Posted in Argentina, Basque, brandy, Buenos Aires, fish, France, healthy, hearty, history, Montevideo, paella, pinchos, pintxos, Potato, seafood, soup, South America, Spain, stew, tradition, travel, Tuna, Uruguay on May 2nd, 2015
When the coughing and farting of the antique truck had rumbled away, between the rustlings of birds pecking grubs among the dry plane leaves, you could just make out the pop and thwack of rubber on concrete. Ascending a double flight of unusually steep stairs, past a stained glass window featuring farming folk, the squeak […]
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Posted in agriculture, boiled, Brooklyn, capers, fish, hearty, London, New York City, octopus, olives, Park Slope, peppers, Peru, Potato, restaurant, sauce, South America, tradition, vegetables on Oct 9th, 2014
Of all the miracles of modern science that we have witnessed over recent years, few have received as little attention as the 2009 announcement by the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, that it had successfully sequenced the potato genome. It is a sad reflection on the state of our priorities as a species that […]
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Posted in Canada, crispy, French, french fries, French-ness, hearty, Potato, tourism, tradition, travel, unhealthy, vegetarian on Feb 11th, 2014
“Je me souviens” I shall not forget / I remember – Quebecois motto You never forget your first poutine the saying doesn’t go. But it should. After all, what gastronomic experience could be more profound than the comforts of crispy fries, luscious gravy, and melty cheese curds, followed immediately by sleepiness, the fat sweats, and […]
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Posted in alcoholic drink, breadcrumbs, eastern europe, Europe, hearty, Meat, paprika, pigs, Poland, pork, Potato, slovakia on Apr 13th, 2013
“A smooth sea never a skilled mariner made.” – English proverb In the summer of 1997, two friends and I decided it would be a hoot to spend six weeks visiting a variety of countries that had recently emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. It turned out to be rather more of a hoot than […]
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Posted in appetizer, Bourdain, cabbage, caldo, cheap meal, chicken stock, Chorizo, cocido, dining, hearty, kale, Philadelphia, Portuguese, Potato, soup, thyme on May 9th, 2012
Right before it was yesterday’s news and tossed on the cultural junk pile as passé, everything was the next big thing. Devotees of Anthony Bourdain will know that as of two weeks ago, Croatian cuisine is the new black. Prior to all this, somewhere between Spanish food blowing up into our collective consciousness and the […]
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Posted in ale, America, beans, beer, braised, British, carrots, Christmas, easy, England, family, holiday, holidays, Meat, onions, pork, Potato, rosemary, sauce, stew, tradition, travel, vinegar on Dec 20th, 2011
I often think that living in a small scruffy New York City apartment is akin to a pioneer life in a log cabin somewhere remote. Sure, the commute is easier, but the myriad quotidien affronts and man traps of a city existence certainly resemble the perils of life on the range.
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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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It rarely gives me any satisfaction to work so close to Penn Station, especially in the summer when the areas less salubrious residents are at their most pungent, and, dare I say, because of the heat, most crazed. It is at this time of year that the legion of stupefied zombies, fiending smackheads and other […]
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, beef, braised, Brazil, caldo, carrots, celery, Colombian, Potato, soup, South America, tradition on Mar 1st, 2011
We understand from our Colombian friend Juan Camilo (who longtime readers may remember from this podcast) that the Bogota nightlife is on a par with any of the world’s party capitals, and that when it comes to late night boozing, the aguardiente-loving natives of Colombia’s capital are among the most experienced. It should come as […]
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Posted in America, Argentina, beef, Bourdain, Buenos Aires, chile, chili, culture, fried, Peru, Potato, rice, South America, tradition, travel on Jan 24th, 2011
During his show on Panama, Anthony Bourdain observed that Chinese food somehow gets shinier the further west one goes. He might also have mentioned that it changes in other ways throughout the western hemisphere too, on the whole, becoming less and less Chinese-like. In a similar way to Panama, to which Chinese laborers flocked to […]
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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 brandy, castille, chicken, cognac, crispy, fried, Garlic, herbs, Olive Oil, Potato, sauce, Spain, tapas on Mar 13th, 2010
“Eat no garlic nor onions, lest they find out thy boorish origin by the smell…” -Don Quixote to Sancho Panza, Chapter XLIII, Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Sitting around the table last night with gusts of strong breath coloring our domestic atmosphere, Amy and I were considering the profound effect […]
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Posted in Argentina, bacon, beef, cheese, goat, ham, jamon, Meat, olives, pepper, Potato, Recipe, Steak, tomato, tourism, travel, unhealthy, Uruguay on Jan 7th, 2010
Made during the horrid, self-reflective, and, frequently, gassy hours aboard a trans-Atlantic flight this past weekend, our New Year’s resolutions swore us to no less than three weeks of Spartan, monkish grazing on whole grains, green vegetables and lean protein in order to trim ourselves of burgeoning, lumpy mid-sections brought on by the combined Holiday […]
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Posted in cheese, chipotle, chops, cilantro, easy, Olive Oil, onions, Potato, Recipes, side dish, squash on Oct 28th, 2009
Perhaps surprisingly given that we’ve been deluged with guests for the last month, we haven’t actually cooked for them much, or at least, cooked anything we’d dare post. As anyone who’s been a host knows, having guests is an exhausting experience, but especially so when you’re playing the role of tour guide too, so here are two […]
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Originally, I was going to simply write a one paragraph post helping people understand that they should not be afraid to use butter when necessary. Unfortunately, I realized how much emotional turmoil I have when it comes to this subject and others. A nice recipe for a Buttered Pea and Potato Salad had somehow turned […]
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Posted in butter, fava beans, gnocchi, herbs, mint, parmigiano reggiano, Pasta, Potato, Recipe, vegetables on Jun 20th, 2009
As you may be able to tell, if you are a regular reader of this blog, we love mint. We use it often in the summer because it grows like a freaking weed. Because we live in Brooklyn, we barely have any outdoor space (but are very fortunate to have any). Yet, in that small […]
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Posted in basil, black cod, fish, mint, morels, mushroom, mushrooms, mushy peas, peas, Potato, Recipe, white fish on Jun 12th, 2009
We’ve had such a cruddy spring here in NYC and it’s hard to believe the summer solstice is just a week and a half away. Luckily, it’s been chilly and wet during the work week and sunny and warm at the weekends. It doesn’t make you feel that much better, though. You can’t fully get […]
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****Ahhh, the old dippy egg automatic food p*rn shot I remember the night in Madrid Jonny and I thought it would be a good idea to do a tapas crawl after having many, many drinks. We weren’t yet at that “I’m so drunk I must shovel food in my mouth now” place, but were maybe […]
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Posted in Madrid, pepper, peppers, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, Spain, vegetables, vegetarian on Feb 19th, 2009
Over a year ago when we were in Madrid, Spain we had two dining experiences that were particularly memorable. They were memorable because these were the spots we ended up just doing an eenie-meenie-minee-moe way to pick it. Sometimes those restaurants, the type that involve zero research or reading of reviews, that end up being the best. The first experience […]
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Posted in beef tallow, British, carrots, chicken, chicken stock, England, flavor, flavour, flour, Garlic, herbs, lard, leek, London, Manchester, onions, parsley, parsnips, Potato, Recipe, stew, suet, thyme, vegetables, weather, winter on Jan 16th, 2009
File this one under “utter fabrications told to you by older sibling and believed for too long”. I must have been very young when my sister (15 months my senior) informed me that I should be wary of eating my grandmother’s suet dumplings because suet was the gooey material supporting bovine eye-balls. Quite where she got this […]
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Posted in anchovies, appetizer, butter, condiments, easy, Fall, fondue, Garlic, grilled, Italian, Italy, Liguria, Olive Oil, Piemonte, Potato, Recipe, tradition, travel, vegetables, winter on Nov 29th, 2008
And, while you’re at it, good fellow, I’ll have a warm bath with virtually anything you’ve got on the menu: pasta, potatoes, fish, chicken, soup, bread… Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… A man goes to the doctor complaining of neck ache. The doctor gives him some painkillers telling him to take two […]
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Posted in appetizer, Chorizo, easy, Garlic, hearty, Jose Andres, Olive Oil, onions, paprika, Paul Bocuse, pimenton, piquillo peppers, Potato, Rioja, Spain, tapas, tradition, travel, wine on Sep 16th, 2008
It’s widely known that humble ingredients prepared with simple techniques often produce the best dishes, and it’s becoming more widely known that this philosophy lies at the very heart of Spanish cooking – a cuisine that has, in the last five or so years, become one of the most celebrated “new finds” of foodies everywhere. […]
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Posted in beets, Brooklyn, butter, cheap meal, healthy, Italian, Italy, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, vegetarian on Jun 6th, 2008
The first time I ate a version of this very old Venetian meal was at a very popular restaurant in my neighborhood in Brooklyn called Al Di La. The restaurant serves simple Italian food at it’s best and this is precisely why it is so popular. But since that dinner, a few years ago, I […]
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Posted in asparagus, baking, chicken, dauphinoise, easy, fennel, gravy, hearty, milk, onions, Potato, poultry, Recipe, Recipes, side dish, thyme on May 2nd, 2008
Jeffrey Steingarten famously declares in It Must Have Been Something I Ate that every time he is bored, he roasts a chicken. Calculating that he gets bored approximately once a week, this translates into 52 roast chickens a year and more than one thousand since he began as food critic at Vogue. That’s a lot […]
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, beer, beverage, culture, drink, Food Commentary, history, Korean, language, Potato, rice, tradition on Apr 2nd, 2008
To us, and we’re sure to many who enjoy eating, the pairing of a meal with a complementary beverage is a beautiful thing, but one which often seems intimidating. After all, haute cuisine restaurants can either prosper or fail on the recommendations of their sommeliers. Just imagine you ordered a $500 bottle of vintage Burgundy […]
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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 breadcrumbs, butter, California, cheap meal, cheese, drink, easy, egg, flour, gnocchi, holiday, indulgent meal, Italian, Potato, quick meal, Recipe, Recipes, sage, sauce, travel, vegetarian, wine on Mar 1st, 2008
Last year, Amy and I spent a very enjoyable long weekend with her cousin and cousin’s husband visiting the Napa and Russian River Valley winelands. Throughout the course of the weekend we must have tasted fifty different wines at twelve or so different wineries, and I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I did not […]
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Posted in beans, bread, cabbage, cheap meal, healthy, Italian, Italy, kale, parsley, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, sausage, soup, stew, tradition, tuscany, vegetables, vegetarian, weather on Feb 21st, 2008
Continuing with more comforting winter foods, I decided one night to make Ribollita again. Traditionally, this Tuscan dish is usually made one day using whatever leftovers were around and reboiled (what ribollita literally means in Italian) the next for even more of a flavor power-punch. I also read that ribollita should take a total of […]
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On a cold, wintery day, there is nothing better than the warmth of a hearty bowl of Hungarian goulash. After much research, I adapted a recipe by Wolfgang Puck. I’m glad I trusted my instinct that his would taste pretty authentic considering he is from Austria. According to my research, traditional goulash should NEVER contain […]
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