The N/A Drink I Plan To Bring Everywhere This Holiday Season
plus a lasagna-based request
My cookbook AMRIKAN: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora, is available wherever you like to buy books. Would very much appreciate it if you left a review, too. You can buy the book here.
It was most recently on NPR’s Books We Love for 2024, which, as a public radio nerd, is incredibly flattering.
Hello and a happy Thanksgiving to you all!
I have much to be grateful every year — but this year in particular I am thankful to have put out a project so personal to me, that I spent over two years making, and that it has found a home in so many kitchens and so many bookshelves. I get messages and texts and emails and dms and photos every single day of people cooking from Amrikan or sending me extremely kind notes about what the book means to them, and while its easy to get caught up in accolades and awards, seeing a copy of my book with stained pages and bookmarked recipes will always be the biggest reward.
The recipe for the peanut chaat from my book was most recently featured in the Washington Post — and I highly recommend it as a snack/app to put out this holiday season. It hits all the texture and flavor beats and comes together quickly.
My saag paneer lasagna recipe or LaSAAGna was also featured in the New York Times (both in an article I reported out about lasagna on the Thanksgiving table) and in the NYT Cooking app (including a gift link here).
I have a request, which is that if you like lasagna, even in the slightest, to please make the saag paneer lasagna between now and January and post it to the internet. I think it’s a recipe that deserves to be in everyone’s lives, even if some of the NYT haters/commenters think it sounds like an AI generated recipe idea! (First time i’ve been accused of this.)
I’ve already gotten many texts from people making the saag paneer lasagna (hashtag THE LASAGNA) today and it makes me smile.
That being said, I know most people have mixed feelings about holidays like today, so whatever you are doing and whomever you are with (or not with! on purpose or not!), I hope you are able to find joy and relaxation in the day, and something truly delicious to eat — whether it is lasagna or not. I am going to my friend
’s house (you should definitely subscribe to his substack!) and he is throwing down a feast. (Yes, I am spoiled.)I was told to show up with something fun and non-alcoholic. I have written about some of my favorite N/A drinks here before, but I was recently introduced to what might be my top contender while eating at Birdie’s on a recent trip to Austin. (Birdie’s has one of the best wine lists and n/a lists in the country — and also the best soup!!) After a little bit of hunting, I was able to find a couple bottles at Wine + Eggs in Los Angeles. Called Passing Clouds by a company called Muri, this bottle is definitely my new go-to.
Most n/a wine-alts lack one major thing: body. They are all too thin and therefore result in an unpleasant drinking experience. (Also a general reminder that the majority of n/a drinks also taste better thoroughly chilled!) This bottle is dry, complex, floral and most importantly has some real weight and body in the glass. It’s made from the most Scandinavian ingredients ever: fermented gooseberries, geranium & woodruff kvass, quince kefir etc and the company, according to their website, forages and dries all of their own herbs and loves techniques like lacto-fermentation. It’s very Noma coded, but more affordable and approachable.
Still, a bottle will cost you about $36-$40 — the price of many great bottles of wine. This is one of the few n/a options on the market that feels worth it to me, and also makes me feel excited about the future of the category.
What are you drinking this holiday season? Let me know in the comments.