Extra virgin olive oil appeared in 1960, after a decade of scandalous adulteration. Then, it denoted quality. Today, not so much. “I would argue,” says Carl Ipsen, “that a bigger problem today than fraud is transportation and storage.”
A space for mostly short form stuff and responses to things I see elsewhere.
Finished reading: Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy in the Age of Airplanes by Anthony Gottlieb, ISBN: 9780300180473
#Non-fiction
Top Albums from last.fm on 08/03/26
1, Chet Baker, Chet, (9);
2, John Scofield, Six Strings, (9);
3, The Little Willies, For The Good Times, (2);
4, Billie Holiday & Lester Young, Lady Day & Pres 1937–1941, (1);
5, Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, (1);
Eat This Newsletter 297: Proudly Inefficient
This time around, efficiency is a very poor metric when it comes to cooking, supply chains, microwaves and breakfast.
Read it at https://
Top Albums from last.fm on 01/03/26
1, Bill Frisell, Nashville, (14);
2, Bill Frisell, Good Dog, Happy Man, (12);
3, Schubert; Daniel Barenboim, Impromptus, (8);
4, Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli with The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Souvenirs, (2);
5, Various Artists, Cardinals At The Window, (2);
Lying here somewhat stunned by Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know. Such a perfect novel, so finely constructed, and in the end so deeply satisfying. A glorious read.
Jeremy Cherfaspublished this
@JohnBrady which the book does too, in its own way.
, Feb 28 2026 on micro.blog
2026-02-24
New Episode: The Food System Is Not Broken
1 min read
Some people will tell you the food system is broken. Not so, say Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel Rosenberg. Their new book is subtitled Why Industrial Food Is Good and How To Make It Even Better.
We had a long and interesting chat, everything from cellular agriculture to labour in the food industry.
Top Albums from last.fm on 22/02/26
1, Spiro, Lightbox, (17);
2, Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny, Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories), (13);
3, Ludovico Einaudi, Divenire, (12);
4, Pat Metheny w/ Christian McBride & Antonio Sánchez, Day Trip, (11);
5, Kabza De Small, Ziwangale, (10);
Apologies for Top Albums spam; gonna wait and hope for the automated version to roll around.
New issue of Eat This Newsletter.
- Botanists in the newsletter
- Diversity in the field
- Milk in the cupboard
- Georgia in the news
- Olives in the ground
- Rice in the bank
Read (and subscribe?) at https://
@jeremycherfas This showed up unsummoned on my timeline, right next to my own praise of the novel. It reminds me of those pieces of woodwork whose components fit together just so.
Web user, Feb 27 2026 on micro.blog