Our Favorite Award-Eligible Stories From The Takeout This Week

The internet operates on hyperspeed—as fast as it takes for your thumb to flick up your phone screen. It means you may have missed some of The Takeout's award-eligible food and beverage writing. Fear not! We've rounded up some of our proudest pieces of reportage from this past week.

Neophytes tend to lump it all into this broad spectrum of "Mediterranean food," but staff writer Kate Bernot offers a crash course on the intricacies of Israeli cuisine.

In our morning meetings, staff writer Gwen Ihnat can't stop talking about the culinary prowess of her husband, Brian. In particular, he's got this ultra-simple curry that's been wowing the family. Here, Gwen shares a family secret.

Beer guru Kate Bernot explores the patient art of the slow-pour, which evidently makes pilsners taste 10 times better.

Our resident advice columnist The Salty Waitress (she's a real doll) continues dispensing her weight-in-gold wisdom. This week's question: Do servers hate it when customers opt for water, instead of ordering a more expensive drink?

When a reader suggested we fry chicken with Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuit mix, our toes curled into a calcified ball and we immediately took on the challenge.

Gwen has not touched a drop of alcohol since New Year's Eve. Follow along and cheer on as she continues navigating January sober as a nun.

Kate talked to a number of coffee nerds about their favorite ways of keeping coffee beans fresh. Turns out, you don't need those expensive stainless steel canisters.

In our daily story meeting, Gwen mentioned one morning how women's health magazine—which used to be aspirational, if not mercenary in tone ("Get rid of the muffin top now!)—have in recent years become more encouraging and embracing. And that's a very good thing, as Gwen writes here.

With apologies to the American South, I think the Japanese method of frying chicken is superior. Am I a fool? Allow me to make the argument.