Nicholas Gill

Jan 13, 2025 | newworlder.substack.com | Nicholas Gill

Ephedra in Ayllu of Poconche, Atacama, Chile. Photo: Guerrieri Fotografia. Unlike other post pandemic years, Latin America’s restaurant scene saw fewer wild shifts and excited risks in 2024. The surge of spending that occurred in the year or two after lockdowns has returned to normal and restaurants have returned to their eternal struggle amidst costs th…

Jan 13, 2025 | newworlder.substack.com | Nicholas Gill

Blue is a relatively rare color in food, at least in a natural form. There are blueberries of course, as well as blue corn in Mesoamerica and blue potatoes in the Andes and Adirondacks. There are the butterfly pea flowers that make a bright blue tea, and let’s not forget the algal blue of spirulina. In the Amazon, there is one fruit, genipapo, that can make a blue dye, though it takes a little work. I caught the tail end of genipapo season in the Brazilian state of Pará last month.

Jan 13, 2025 | newworlder.substack.com | Nicholas Gill

When someone from abroad travels to Costa Rica, it’s somewhat rare that they’ll stay in one place and eat from the same set of restaurants that everyone else does. It’s a country that encourages exploration. The varied identity of its landscapes is one of the primary attractions. Even those that plan on spending most of their vacation on the beach in Guanacaste, will need to drive a little bit to get there, passing in close proximity to some of the best culinary experiences in the country.

Jan 13, 2025 | newworlder.substack.com | Nicholas Gill

A truck loaded with bananas in Costa Rica. Photo: Nicholas Gill. In November, Chinese crypto enthusiast Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for a piece of artwork auctioned by Sotheby’s, titled Comedian, which was essentially a banana attached to a wall by duct tape. A week later he ate the banana, stating the arts value is the concept itself. Absurdist Italian …

Jan 13, 2025 | newworlder.substack.com | Nicholas Gill

Regional Amazonian flavors aren’t limited to brief appearances on fine dining menus in Lima. While they took a bit of a hit when the two locations of the groundbreaking restaurant ámaZ closed during the pandemic, all you had to do was walk through the Mercado de Magdalena to find a dozen or so stalls selling juanes and cocona.