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Last year we did a weekly newsletter of the things we consumed, that we wanted to share with you. Highlights were Tyra Bank’s ‘hot ice cream’, Noby Leong’s Satay? Okay! podcast and a ton of silly content, as well as the actually good PR invites.

We hope you enjoyed it, because we really loved sharing our weekly highlights with each other, before committing the best bits into these hallowed newsletters. Plus it was actually a great way for us to think about all the great things we had done, because sometimes life rushes at you and taking stock doesn’t happen.

So we’re bringing it back, once a month.

What is in store this year…? Some of us are still addicted to Heated Rivalry (ASM: i need to talk about pasta salads and feta, what?), Rivals is back, cannot wait! There is bound to be some good 80s food chat… It’s currently asparagus season in the UK, what fun dishes will be made? Celebrity tequilas are tanking, will that bring some unhinged content to save them?

Here is our first one (because the year hasn’t really begun for us till now - as outlined in our first paid newsletter, at the beginning of the month).

CHLOE:

I recently went to the Schiaparelli exhibit at the V&A, of course there are gorgeous clothes to look at but it was also really interesting to see how entrenched Elsa Schapiarelli was within he surrealist art movement and how she was able to push the boundaries of fashion – the exhibit described her clientele as ‘confident’. A few stand out pieces were a jacket from the circus collection with acrobat buttons, a wall of gorgeous brooches and the handmade buttons.

ANNA:

I went to Vancouver last month (curtsey of Visit Vancouver, for 50 Best Bars North America). It was super fun. Because of the mix of communities, history of immigration, and first peoples heritage there are some really interesting spots and experiences that tell the story of the city. One thing I do love when travelling is to go to at least one ‘fancy’ spot, like somewhere that would be a date-night – even / especially if I am not there on a date. A) it feels nice to dress up when away, B) it is where the city goes to hang out and get fancy. And I think it gets a real mix of people, all of whom are usually there to have an experience and to really enjoy the food and drink. You can pretend to feel like a local, it’s the other end of the spectrum of going to a supermarket when travelling. So, here are my date night suggestions for Vancouver, from my short whirlwind tour:

• Elem - a fine-dining restaurant by chef Vish Mayekar, who pulls inspiration from his childhood home of Mumbai, British Columbia and his global travels. The menu explore the idea of elements (fire, water, air, earth), an idea which could be naff but works super well, as a gentle touch and focus. Actually works particularly interestingly with the drinks menu… the wine list is also super interesting, with local wines throughout. It is minimalist decor, and feels very chic

• Good Thief - owned and run by a second-gen Vietnamese family, this is technically a cocktail bar, but with most (all?) Vancouver bars, it has a comprehensive food menu. The food is probably considered ‘fusion’, and the cocktails are super fun! I will be writing about them in next issue of Cheese mag - a laughing cow cocktail, and ‘phở-tine’ which is a play on the Canadian poutine, and it is so good!! Crispy pomme frites, cheese curd, phờ gravy, braised beef, scallion & crispy basil

• June: I loved this!!!! It was all red, dark, and glamorous; super sexy. The food was very good, but in a way unimaginative - I guess French-inspired, a bit Med, maybe some Japanese thrown in there. But it was a neighbourhood joint that people travel to; it was definitely full of Vancouver people and felt like a place that was distinctly from a city of immigrants. It was Vancouver’s answer to the great restaurant in your home town that feels both ubiquitous but of the city. (Vancouver has long-standing ties with Japan, including one of the biggest cherry blossom seasons outside of Japan, it has mixed European history, other Asian migrant communities…)
  Down stairs is a little bar, which is also beautiful, and does fantastic food too!

  

• Side note: A big highlight was a walking tour, led by a tour company founded by an indigenous mother and daughter duo, through the forest looking at traditional foods that can be foraged and learning about traditional farming methods. I did this tour and it was amazing!! Just 20mins uber ride from downtown Vancouver.

REBECCA:

I’ve been staying closer to home recently due to a leg injury and have been delightfully reacquainted with Trini Vibez on Kingsland Road. While the Trinidadian doubles are a classic dish of curried chickpeas served over a pair of flatbreads called bara, some establishments amp this up with a third bara, resulting in the rare triple. It’s the perfect food for strolling back to the De Beauvoir rose garden, where the meticulous community plot blooms once again.

Don’t forget to read all the amazing articles on our website! From celebrations to gourds - we cover all the oft-forgotten ingredients in food, as well as the more spoken about: like flour and water.

Sourced Journeys

And, all subscriptions go towards paying contributors for their work so that it is access free to all.

It is May, which is the harvest festival period in Sarawak - Gawai. It is also a celebration period in the UK too, I think. Of sorts. That is what May Day is, right? It is an ancient festival and it is about the beginning of Summer, more associated with flowers instead of harvesting of produce. 1st May is also International Labour Day, which relates to the idea of planting, of harvest, or produce - to be eaten or otherwise - it is a time to think of work and the (literal) fruits of work; let us understand the labour of our foods. May also feels like a beginning. A start, a refresh. The sun is out (more), the light mornings call for a sense of awakening.

It is spring, and we can taste the coming of summer.

In Sarawak the indigenous peoples, of which I am part of, celebrate Gawai through May and into June – officially Gawai is now in the governmental calendar as a state holiday, on 1st and 2nd June. But traditionally, and still continuing, you hold a Gawai celebration when you dream of hosting one. Many of the stories around Gawai are about calling the gods to the table for the Gawai celebrations, therefore the story of a feast is wrapped up in dreaming of the feast and inviting people to the table. We must dream to eat together, before we are able to sanction the event. I love that: to dream of the gathering. And also, it means you don’t have to host a celebration - babes, if the dream didn’t happen, then just sit this one out; go to your pals party.

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The sun is out, it is 17°C, we’re beginning to feel like a new year can begin; a hibernation can end. We’ve always been about taking things slow, and letting the idea of when a ‘new year’ can start is also part of that (more on this, and a socio-political dive, next newsletter!).

The SOURCED paid newsletter makes its return, with some thoughts on bread culture(s), easy lunch recipes, a reading list and an update on what we’ve been up to.

We’re happy to be back in your inboxes again! In this issue of the paid newsletter Chloe shares some thoughts on bread culture and Anna has a few recs for some quick pastas. We’ve also got a few reading recommendations – don’t forget that you can buy books from our Bookshop account which has reading lists to accompany our seasons as well!

BOOKSHOP

In case you missed it here is what we’ve published for Sugar Season so far:

• Jenny Lau in conversation with Miranda Brown (University of Michigan) - the history of sugar in Chinese foodways

• Excerpt from Pam Brunton’s Between Two Waters

• Chloe-Rose Crabtree in conversation with baker Teresa Finney

• The Bitter Future of California’s Date Industry, Colin Hanner and Laura Schlerb

• Sugarcoated Slavery: Where Louisiana’s Agricultural and Carceral Industries Meet, Zac Jones-Gomez

• Anna Sulan Masing in conversation with Angelos Bafas - the importance of sweetness in drinks

We are reopening submissions for Sugar season articles, you can see our pitch guidelines here. We will give priority to pitches with a focus outside of Europe and the US.

Sourced Journeys

As always, a huge huge thank you to our paid subscribers for your support which pays for these articles to be published.

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Swillipino - Sourced Christmas dinner

One of the more exciting things about the London food scene is the number of dining experiences that exist beyond brick-and-mortar establishments. While some can be overhyped like influencer-sponsored Christmas food markets, there are real gems tucked into neighborhood pubs, wine bars, cafes and community centres.

I (Chloe) have loved opening up my pastry counter to other bakers and spending time in different kitchens for pop-ups I’ve been asked to participate in. From my perspective inside the kitchen it gives a new breath of creative energy to what I am doing. Working with new people and revamping a menu for a one-off event breaks up the monotony and is a reminder of why I enjoy working with food. These pop-up spaces and residencies are a great space for chefs to experiment and articulate their culinary identity. While there is a lot to say about the actual profitability of these types of events (namely the greed of hosting establishments), in the right context a pop-up can be a really beautiful thing.

For our festive meal, the Sourced team met up for one of the final weeks of the Swillipino residency at ESEA Centre in Hackney. Not only was the food incredible (cannot stop thinking about that beet salad) the evening was made even sweeter as the room filled up with familiar faces. It made the whole dinner feel a bit like going over to a friend’s house, a type of hospitality that isn’t always present in a traditional restaurant. The Swillipino residency closes this week but we will definitely be keeping an eye out for where Tin Tin is cooking next!

We were saddened to hear, just a few days later, that the ESEA Centre had lost its council funding. The centre--and its luncheon club--will continue, but will have to make changes in order to keep costs low for their members. Anyone who’s been to a luncheon, an event, or a workshop at the Centre knows this is the exact kind of community project local government should be prioritising and while we know that the organisers are resilient and will find ways to make things work, we wish they didn’t have to.

Donate to support the ESEA Centre

Rebecca has been hard at work organising Open Door Community Kitchen’s annual fundraiser, a supperclub for 100 last weekend which, thankfully, has raised enough money to cover another year of programming at the kitchen. We’ve all been reflecting on community and on organising being seen as “in” right now, which paid subscribers will be able to read more about in January.

Residencies/ New food experiences we’re most looking forward to in 2026:

• Ling Ling’s residency at Godet wine bar (they’re operating now and hosting a NYE dinner!)

• Seeing former residency Tiella by Dara Klein become a full-blown trattoria!

• Whatever Tasca, by Josh Dallaway and Sinead Murdoch, does next

Silly fun things

• There seems to be an obsession with hot chocolate atm - in Xmas rom-coms, velvetiser by Hotel Chocolat which is constantly advertised to me (Anna) on podcasts, in way that it sounds like a s*x toy, on The Ordinary newsletter…

• Update on Tyra’s hot ice cream (more hot chocolate content)

• Cookies are having their moment, maybe this is linked to why hot chocolate is en vogue, a homely vibe? How to get lux and twee…? Eater cookie dramas

• I’m (Rebecca) loving Heated Rivalry, the Boys’ Love hockey show gripping my timeline. I’m watching with my VPN but it’s coming to Sky in the new year.

• If you’re looking for something to watch in the twilight between Christmas and New Year, The Fall Guy is a surprising delight that will make everyone happy. The marketing team really did this movie dirty but to be fair there is a lot going on. You have a love story, a conspiracy, a meta look at film making, lots of action and a love letter to stunt actors.

• For a light read over the holiday, I (Chloe) smashed through Anima Rising: A Novel, by Christopher Moore who brings Frankenstein, Klimt, Freud and Jung into the same world.

• I have discovered this week bythetide3 - a mixed Bardi-Jawi Indigenous Australian family living in Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley of WA, and their story.

Going analogue – things to pick up and hold

• Port Magazine - beautiful, jam packed with great pieces (including an small Anna piece)

• Table Magazine - photography heavy, indepth and unusual food and food adjacent stories (and Anna’s Bali trip)

• Vittles Magazine - obvs

• Pit Magazine - also obvs, the recent issue is America

• Books…

  • Norteña by Karla Zazueta, this book is such a delight to cook from, and if you’re London-based you can also book a cooking class from Karla or a spot at one of her supperclubs

  • Silk Roads by Anna Ansari, an expansive cookbook in more ways than one. Anna weaves together family history and her travels to form a set of essays and recipes that are truly unique. We had many of the dishes at her launch party and can’t wait to recreate them at home.

  • Chinese and Any Other Asian by Anna! Being a part of Anna’s book launch year has been so special. We’re biased, but this book is incredibly funny, it’s personal and timely, and it looks beautiful on the bookshelf.

  • Jenny Lau’s An A-Z of Chinese Food (no recipes included) is a master piece in essay writing, very funny, sharp, caring and critical theory and social commentary all in one!

A bonus recipe for some holiday baking:

I (Chloe) added these to the Bake Street x Lucky Yu biscuit tin this year, and passed them out as a queue snack for the Dia de Muertos pop-up with Toad Bakery. They’re slightly savoury with a sort of popcorn-y finish, perfect for dipping in hot chocolate or coffee.

Masa harina short bread

• 125g room temp unsalted butter

• 60g icing sugar

• 100g plain flour

• 50g masa harina, toasted

• 1/2tsp salt

• Demarera sugar (optional)

1. Toast masa harina on a piece of parchment in the oven at 170C(fan) for 10 min or until golden brown. Let cool completely and mix with flour and salt.

2. Cream together butter and icing sugar until creamy and slowly add dry ingredients.

3. Shape dough into a 2” diameter log and brush with water and roll in demarara sugar (if using). Wrap in parchment paper and cool in fridge for 2hours or overnight or in freezer for 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 165 C (fan).

5. Cut biscuits into 1cm discs and place on parchment 1.5” apart.

6. Bake for 8-10 min or until the edges are a light golden brown (the middle will still be a little pale)

7. Let cool 10 min before removing from the tray, best if eaten the next day (if you can hold off until then).

Let cool before rolling, bake 170C for 8-10 min

HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON – we hope you also get some rest – LOVE, THE SOURCED TEAM xxx

Being the flown in as a private chef

Or what my [Chloe’s] family called my attendance at this year’s Thanksgiving. I spent the week overlooking a beach view, mixing up a feast for the holiday, learning family lore and eating delicious things that I didn’t cook when I couldn’t look at the kitchen anymore. It was lush and exhausting in equal measures.

A surprise hit at Thanksgiving were some herby roasted mushrooms with dandelion greens that were wilted down with some caramelised onions. The mushrooms were brined with sage, thyme and rosemary, tossed in butter and then popped in the oven with the same herbs. The process is basically the same one I use for my Mushroom Stroganoff Focaccia published in Vittles earlier this week, just skip tossing the mushrooms in flour during the roasting process.

I don’t know if I’d exactly recommend cooking a multicourse meal with jetlag but I will recommend booking your flight back home with enough time to get a massage before you go to the airport. I have done this twice now and I have never slept better on a plane.

Inviting more people than can fit in your flat

I (Rebecca) refashioned my annual Thanksgiving as a light bites party this year and invited way, way too many people. It was hectic and I had to bake an emergency brie, plus all my freezer bread, to keep up with things, but it was amazing to have a chaotic, full house.

Revisiting Gourd Season

This week, Spotify wrapped told me (Rebecca) that I listen to way too much Bad Bunny, that I have a problematic listening age gap with someone I just started seeing, and that in a long and varied year, Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé still came in third. One of my favourite pieces we published during Gourd Season was “Roots of a Banjo” by Jamie Parkinson, on the history of gourd banjos. Best read while listening to RIIVERDANCE, of course.

Cider Cocktails

Rebecca and Anna attended a festive celebration with Showerings Cider this week, a family-run cidery out of Somerset. It’s that time of year where we really have to pace ourselves, so we both had early nights, but took the opportunity to sip concoctions of bourbon, cider, ginger beer, and rosemary, eat blue cheese and caramelized onion toasties (delicious, mouth-burning) and chat to friends old and new. Thanks to Pani Soutis for the invite.

Toronto!

I (Anna) have (accidentally) become obsessed this week with two Chinese food people based in Toronto. I think, because I started watching Great Fountain Fast Food the algorithm recommended me Susur Lee

Great Fountain Fast Food is a family-run Hong Kong style food court, and the daughter has taken over / became responsible for running the joint, but alongside her parents. I love the content! Very community focused, lots of recipes, and bts.

Susur Lee Canada’s Iron Chef (I actually don’t know what that means) and has two restaurants. His content is a lot about him and his three sons (spoiler: they are all HOT). Its very fun and sweet, they cook, do blind tasting, jazz up take out…

A Private Man

I finished the proof of A Private Man, which is a story that crosses two timelines – Adrian looks after his grandmother Margart in her last year(s?), and we find out about her earlier life and how she met Adrian’s grandfather David. It is the most sensual, delicious piece of writing that is laced with love and grief and is quite simply beautiful. BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. I urge you to pre-order it.

“On her first day in Rome Margaret had the most delicious meal of her life: gnocchi con vongole e fiori di zucca. It was a near-rapturous experience, and she giggled to herself, hoping it would be tenable to live at such a pitch. She wanted to plunge down every street. The absolute luxury of being a woman alone.”

Some things we’ve written recently:

• Chloe-Rose Crabtree - Vittles recipe: Mushroom Stroganoff Focaccia

A recipe for fluffy focaccia with pockets of richly flavoured mushroom stroganoff.

“When Bake Street, where I am head baker, was asked to make snacks for the launch party of Vittles Issue 1 earlier this year, I knew I had to include stroganoff on the menu. Jonathan had been lobbying us for a stroganoff burger special – a request we’d sadly had to reject, as it would have been just too messy to eat such a creamy, saucy dish from a takeaway box. However, I’m never one to pass up a chance to combine two unlikely dishes into one, so I decided that focaccia would instead be the perfect vessel for a mushroom stroganoff. The resulting bread is fluffy, with explosions of stroganoff sauce hiding in the dimpled dough.”

• Anna Sulan Masing - Port Magazine: Coffee & Butter

In a small alleyway in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia, an 80-year-old coffee shop becomes a site of memory and rediscovery.

“I haunt the places we went the last time I saw him, six months before the world closed down and a virus took him along with millions. I find that they are still the best: laced with nostalgia, the taste is sweeter. Being in the city that was his but without him is both dislodging and full of discovery. I have no schedule but my own to eat by.”

• Rebecca Thimmesch - Chic! The End of Recipes?

A reflection on Thanksgiving as a fast fashion holiday for recipes.

“Thanksgiving is a dramatic example, but it gets at an uncomfortable truth of recipe development: it’s wasteful as hell. I’m sure that all the tester turkeys used for Kim’s recipe, as well as those across NYT Cooking and Bon Appetit and all the other websites and developers’ kitchens were eaten to some degree and used for stock et cetera. But just because something doesn’t go to waste doesn’t mean it’s not wasteful.”

What are you currently obsessed with??

Jelly - and other self soothing content

I (Anna) am writing this from the Pan Pacific hotel in London. I won a raffle to raise money for the incredible New Earth Theatre, the longest running theatre company focusing on ESEA stories and talent in the UK. 18th floor, incredible views over London, a clear day and the sun about to set. I am treating it as a mini writing retreat, to get my next book proposal sorted by the end of the year. Due to a lot of personal stuff going on I have worked out what content I find self soothing, it is: binging the entirety of House, watching kitchen makeovers reels (a fave), Mars Potato Jones, but this week in particular it has been about jellies.

Adventures in Jelly makes me laugh so much. And I very much enjoyed this post this week – look at this thicc boi having a wee disco dance!

Meal Prep

I am very broke, I need to start meal prepping, I am bad at meal prepping. But I think a lot about meal prepping, because I think a lot about organising (Virgo moon, Taurus rising). I like the idea of the correct container, the proper labelling, the well organised freezer. Anyway, I have done none of these things, but this week I came across this account and LEGO MEALS. I am obsessed - it probably comes under self soothing content too. I will be sorting out my freezer this weekend (her freezer is tiny!) and buying the meal-for-one oven pans in the January sales. (I already have the cube trays).

The Brat Diet

I (Rebecca) was very, very sick last week. After a full 24 hours of not keeping anything down, I had to take it down to the studs, proverbially speaking. Bananas, rice, apples, and toast baby.

Mr Lyan Studio Lates

Finally emerging after several days in the flat, I joined Anna’s discussion with Mandy of Sambal Shiok at the final Mr Lyan Studio Lates of the year. One of the cocktails for the event was a play on teh tarik, Malaysian hot milk tea. That combination of black tea and sweetened condensed milk felt so comforting to me, necessary for one’s first cocktail back in the game.

Thanksgiving

Rebecca and Chloe are both celebrating Thanksgiving this week; Chloe is away in the US whipping up pies and potato dishes and Rebecca is slowly prepping for a relaxed, finger food version on Sunday. Thanksgiving is, in many ways, about the pie, so we are revisiting Chloe’s pie series for Vittles for all the inspo.

Have a great weekend and please tell us all about your obsessions!

Anna, Chloe + Rebecca xx

Can you believe November is almost over? Here’s everything we can’t stop thinking about during this new moon in Scorpio.

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Canapés and Community

I (Rebecca) have been having a huge week in terms of finger foods and community spaces. I help run Open Door Community Kitchen, which operates weekly in Dalston and on Saturday we had a mad marathon day across two events: a community art exhibition out of our own hall and a fundraiser for a family in Gaza at the old church in Stoke Newington. We put on two incredible events filled with delicious food and while yes, people came, I left the art exhibition in particular wondering what it is exactly we have to do to get people excited about coming to community events. When Anna posted her thoughts on this on Instagram the other day, she summed up so many of the things I’ve been reflecting on since.

On Tuesday, I attended Gather (2), hosted at the ESEA Community Centre. It was a good reminder that there is appetite for energising, fulfilling community spaces; the room was packed with people eager to pile their plates high with the most delicious bites (spanning the entire globe) and engage with the night’s programme. I had too many delicious things to count, but my favourite bite of the night might have been a slice of Wisconsin Kringle (real Kringleheads know) split with Pani Soutis.

Benedict Arnold

I (Anna) went to a fantastic bar in Auckland, Deadshot, and had two fantastic cocktails. A Rob Roy to start - my fave after dinner cocktail, the Scotch martini. Afterwards I said I wanted a ‘Old Fashion-ish thingy vibe’, and the bartender, Alastair (who I think is an owner), made me a Benedict Arnold. Now it is my favourite cocktail ever, it is my Roman Empire. I was vaguely aware of this cocktail, but had never had it - that wee 10mls of Benedictine is truly genius. This cocktail definitely sits in the ‘wanky cocktail’ section of a list, is niche so pretty much only nerds/bartenders know it, and it has to be made with Scotch; I love a wanky cocktail I’m afraid. Here’s a recipe of the cocktail.

At work (Mr Lyan Studio) we are doing Wanky Cocktail Fridays, for winter. So I am going to make this today, and see if any of the team can guess what I made!

Som Saa

After having to close for six months, due to a fire in the kitchen, Som Saa is back open! What I love about this restaurant is that the food is very very good, and the service is excellent! I also think it’s reasonably priced, we had the ‘tasting menu’ which was £50 each, and you’re very full!! The stand-out dish was the stir-fried veg, smoky and delicious!! The beef salad was also superb. I enjoyed the cocktails (although I would argue my green negroni, was not a negroni) and the wine that was recommended.

Also why I am a fan of Som Saa is that they are one of the only restaurants that have really stood up to be accounted for, when a racialised incident happened in 2018. I felt like the owners were willing to put themselves into public situations that made them uncomfortable to properly discuss the situation, which included an industry town hall, and an Eater-run discussion panel. Shitty things happen in all industries, especially restaurants (if you’ve read my book you’ll know some of the things that have happened to me, in spaces I would widely say were safe, with supportive owners), and things can get missed, but how you deal with the aftermath is the key. I’m not going to share details / stories of the incident, because they lack nuance of the situation and are specific to the time. But Ive many friends go through the restaurant, and have been in contact with the owners ever since, and have witnessed a business that works with care. Care and consideration is what makes food tasty too.

Touristing in your own city

I (Chloe) have some out of town visitors before I head back to the US for Thanksgiving. It’s always a bit of a balancing act when someone is visiting to make sure you show them a good mix of they want to see without feeling like you’ve stared at Big Ben for the 1000th time.

Luckily my visitors were happy to do a wander through town with no real plan. Here are a few of the things we did:

• Pit stop at Panadera SoHo for something warm to carry while looking at the Christmas lights. I went for a calamansi tea that was delightful.

• Wander through Liberty with a special appreciation for the haberdashery floor

• Lunch at Quality Wines, honestly a great value menu and everything was so delicious. Especially the spanakorizo, I could have eaten 3 plates of it with bread for lunch and been happy.

• Slow wander from Quality Wines to Highbury and Islington station via Camden Passage for some window and charity shopping.

• A special shout out for the Marie Antoinette exhibit at the V&A, I went with my sister a few weeks back and she has already paid for her new membership by going back to this exhibit 3 times

What are you obsessed with this week? Let us know in the comments!

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Our weekly round up of the best things (food, media, viral content) we’ve consumed or at least the things we can stop thinking about – from Aotearoa to United Kingdom.

Kiwi Scones

As you know, I (Anna) have gone home to the other side of the world for a bit. One thing I am a bit obsessed with is the New Zealand scone. Cafe culture is already peak down under, the coffee is excellent everywhere, but also the food is so good (I have already written about this when I was back over Christmas) but it is a vibe, it is OTT. But unlike say, the American OTT which feels colourful, action packed, stunning, the Kiwi take is to take something very ordinary and say ‘fuck it, lets make it mega, delicious, but real ugly’. Enter the New Zealand [mega] scone – large and full of flavour, from dates to bacon, cheese, chilli, jalapenos… usually at least two fruits or veg. These are not scones you know, in the UK. I am obsessed. I am making mum go for a daily coffee and scone adventure, we’re working our way around Tauranga. Places of note: Benny & Brew, Florence, Mixture, Tay Street Beach Cafe.

I want to do a TV show with me and Chloe going around NZ cafes - the complex history of immigration, European and being so far from Europe, Pacific Island and Asian, along with the Māori, makes for a cool hybridity of foods.

Youngmi Mayer’s newsletter

In particular her piece: ‘i used to be a trad wife i wanted to fucking kms everyday: a warning for the girls who think they want to lie down instead of lean in’

I read this, this week, when I was feeling pretty down. I’m 44, single, broke… and can’t work out how I can get out of this, cos I work so damn hard. I get a trip home (very needed for family reasons) which my mum has paid half of, surely at my age I should be able to afford to go home when deemed important/urgent? When my mum was my age I(her eldest child) had just moved to London, ffs. But, this piece reminded me that a) I chose this life, it is on me b) it is the only life I want to have – but she writes these things, without sounding like a dick. The piece opens with:

“as i am writing this, i am so fucking broke. i woke up this morning shaking with anxiety. i’m a single mom who can never make rent, has zero romantic prospects, and who’s career is doing ok in every way besides financially. i have come to the conclusion that i will never have any money for the rest of my life.

i overcame my anxiety shakes this morning by thinking about the one thing that never fails to make me happy: at least i am not a stay-at-home mom with a wealthy husband who takes care of me like i used to be.”

All her pieces are behind a paywall, and I really can’t afford it, but I feel like it’s so worth it. My plan is to pay for three months, read loads, then come off the subscription and pay for another newsletter for three months etc etc… and will get back to Youngmi’s work again, in rotation. Micro supporting people’s work.

Slow evenings and staying in

The past week has been about recovery for my (Chloe’s) household. We’ve eaten in, watched movies, crafted and consoled the dog who wants to find any corner in the house to hide from the fireworks. So there isn’t much to report but if you’re feeling like a homebody this week, here is what I got up to:

• Watched Now You See Me, 1&2; silly, mindless and I love a heist movie so we will be watching number 3. Def worth watching the second one if you also like seeing Daniel Radcliffe play a little weirdo.

• Tried to watch All’s Fair; I love trash and most of the cast but this was really not it for me

• Really enjoyed Tetris (even if this may have delayed production on Kingsmen 4)

• After a bad bout of RSI, I am back to knitting so I am making the Sophie Hood; longtime fibrecrafters will know about Ravelry, but if you’re new to working with yarn I would suggest setting up an account. You can filter patterns to suit almost any specification you have. If you want to make a graphic pattern of your own, I also suggest using Stitch Fiddle which will map out an image and generate a pattern to make things like this cow blanket I made for my nephew a few years back.

​​​​Actually Cooking Dinner

I (Rebecca) have had a rough week on the heels of several weeks of visiting family, travel, and a packed schedule. My flat’s been a wreck, I’ve had nothing in the fridge, and have generally not been taking the best care of myself. This week, I’m cooking again. I made my favourite house sweet, the Smitten Kitchen ultimate zucchini (courgette) bread with candied pecans and pepitas on top, I soaked and braised a load of chickpeas, and I’ve endeavored to cook myself a beautiful dinner every night. Cooking dinner, it’s the best!

• I am trying to watch Channel 5’s new The Forsytes, which should be right up my alley, but it’s a bit too … glossy for me.

• This year’s Rock n’ Roll hall-of-fame inductions has me revisiting Stankonia, truly one of my favourite albums of all time. ‘Red Velvet’ is particularly on-theme for Sugar Season listeners

Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to us. Your subscription enables us to commission original work and research, accessible to all here - www.sourcedjourneys.com

In the homeward stretch to Mariah Carey season… here is your weekly round up of the best things (food, media, viral content) we’ve consumed or at least the things we can stop thinking about.

Firstly, we have a new piece on our website, written by Zac Jones-Gomez an incredibly important piece delving into the link between exploitative sugar cane agriculture of the past, and the contemporary carceral industry: Sugarcoated Slavery: Where Louisiana’s Agricultural and Carceral Industries Meet

Photos for Chloe - Singapore edition

I (Anna) always take photos for Chloe when I travel, mostly baked goods – sometimes cool, mostly wild. I was only in Singapore for one night and two days (now waiting for a plane to Tāmaki Makaurau Aucklan), so I only have two highlights. I love about Singapore, a crazy cat of a city where I am always saying: ‘like why, but also ok cool’. It is a place of fusion / melting pot / East meets West, and so many other terrible descriptors for cultural exchange but somehow makes sense here. First up is MaFe Tacos at Lau Pa Sat (the most average of the hawker centres tbh), I didn’t try but I love that it exists. Each taco is country themed, the French taco has garlic aioli, there is also a pasta section. Secondly is the Brookie, a brownie-cookie. I went with the Smores, which was made with valrhona (ofc) dark chocolate - it was so good! Inside with marshmallow and chocolate.

I met up with Max Loh! Who wrote Disputed Grains for Sourced, and got it printed in this book! We ate Min Jiang Kueh (SE Asian pancakes) with red bean, pandan kaya, and peanut butter (not together!).

To learn more about keuh, listen to Okay, Satay! recent episode Kueh, and the unlikely Dutch affair

Celebrity Traitors & Sexy Dragons - addictive plane content

I (Anna) don’t really watch reality TV, but so many people have told me I need to watch Celebrity Traitors, I have downloaded it for the plane!! l am in the middle of, and very into, Rebecca Yarros’ dragon series (I have a whole essay to write about this, and how men will read romantasy in public if the book covers are black…)

Cooking at home

My (Chloe’s) sister has moved in with a few specific dietary restrictions that have us eating at home more. So far there have been some ok dumplings (my new winter project is to make excellent dumplings), cottage pie (via Delia ofc), a black fungus and tofu knot stir fry that got better with age (sauce recipe batched up in the fridge for ease later in the week), a bad bolognese (i was tired) and a few rounds of galbitang.

For the moment I am enjoying cooking but crucial to this enjoyment is for me to have a snack on hand. Most of the time it is a massive bowl of crisps which doesn’t always make me feel the greatest. So when I remember to buy a bag of bean sprouts I make a huge batch of this banchan for my chef’s snack.

If you’re looking for home cooking inspo, especially batch cooking for easy prep check out Rosie Mackean ‘Bitches be Batching’ series on TikTok. I also really enjoy Justine Doiron’s Cleaning out the Pantry series for ideas on using up rogue spices and dried goods in my pantry.

See ya next week!

Your weekly round up of the best things (food, media, viral content) we’ve consumed or at least the things we can stop thinking about.

Chloe is making hybrid bakes again!

Pop down to TOAD Bakery in Peckham today and tomorrow (8am-3pm) to celebrate Dìa de Muertos by grabbing some bakes by Chloe and the TOAD team and Palomas by Espolón Tequila.

They’ll be serving a beef croisstamal (croissant/tamal hybrid), traditional pan de muerto and a pan de muerto filled with a calabazas en tacha custard (pumpkin caramelised in piloncillo and spices)

As part of this event, Chloe has also been putting together Instagram posts that highlight the meaning behind the holiday and other food people that promote Mexican cuisine and culture in the UK.

Space show for hunkering down

If you are looking for a show to lock into under a blanket– and partial to seeing a lot of underdressed Lee Pace – Foundation on Apple TV has 3 seasons ready for you to binge.

Set in the future, the story centres around a battle against a space empire over the course of many centuries. It has a surprisingly high production budget so it is pretty to look at even if the writing can be a little corny at times.

Walthamstow

This weekend my (Anna) friend from a different timezone (South London) came to visit me (North East London) for our usual ritual of baked goods and coffee. And well, WALTHAMSTOW IS BAKED GOODS CENTRE OF LONDON (full list for another time, today I’m just sharing what we did).

• Weirdough - they’ve recently moved across the road to a new spot with proper cafe seating. Glorious. Best croissants in London. No contest. We also had a cream and pear on an enriched bun, and a focaccia sandwich.

• Comalera - there are good tacos in London – you have to know where. Owned by Sarai Caprile, it has outside seating, but warm heaters and umbrellas and so many good choices!. Read more about them from Chloe’s Día de Muertos post

• Beaten by a whisker - vegan bakery that also does excellent croissants, but’s my fave place for cakes and tarts - incredible seasonal frangipane! Alsoa peanut latte, ridiculous. This is also where my toothless old dog managed to tip over Julia’s (decade old!) Traders Joe tote, push out the Weirdough sourdough (the reason Julia came to Walthamstow), rip the paper bag apart and then attack – lick – the entire loaf, so sneakily we didn’t realise until too late.

• (Read Rebecca’s piece on Trader Joe totes)

• Last but not least, we went to the William Morris museum and learnt about design and socialist activism.

Godet’s First Birthday

On Thursday, we (Chloe and Rebecca) swung by Godet for their first birthday celebration. This was the type of industry party we love: mostly friends, ample wine, and delicious food. Chloe arrived after Ling Lings had stopped serving, but Rebecca posted up next to the platters and sampled everything. Thanks to Freya Coote for the invite!

Chinatown Collective Tours

On Wednesday was the 40 year anniversary of the designation of Chinatown London, and I was lucky enough to go on a guided tour, led by my (Anna) friend Xiao Ma. The Chinatown Collective are a voluntary group who are creating “heritage-making activities connected to London’s Chinatown; sustaining and supporting a vibrant volunteer group focused on heritage-making and community building; and using heritage-focused activities to further social justice.” They critique, support, delve into Chinatown and the cultural landscape of London and are organising a year-long festival (which is so Sourced!) for the anniversary - Looking Back to Look Forward: 40 Years of Chinatown in Central London. And, holding monthly walking tours, at accessible prices (and also available for private tours! All of which support their work!) It is very cool what they are doing - follow them

Cobbed Up

I (Rebecca) found myself dealing with a surfeit of sweetcorn cobs this weekend, the sort of thing you run into managing a community kitchen. I roasted my two dozen or so cobs and threw them into my largest stock pot, foiled tightly, and turned them into a luscious corn broth. My freezer is currently full, so I spent the entire week making corn soups, corn pastas, and corn risottos. I revisited this excerpt from Pam Brunson’s Between Two Waters, which we published earlier in Sugar Season, for a bit of corn synergy.

Love, Chloe, Anna & Rebecca

ps – London folks, the last of Anna’s Sunday Salon in next month, and it’s all about food! A Sunday lunch cooked by chef Budgie Montoya with readings and chats with authors Katie Goh and Stephanie Sy-Quia. Full details here.

pps - We often get invited to places by PRs. We’re pretty picky about where we go - we don’t want to waste anyone’s time (and resources) if it isn’t somewhere we’d want to write and shout out about it. And we only recommend if it really is what we appreciate as ‘good’.

As mentioned last week - group chat is now a weekly newsletter. This is your weekly round up of the best things (food, media, viral content) we’ve consumed or at least the things we can stop thinking about.

Pan De Muerto

I (Chloe) have been really enjoying making pan de muerto this year, the orange blossom-scented dough is traditionally enjoyed to celebrate Dia de Muertos and smells so good while it is baking. I’ll be putting these on the Bake Street counter for two more weeks and I’ll be joining TOAD Bakery for a special Dia de Muertos pop-up with Espolon Tequila on Oct 31 and Nov 1.

This is my favourite pan de muerto/ Dia de Muertos content I have been consuming (in english and spanish):

• Comadre Panaderia is generally wonderful.

• I am mesmerized by how this man mixes most of his doughs by hand

• This guy is blending a concha and PDM for a gorgeous bun that looks like a marigold

• A little run down of the prehispanic traditions of Dia de Muertos

Date Nights with Frankie

Watching Masterchef with my flatmate, we (Anna, and Joe) always comment about how white people get to cook (and be applauded!) for cooking outside of their heritage, whereas people of colour get kudos / encouraged / expected to stay in their cultural lane. So I always have a little love when any global majority chef does not cook from their heritage. I was invited to go to a yakitori restaurant, by Indonesian chef Aman Lakhian, and I thought f*ck yeah. Junsei was so so good – the cooking was great, but the whole vibe of this tiny restaurant was lovely and it seemed full of regulars. (This is blasphemy I am sure, but with the culinary heritage of sate, it makes sense to me for an Indonesian chef to excel at yakitori.) Chef Aman Lakhiani loves vinyl, applied for a late licence when they first opened, and it’s finally come through (3+ years later!), so now they have his record player, his vinyls and this teeny restaurant becomes a music spot, because that’s what he’s into. Love it. Also, I went with my good friend Frankie and I can’t stop thinking about how great she is! Dinner with good friends is top tier.

TANK magazine - issue 20, summer 2024

I (Anna) have been re-reading last year’s TANK magazine’s Book Issue, titled Naked Lunch. In it Kristen Vida Alfaro, director of Titled Axis Press, writes about translation saying: ‘when we think about translated literature, we must consider the politics that surround who is translating, why and how’. I often think about how food, sharing food, food media, food stories, are often forms of translation – so, who gets to be translators? (Linked to above, how white chefs get to cook anything, be ‘translators’). TANK is one of my favourite magazines, I also love that they send sticker sheets.

Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life at the Courtauld Gallery (through 18 January, 2026)

I (Rebecca) went to the Courtauld Gallery this week with my visiting Mother to see this exhibit of Thiebaud’s still lifes at the always-excellent Courtauld. I’ve had a print of Cakes (1963) hanging in my flat for years but it was amazing to see all the confections across his work. The exhibition talks about Thiebaud’s use of thick paint to mimic buttercream, conjuring luscious, sugary frosting in contrast to the typical austerity of Pop Art at the time.

And - “puerquitos y pan de muerto en Pareee!” [literally taken from the group chat]

Notes from last week -

(firstly, I (Anna), spelt/typo Noby’s name wrong)

Love, Chloe, Anna & Rebecca

ps – Don’t forget to read our latest pieces on our website, for SUGAR season.

pps – London folks, the last of Anna’s Sunday Salon in next month, and it’s all about food! A Sunday lunch cooked by chef Budgie Montoya with readings and chats with authors Katie Goh and Stephanie Sy-Quia. Full details here.

ppps - We often get invited to places by PRs. We’re pretty picky about where we go - we don’t want to waste anyone’s time (and resources) if it isn’t somewhere we’d want to write and shout out about it. And we only recommend if it really is what we appreciate as ‘good’.

We’ve decided to move the group chat into the newsletter and give you all a weekly round up of the best things (food, media, viral content) we’ve consumed or at least the things we can stop thinking about. Short, sweet, and fun.

What is hot ice cream?

The Top of America’s Next Top Model herself, chaos queen Tyra Banks apparently has a few ice cream shops in Australia called Smize and Dream, where she has shared her latest ground breaking innovation: Hot. Ice. Cream.

Reviews suggest it is hot (sometimes lukewarm) melted ice cream, a drinkable custard if you will. Tyra claims these ideas just keep coming to her and we can’t wait to see whats next (hopefully her venture into ice cream will be better than that time she started an MLM).

House of Guinness!

In a way it’s very Sourced — using the drink as a way to understand migration, class, and politics. And of course, it’s so soapy and fun (lol).

Satay, Okay!

A new podcast about the history of Malaysia through food. If you don’t know Noby Leugh, you should. On his instagram he often has videos about food and flavour through science (he has a PhD in chemistry). All his work is super considered, and now he’s taking this approach to the podcast arena. It is very fun, thoughtful and deeply researched with amazing interviews. Everyone interested in food, history, migration, identity, colonialism, deliciousness, needs to listen! I have also really enjoyed getting to know Philip, Noby’s partner and co-host. It is a very lovely structured podcast.

Il Bambini Club

We (Anna & Chloe) came up with this weekly recs idea at Il Bambini Club. We often get invited to places, and only say yes if we feel it has relevance to what we do or sounds like something we’d like to talk about. This is a new Italian restaurant (they’re a dime a dozen in London now!), brand new in the Hoxton Hotel. It was nice, and what we realised is that something nice is good. We have different groups of friends and family that aren’t always adventurous, and you just need nice food, central, with good service, in a pretty space – this was all that. December is around the corner, perfect for work lunches, university friend meet ups…

Mr Lyan’s Taste Trips: London episode!

Watch Chloe talk Ryan Chetiyawardana (Mr Lyan) through the creme brûlée cookie! And the story of Bake Street. Plus Jonah appears, and Anna does some drinking and walking on B-roll.

Love, Chloe, Anna & Rebecca

ps – Don’t forget to read our latest pieces on our website, for SUGAR season.

pps – London folks, the last of Anna’s Sunday Salon in next month, and it’s all about food! A Sunday lunch cooked by chef Budgie Montoya with readings and chats with authors Katie Goh and Stephanie Sy-Quia. Full details here.

Subscriptions cover the fees of our contributors, which you can read on Sourced website and will include a piece about rye, California dates, and American immigration policy, prison labor, and sugar production… and other other topics!

Subscribe now

We also have a couple new additions to the Sourced Audio Series for Sugar Season:

• Listen to Anna chat with with Dr Jonathan Morris about the connection coffee has with sugar.

• Hear the chat between Chloe and pastry chef and writer Teresa Finney about all things baking.

Jose María Velasco: landscape, agriculture and identity

This summer we were asked to do a talk in the new (and very cool!) National Gallery members area. It was based on the exhibition of José María Velasco, a Mexican artist painting in the second half of the 19^th century and early 20^th. Unfortunately the talk was cancelled last minute due to low interest in the whole exhibition. It was the “first-ever exhibition that the National Gallery has dedicated to an historical Latin American artist, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Mexico” which is a discussion for a whole other newsletter! Nevertheless we thought we’d share a little from our research into Velasco’s landscapes which spoke to us about food, tradition, changing landscapes, national identities, all of which is related to the topics we want to cover in Sugar Season.

Read more

We are thinking of our Sourced family around the world! Thank you once again for being with us on our journey for another year.

Our Celebration mini-season is all complete, with four very different ‘essays’ on what it means to celebrate. If you have enjoyed any of our pieces please do share! The most important thing for us is that the (amazing!) work by our contributors is read.

On the topic of reading…

Sourced is all about being hopeful for the future, we are investigating systems so we can envisage and build sustainable futures. Because of this, because it is what we have always been interested in, we’ve read / listened / watched many things on sustainability.

Dystopian or post-apocalyptic futures are a linear way of looking forward and are often a very Western structure (which is reflective of a capitalist lens), but there are other ways to think about our future. We believe in joy, and the radical action of joy, and even if some of these works are difficult, or make for uncomfortable reading, they are stories being told because there is a belief that we can have a bright future, that there are still possibilities. We have the power to change, even in this current political landscape.

“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

Therefore, as we head into a new year we wanted to share a list of sustainability minded works. This list is like showing our working, a reading list of sorts that encapsulates ‘Sourced’.

BOOKS

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of seasonal eating - Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

Kingsolver’s fiction books are epic - The Poisonwood Bible delves into colonialism, religion and power dynamics through missionaries in the Belgian Congo; Demon Copperhead is about class and poverty in the Appalachian mountains. On the surface it would seem unusual for her to write a non-fiction book about food systems, but of course food systems are all about the thematics she dives into, plus landscape is so prevalent in her work.

This book follows the family in a year of learning to eat - as much as possible - from what they can grow in their own garden (or locally) and is naturally personal. You get to follow the family (Steve is her husband, and Camille her eldest child) through the year understanding the ups and downs and decisions that get made. This makes it not feel like a sermon and is about the journey. It allows you to question your own daily routines without thinking you must change your whole life. It is a book about centring food, within every day life. It is easy to read, but not as engaging as her fiction books, at times the structure (including the very long footnotes that take half a page, breaking flow) doesn’t feel super easy.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Kimmerer is a botanist who blends her formal academic training with the teachings of her Potawatomi heritage. The stories she weaves in this book are part memoir, part analysis of the field of botany and what it has to learn from native knowledge. This is a book worth having a hard copy of so that you can make your own notes and observations but it is also worth listening to as an audio book narrated by Kimmerer. Her writing style is very meditative and soothing.

She also has a version of the book for young adults!

Eating to Extinction: the world’s rarest foods and why we need to save them - Dan Saladino

A truly phenomenal book that reads like a fiction book, Saladino is a master storyteller - because he shows, and not tells. The writing is very descriptive and the people, communities and landscapes are beautifully captured. The book is broken up into ten sections (e.g. Grains, Meats, Cheese, Alcohol, Sweets…) and three of four specific foods (Hadza honey, flat oysters, vanilla orange…) which work like short stories. By telling these stories we get to see how important diversity of foods is, for communities and for the future of the planet.

Hoofprints on the Land: how traditional herding and grazing can restore the soil and bring animal agriculture back in balance with the earth - Ilse Köhler-Rollefson

There is always a weariness of reading a white, western, anthropological lens on global south traditions and livelihoods. Köhler-Rollefson writes about the herding practices of the Raika camel herders in Rajasthan, India, drawing on three decades of living with them. Her style of writing and telling the story is considered and engaging and dispels the idea of binary which often happens in anthropological-style works.

This book is essentially about regenerative farming, and although it is about nomadic herding it is also a book about place - the interlinked rhythms of people, animals and the landscape. It also, maybe unintentionally, unpicks ideas of migrants and can give different ideas of moving - how can give a groundedness and that movement is not to be feared.

In Search of the Perfect Peach: why flavour holds the answer to fixing our food system - Franco Fubini

This book takes the approach that through flavour - understanding flavour, exploring flavour, finding things that are full of flavour - we will find a way to prioritising food in our lives and therefore, find foods that are produced sustainably; this is a very ‘chefy’ way to look at food and sustainability, which is unsurprising who Franco Fubini is. Fubini is the founder of Natoora, the UK founded high-end grocery store that focuses on ethical sourcing and supplies many of the UK's excellent restaurants. There are some lovely stories of Natoora’s suppliers and how they developed their businesses and approach to farming. The book starts by telling the story of a peach from the author’s childhood, and so flavour is anchored in the story but the book would be stronger if the concept of what flavour is and could be, and understanding that flavour is subjective and contextual, it therefore lacks a sense of place which means a issues such as class and accessibility are not explored - key things that are an issue with our food system. But this book is short and the structure is easy to follow; it is the book you should send your kids of to university with - along with Anna Jones’ A Modern Way to Cook, and Audre Lorde’s A Master’s Tool - the good introduction to re-thinking what food is and the idea of food systems.

Letters to a young farmer: on food, farming, and our future - Stone Barns Centre for food & agriculture

An anthology of 38 essays . It is a small book - for so many voices - so each of the pieces are short and succinct. It includes people like Barbara Kinsolver, Alice Water, Dan Barber, Michael Pollan, Mary Berry… so it has a huge array of ideas and lenses. The two must reads (imho) are by Raj Patel and Mas Masumoto. Perfect to have around and pick up and read one essay with your morning coffee.

No Meat Required: the cultural history & culinary future of plant-based eating - Alicia Kennedy

It is unsurprising that we love this book, having read Alicia’s work from much before Sourced existed! Along with Raj Patel’s book, her work would be considered a ‘must read’ for being part of the Sourced world. This book is a culmination of years of work and research, and you can tell. A lazy way of explaining this book would be to talk about it as a history of vegetarianism and veganism, but it really is about the entirety of the food system and how (primarily US) culture, class, and histories are interwoven with our food (and drink!).

One Pot, Pan, Plant: a greener way to cook for you, your family and the planet - Anna Jones

This is an engaging and thoughtful cookbook that puts thinking about food systems into practice. Making the theory tangible can be hard so this is useful, interesting and delicious. Jones lives in the UK so it is more relevant to that space, but easily adaptable. Read our newsletter takeover by Anna Jones.

Saying no to a farm-free future: the case for an ecological food system and against manufactured foods; why techno-fixes can’t dave the climate, feed the world or restore the environment - Chris Smaje

Unlike the cover / title this book is short and succinct, albeit dense. It is a direct rebuttal to the George Monbiot et al who advocate for a ‘techno-solutionsim of ecomodernist’ approach to the future of food. Its key mandate is that we can’t see technology or digital solutions as the answer, and is centred on farming - what can farming look like? Ultimately it is a book about place making, which puts people and communities at the centre, the question is how do we get to that, for everyone?

Stuffed & Starved: from farm to fork, the hidden battle for the world food system - Raj Patel

Published in 2008 this book is still so relevant. It gives context to the way we live now, but the issues we are facing we are still facing. It asks the questions we need to be asking - before we can even begin to think about what the answers can be, we need to know the right questions! It is the key to what Sourced is about, if there was a ‘must read’ for Sourced, it is this.

The Mushroom at the End of the World: on the possibility of life in capitalist ruins - Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

Through following the sourcing and commodity chain of this rare mushroom Lowenhaupt Tsing examines the idea of a destruction through capitalism (and the inevitability of capitalism ruining us) and the possibility of survival through collectiveness. The collaborative nature of fungi, and the systems they create, is the inspiration of this thinking. In some ways this book is accessible, in that it is a clear narrative, but it is academic and dense and can be slow reading but worth gently working your way through.

In this (mushroom) vein, we would highly recommend Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures by Merlin Sheldrake, and Sourced friend Doug Bierend’s In Search of Mycotopia: Citizen Science, Fungi Fanatics, and the Untapped Potential of Mushrooms

Unearthed: on race and roots and how the soil taught me I belong - Claire Ratinon

Claire grew up in the city, had a demanding job that took her to New York city for work, and is of Mauritius heritage. The idea of land is a complex one for people of colour with histories in colonised lands, this book explores all these complex webs through Ratinon’s journey into being a gardener, and in the very white space of the British countryside. This includes growing food from Mauritius, and understanding the nature of Britain. This book is considered ‘nature-writing’ and it is very descriptive, but it is also memoir and challenges ideas of systems and how food is grown and understood.

Waves of Knowing: a seascape epistemology - Karen Amimoto Ingersoll

An academic book (although fairly accessible writing) about surfing in Hawai’i, sort of. Is this really a book about food systems and sustainability? Not in a direct or linear way, but it is about indigenous knowledge and the sea. When talking about sustainable food futures we often don’t focus on bodies of water, and if we do it isn’t about the ‘-scape’ of them. This is a book about place-making, and understanding the connectivity with histories, oral storytelling, art, surfing, fishing, navigation… It is a decolonisation of our knowledge of the sea, which is so important in understanding how we can have sustainable futures.

TO WATCH

Eat This with Yara

An Al Jazeera + documentary series that explores food justice, often with humour. In particular his episode that Gaza food history and culinary ‘memory map’

TO LISTEN

Farmerama
This is a podcast focused on regenerative farming, usually takes the form of interviews and has a huge range of topics and guests.

A Taste of the Past: Gastronomic Journey of Peru

History is a great way to give context to our contemporary world and therefore a way to look at the future. This episode highlights the diversity of dishes, which comes from the diversity of agriculture in the country.

A Taste of Place

Sourced co-founder Anna Sulan’s 10-part narrative podcast, but Whetstone Media, delves into nostalgia, colonialism and sourcing through the lens of the history of pepper. How can we address our futures if we don’t address our relationship with our past? And the final episode has a treat - co-founder Chloe-Rose is featured!

ON OUR ‘TO READ’ PILE FOR 2025

Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America's Largest Meatpacking Company - Alice Driver

Alice has won awards for her writing that interrogates labour and food systems. She is writing about her home state of Arkansas, the place of the largest meat processing company in the US - “Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, an explosive exposé of the toxic labor practices at the largest meatpacking company in America and the immigrant workers who had the courage to fight back.”

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace - Tamar Adler

I (Chloe) found this book at a charity shop a few months back after meaning to buy it for years. This book first came out in 2011 but is meant to be a nice overview of how to have a sustainable approach to your home cooking. Not just in terms of what you consume but also in how you consume it and how to conserve your own energy. Really looking forward to diving into this one to see how someone else imagines their own kitchen.

Tis the season… we wanted to do a little gift guide! Reading things (of course) and some lovely items that are under £15. And as Anna has a book out in the new year, we wanted to talk about pre-ordering books - a gift can be something you look forward to!

Gift it forward

Pre-ordering books is actually really, really important for authors, especially debut authors, because it shows booksellers and publishers that there is an appetite for this book - or even, this sort of book, if it feels like a niche subject. Why it is important to signal this interest is so that the publisher will put effort, support, and attention to authors and the book. It also helps future commissioning.

So pre-order books this Christmas! And, may we suggest FoS (friend of Sourced) Jenny Lau’s An A-Z of Chinese Food, and of course Sourced co-founder Anna Sulan Masing’s Chinese and any other Asian. Both are available wherever you like to get books, like Foyles (here, and here)!

The other thing to do - to go to your local independent bookshop and ask for them to get the book in!

(ASM: if you do pre-order my book, send me a little insta message with the receipt, and I will organise a personal note and signed bookplate for the copy!)

Fun gifts for under £15 gifts
(from independent creatives!)

Martini glasses £14.95 (ASM)

Having the right glassware makes the drink that much better! I am a big fan of the Asterley Brother’s vermouth for my martinis, and all their products are thoughtfully designed. They also have good looking barware, all under £15!

Pink candles £3.00 (ASM)

I love Diddy’s cocktail bar on Mare st in Hackney, it is fun, cute and owner Diddy is just the best! During the day, Diddy’s also has a ‘Diddymart’. If you are an important person in my life you will have received a candle (or many) from me, from Diddy’s. Not just because all the best books in 2025 are going to be pink… I think pink is a very good colour for Christmas. (There are many fab, under £15, bits you can get online, and more in person!)

Celery Salt 100g £7.95 (RT)

Flaky sea salt is always a great gift, but I have begun to gift my friends bags from Halen Môn after a lovely visit to their shop in Anglesey, North Wales a few years ago. The celery salt is particularly addictive and makes an amazing addition to a Bloody Mary.

Damson and Black Pepper Jam £6.50 (RT)

I bring lots of jars of this jam with me when I travel back to the US for Christmas. In The fruit manual: a guide to the fruits and fruit trees of Great Britain, Scottish botanist Robert Hogg writes, “the Damson seems to be a fruit peculiar to England. We do not meet with it abroad, nor is any mention of it made in any of the pomological works or nurseryman's catalogues on the Continent.” I’d never heard of damsons before I moved to England, and this tart, peppery jam feels like a great way to bring a bit of it back. You can pair with a color-coordinated Opinel knife to bring you just over the £15 mark.

Everything Bagel candle £12.99 (CRC)

If you want to get a (literal) gag gift, scour your local TKMaxx for the viral Everything Bagel candle . TikToks of people’s reaction to smelling this candle are almost a gift in themselves though the manufacturer doesn’t seem to know what the fuss is about. I have encountered this candle in the wild and it doesn’t smell overwhelmingly terrible or good but it is a great gift for a white elephant exchange, and the ceramic bagel the candle is set in is very cute.

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And finally, we always love to encourage more reading! Some of our favourite free and paid newsletters (not quite under £15 for the year, but less than a coffee a month):

Shelf Offering - by food and culture writer Apoorva Sripathi

Feminist Food Journal - founded and edited by Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson

Drinking in Strange Places - by brewer and drinks writer Charlotte Cook

For now, we wanted to share an extract of Anna’s book (out in Feb), which, tbh, she hasn’t told her publi…

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We have kicked off a new season: CELEBRATION! This time of year can feel rushed and hectic, but it is also a time in many culture calendars a season for celebration and that is something we wanted to remember.

Read our Celebration syllabus here, and please take a look at the first piece of our mini season - the illustrator Reena Makwana’s art work on Diwali ‘Celebration on the side.’

In case you missed it, Tree season ended with our very own Chloe, being interview by our very own Rebecca - all about fruit and baking, and so much more!

And this newsletter is all about the two of them! Rebecca is - amongst many things - Sourced’s social media guru, as well as keeping our comms in line and as on time as they can be. She is sharing a recipe for an oyster stuffing!

Chloe has written a wise easy on…

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