Finding hidden gems

July 1, 2021 by
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Vittles continues to publish some of the best food writing you can find anywhere. The most recent article that impressed me comes from former GBBO contestant and cookbook author Ruby Tandoh. When you grow up in an area that isn't renowned for its food - let alone many positive cultural attributes - it can be a challenge to acknowledge the… read more

IACP Cookbook Award finalists announced

June 28, 2021 by
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With the JBF Awards being cancelled this year and other awards already announced, there is only one major cookbook award program left: The IACP Cookbook Awards. Earlier today the IACP announced the finalists for its 2021 awards, with the winners to be revealed at the IACP Conference on October 23, in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to the cookbook awards, the… read more

Food news antipasto

June 27, 2021 by
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We begin this week's recap with sad news: influential chef Mark Peel has died at the age of 66 just days after being diagnosed with cancer. Peel worked at various restaurants including Wolfgang Puck's Spago. Along with his wife at the time Nancy Silverton, Peel opened the famed restaurant Campanile, which won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001. Campanile… read more

Smaller menus, simpler food

June 26, 2021 by
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As restaurants scrambled to adapt to lockdowns, most of them switched from indoor dining to takeaway and also drastically reduced the menu options to accommodate the change. Now that they are reopening to indoor dining, many of the restaurants are keeping the shorter menus, says Grub Street's Rachel Sugar. Both independent eateries and large chains are reducing the number of… read more

Vent some steam with catharsis cookbooks

June 24, 2021 by
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Anyone who has ever pounded a chicken breast with a mallet or who has kneaded a loaf of dough knows that cooking can be a conduit for releasing negative emotions. Some cookbooks capitalize on this catharsis including 2020's Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Butter, Sugar, and Women's Voices (which had a touch of controversy), but that's not the… read more

Guild of Food Writers Award Winners 2021

June 23, 2021 by
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The Guild of Food Writers named the winners of its prestigious annual awards. We earlier reported on the list of finalists where you can see everyone who made the shortlist. So, let's get to it - following are highlights of the winners. You can see a full list of all categories and winners on the Guild of Food Writers website.… read more

Food fests anchor recovery efforts

June 21, 2021 by
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Just as the restaurant industry was walloped during lockdowns, so too did the travel industry suffer. In regions where travel makes up a significant percentage of the local economy, the effects were nothing short of devastating. Now that lockdowns are unwinding, areas that rely heavily on tourism are looking to combine eating and traveling as a mechanism to jumpstart their… read more

Food news antipasto

June 20, 2021 by
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Delia Smith is Britain's bestselling cookery writer, whose books have sold over 21 million copies worldwide. Delia's first job as a cookery writer was for the Daily Mirror in 1969 - numerous phenomenal best sellers and television series followed including Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course in 1978 and Delia's Christmas, Summer & Winter Collections in the 1990s. The indefatigable Smith… read more

When you can’t let go

June 19, 2021 by
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With over 300 cookbooks at my fingertips, plus hundreds of magazines and the internet mere seconds away with its potential for millions of recipes, you might think that the three-ring binder I've been lugging around through several cross-country moves would no longer be necessary. You would be wrong - even though I reference it less often than I used to,… read more

Why I quit being a gadget pusher

June 17, 2021 by
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"You don't have an Instant Pot?" my friend asked me, incredulous. She assumed that because I love to cook I had all of the latest and greatest gadgets. "You have to get one," she implored, explaining all of the wonderful meals she had cooked in hers. I was skeptical of cheesecake made in a multi-cooker. I still am, even though… read more

Kid-friendly Father’s Day recipes

June 17, 2021 by
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strawberries in a colander
Sunday is Father’s Day in many countries and for a lot of families that means outdoor cooking, meat on the grill, and picnic fare. No doubt millions of burgers and steaks will find their way onto plates, but kids might want to make their dad a special dish themselves, and that's where America's Test Kitchen steps in. They have a… read more

Traditional foods of Juneteenth

June 14, 2021 by
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The upcoming celebration of Juneteenth was first celebrated in Texas, where on June 19, 1865, in the aftermath of the bloody U.S. Civil War, slaves were declared free under the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. One year after the announcement, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became an annual celebration, known then as Jubilee Day. By the 1890s, the holiday… read more

Food news antipasto

June 13, 2021 by
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If you are like me and cannot have too much Jacques Pépin in your life, head over to to YouTube to see a charming interview with the iconic chef that aired last week on CBS This Morning. Jeff Glor sat down with Pépin at his home in Connecticut, where at age 85 he shows no signs of slowing down. The… read more

The secret’s in the sauce

June 12, 2021 by
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If you ask two people what the best barbecue sauce is, you are likely to get three (or more) answers, and/or start a fistfight. Barbecue sauces are as individualistic as fingerprints, with people hewing to certain types based on their regional cultures and their own tastebuds, and preferring different sauces for different meats as well. I am a South Carolina… read more

A man on a mission to save apples

June 10, 2021 by
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Every year in early October I usually post an article about apples that highlights the various ways you can use the fruit in cooking and baking. This year apple season (for the blog, anyway) comes much earlier, because I just read a fascinating article about Tom Brown, a man on a quest to rescue 'lost' varieties of apples. Even if… read more

Don’t sweat your lack of knife skills

June 9, 2021 by
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Step into almost any restaurant kitchen and you will see chefs and cooks wielding knives in an impressive display of finesse and skill. I witnessed this firsthand years ago when I staged at a high-end restaurant in a small city. I was tasked with finely chopping parsley to be used as a sprinkled garnish (don't laugh, everyone was doing that… read more

Chefs share their family kitchen secrets

June 7, 2021 by
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Ayubi Family at Parwana (photo by Alicia Taylor)
Many, if not most, of the world's chefs started out their culinary career in their home kitchens, learning the ins and outs of their regional cuisine from their parents or grandparents (most often women). Just like the rest of us, they still keep their family kitchen tips close, sometimes even bringing them into their restaurants. Gourmet Traveller recently polled nine… read more

Food news antipasto

June 6, 2021 by
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The croissant is one of France's most easily identifiable pastries. The flaky crescents are adored and emulated around the globe. Many chefs have made mashups of the butter-laden treats and other well known pastries, resulting in the Cronut and the Cruffin. The Ritz Paris' renowned pastry chef François Perret has a new way to put a spin on the beloved… read more

Learn what Alice Waters eats in a week

June 6, 2021 by
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Whenever I browse through a great cookbook, I wonder if the delicious dishes in its pages are what the author actually eats on a day-to-day basis. Try as I might to always make a delicious meal and to eat seasonally and locally, I often resort to pizza or something quick from the pantry that is less than stellar because I… read more

Pastry Arts offers free virtual summit

June 3, 2021 by
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Pastry Arts magazine is a multimedia platform that aims to inspire, educate and connect the pastry community an informational conduit spotlighting the trade and giving a voice to hardworking pastry and baking professionals. In addition to its website, Pastry Arts has an active Facebook group featuring posts from industry professionals and hobbyists alike. Last year, Pastry Arts offered a free… read more

Toni Tipton-Martin wins Julia Child Award

June 2, 2021 by
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Award-winning food writer and cookbook author Toni Tipton-Martin can add another feather to her cap, as the Julia Child Foundation announced that Tipton-Martin is the winner of its 7th annual Julia Child Award. She joins a star-studded roster of winners that includes Jacques Pépin, José Andrés, Susan Feniger, and Mary Sue Milliken. In 1991, Tipton-Martin became the first African American… read more

Tooling about in the kitchen

May 31, 2021 by
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On Sunday as I was rearranging the stash of fabric that seems to multiply in our craft room, I listened to a rebroadcast of The Splendid Table that featured various guests talking about their favorite kitchen tools. The guests included Tim Hayward, knife maker Quintin Middleton, and Ruth Ades-Laurent, daughter of the legendary Joseph Ades AKA The Gentleman Peeler, a… read more

Food news antipasto

May 30, 2021 by
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empty wineglasses on a tray
For over 70 years, The Good Food Guide has reviewed the best restaurants, pubs and cafés across the UK. From 1951 until 2020, the guide was completely rewritten and compiled from scratch each year. Last May Waitrose announced that it would not publish the 2021 edition due to the pandemic, but vowed to return in a year's time. However, we… read more

Grill your greens

May 29, 2021 by
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As many of us kick off our summer with a long holiday weekend, we will be firing up our grills to make burgers, ribs, hot dogs, and more. Vegetables will get their turn over the coals, too. One class of vegetables that is often overlooked when grilling is greens, although you should consider adding lettuce and other greens to your… read more

The challenges of being an ethical shopper

May 27, 2021 by
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It is not surprising that online food sales skyrocketed during the pandemic. While COVID-19 restrictions changed how people shopped for food, other considerations also played into the shift. In an effort to combat food waste and know more about the origins of their foods, people subscribed to services such as meal kit providers, "ugly" produce purveyors, and boutique "farm to… read more
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