#16: Niche Favourites (Call a Friend Edition)

Chocolate chip cookies, holiday film line-ups, Japanese toothbrushes.

I’m spending this week in Hong Kong hosting my dear friend Audrey. We both joke that while we only made one friend at university, one is enough — the more trips and meals we share, the more I know this to be true.

Hence this week’s dispatch: a niche favourites list with entries from both of us, including some we share.

Some self-timer action in the beautiful (and fascinating) Kowloon Walled City Park.

Growing into things

Z & A: Today we chewed over (sorry) the foods we avoided as kids but are drawn to as adults, among them cuts of meat like brisket, tendon and oxtail. Audrey has been toting around a box of ginger candies, a far cry from mistaking big slabs of ginger for stir-fried protein (the Asian equivalent of raisins impersonating chocolate chips). There are some things we still aren’t crazy about — duck blood, foie gras, milt — but progress is progress, and the benefits of eating your collagen speak for themselves.

Natasha Pickowicz’s brown butter chocolate chunk cookies

A: These are a labour of love — you need to brown your butter and reconstitute it in the fridge overnight before creaming it (science!). But they are worth it, I promise. They’re from her book, More Than Cake, a treasure trove of amazing bakes; other hits include the pine nut sablés with taleggio, and the endlessly adaptable olive oil cake. Next on my to-bake list: the nectarine and miso tarte tatin. If you’re a last-minute baker like myself, her recipes strike the right balance between easy-going and unexpected.

Z: Take Audrey’s recommendations very seriously as she is an excellent baker and gifted dessert eater!