Posted in anchovies, Argentina, Buenos Aires, chick peas, crispy, Easter, eating, Food Commentary, Genoa, Genovese, history, Italian, Italy, language, Liguria, onions, Piemonte, Pizza, restaurant, Restaurant Review, South America, tourism, tradition, travel on Apr 24th, 2009
It’s fairly safe to say that no group, with the exception of the enigmatic gaucho, played as significant a role in defining Argentine national character as the Italians. Primarily (and principally, numerically-speaking) from Liguria (particularly Genoa), Piemonte and Tuscany, but latterly also from Naples and other areas of southern Italy, these Italian immigrants, literally by […]
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Posted in British, coffee, dentist, dessert, easy, eating, healthy, kumquat, pannacotta, Recipe, teeth on Mar 7th, 2009
The 20th anniversary of The Simpsons is being celebrated soon, and our recent long-overdue trip to the dentist reminded me of one particular episode in which Lisa is persuaded to give in and get braces on her teeth just like all the other Springfield kids when she is shown the “Big Book of British Smiles.” […]
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Posted in America, arepas, caldo, chicharron, Chorizo, Colombian, diversity, eating, empanadas, indulgent meal, podcast, red beans, restaurant, Restaurant Review, rice on Feb 5th, 2009
This podcast is an interview with our friend and native Colombian Juan Camilo Osorio covering not just the Colombian restaurant – Cositas Ricas – we visited together, but also some background on Colombian food and how it is eaten.
Some readers may remember back in the early fall when we posted about Bandeja Paisa, […]
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Posted in animals, British, dining, duck, eating, England, family, Fergus Henderson, Food Commentary, Gabrielle Hamilton, holiday, London, lunch, mutton, parsley, pigs, podcast, Prune, restaurant, Restaurant Review, tourism, travel, trotter on Dec 3rd, 2008
Since Amy and I have been together I think we’ve only spent two Thanksgivings in America – not because we don’t enjoy turkey, but because it is often the cheapest time of the year to leave the country as many expat Americans are returning home. And true to form, this year, despite a sizable delay […]
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Posted in butter, Canada, cornichons, cream, death, dining, eating, embarrassment, Food Commentary, French, fried, fritters, indulgent meal, Montreal, mushrooms, offal, Restaurant Review, spinach, tongue, tourism, travel, trotter, unhealthy, vinaigrette on Oct 21st, 2008
Gentle readers, please sympathize with me, for I, like a man who’s been dining exclusively on centipedes, have the bitter taste of defeat in my mouth. That this humiliation and defeat arrived, to twist a metaphor, at the hands of nothing more sinister than a pig’s foot, has only served to exacerbate these feelings of embarrassment and self-loathing. Those of […]
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Posted in alligator, America, blood, boudin, braised, Cajun, Canada, corn, eating, Food Commentary, French, grilled, hominy, lentils, Louisiana, offal, pigs, Recipe, Recipes, sausage, shrimp, tradition, unhealthy on Aug 28th, 2008
A few months ago I was contacted by a representative of a site called cajungrocer.com. He offered to send us some Cajun treats if we would do a bit of a write-up on their products. Well, what else could I say but “Hell YEAH!”. We had our choice to sample crayfish, turducken or boudin. It […]
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Posted in aglio e olio, America, Beach, butter, crab, crispy, culture, delicacy, dining, easy, eating, fish, Garlic, grilling, holiday, Italian-American, New Jersey, Olive Oil, podcast, Recipe, saute, savory, seafood, shore, soft-shell, summer, tourism, tradition, travel on Jun 25th, 2008
Nothing says summer to this Philly girl more than ‘going down the shore’ (translation: heading to southern New Jersey to go to the beach), grilling, horseshoes, and soft shell crabs. The first time I was asked to taste a soft shell crab I had to ask my dad what the f it meant. “You mean […]
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Posted in appetizer, beer, bread, capers, cheese, easy, eating, England, Food Commentary, healthy, Jose Andres, lemon, mackerel, manchego, morcilla, peppers, pinchos, pintxos, piquillo peppers, racione, sausage, savory, seafood, soccer, Spain, Squid, tapas on Jun 8th, 2008
In celebration of the start of Euro 2008 – the European soccer/football championships – yesterday, and in light of the fact that England failed to qualify because they were awful, I am in need of a team to follow, so have decided to become an honorary Spanish soccer fan for the next month, or however […]
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Posted in anchovies, basil, cream, eating, Genoa, Genovese, herbs, Italian, lunch, mushroom, mushrooms, nuts, Olive Oil, Pasta, pine nuts, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, sauce, tourism, travel, walnuts on May 10th, 2008
There are a handful of things that have made Genoa famous, amongst them pesto and Christopher Columbus. Interestingly, in all the many, many stories told by Scheherazade (to persuade the emir not to have her killed) in the Arabian Nights, the only European city to be mentioned is Genoa. And, when you visit the city […]
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Posted in Bastille Day, Carcassonne, culture, eating, Europe, festival, Food Commentary, France, French, french fries, French-ness, fried, grilled, grilling, history, holiday, patriotism, podcast, sandwiches, sausage, street food, summer, tourism, tradition, travel, unhealthy on May 6th, 2008
Download WNF Podcast #2: Sandwich de Merguez A few summers ago we were very fortunate to spend a long vacation traveling through northern Spain and southwestern France. It was our first real vacation alone since Amy and I had met, and was especially well-deserved because we had spent the previous 12 months going through the […]
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Posted in alcohol, America, batter, bone-marrow, Bourdain, butter, celebrity, chefs, cornichons, delicacy, dining, diversity, eating, England, Fergus Henderson, Food Commentary, Gabrielle Hamilton, game, gherkins, indulgent meal, London, Mark Bittman, offal, philosophy, podcast, Prune, quail, rabbit, restaurant, Restaurant Review, squab, sweetbreads on Apr 24th, 2008
Normally, when I think of prunes my first thought is the familiar TV commercial showing the side-by-side comparison of someone experiencing “bloating and discomfort” and someone enjoying the verve and gaiety brought on by just one bowlful of California prunes. However, since last Thursday, my first thought is now “when can I have some more?”. […]
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Posted in beef, cheap meal, culture, eating, ground meat, hearty, holiday, Italian, Italy, language, Meat, milk, Naples, Napoli, pancetta, Pasta, pork, Recipe, Recipes, sauce, Saveur, slow cooking, tomato, tourism, tradition, travel, wine on Apr 22nd, 2008
Click here for more of our photos of Bologna Warning! You are about to read a lot about a dish that many would think could be discussed in one paragraph – Bolognese Ragu. After two trips to Bologna, I really began to understand how seriously the people there take their food. Because we are always […]
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Posted in cheap meal, cheese, crispy, Cuba, Cuban-American, easy, eating, Fast Food, gherkins, ham, lunch, mustard, Pernil, pickles, pork, Puerto Rican, sandwiches, tradition on Apr 17th, 2008
Cuba is synonymous with a few things in everyone’s mind, and whether or not you’re a commie, a weak-willed socialist-sympathizing pinko, or even a right-wing pseudo-fascist, there is much to admire about that politically-isolated island nation. It’s long and storied colonial history, the amazing preservation of its architecture and fleet of intact 1950s Chevrolet, its […]
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Posted in apples, Asturias, cabrales, cheese, easy, eating, food TV, hazelnuts, healthy, herbs, Jose Andres, nuts, Olive Oil, Recipe, Recipes, salad, side dish, Spain, travel, vinaigrette on Apr 12th, 2008
There are some things that just strike you as being astonishingly simple, yet brilliantly devised. For example, the interface of an iPod- the way you use it – is unbelievably clever in its design. One “wheel” and one button, and that’s it. Everyone – even me – can figure it out in about 8 seconds. […]
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Posted in adobo, barbecue, chicken, crispy, eating, grilled, grilling, healthy, important details, lemon, oregano, poultry, Puerto Rican, Recipe, Recipes, salt, savory, skin, spices, Steven Raichlen, technique, television show on Apr 4th, 2008
So, rather like the DJ I never was, but always secretly thought I could be if I could just get my hands on 1,000 records, 2 gold Technics 1200s, and 5 years to practice in my bedroom, I’m starting this post, or jam, if you will, by giving a series of shout outs. The first […]
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Posted in America, bay, braised, bunny, capers, chicken stock, delicacy, dining, diversity, Easter, eating, flour, game, healthy, hearty, lower fat, Meat, mustard, olives, onions, parsley, podcast, Provencal, rabbit, rosemary, savory, slow cooking, thyme on Mar 27th, 2008
It’s the Thursday after Easter and most people out there are still picking the candy and chocolate out of their teeth having just gorged themselves on all manner of Easter Bunny-shaped confectionery. Ever the destroyers of convention, we have been doing something altogether more real and, some may say, sinister. Yes, friends, cover your children’s […]
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Posted in anchovies, asparagus, braised, broccoli raab, chicken stock, chops, dining, easy, eating, food TV, Garlic, healthy, hearty, Italian, Italian-American, kale, lamb, Meat, mustard, Olive Oil, Potato, quick meal, Recipe, Recipes, salt, sauce, savory, shallots, side dish, television show, vegetables on Mar 20th, 2008
If you’re anything like us then you’ll probably have a couple of dishes that you crave more often than anything else. And, again, if you’re like us, you probably always have the ingredients for such dishes in your pantry in preparation for whenever that craving strikes. These are the dishes that, like a line-cook in […]
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Posted in advertising, commercial, dining, eating, Fast Food, filthy chain stores, fish, Food Commentary, fried, important details, news, philosophy, public health, restaurant, safety, sandwiches, television show, unhealthy, Wendy's on Mar 18th, 2008
Ok, this post isn’t as timely as I wanted it to be (I actually wrote it about 4 weeks ago), but it got buried under other things. Basically, in a “new” commercial for Wendy’s (you know Wendy’s, right? It’s a fast food joint) they try to tell us that “it’s waaaaaay better than fast food, […]
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Posted in bread, butter, cheap meal, dining, easy, eating, fish, fried, lemon, lower fat, magazine, Recipe, Recipes, sauce, Saveur, savory, white bread, white fish on Oct 17th, 2007
***No, this is not a grilled-cheese sandwich! I have to give it up to my favorite cooking mag Saveur (and subsequently the chef who created this recipe, Bruce Sherman of North Pond in Chicago) for introducing me to one of the coolest, most creative and tasty ways to cook fish. In the October, 2007 issue […]
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Posted in America, Atlantic City, Autumn, Beach, bread, calamari, Chorizo, Clams, eating, fish, Food Commentary, Garlic, grilled, healthy, hearty, parsley, pintxos, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, sausage, seafood, side dish, snapper, Spain, spicy, Squid, summer, tapas, tomato, vegetables, weather, whole fish, wine on Sep 27th, 2007
Last week we discovered that the 5-day forecast was calling for a week’s worth of blue skies and summer-like weather. Not bad considering this past Sunday marked the beginning of Fall. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love fall. But, like many, there’s something about summer that just excites me like no other season. […]
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Posted in America, commercial, eating, festival, festivals, Food Commentary, Italian, Italian-American, Little Italy, meal, Meat, meatballs, Naples, Napoli, New York City, onions, peppers, safety, San Gennaro, sandwiches, sauce, sausage, savory, subs, tourism, tradition, travel on Sep 23rd, 2007
Being an Italian-American, I take pride in my heritage. I am also particular about how I like my sausage and pepper sandwiches made. If you are not from the north eastern part of the US, didn’t grow up around large groups of Italians or in an Italian household, you may not have every heard of […]
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Posted in braised, dining, easy, eating, Garlic, healthy, Jacques Pepin, lamb, lower fat, Meat, mushroom, mushrooms, onions, pressure-cooker, Recipe, Recipes, rosemary, safety, savory, shanks, thyme, water, wine, winter on Sep 18th, 2007
So maligned are pressure-cookers that it seems almost sacrilegious of a food blog like this, that likes to extol the virtues of fresh ingredients and traditional cooking methods, to even consider adding a recipe that calls for using one. Undaunted, here we are flaunting convention and defying the culinary thought-police once more with a recipe […]
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Posted in bucatini, culture, dining, diversity, easy, eating, Elba, Europe, Food Commentary, healthy, Italian, Italy, nuts, Olive Oil, Pasta, pistachios, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, Restaurant Review, summer, tourism, travel, Tuscan, tuscany, vegetarian on Sep 15th, 2007
When we were in Italy this June for our wedding/honeymoon we not only ate well, drank too well and gained weight, but we took many food risks. The best nights of food seemed to be the nights when the menus were only in Italian and we forgot our little translation book back at the B&B. […]
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Lunch is a tricky time for me and, I’m sure, many Americans, who enjoy good food, in a way that it isn’t for most Europeans, or at least, most southern Europeans. There is no place in American life for the leisurely two-hour, weekday lunch that many French, Italians and Spanish enjoy several times a week. […]
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