better_than_porridge

better_than_porridge Food Pop-ups at area bars and venues in NYC. DM for local meal kit orders and pick-up. Local Delivery available. See link to order.

🔥🌶️ ONE MORE HAWT SUMMER SUNDAY 🌶️🔥Our friends 🔥 Smoke Sweats 🔥 are throwing their final pop-up of the summer this Sunda...
08/06/2026

🔥🌶️ ONE MORE HAWT SUMMER SUNDAY 🌶️🔥

Our friends 🔥 Smoke Sweats 🔥 are throwing their final pop-up of the summer this Sunday at The Test Brewery, and Achilles Heat® is tagging along for the send-off!

We’ll be popping up alongside them with an Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp + Smoked Hot Sauce tasting, with jars and bottles available to take home.

🌶️ PLUS: We’ll have a limited number of bottles of our NEW spicy pickle hot sauce, The Merchant’s Brine, so come get an early taste before it’s gone! 🥒🔥

After a whole lot of pop-ups, BBQs and a couple of award-winning collaborations together last year, somehow this will be our FIRST and LAST summer Sunday together this season! 😂

Come hungry, taste some HAWT stuff, and help us send Smoke Sweats off to clear azure waters for the summer. 🌊☀️🔥

📍 The Test Brewery
302 Metropolitan Ave, Floor 1
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
📅 Sunday, August 9
⏰ 1 PM till sellout

See you Sunday! ❤️🌶️

Yes… another cucumber salad. Blame the humidity. 😅🥒I still think about the version Chef Dan (Dan) whipped up with Achill...
08/01/2026

Yes… another cucumber salad. Blame the humidity. 😅🥒

I still think about the version Chef Dan (Dan) whipped up with Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp.

Smashed cucumbers tossed with julienned carrots, thinly sliced scallions, fresh cilantro, chopped garlic, a sprinkle of toasted black sesame seeds, a splash of soy sauce, and a generous spoonful of Achilles Heat® Smoked Chili Crisp.

Smoky, savory, refreshing, and ridiculously easy to throw together.

If you’re looking for a side dish to beat the heat, this one’s worth adding to your summer rotation.

Remember when I first got my smoker and it seemed like I was always making ribs, pork belly, chashu, and country bacon?A...
07/25/2026

Remember when I first got my smoker and it seemed like I was always making ribs, pork belly, chashu, and country bacon?

Anyway, I was chatting earlier with my buddy Danilo, and he was telling me about one time when he walked past the kitchen at this restaurant and saw the cooks eating ribs. He kept going on about how good they looked and wondering why they weren’t on the menu.

I explained they were probably the refuse, aka the ribs trimmed off the pork belly they use for carnitas. And how one pork belly makes a ton of carnitas, but the attached rack only has about 13 ribs, so there’s not really enough to make a consistent menu item out of them. So it made perfect sense that the cooks would enjoy them instead.

As I was explaining that that’s where ribs come from on the pig… I could tell from the look on his face that he just wasn’t buying it. 😂 So I grabbed a pen and a napkin and drew this incredibly accurate anatomical masterpiece to prove my point.

For anyone wondering why my art career never took off… scroll to the last slide. 😆

🔥 Three chances to find Achilles Heat this weekend!🥒 We’ve been keeping this one under wraps, but we’re finally ready to...
07/25/2026

🔥 Three chances to find Achilles Heat this weekend!

🥒 We’ve been keeping this one under wraps, but we’re finally ready to share it with you.

Meet The Merchant’s Brine, our newest smoked hot sauce! Inspired by New York City’s historic pickle merchants and the Lower East Side, this smoked spicy pickle, chiles & tomatillo sauce makes its public debut this weekend.

On the tasting lineup:
🏆 Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp (Sauce King NYC Best New Sauce)
🥒 NEW! The Merchant’s Brine
🧄 Brooklyn Bravo Bianco (white truffle, roasted red pepper & smoked Scotch bonnet)
🧅 Oh, Sweet Vidalia! (caramelized Vidalia onions & smoked Scotch bonnet)
👻 Passion of the Ghost (passion fruit & smoked Ghost peppers)

Come taste them all!

📍 Saturday, July 25 | 10 AM - 2 PM
Fulton Stall Market Farmers Market
91 South St. (@ Burling Slip)
New York, NY 10038

📍 Saturday, July 25 | 1 PM - 6 PM
Greg Fernandez & Jem Hunts ✨ present
Wet Hot Summer Vendor Market
🎶 Live music 3 PM - 10 PM
McCarren Parkhouse
855 Lorimer St.
Brooklyn, NY 11222

📍 Sunday, July 26 | 3 PM - 8 PM
Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room Barrow's Intense NY Tasting Room
with Better than Porridge Food Pop-up
86 34th St., Building 4
Industry City
Brooklyn, NY 11232

See you this weekend! 🔥

WATERMELON GAZPACHO 🍉🌿Some recipes have a way of finding you again.The warm summer weather had me craving something cold...
07/20/2026

WATERMELON GAZPACHO 🍉🌿

Some recipes have a way of finding you again.

The warm summer weather had me craving something cold, and then I saw Mt Olympus Farm announce that their first gigantic watermelons of the season had arrived. That was all the inspiration I needed to dig through some old recipes.

I came across this watermelon gazpacho that I originally shared back in 2011.

The recipe was inspired by time I spent living in the Middle East, where I developed a deep appreciation for cooking with fresh herbs, bright citrus, exceptional produce, and simple ingredients.

One of my favorite memories is waking up early to the sound of an older gentleman making his way down our neighborhood street with a wooden cart piled high with enormous, ripe watermelons, calling out, “Avatiyach! Avatiyach! Avatiyach adom u’matok!” “Watermelon! Watermelon! Red and sweet watermelon!”

This recipe has a bit of its own story, too. The first time I made it, I hand-diced every ingredient. Only after he finished watching me labor in the kitchen, did my ex casually mention, “You know… there’s a food processor.” Naturally, I made it a second time to compare. Both versions were delicious, and over the years I’ve continued making both depending on the texture I’m in the mood for.

Whether you prefer it silky and smooth or bright and chunky, it’s hard to beat the combination of sweet watermelon, crisp cucumber, colorful peppers, fresh mint, lime, and good olive oil on a hot summer day. Not pictured, but def one of my favorites, add a handful of crumbled feta to the top for a little briny and saltiness which is a delicious complement to the sweet watermelon.

Scroll through for the original recipe.

🍉 P.S. If you’re anywhere near Richmond, Virginia, I highly recommend stopping by Mt Olympus Farm. Their first harvest of gigantic, incredibly sweet watermelons has officially arrived, and they look absolutely spectacular. Summer is officially watermelon season!

Just a reminder, eggs on eggs drizzled with Achilles Heat® smoked chili crisp, are delicious.
07/16/2026

Just a reminder, eggs on eggs drizzled with Achilles Heat® smoked chili crisp, are delicious.

One of my favorite parts of this journey is seeing where Achilles Heat® Smoked Chili Crisp ends up.At the Summer Fancy F...
07/11/2026

One of my favorite parts of this journey is seeing where Achilles Heat® Smoked Chili Crisp ends up.

At the Summer Fancy Food Show, I ran into Bob, aka Jack’s dad, from Jack’s Dad’s Hummus. He was so excited to get his hands on a jar of Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp and told me he already knew exactly what he wanted to make…

A few days later, this photo popped into my inbox from Jack with the message, “From my dad!”

When I asked him to remind me what the dish was called, his reply was:

“The viral dumpling lasagna! 😂”

Hehe…I love it! 🤗

Finished with a generous spoonful of 🌶 Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp, of course.

Thanks for sharing your masterpiece, Bob, and for letting me share it too! Seeing all the creative ways everyone uses Achilles Heat is one of the best parts of this journey. Keep them coming! 🔥

For anyone interested in making this, Bob also shared My Healthy Dish‘s link as his inspiration:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUEwF9Qj7q-/?igsh=MWtmdWFueXh3YTBzcQ==

The best way to cool down is with some Achilles Heat®! 🔥🥒Chef Johnny Phuoc Huynh shared this refreshing cucumber salad f...
07/10/2026

The best way to cool down is with some Achilles Heat®! 🔥🥒

Chef Johnny Phuoc Huynh shared this refreshing cucumber salad featuring Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp, and it’s exactly the kind of dish I crave on a hot summer day.

Cool, crisp cucumbers tossed with Achilles Heat® Smoked Chili Crisp, made with a blend of smoked peppers, crispy garlic and onions, layered umami, and just the right amount of bright, savory heat.

Thanks for sharing, Chef! Can’t wait to make this one.

How are you using Achilles Heat this summer?

Excited to be exhibiting at our first Specialty Food Association Summer Fancy Food Show with Center of Excellence for Fo...
06/27/2026

Excited to be exhibiting at our first Specialty Food Association Summer Fancy Food Show with Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture! Come sample Achilles Heat®’s award-winning Smoked Chili Crisp in the Debut District, Pavilion Level, Booth . 🌶️🔥

Special shoutout to my fellow Brewing The American Dream cohorts Jack’s Dad’s Hummus and Chikka Chikka, who are also exhibiting! It’s also great to see friends like Primis Imports and 50HertzTinglyFoods here too, plus Startup CPG with UNFI representing fellow 8it | NYC Food Pop-Ups, Drops & Best Dishes food pop-up bud pizzabagel.

Looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting new buyers, retailers, distributors, chefs, media, and fellow food makers, and sharing what we’ve been building at Achilles Heat.

See you Sunday 6/28, Monday 6/29, and Tuesday 6/30 at the Javits Center ! 🔥

06/22/2026

A few early moments from Saturday at the NEW outdoor Seaport Farmers Market operated by Fulton Stall Market. 🌶️

Great to be back at the Seaport sharing Achilles Heat®. Thanks to everyone who stopped by for a taste, and thank you to Fulton Stall Market for creating such an inviting community and helping build a vibrant gathering place for local farms, food producers, and small businesses.

It was also fun posting up with our friends and other Made in NYC producers.

See you again soon. 🔥

Address

Brooklyn, NY
11201

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when better_than_porridge posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category