I have run it by my vociferous (and largely self-appointed) editors. And they all seem to agree: my traditional basil pesto isn’t entirely traditional. They seem to feel, perhaps rightly, that the addition of Thai fish sauce and nutritional yeast flakes place it outside the historical scope of Italian cuisine. And they seem to think […]
So … it’s summer. Like — really summer. Yes, I recognize that it’s been “technically” summer for a while now. That it’s been ninety and a hundred degrees on and off for months, and that my electric bills certainly have that summer feel. But there’s a difference between the season and the season, if you […]
I don’t talk about coffee much in this space. But it is actually quite an important part of my culinary life. Like many of my academic peers, I found myself drawn to it early on. A cup in the morning to get me going; another to ease into work; and a third (of course) to […]
Asparagus and grilling are two of the great pleasures of the late spring and early summer. And the one, it seems to me, was made for the other. Now don’t get me wrong, I like asparagus pretty much any way you want to serve it to me. Its sweet-bitter flavor, its soft-crunchy texture, have long […]
So I’m making a new beer, probably next weekend. It’ll be a Special Bitter — largely minimalist in hops and grain, and as true to the style as it exists in Britain as I can manage. That means British hops, which I prefer anyway. And it means Maris Otter malt, which has, for the past […]
You all remember, I’m sure, when I raved to you about my favorite bit of edible Spain — about the Jamón Iberico, with its striking flavors, its creamy textures, its lush oiliness that coats the lips and tongue, and makes that glass of Rioja go down just that much better. And you all remember — […]
Alright folks — are you ready for this? Here it is. My geekiest dinner party fantasy. One day, some day when I don’t have quite so much other work hanging over my head, I’d like to host a sci-fi dinner. I’ve been thinking about it for years, on and off, slowly planning the menu. It […]
My friend Linda thought that I’d call her crazy. She thought that I’d tell her that her plan was too much, or too ambitious, or that our freezers could never hold all the bounty. She thought, perhaps, that I was not quite so committed to the cult of the cloven hoof as she. But Linda, […]
It isn’t crazy that this morning — on the first real snowy morning of the new year, with three inches of snow on the ground, having just come in from shoveling the front steps — I churned two batches of ice cream. It’s not crazy at all. Not in the least. I mean it. The […]
Standing by the counter at Godshall’s Poultry, waiting for my number to be called, I found myself chatting with the woman ahead of me in line. Like me, she had come for stock-making provisions — pieces and parts, cheap bits, to populate her pot. She pointed the poultry man in the direction of the necks […]