Ricotta toast is the new avocado on toast, says the lifestyle blog Prestige. It’s gone viral on TikTok, with singer Lizzo gaining 1.9m likes for her ricotta toast video. Simply spread the cheese over toasted bread and add your choice of toppings. TikToker Zaynab_issa favours fried tomatoes and pesto, while wholesomehedonista recommends wild blueberry and pistachio.
Whole milk is hip in Manhattan
Man’s desire “to milk everything in existence is both awe-inspiring and dystopian”, says Emily Sundberg in Grub Street. Oats, almonds, soy, coconuts – even potatoes and mushrooms. But good old cow’s milk is back. As one Manhattan waitress tweeted, the “hot girls” of New York “are ditching the alternatives and are going back to basics”. The alternatives are getting a bad press – almond milk is bad for the environment and oat milk is allegedly “too oily”. And, faced with the dominance of alternatives in trendy cafés, ordering “real” milk has become “an act of quiet rebellion”.
“Both sides are wrong,” says creative consultant Chris Black on Twitter. “I am post-milk. I drink coffee black and don’t consume sugary cereals. I make them put water in my smoothie.”
Ingredient of the week: cherries
English cherries are “arguably the very best, for both sweetness and juiciness”, says Town and Country. The season runs from June to September and 20 varieties are grown in the UK – this month and next, look out for Sweetheart and Penny. Sweet cherries make delicious jam and puddings, including frangipane tart, clafoutis or Black Forest gateau. Chef Fergus Henderson, however, says they need no adornment, “other than perhaps a glass of pink champagne”.