Do ‘smart’ appliances make us better cooks?

September 24, 2019 by
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oven dial
It is becoming increasingly common for new kitchen appliances to be 'smart' devices: ovens that 'think', internet-connected refrigerators, and microwaves that operate with voice commands. All the gadgetry is cool in a 'we are living in the future' kind of way, but does it really help us be better cooks? Joe Ray at Wired doesn't think so. He says that… read more

The endangered French café

September 23, 2019 by
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Of all the food-related images conjured in the pages of novels or the screens of cinema, one of the most enduring vignettes is that of a small French café. This venue serves as a meeting place for lovers, a spot for self-truths to be realized, or the clandestine location for the handoff of classified information. In real-life France, cafés serve… read more

Food news antipasto

September 22, 2019 by
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It's easy to find chefs who will wax poetic about the best meal they've ever eaten. They will go on about the perfect ingredients, skillful presentation, or exemplary service and atmosphere. What is not often discussed is their worst food experience. Several of Australia's best chefs recently dished on that concept, telling Gourmet Traveller about the worst food they have… read more

Why we love chef’s signature dishes

September 21, 2019 by
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The restaurant business is a tough segment to navigate successfully. There is always a high level of competition, which is why many chefs create a dish that they hope stands out from the pack - things such as Dominique Ansel's Cronut are the result of this pressure, combined with a chef's own impulse to create. Once diners experience a dish,… read more

In praise of the can

September 20, 2019 by
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When you leaf through most cookbooks today, you will find anecdotes about finding joy at the farmers' market or praising local, grass-fed beef. What you do not find as often are essays extolling the virtues of canned goods, although they do have a lot more to offer than emergency rations, at least according to Melissa Clark. She has just penned… read more

Why you always need to scrape your bowl

September 19, 2019 by
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For my birthday I gave myself the gift of a new stand mixer, and my mom purchased a flexible-edge beater to go along with it (thanks, Mom!). I figured that the beater's rubber edge would completely eliminate the annoying and sometimes cumbersome step of scraping the mixing bowl while making doughs and batters. I was wrong. The first cake I… read more

The ingredients Ottolenghi uses the most

September 18, 2019 by
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Yotam Ottolenghi is one of the most, if not the most, loved authors by EYB Members. He wrote four of the top ten most popular books in the Library (Plenty, Jerusalem, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Plenty More). Plenty sits in the number one spot, followed by Jerusalem, both of them beating Julia Child's beloved tome Mastering the Art of French Cooking… read more

The ‘kitchen hack’ is not a new concept

September 17, 2019 by
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I have to admit that I am a sucker for any post that comes through my social media describing a kitchen hack. Only a few of them ever end up in my personal arsenal, the rest being either more work than the original method or merely ineffective. Still, the allure of a time- or gadget-saving process always grabs my attention.… read more

Anthony Bourdain’s possessions going to auction

September 16, 2019 by
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Over a year after Anthony Bourdain's untimely death, fans are still mourning the late chef, author, and television host. Those fans who would like a tangible reminder will now have a chance to bid on many of his personal effects, as they are going up for auction next month. More than 200 items, including paintings, clothing, and a custom-made Bob… read more

Food news antipasto

September 15, 2019 by
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Attention UK chocoholics: The Guardian's Florence Knight has completed a taste test of many different types of chocolates. She covers milk, dark, chocolate with fruit and nuts, salted chocolates, and even white chocolate. See the rankings on The Guardian's website. Theft by restaurant employees is not surprising, but this particular story takes the cake - literally. A man was recently… read more

Are you a kitchen pest?

September 14, 2019 by
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soup
When you are invited to someone's house to enjoy a home-cooked meal, do you end up helping in the kitchen? Even when that 'help' is not solicited? When you notice something that you believe is wrong, do you try to correct the cook? If so, you are in good company. Jay Rayner confesses to being this type of kitchen pest.… read more

America’s first taco editor

September 13, 2019 by
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tacos
Does being paid to eat, write about, and edit a compendium of the best tacos sound like a dream job? Then you might be jealous to learn that someone else already got the position: José R. Ralat has been named Taco Editor for Texas Monthly magazine. The magazine has published a guide to the best barbecue in Texas since 20134… read more

A new Julia Child series + news from the NYT

September 12, 2019 by
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Normally I would save this type of news for the weekly 'antipasto' post, but these two items are too good to wait! The first comes to us from the website Women and Hollywood, which reports that a new Julia Child series may be forthcoming from HBO Max. It will reportedly star Emmy Award-winning actor Joan Cusack. The show will be… read more

An underrated ‘old-fashioned’ food

September 11, 2019 by
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I just read that cottage cheese - a fresh, small curd cheese product packed in tubs and usually found next to sour cream here in the States - is poised to make a comeback. While the product was relegated to self- or physician-imposed strict diets for decades, a new crop of artisan varieties hopes to refurbish the tarnished image of… read more

How to convert pan sizes in baking

September 10, 2019 by
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It's inevitable: after searching for just the right recipe, you come to the instructions and find out that it calls for a 9-inch square tin and all you have is an 8-inch pan. Do you a) do the math to change the recipe, b) press your luck and use the smaller pan, or c) scroll down to the next recipe?… read more

The thrill of discovery

September 10, 2019 by
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Last week I wrote about how I failed my fresh produce. You may have wondered what ever became of those two sad, tired ears of corn. The notion of making elotes had swirled around in my head, but these cobs were too far gone for that to happen. My next thought was soup. For ages, cooks have been throwing past-their-prime… read more

Food news antipasto

September 8, 2019 by
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We're going to start off this week's review of interesting stories on the sweet side. As an avid jam-maker, the more I learn about this old-school craft the more I realize that I have only scratched the surface of knowledge on the subject. I appreciate it when experts weigh in on things that can go wrong when doing what on… read more

Food and film – a winning combination

September 7, 2019 by
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If you are a fan of the movies as well as a food lover, and if you live in or near Boulder, Colorado, you will love the following news. The seventh annual Flatirons Food Film Festival will take place in Boulder on October 10-13. The festival features four days of films plus food and wine tasting events with acclaimed local… read more

Tinkering with tradition

September 6, 2019 by
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When you start to fiddle with a recipe that is associated with a particular region or group, people take affront. I can't tell you how many times I have witnessed Twitter or Facebook comment fights about subjects like adding beans to Texas chili, putting cream in pasta alla carbonara, whether you should salt white rice when you cook it, or… read more

Samin Nosrat’s new gig

September 6, 2019 by
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It's been a busy year for Samin Nosrat. In the spring she announced that she was writing a follow-up book to Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat; she appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! program and she released a series of watercolor illustrations from her smash cookbook. Recently she announced another gig: editing The Best American Food Writing 2019. Last year's edition… read more

The difference between cornmeal, grits, and polenta

September 4, 2019 by
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Cornmeal, grits, polenta: although I have and use all three of these corn products in my pantry, I must confess that I was not aware of the subtle differences between them. That is, until today, when I found an article on Eater that explains their distinctive traits. First things first: these are all very similar products that are made from… read more

Are you a meal planner or do you just wing it?

September 3, 2019 by
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Two cobs of corn sullenly glare at me from the bottom shelf of my refrigerator. Just over a week ago they were torn from their stalks on a farm a mere four miles away and delivered the same day to a farmers' market, full of potential to add their fresh, sweet flavor to a meal. As I strolled through the… read more

Two food festivals on tap for Australians

September 2, 2019 by
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Australians living in the Brisbane vicinity have some exciting food events coming up in the next few weeks. Up first is the second annual Moreton Bay Food + Wine Festival, which is scheduled for 7-8 September. The other is the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, which features severals Food & Wine side events and runs from 20-29 September. The Moreton Bay… read more

Chef and author Biba Caggiano has died

September 1, 2019 by
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California chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Biba Caggiano died last Thursday. Caggiano, who emigrated to the US in the late 1970s, and her husband opened an Italian restaurant simply named 'Biba' in Sacramento in late 1986, which quickly set the standard for fine dining and exemplary service in the state capital. Caggiano had no formal culinary training, almost no experience… read more

Marcella Hazan’s lasting legacy

August 31, 2019 by
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tomato sauce
There are a handful of people whose pioneering work in codifying the cooking of a region has created a body of work that is used generation after generation. Paula Wolfert, Julia Child, and Marcella Hazan are three women who fit this description. Recently food writer Melissa Clark talked with Francis Lam on The Splendid Table about how Hazan's work has… read more
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