Tomato, tomahto

Here in the northern U.S., we have reached peak tomato. My garden is churning out ripe tomatoes at a frantic pace as the light gets shorter and shorter each day. I have already eaten more than my fair share of BLTs, tomato sandwiches, tomato tarts, tomato salads, gazpacho, and various other tomato-related meals. I have canned several quarts of crushed… read more

Food news antipasto

This week brings us plenty of news about several celebrity chefs/cookbook authors and their restaurant openings and closings. First up is that Gordon Ramsay is at long last opening another restaurant in Scotland, 17 years after his Glasgow eatery Amaryllis closed. The new outpost of Bread Street Kitchen & Bar will take over the former Refinery site at 4-8 St… read more

Father’s Day recipes

Sunday is Father's Day in Australia and New Zealand, but even if you don't live in those countries, it's a good excuse to celebrate the special men or father figures in your life. If you plan on making something special but are out of ideas, head over to Australian Gourmet Traveller, as they have assembled dozens of Father's Day recipes… read more

Michel Roux Jr’s new travel program showcases French country cooking

The past couple of years have been rough on Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. He lost both his father Albert Roux (early this year) and his uncle Michel (in 2020), in addition to the pandemic wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry. Instead of dwelling on those events, the chef is instead focusing on the positives, such as a new grandson… read more

A new Oxford Companion is on the way

The Oxford Companion series offers authoritative, highly researched deep dives into subjects like cheese, wine, and beer. Next month we welcome a new volume to these reference works: The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, edited by David Wondrich and Noah Rothbaum, hosts of the podcast Life Behind Bars. The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails is the first major… read more

The New Yorker special culinary archival issue

Run, don't walk, to your local newsstand and buy a copy of this week's The New Yorker (or sign up for a free trial). The current issue is a tantalizing smorgasbord of food and drink writing, culled from the magazine's long and storied history. There are throwback articles from Anthony Bourdain, Nora Ephron, M.F.K. Fisher, Calvin Trillin, Madhur Jaffrey, and… read more

Food news antipasto

From baking to operating a cookery school to writing several bestselling cookbooks, John Whaite is living his best life. He will soon add another accomplishment to his impressive career: the 2012 Great British Bake Off champion is slated to compete in Strictly Come Dancing’s first all-male partnership. Whaite said: “I’m so grateful, excited, and nervous to be joining the Strictly… read more

Emily Dickinson, food writer

Emily Dickinson was never famous in her lifetime, with only a handful of her poems published while she lived, and all of those anonymously. The prolific poet's works were only discovered and published after her death at age 55. Despite authoring over 1,800 poems, Dickinson did not occupy all of her time with writing: she was known for both her… read more

A simple cookie

A chocolate chip cookie, no matter how large, is not going to solve the world's problems. I know that it cannot fix the fact that I missed a meeting with my supervisor earlier today, much less undo the tremendous damage caused by a madman thousands of miles away. It is just a simple confection, composed of flour, butter, sugar, and… read more

Don’t say cheese, say formaggio

Assorted cheeses on a rustic wooden board
I'll never forget the first time I walked in to the Dean & Deluca in Georgetown (Washington, DC). I was at the beginning of my culinary awakening, when I first became aware of the vast world of food beyond what I had experienced in my small Midwestern community. In particular, the array of specialty cheeses floored me: I did not… read more

A tart and a tale

As I doom-scrolled through Twitter today, a tweet about Mayukh Sen's recent column for The New Yorker caught my eye, and I'm glad I clicked through. In the article, Sen shares a recipe for a late-summer tart by the indomitable Madeleine Kamman, but the piece is much more than just a short blurb and a recipe. Sen has a gift… read more

Food news antipasto

Maggie Beer is an Australian national treasure. Her cookbooks have garnered numerous awards, and she has taken up the cause of trying to change the food in aged care through her eponymous foundation. The Sydney Morning Herald's Benjamin Law recently interviewed Beer, asking questions on a number of topics, including her life before her food career. (As a reminder, EYB… read more

The underground cocktail books that changed the industry

The turn of the century ushered in an era of craft cocktails that completely changed the bartending scene. A handful of cocktail books helped shaped this renaissance, including The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff, The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan, The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan and Chris Gall, and Death & Co by David Kaplan and Nick Fauchald and Alex… read more

The cookbook that couldn’t find a home

Hundreds of EYB Members own Gina DePalma's 2007 book Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen, which enjoys a five-star rating. What you might not know is that DePalma penned a follow-up travelogue/cookbook that explored the sweets of every Italian region. That's because DePalma died of cancer at age 49, before the book could be published. With a working title… read more

What’s the shelf life of spices?

If you are like me, your spice cabinet/drawer overfloweth, the natural result of a large cookbook collection and an insatiable appetite to try new and different cuisines. You may have purchased a jar of spice for a particular recipe and the rest sits unused, patiently waiting until you find another recipe that calls for it. In this instance, patience is… read more

Food news antipasto

The famous Bonne Maman advent calendar is back - hurry before they are gone. There are 24 delicious flavors in mini jars featured in this year's edition, including new Cherry with Hibiscus Flower, Sweet Orange and Passion Fruit, Peach with Jasmine, Wild Blueberry with Lemon Balm, and Raspberry with Rose. The fresh styles are included along with the classics everyone loves,… read more

Salt of the earth (and sea)

Although sodium chloride is one of the most basic tools in a cook's arsenal, the different types of salt available can be confusing. Food writers and chefs generally write recipes with a particular brand and formulation in mind, and results can vary if you stray from it. In the US, the go-to for most food writers is Diamond Crystal (DC)… read more

Podi adds more than just flavor

Spice mixes not only flavor food, they can also help shape a food culture. Blends like za'atar, dukkah, five spice, BBQ rubs all bring to mind a certain region, country, or flavor profile. But for podi, the mix does much more than just conjure an image of culture. As Chandrika Krishnan explains in Whetstone Magazine, the South Indian spice mixes… read more

Another ode to cookbook stores

Today is National Book Lovers Day, and to celebrate we are bringing you a lovely article from Thrillist that features several fabulous cookbook stores such as Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, Bold Fork Books, Kitchen Arts & Letters, Omnivore Books, Book Larder, and others. Titled "Why Cookbook Stores are the Antidote We Need Right Now," the piece explores the reasons why we… read more

Food news antipasto

Fans of the UK's Borough Market will like this tidbit - it's been a while since the Market Life magazine was last published. The magazine stalled at issue #49, so very close to a milestone publication. This week, the Market finally announced the release of issue #50. To mark this accomplishment, they have assembled a special bumper edition, which includes… read more

Online spice buying options abound

Before the internet made the world a much smaller place, learning about, finding and purchasing spices that were not commonly found in traditional European cooking was a challenge for cooks in English-speaking countries like the US, UK, and Australia (the exception being India and other former colonial holdings). If you did not live in or near a large city with… read more

Nach Waxman of NYC’s Kitchen Arts & Letters has died

One of the best known bookstores dedicated to cookbooks and other food-related tomes has just lost its founding father. We learned that Nach Waxman, who started Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York's Upper East Side in 1983, died suddenly yesterday. Before he became the “patron saint of food writers,” Waxman worked as an editor at Macmillan, Harper & Row,… read more

Paris Hilton’s new Netflix series is all about cooking – sort of

Celebrities branching out from singing or acting into cooking (whether through cookbooks or cooking shows) has become commonplace. Some are more successful at it than others - think Chrissy Teigen or Trisha Yearwood - but dozens have given it a go over the years. The latest to score a Netflix special might surprise you, however. Paris Hilton's cooking show 'Cooking… read more

All about miso

I did not discover miso until just last year, when the pandemic cooking doldrums spurred me to look beyond my usual repertoire. Several of my cookbooks had recipes that featured the fermented paste, so I ordered some online and started to use it. Miso is one of those ingredients where you wonder how you cooked without it before. If you… read more

Food news antipasto

Even though I have pared down my kitchen tool collection, I still have several different whisks. Each handles a particular task better than others. If you're wondering which whisk performs best for different uses, head over to The Kitchn. They have put together a primer on types of whisks and the differences between them. When I make a Caesar salad… read more
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