It's a New Year...How I'll Make This Place Even Better!

A few changes to the way we do things around here

Hola amigos!!

It’s a new year, you’re a new you, I’m a new me, and we’re all here together. I’m so happy that you all joined me on the journey in 2022…and I’m excited to see what we will make in 2023!

First things first, I wanted to thank you deeply for all of the support you gave to World Central Kitchen last year…I can tell you now that together we donated almost $20,000 dollars to WCK…I can’t believe it! Thank you all and let’s keep it up…this year I’m hoping we can beat that number by a lot! We will be donating $10 of every $60 subscription to World Central Kitchen’s efforts, helping the team serve more meals to the people of Ukraine and beyond. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Over the last few months, I’ve learned so much from you all about what you like and what you want more of. And so this year we’re going to give you even more of those things! Every Monday you’ll all be getting the stories, the profiles, the interviews, the deep dives into food culture that I’ve been sharing for the last seven months. And every other Tuesday we’ll keep sharing the Longer Tables podcast (I can tell you now we have more from my daughters on tomorrow…and yes, they don’t go easy on me this time either!)

And for those of you who choose to subscribe on a monthly or annual basis…I am so excited because we have lots and lots in store. Here’s a taste.

Recipes: Of course we will continue the recipes! Just like last year I’ll be sharing recipes mostly every Wednesday, with extra recipes here and there whenever I feel like it. Can you believe that one of the most popular recipes last year was for boiled green beans and potatoes?? I guess you’re all like me, you love simple, delicious things. Oh, and paella…you all love paella.

Ask me a question! Maybe you’ve noticed…I love talking about food. And I especially love answering questions about food! So I am inviting you to send me your questions and I will answer them on our paid Friday posts. Whether it’s about techniques, ingredients, history, astronomy, scuba diving, Barça football…just kidding, let’s not get carried away! Food questions only, please! Email us your questions at longertables@joseandres.com…I will make sure to get to it in the coming weeks and months.

Techniques: My culinary team and I are always exploring techniques, both old and new, ones we’ve been doing for generations and ones we are creating in our R&D kitchen (remember I told you about the jamón of tuna we made? Well…it didn’t go so well. But we are trying again!!). I’d love to share some of those things with you, and hear about your own favorite techniques…and if you have any burning questions, send them in!

Food History: I loved telling you about the brilliant Brillat-Savarin (link TK) last week, and I am excited to tell you more about the history of food, the people, the stories, the things that get me excited. Do you know about Nicolas Appert, who invented the process of canning to feed the French army? How about the Japanese samurai who traveled to Spain in the 17th century and brought chopsticks to Europe? Or the history of why so many Spanish desserts have egg yolks in them, but not egg whites?

More Recommendations: I had so much fun putting together the gift guide last month, talking about all of my favorite books of the year, great food companies like e-Fish and Masienda, the experiences I like to share with my family. I’ll continue to share these things and more…books that I’m reading, podcasts that I’m listening to, movies that I’ve watched.

So my friends, thank you again for everything you joined me for in 2022…I’m so excited to be with you in the new year.