I've been thinking a bit about the three main Springtime religious holidays: Easter and Passover, which are on the horizon, and Ramadan, which is happening now. Each is, in its own way, a pause, a time to reset.

This week, I talked to Ilhan Mohamed Abdi about her new book The Ramadan Kitchen. Like many who have left corporate jobs to focus on family, she found her way to the kitchen and developed a huge following across social platforms for her simple and direct approach to cooking. I can't imagine the challenge of preparing food while abstaining from food and drink during the day for an entire month. She describes this sacred time as an "opportunity to reset not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually."

I often think that the transition from winter to spring is a tender time that offers the chance to muse a bit about life. We have the tradition of spring cleaning for a reason. And it seems that our LA spring might be here sooner rather than later. The light is changing, and with the temperature spiking, so much feels different. As for me, this weekend I'm going to take time to stroll, see a couple of art shows, and plant some bronze fennel (which I've been looking for for a couple of years) that I found at Logan's Gardens Stand at the SMFM last Wednesday.

By the way, if you listen to our Julia Child Foundation Fellow Janek Schaller's piece on purple zombie urchins and you'd like to do something with them, or the more commonly found uni at home, here's a simple but rich pasta to make at home.

— Evan

DINING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GOOD FOOD TEAM

Evan: I met Pieowa filmmaker Beth Howard at The Apple Pan. As you can see, we were delighted with our slices of banana cream and boysenberry pies.

Gillian: Everyone knows about Clemence de Lutz's croissants at Petitgrain Boulangerie, but the sleeper hit is her Swiss chard and boursin quiche. If I'm driving anywhere near Wilshire and 12th at lunchtime, I always stop and pick one up (along with a box of pasties and the prepackaged rye chocolate chip cookies, of course).

Laryl: When your oldest friend's favorite restaurant is n/naka, you're fortunate enough to spend a handful of his birthdays there. The perennial Shizakana course of the kaiseki menu is my favorite. A delicate assembly of spaghetti, abalone, mentaiko (pollock roe), truffle, and kaiware (daikon sprouts) makes any special occasion more so.

Elina: This was my first visit to Little Belize in Inglewood, and I am definitely coming back! I had the tender, savory stewed oxtails on top of the gooey mac 'n cheese. It's a perfect dish, especially if you're like me and have trouble choosing between delicious options.

THE LATEST EPISODE OF GOOD FOOD

This week on Good Food:

• Journalist Lisa Held digs into the controversy around Donald Trump's executive order encouraging the production of glyphosate, the key ingredient in the herbicide Round Up.
• Benjamin Delwiche, aka Benjamin the Baker, has tips for bakers entering the fruit and cooked custard categories in this year's PieFest.
• Culinary anthropologist Ozoz Sokoh explores the cuisine of Nigeria.
• Julia Child Foundation Fellow Janek Schaller dives into California's purple urchin explosion.
• Ilhan Mohamed Abdi weaves together flavors and techniques to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.
• At the farmers market, chef Josiah Citrin cheers for cherimoyas.

Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

WHAT I'M CONSUMING

WEEKLY RECIPE: With pie on the brain, I found myself in need of something nutritious and crunchy. I remembered this lentil salad that I describe as less of a recipe than a template. It's simple to make, and you can adapt it to suit your needs as well as whatever lives in your crisper drawer. We have so many choices with lentils now. My current faves are Rancho Gordo's Puglia Lentils and their French-Style Green Lentil. With its mustardy shallot dressing, you'll forget you decided to make this because it's "healthy." GET THE RECIPE

TASTY STUFF TO DO

• Nancy Matsumoto will visit Santa Monica's Main Street Farmers Market on Sunday, March 1st to sign her latest book, Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Fixing Our Broken Food System.

• Natasha Nua is putting on The Mate Monologues, a comedic one-woman show about exile, ancestry, identity, ritual, and yerba mate, the sacred South American drink. The evening begins with a live mate circle and ends with empanadas and Argentine ice cream. March 4th & 6th, 7 PM at Eastwood Performing Arts Center in Hollywood. $25.

• Molecular biologist turned cookbook author Nik Sharma, who is a friend of Good Food, is the co-host, along with Lidey Heuck, of a new podcast that just dropped on Netflix — In The Test Kitchen. It'll explore the "ideas, experimentation, and occasional chaos behind America's favorite recipes."

• Want to help Good Food? KCRW is conducting an audience survey so we can learn more about who's listening to the show. Share your thoughts. We'd love to hear them! The survey takes only a few minutes. 

READING LIST

• Is camel milk the new oat milk? Australian farmer Paul Martin is betting on it. He wants to start supplying the stuff to the US and get American consumers hooked on it. He hopes to export 60,000 liters this year.

• If candy bars don't taste as good as you remember, that's not your imagination. To cut costs and increase profits, the conglomerates that own those candy brands have changed the formulation of many products to cut costs, often replacing cocoa and peanut butter in them with sugar or palm oil. The grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is mad about it.

• Yountville is small and unincorporated, but it's not cheap to live there. With fewer than 4,000 residents, the Napa County town has multiple fine dining destinations. So town leaders want to build an affordable housing project. But they're facing opposition from two of the town's most prominent employers — Thomas Keller, who owns The French Laundry and Bouchon, and Arik Housley, owner of Yountville's Ranch Market. Both of them are calling for a pause to the process.

AWWW

I had to look up the tamandua. It's a member of the anteater family and is native to Central and South America. This one is named Winnie, she's pregnant, and this is how she gets an ultrasound.

To see more of what I'm consuming, including recipes, events, and other stories, check out my Substack!

—Evan