New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-30)

march30–april12, 2020 | newyork 65

i amawakefromlike fouruntilsixwithanxietyspirals

(anyoneelse?),butI manage togo backtosleepandwedon’t

ge t outofbeduntilaboutnine.My wife,Grace,andI have

ditchedsettingalarmsinthe

morninginthenameofge tting

asmuchsleepaswepossibly

can.I havemycoffeewitha

littlehalf-and-halfanddrink

a bigglassof warmwaterwitha

splashofapple-cidervinegarin

it becauseit feelslikea healthy

butnotoverwhelmingthingto

do.I eata smallpieceofcoffee

crumbcakethatI madea few

weeksagoandfroze,whichat

thispointfeelslikefiveyearsago. AfterFaceTimingwithmy

brotherandnieceinOhio,Ithrowa bunchofleftoverveg-

etablesandbeansintoa skilletandcallitlunch.I putit all

ina bowlandtopit withsome

arugulapesto.WhileI work,I

havea tiny bowlof granolawith

somewholemilk,andI throw

ina fewchocolate chips.

Later,GraceandI make the

doughfora batchofthiseasy,

homey,wonderfulbread,and

whileit rests,I realizeI didn’t

eatenoughforlunch.So I make

a singleportionofmatzobrei

formyself, whichis oneof my top-fivecomfort foods.I slideit

ontoa plate,sprinkleit withflakysalt,andjust asI sitdown

toeatit,oneofmy best friendsFaceTimesmeforrecipe

advice.I putourdog,Hope,onthescreensomy friend’s tod-

dlercanseeher.Everythinghasbeensoscary, butI’venever

beenthisintouchwithmyfamilyandfriends.

I setouttomake a versionofmy“Turkey+ RicottaMeat-

balls”frommybookSmallVictoriesfordinner.I don’t have

alltheingredientsonhand,soI

makericottausingsomewhole

milkandvinegar.I wouldn’t

adviseanyonetomake their

own ricottaforthese. Why

bother?Butseeingwedidn’t

haveany andI’vegot...time...

I madesome.Afterdinner, I

pourmyselfasmallglassof

redwineandsettleinonthe

couchwithGrace.I graboneof

ourlastminiHäagen-Dazsice-creambarsfromourfreezer.

Afewminuteslater,Gracehasonetoo.Sheprettymuch

onlyeatsthechocolatefromtheoutsideandgivesmethe

vanillaicecreamthat’sleft.HopeandI splitit.In thefour

cornersofourhome,wearesafeandwarmandokay, and

forthatI amsograteful.

JULIA TURSHEN

and HER MATZO BREI and

HOMEMADE RICOTTA

Lulu Wang and Her

Tamales and Sumo

Orange Negronis

the beginning of my day usually starts with a hot

lemon water and then I make myself black pour-over

coffee at home. Then I had an apple with peanut butter

and some chicken broth. Normally, when I’m working in a

writers’ room, I’ll buy chicken broth, but since I’m not, I got

two chickens and a bunch of frozen chicken feet and made

my own. I think I was built for quarantine in the sense that,

as a writer, I self-quarantine a lot anyway, so I’m used to

being home alone and making all my own meals. I’m also

really appreciating things my immigrant parents did when

I was growing up. To avoid waste, I’ve been pickling every-

thing in the fridge that was ready to go bad.

I had a tamale from Broken Spanish as an afternoon

snack before dinner. It was mushroom, kale, and cheese.

They’re easy to freeze, so we picked up a bunch. It’s really

important to support local businesses during this time,

and many restaurants are doing curbside pickup and take-

out. For dinner, I had zha jiang noodles with sautéed

mustard greens and some of my pickled veggies. My

brother made a bunch of zha jiang mian sauce, which is

ground pork with scallions, sweet bean sauce, and tofu

curd. It’s pretty standard, like a Chinese Bolognese, basi-

cally. He made a big batch of it, and I froze a bunch and

then ate the rest over noodles.

He’s a sous-chef at Auburn on Melrose, and they closed.

Right now, they just started a curbside-takeout situation,

and they have a GoFundMe for the employees. Luckily, my

brother’s young and he has no kids, but a lot of the cooks

and waiters and dishwashers have kids and families to

feed, so it’s really difficult. On top of the virus itself, my

family is scared for me and my brother to go out in the

world, particularly if we’re alone, because of the news of

attacks on Asian-Americans. We know the disease doesn’t

pick sides. It doesn’t discriminate.

I’ve been making myself cocktails every night. I had a

couple Negronis, and I’ve discovered that the skin on

Sumo oranges is so much more fragrant and oily than the

usual navel oranges. Perfect for a Negroni. Plus, the

orange oil and all the bitters are giving me better immu-

nity, right?