the view from July 12
THE J’EDIT
At The Mercy Of The Hungry Eye
Have you ever met The Hungry Eye? Maybe you have, but you didn’t realize it. Or maybe you haven’t, and will someday, but still possibly won’t realize it. He pretends to be forgettable. He goes out of his way to disappear. That’s because he’s the anonymous food critic for the James Cave Instagram Feed, spending his days taking long, hard looks at food and the food culture of upstate New York. He takes his secrecy very seriously.
And when The Hungry Eye learned that Ruth Reichl, a pioneer of anonymous food criticism, would judge the Great Chatham Bake-Off this year, he didn’t blink twice. He locked me out of the studio, grabbed the Podcast Microphone, and ran to the gazebo to bear witness.
It’s all on the latest episode of The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast – an eyebrow-raising account of the drama and tension of an upstate summer fest bake-off. And he’s guest-written this newsletter to share more about his experience.
I hope you enjoy it as much as The Hungry Eye did,
James
THE JIFFY PODCAST
The Hungry Eye Looks At Ruth Reichl And The Screaming Focaccia, by The Hungry Eye
I had a life-changing experience last week. I met my hero, my origin story, my reason for existing.
When I heard that Reichl – James Beard Award-winning food writer, editor, and celebrity judge – would be in Chatham, I cleared my calendar for the rest of the month so that I could prepare. I re-read “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.” I re-read all her NYT columns. And because I’m a lifelong student of anonymous criticism, I studied up on her approach to disguise-making.
She gave me an hour of her time for an interview, can you believe it?? I’ve edited it together into a short audio documentary, and you can check it out here:
It’s an immersive experience on the show today, a show that is now proud to be a James Beard Award Winning-Adjacent podcast. And if you want the full hour-long conversation I had with Ruth (we talked about her NYT disguises, how she invented such personas as Chloe and Aunt Betty, and how I might improve my disguises as the anonymous food critic), it’s available to premium subscribers as an Audio Exclusive in The Jiffy-Mart Members’ Lounge (see below).
Here are some things I learned during my time in the gazebo:
The kids are not playing.
They entered the Bake-Off with cakes that had layers, ambition, and at least one cocoa powder failure that was corrected mid-meltdown using an immersion blender. I’ve seen seasoned pastry chefs do less.Focaccia can haunt.
Emma submitted a rendition of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” in the form of an emotionally unsettling focaccia loaf. It turned out to be just the thing for Jack Shear.Pineapple, sage, pistachio, and bacon should go together more often.
I didn’t think they could, and I didn’t think they should. But Christina Harrigan’s cake was — well I don’t want to give anything away.Ruth Reichl begins with the buttercreams and pavlovas.
“I think the sooner we get into the pavlova – anything with buttercream – I mean, some of these buttercream things are likely to just start sliding off of their cakes. I think most reasonable thing to do is to attack the ones that are the most vulnerable to heat first and then move on.”Writing “Hi Ruth” in your pie crust doesn’t help
A submission’s pie latticing addressed one judge by name, and in fact may have turned off the two other judges. As this pie didn’t make it into the finals, it was perhaps a risk not worth baking.
A HUNGRY EYE SECOND HELPING
That Time My Eyes Saw A Therapist
This wasn’t my first adventure as guest host of the podcast. Last year, when I originally accepted the job as food critic, I had a bit of a personal crisis. Luckily, my local farmers market has its very own culinary therapist: Tamar Adler.
She showed me just what I needed to see, hear, know, and eat:
More Ruth Reichl I Recommend:
Subscribe to Ruth’s newsletter: Le Briffe
Watch her recent documentary, “Food and Country”
Read her memoir of food critic disguises: “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise”
J’FAY SUPREME-ONLY 🔐
An Audio Exclusive: Ruth Reichl’s Famous Disguises
As mentioned earlier, Ruth and I talked about her experience as disguise-maker and persona-creator during her era at the New York Times. Her wigs have long been retired, but the stories live on in this Audio Exclusive, available to paying subscribers — if you’d like to upgrade, you can do so here:
Until next time…
— The Hungry Eye
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