit in your life because you've definitely done it, but you've come out on the other end completely fine. You know how sometimes when you look back on your life right now, you think about, how did I get from this point to this point? You never imagined that trajectory for yourself. I hope that you're in a place right now where everything feels amazing in a way that you never could have expected. I hope that all of the things that you thought you could do, writing books, finally developing recipes, even though you hate them, I hope you were able to do all of those things and also find time to just be happy outside of work.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. Do you know someone who you think is the future of food? Tell us about them. Nominate them at the link in our show notes or leave us a rating and a review and tell me about them in the review. I can't wait to read more about them. Thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring the show. Visit kerrygoldusa.com for more. The Future Of Food Is You as a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker, and associate producer Jenna Sadhu. Catch you on the future flip.