This is Turntables
The newsletter Love Child of music and food.
Are music and food a natural pairing? In some ways yes, in some ways no. But they’re two things that A. feel integral to my being and B. bring many people a lot of joy.
In speaking with a friend recently, I described music and food as having their own, unique sensorial dialogue with each other, with humans playing both the conduit and receiver in that dialogue. In some ways, this newsletter exists as a formalizer of that dialogue.
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The genesis of this newsletter is due to two things: 1. The many, many social media DMs and comments I receive with the word “recipe??” after posting a photo of something I’ve cooked/baked/churned and 2. my wonderfully supportive friends who’ve remained relentless (complimentary) that I share recipes, music, etc. more formally with the good folks of Beyoncé’s Internet.
In addition to the aforementioned reasons, what finally brought me to create a space where I share musings on all things music and food is that I had never truly found a place for them to coexist on the same plate, until now.
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Why this, why now
At this point, you may find yourself asking one or more of the below questions:
Who are you and why do you want to write about music and food??
Hello! I’m Gabriella, a Brazilian-American born and raised between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Oakland, California now residing in Brooklyn with her snake named Snacks and her Polydactyl cat, Pepper. Living between and navigating those two cities, as you can imagine, the thing that stuck with me the most was the unifying power that food and music had on each respective community. So, in many ways, it was inevitable I became someone who couldn’t live without indulging in, or at least regularly thinking about, both. Also, in what I deem a stroke of luck, I’ve found myself in a dream job making documentaries about food around the world. I’ve developed recipes for some of your faves and curated mixes for nearly 7 years, making the leap over to DJing roughly two years ago.
What does “Turntables” mean?
In brainstorming names, I started with a list of words that evoked the main focal points. Jam, Mix, Sweet, Sounds, Beats. I even sought the help of chatGPT to see if she had better ideas than I did (we all use her, don’t lie!), but they all sounded like a robot ideated them :-( unsurprisingly. Then, I started to walk around my apartment for inspiration. My eyes drifted over the space, pining for inspiration. My hallway kitchen (shout out NYC apartments) offered up words like sugar, plates, spices, a mixer. Making my way into the living and dining rooms I felt like I was getting closer. Coffee table, speakers, records, record player, table. Then I heard it! Turntables. My ~luv~ of music felt like it entered a new phase when I started to collect records and bought my first turntable at 18. Similarly, I’ve shared many a special meal with folks at my own kitchen table. It felt kismet.
How often will this newsletter be published?
The first Friday of each month…for now ;~)
What can I expect from Turntables?
In short: a space for food and music to co-exist! In long: Monthly curated playlists and mixes, interviews, music musings, recipes, recommendations, and more! It also exists as a space to create community among fellow music + food lovers. So please write to me about what you want to see more of, leave comments, and, most importantly, connect with one another!
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~ RECIPE OF THE WEEK ~
Ok now that we have all of the business matters out of the way, onto this week’s recipe!
For the inaugural recipe, we’re bidding adieu to tomato season (specifically heirlooms) by immortalizing them in our freezers in the form of a tart and tangy sorbet. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I’ve been on a bit of an ice cream and sorbet kick lately (that’s putting it gently; I make a new flavor weekly). In July I severely underestimated how much of a behemoth those big boys are and bought more heirloom tomatoes than I knew what to do with. After eating half of one–which felt like enough to feed a small family, but lent itself to a nice panzanella and pan con tomate–I needed to come up with a way to use the $5.99/lb bad boys stat. So I concocted a tomato sorbet recipe. No, it does not taste like ketchup. It tastes more like a ripe tomato vine, sort of gazpacho-esque. Spruce, bright, floral and refreshing. Bonus points if you have any last ripe stone fruits (frozen ones count, too) hanging around–you’ll want to add those in during step 2.
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SORBET
Ingredients
2 cups fresh heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced
Steps
On the stove, bring water and sugar to a simmer. Once combined, set aside to cool.
Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, and cooled sugar-water mixture to a blender and pulse until smooth.
Run the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any skin or seeds, which you can discard.
Add the sorbet base to your ice cream maker* and follow appliance instructions to get the sorbet to the desired consistency.
Once the frozen sorbet is mixed, freeze for 4-6 hours (or overnight) to finish.
Top with a drizzle of your favorite olive oil** and a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.
* I use the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker Attachment (she’s on sale!), but I know some folks prefer the Ninja CREAMi
** I am deeply obsessed with my friends Skyler and Giuseppe’s Italian Olive Oil, EXAU. It’s a Black, women-owned company based out of Calabria, Italy and, IMO, if you’re going to splurge on something for the kitchen then buying a fancy olive oil once a year is the way to go!
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SOUND BITES: Meet your October playlist here
Every month I’ll be sharing a curated playlist or mix that is evocative of the seasons changing, what I’m hooked on, old classics, new favorites, and whatever else comes across my ears that I feel is special enough to share with you all. And since October is upon us, you can expect the vibe to be SpookySexyCool.
Speaking of music and food, the Booky app created this incredibly cute and dually useful choose-your-own-adventure guide to boiling eggs à la Chappell Roan songs.
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Reading du Jour:
Personally, the slow burn of Pitchfork fading to black (aka being absorbed into GQ) was a devastating pivot for one of the longest-running and most cutting-edge music journalism sites. However, five of its former writers and editors (Andy Cush, Dylan Green, Jill Mapes, Ryan Dombal, and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd) have joined forces to create an independent music and culture news site called Hearing Things. The pieces are refreshingly witty and offer up the best parts of what Pitchfork had to offer without the corporate noise. Give it a read and consider subscribing!
In a recent interview from Elissa Suh’s brilliant substack Movie Pudding, she chatted with Luke Pyenson, food writer and former Frankie Cosmos drummer, who spoke about his upcoming book “Taste in Music: Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians.” The book explores the woes of eating while touring through original essays and engaging conversations with some of our indie darlings spanning several subgenres, scenes, and eras like Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Natalie Mering aka Weyes Blood, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes and Lily Chait, the touring chef to Boygenius and Phoebe Bridgers. I’m psyched to read about the ins and outs of tour eating from Pyenson, who often writes about music, food, and his contemporaries.
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Dishing the latest:
On October 12th I’ll be in conversation with Artist Chloe Wise as a part of the Mold Magazine curated programming for WSA’s newest exhibition Yes, Chef at Water Street Projects (161 Water St, New York, NY). We’ll be discussing what it means to play with your food in the ways that matter. The talk starts at 3 pm, with a vegetable printmaking workshop beginning at 4 pm EST. It’s free and open to the public <3 Please RSVP at events@thisismold.com.
That’s all for now, but I deeply appreciate you all coming along this musical and culinary journey with me. Please consider sending Turntables to any friends, colleagues, and loved ones who you think would enjoy it!
Until next time xx