Matt (Aka Benito) Bennett was raised in southeastern Texas, a hop and skip away from Louisiana’s bayou. He’d visit his family in Louisiana often and longed to be an LSU Tiger. That dream came true, and he discovered that he wasn’t a very good student. He was, however, good at the party aspect of campus culture. He offered to make salsa for fellow students.
He was raised on great Mexican and bayou cuisine. He loved making salsa and sharing it. He found it brought people together. During a business class at LSU, he and his group were tasked with creating a small business. No one had any idea what business to start, so they finally landed on creating “Beniteaux’s Salsa,” a Spanish twist on his last name of Bennett.
The nickname of Benito stuck the assignment not so much. They got a C on the project, but that didn’t stop Max from making his salsas.
He moved around after college selling salsas to coworkers in Orlando before landing in New York City. In the big apple, he created the first lifestyle brand of salsa, calling it “Dreams Don’t Taste This Good” each flavor variety donates $.05 to a different non-profit such as Hunger Free America, MTV Staying Alive, LGBT Center New York, Ace Programs New York, and The Girl Up Campaign. Get a party pack and try all five flavor combinations for yourself. Striplv was lucky enough to try “The Fighter” garlic cilantro, “Just Dance” jalapeno pineapple salsa, and “The Original.” Full of flavor with just the right amount of heat, we loved them. I was having a moment with the pineapple variety and just ordered the blueberry coconut and the avocado pepper flavors so I can sample the whole line. Try them for yourself and order a party pack to bring people together in your own home. We could sure use some of that right now. Order some to try for yourself at dreamsarentthisgood.com.
Unf*ckupable 50 That Even You Can’t Screw Up BY VEGAS FOOD NERD
This fun cookbook was sent to me for review. In a snarky sequel to his first cookbook, “What The F*ck Should I Make for Dinner” Zach Golden shares his scaled-down kitchen techniques, with delicious results all mixed with deadpan humor and some heavy doses of profanity to get intimidated folks into the kitchen. He shares with readers fifty new recipes in this irreverent anti-cookbook from a guy who lives in the Catskills Mountains because he likes to far away from people. Golden is a master at telling others what they should do, sharing his five rules of unfuckupability, one being good ingredients taste good, bad ingredients taste bad. The second is to do all your prep work before you start cooking. The third is fucking google it. You have a world of human knowledge literally at your fingertips; use it. The fourth is don’t be afraid to salt your food, fuck your health. And finally, the fifth and final rule is to taste your fucking food, trust your tastebuds, and if it is awful, you only have yourself to blame.
The recipes range from his Hangover Breakfast Sandwich, which is “greasy and salty and will probably take a few weeks off your life expectancy, but you will feel noticeably less shitty.” To his Utica Greens, which turn “a lackluster bitter green into something so good that you’ll seriously consider visiting Utica, New York.” Funny anecdotes peppered in between some very tasty recipes for lazy foodies to profanity loving cooks, cooking novices alike. Zach takes you through different meal prep options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with dessert recipes and few cocktails thrown in for good measure. Also included is his take on the classic no-bake Rice Krispie treats, which if you can’t make them, he urges you to put the book down and walk away. You are just going to make him look bad. This is a fun gift for your non-uptight friends and family who love to play in the kitchen.