Food news antipasto

Ina Garten is one of the most beloved authors among our members. Her 1999 debut, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, ranks at #11 for number of bookshelves in the EYB Library. If you are among those who do not have this book, you might want to head to Costco, where you will find an exclusive new edition of this book that features four new recipes.

If it seems to you that your eyes are watering more than usual as you are chopping onions, you are not imagining things (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). It turns out that when onion supplies switch over from the spring/summer varieties to the fall/autumn types, the characteristics of the onions shift. Earlier varieties are wetter and milder than the later ones, which are drier (to help them store better over the winter months) and are also more pungent.

Veteran author Rick Stein’s latest, Rick Stein at Home, is getting rave reviews. We have links to a few recipes from the book that are available online, and if you head over to Good Food (Aus), you will find three additional recipes excerpted from this excellent cookbook.

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg have emerged as the food world’s best odd couple. Their television programs attract legions of fans, and we suppose that will hold true for their latest collaboration: a Halloween food competition that has been described as “deliciously funny”. Snoop and Martha’s Very Tasty Halloween will premiere on Peacock Premium on 21 October.

Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe (aka ‘Salt Bae’) recently opened Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Knightsbridge. The restaurant has achieved attention because of its outrageously-priced, gilded menu items (£850 for a gold-leaf wrapped steak and a bargain-priced £100 gilded burger). Restaurant critic Jay Rayner had a few words to say about Salt Bae’s latest venture.

The Jacques Pépin Foundation is partnering with Rouxbe Online Culinary School to provide an online course: Jacques Pépin, A Legacy of Technique. The course offers fans and aspiring cooks the opportunity to learn to cook more like Jacques, and even earn a college credited certificate. The inaugural class starts October 20.