Posted in Argentina, blood, Brazil, Brazilian, cheap meal, chicken, delicacy, duck, Garlic, grilled, grilling, hearty, Jim Harrison, Meat, offal, Recipe, rosemary, sage, South America, tradition, yucca on May 19th, 2016
Towards the end of an otherwise very enjoyable dish of Cantonese-style spicy duck tongues at Congee Village on New York’s Lower East Side a few years ago, I found myself asking the inevitable question: how many ducks does it take to make a plate of this? Counting the tongues I could pick up with my […]
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Posted in appetizer, bacon, brains, bread, breadcrumbs, Castilla-La Mancha, Castillano, castille, cheap meal, Chorizo, cumin, easy, Garlic, hearty, manchego, offal, peppers, pigs, racione, Restaurant Review, Spain, Spanish, tourism, tradition, travel, trotter, unhealthy on Feb 16th, 2016
“The pen is the tongue of the mind.” – Don Quixote de La Mancha I have been told that the Inuit have more than 30 words for snow and a similar number of descriptors for the myriad tones of white, blue and grey that color their environment. If desert-dwelling Arabs had a similarly nuanced vocabulary […]
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Posted in America, barbecue, chicken, chops, crispy, fried, Garlic, holiday, Olive Oil, Spain, Spanish, summer, tourism, travel, Vermont on Sep 3rd, 2015
An old joke tells of a Philadelphia area man who, panicking when his doctor diagnosed him with incurable cancer and predicted he had six months to live, begged the medic for help. “Isn’t there any way I can live for longer?”, he asked. “Go marry an Italian girl from South Philly and those six months […]
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Posted in African, alcohol, almond, chicken, chicken stock, cumin, family, Garlic, healthy, hearty, rabbit, Spain, spices, tourism, tradition on Jan 27th, 2015
As an icebreaker at the beginning of the birthing classes we took in preparation for the arrival of our first-born, participants were divided into male and female groups and invited to sit together and discuss their greatest hopes and apprehensions for impending parenthood. The biggest concern of our fellow soon-to-be-parents turned out to be making […]
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Posted in Asian, carrots, culture, eastern europe, Garlic, holiday, holidays, lamb, mutton, rice, spices, tradition, winter on Jan 2nd, 2014
Posted in Argentina, barbecue, blogging, butter, Garlic, peaches, pork, rosemary, sage, South America on Aug 30th, 2013
Anyone who works in a company of any size will tire at some point of hackneyed sports analogies when discussions around departmental or organizational performance occur. I certainly had more than my fill this past week during day-long 2014 strategic planning sessions, but perhaps surprisingly the most common sports cliche “practice makes perfect” didn’t come […]
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Posted in appetizer, Argentina, blogging, butter, fava beans, Garlic, kidneys, lamb, mint, offal, Olive Oil, peas, saute, sweetbreads on Mar 17th, 2013
The world of social media seems to have been created for the sole purpose of allowing the general public to share its idiocy as widely as possible. Along with this opportunity also arrived the penchant for inventing ridiculous new expressions and forming them into one of the most odious aspects of modern life, the hash […]
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Posted in bisto, British, butter, easy, egg, England, entertainment, flour, Garlic, gravy, kale, milk, mushy peas, onions, Recipe, Recipes, sausage, toad in the hole, tradition on Dec 3rd, 2012
In his rather witty book, French Lessons, Peter Mayle attends the annual Fete de Grenouilles (Festival of Frogs-Legs) in Vittel, France, and describes an episode at the festival banquet in which an attendee, elbow deep in amphibian thighs, tells him that if he thinks eating frogs is unusual, she had heard of an even more […]
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Posted in almond, Barcelona, broiled, calamari, Chorizo, cuttlefish, fish, Garlic, Madrid, Murcia, noodles, nuts, Olive Oil, Pasta, pepper, peppers, pulpo, Spain, Squid, tradition, travel, Valencia, wine on Nov 14th, 2012
For centuries, mankind and cuttlefish have had something of a difficult relationship, certainly from the latter’s perspective. Even prior to the development of the photographic tint known as sepia – a brownish hue that makes the late 19th century appear to have been an unusually dusty period – the ink of the cuttlefish was prized […]
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Posted in asparagus, chives, condiments, cornichons, egg, fish, French, Garlic, gherkins, healthy, herbs, morels, parsley, polenta, sauce on Jun 23rd, 2012
Posted in African, appetizer, castille, chile, Garlic, herbs, history, Meat, Mexican, Olive Oil, pepper, peppers, pimenton, pinchos, pork, racione, Spain, tapas, thyme, tradition, travel on Jun 6th, 2012
St. George, the patron saint of England, whose plucky, dragon-slaying derring-do is taken as emblematic of the English spirit, far from being a native of the British Isles, or for that matter, far from ever having come close to visiting them, was actually an adventurous squire of the modern-day country of Georgia who lived around […]
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Posted in Beach, Garlic, history, Olive Oil, olives, onions, oregano, Puerto Rican, rice, side dish, tradition, travel on May 3rd, 2012
Named for the grandson of Puerto Rico’s first governor, the southern city of Ponce is blessed with appropriately distinguished architecture. The equal of few in the Americas, it is a delightful surprise for the visitor. That conquering Americans were responsible for the preservation of the city’s historic district is equally surprising.
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, almond, Garlic, history, pork, sauce, sherry, Spain, tradition, travel on Feb 25th, 2012
With wine there is probably more room for personal interpretation and opinion than in any other area of gastronomy. The sheer variety of wines available from across the globe encourages this, but the reputation of the wine connoisseur and his often ridiculous descriptions of the perfumes to be nosed out of the glass makes wine-tasting […]
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Posted in alcohol, apples, Asturias, braised, chicken, drink, Garlic, healthy, mushrooms, poultry, sauce, Spain, tradition, travel on Jan 17th, 2012
“We may have lost paradise because of the apple, but we’ll get it back with cider.” – Asturian saying “Reach out your arms, as far apart as possible – one high, one low – then just bend your wrist, but do not look!”, instructed the waitress. “Oh, and beginners like you must stand over the […]
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Posted in beans, British, cognac, easy, family, fennel, fish, France, Garlic, history, Manchester, Provencal, Provence, spicy, white fish on Dec 3rd, 2011
I’m not very old, but for much of my youth in the north west of England, it was almost impossible to find fresh foods that weren’t local. Today such a statement seems like an echo of Victorian times, but, literally, that’s how it was until a supermarket was built behind the Knutsford courthouse in the […]
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Posted in America, fennel, Garlic, ground meat, Italian, Meat, meatballs, rice, sausage, Tuscan, tuscany on Nov 2nd, 2011
I was recently introduced to an Australian with whom I had a number of interesting discussions (that is not meant as a joke). The first, an hour-long discussion of the age-old cricketing rivalry between England and his native land is of no concern here, but the second, a frank exchange of views about the quality […]
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Posted in butter, cheap meal, France, French, game, Garlic, history, lemon, offal, parsley, pigs, pork, Potato, shanks, slow cooking, tourism, tradition, travel, trotter on Oct 4th, 2011
The largely unknown city of Compiegne, France, has the distinction of being the site of one of Louis XV’s most extravagant homes away from home. Under him, the Chateau de Compiegne became one of three distinctly opulent seats of government alongside Versailles and Fontainbleau. The latter French monarchs were hardly known for their desire to […]
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Posted in cheese, chile, chili, cilantro, curry, diversity, Garlic, healthy, Indian, peas, Potato, Roti, vegetables, vegetarian on Jun 28th, 2011
If the immense diversity of this city reveals itself in the faces of its people, and if, in turn, those faces can be said to reflect the myriad flavors of this world, then how should one interpret the wearing of “beats by dr dre” headphones by anyone north of 25 years old? With this eternal […]
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Posted in chicken, cream, dining, easy, France, French, Garlic, mushrooms, tarragon, tradition, unhealthy, wine on May 12th, 2011
Classic French cooking doesn’t get much more classic than chicken in tarragon cream sauce. This bistro menu stalwart has all the unctious elements you instinctively associate with Gallic gastronomy: butter, cream, wine and mild herbs. Likely originating in that blessed triangle just north of Lyon where the famous blue-footed chickens of Bresse neighbor the Cotes […]
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Posted in beef, Brazil, British, Caribbean, chili, Chinese, diversity, Garlic, noodles, quick meal, South America, spicy on Apr 18th, 2011
Guyana, sitting on the top right of the land mass of South America, is among the least known and most mysterious of that continent’s countries, something that is almost as true today as it was when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used it as the setting for his 1904 novel, The Lost World. Home to the […]
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Posted in almond, anchovies, anise, bucatini, culture, fennel, Garlic, history, Italian, Italy, Olive Oil, Pasta, saffron, Sicilian, tradition, wine on Apr 5th, 2011
Greeks, Romans, Moors, Normans, Spaniards, Garibaldi and his thousand, and finally hordes of tourists have visited Sicily over the milennia. Some stayed for centuries, some only for generations, but even those whose sojourn was comparatively brief played a role in the island’s blending of cultures and traditions. If this human concoction can be distilled into […]
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Posted in America, Asturias, beans, cabrales, Chorizo, cocido, fabada, Garlic, history, Meat, morcilla, Olive Oil, paprika, pimenton, pork, saffron, tradition, travel on Mar 11th, 2011
Almost seven years ago I journeyed from Santillana del Mar to Santa Maria de Lebaña via San Vicente de la Barquera. So many saints, so much devotion, that it was little surprise to learn that beyond the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana and through the Picos de Europe lies the hallowed ground of Covadonga. […]
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Posted in balsamico, butter, dining, France, Garlic, Italian, liver, mushrooms, Pasta, ravioli, vinegar on Jan 17th, 2011
There’s a show on public television here in America called “Moment of Luxury” in which the host very generously enjoys all manner of fine things on our behalf and then shares his collected pensees about the experience. Traveling around the food blogosphere lately has felt like a surprisingly similar experience for us since our three […]
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Posted in Argentina, Asturias, chocolate, chops, empanadas, Garlic, lentils, Portuguese, side dish, South America, Spain, travel, Uruguay on Dec 21st, 2010
Those of you who raised your eyebrows at the very idea of lentils mixed with chocolate might be forgiven for thinking that we have lost our tiny minds, that too long around infant children, cooing and a-goo-goo-gooing, has softened our already mushy brains beyond repair. Indeed, had we not gone out on a limb ourselves […]
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Posted in appetizer, Barcelona, fried, Garlic, ham, history, Madrid, pimenton, pinchos, pintxos, Potato, prosciutto, racione, side dish, Spain, spicy, tapas, tourism, tradition, travel on Nov 17th, 2010
Towards the end of what is, in my opinion, his finest work, Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell tells of the bitter street fighting he witnessed in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War when the delicate alliance between communist, socialist, and anarchist factions of the Republican army finally collapsed. While certainly not the bloodiest scene in […]
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Posted in African, allspice, bacon, braised, brown sugar, cabbage, carrots, diversity, fried, Garlic, gravy, Haitian, Meat, parsley, peppers, pork, Recipes, spicy, tradition on Oct 15th, 2010
“Griyo is madd good. If you have neva tasted it, you are missing a lot.” So much of what we think we know of Haiti is bad – from the massive human suffering and destruction caused by January’s earthquake, to decades of political and social unrest, to blood-curdling tales of voodoo curses and zombies – […]
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Posted in blogging, butter, Fall, game, Garlic, Jim Harrison, Meat, mushrooms, poultry, truffles, walnuts on Sep 8th, 2010
“Once, at the Denver Airport, a bald girl in an orange dress told me I could be what I wanted.” – Jim Harrison, The Raw & The Cooked There’s an awful conceit abroad the interwebs these days that seems to be encouraging more people than it should to title themselves “freelance food writers”. Perhaps you’ve […]
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I daresay there is a traditional dish from somewhere on the Italian peninsula that resembles this dish in some way, but in a radical, free-form departure from our blogging norms, we didn’t follow any kind of recipe here nor do the slightest bit of research in preparation. By way of an excuse, we didn’t really […]
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Posted in African, Cuba, culture, Garlic, history, Olive Oil, plantains, pork, Puerto Rican, sauce, seafood, shrimp, Spain, tostones, tradition, travel on Jul 30th, 2010
He’s certainly not the first to make such a remark, but when in a recent episode of his PBS show Mexico: One Plate at a Time, chef Rick Bayless commented that Mexican food may be the first “fusion cuisine” in the Americas, the concept resonated with me. The collision of cultures and culinary traditions that […]
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“Reach into your memory and come up with … what food actually regenerated your system, not so you can leap tall buildings, but so you can turn off the alarm clock with vigor.” – Jim Harrison, The Raw and the Cooked We’re certainly not the first bloggers to find ourselves stretched thin between the demands […]
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