Making the most of rhubarb season

May 1, 2021 by
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One of the first signs of spring is when I see the deeply ruffled leaves of my rhubarb plants poke their way through the remnants of last fall's leaves. The green leaves are followed by crimson red stalks of the tart vegetable (it’s not a fruit, despite its usual treatment as a dessert) and I am excited for the tarts… read more

20th Century Cafe shutters its doors

April 30, 2021 by
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Scores of EYB Members have praised the magnificent Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine. The stunning honey cake depicted on the cover is a mainstay of the book's namesake restaurant, and is only the tip of the iceberg of great recipes found inside. Yesterday we learned the sad news that Polzine is permanently closing her Hayes Valley… read more

Art of Eating prize winner announced

April 28, 2021 by
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Just over a month ago, The Art of Eating published its longlist of the best food books of 2020. Last week they announced the shortlist of finalists, which included the following volumes: Beyond the North Wind: Russia in Recipes and Lore by Darra Goldstein Chaat: Recipes from the Kitchens, Markets, and Railways of India by Maneet Chauhan and Jody EddyDirt: Adventures in… read more

Where’s the beef?

April 26, 2021 by
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If you are of a certain age in the US, you probably remember the Wendy's fast-food commercials from the mid-1980s, where a cantankerous elderly lady peering into the competitor's burger asks the infamous question: "Where's the beef?" She might ask that question again today, but she would aim it at the recipe website Epicurious, which recently announced that it will… read more

Food news antipasto

April 25, 2021 by
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Raghavan Iyer, best known for his comprehensive book 660 Curries, is working on a new project. The idea for the venture was hatched during Iyer's recent recovery from colorectal cancer and the ensuing treatments. He found that the hospital dietician was not speaking his culinary language, so he has devised a program that aims to assist patients and the medical… read more

Celebrate National Independent Bookstore Day

April 24, 2021 by
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The last Saturday in April means it is National Independent Bookstore Day here in the US. Here at EYB we take pride in promoting specialty cookbook stores in several ways. First, we have a listing of our favorite cookbook store worldwide, plus we list bookstore events on our Worldwide Calendar of Cookbook Events. In addition, we celebrate these stores with our annual… read more

New Netflix show based on a book by Jessica B. Harris

April 22, 2021 by
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Educator and culinary historian Jessica B. Harris is the author of twelve cookbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the African Diaspora, including 2011's groundbreaking High on the Hog. Now the James Beard Award-winning writer has another feather to put in her cap: a new Netflix original show named after her seminal cookbook. High on the Hog: How African American… read more

Getting to know gluten

April 21, 2021 by
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We all know that gluten formation is needed to make bread, but how much do we understand about its formation or what conditions are needed for it to thrive? While having a rudimentary grasp of gluten allows us to bake acceptable cakes and breads, a deeper understanding of it will greatly improve our baking, says Annelies Zijderveld. Knowing the conditions… read more

When it’s okay to be in hot water

April 19, 2021 by
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The phrase "you're in hot water" usually implies a negative circumstance, but there are occasions when hot water is just the ticket. We are not talking spas and hot tubs, either: water just off the boil comes in handy in many cooking and baking applications, as The NYT's Rachel Wharton explains. Topping the list is hot water pastry, essential for… read more

Food news antipasto

April 18, 2021 by
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You can get whiplash from reading various articles about whether certain foods are healthy - one day eggs are going to kill you, the next day they are the best thing ever - so we rarely post about food and nutrition. When it comes to chocolate, however, we are here to spread the good news about the health benefits of… read more

Save time and hassle with this nut-toasting technique

April 17, 2021 by
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I used to cringe whenever I saw a recipe that called for toasted nuts, having flashbacks to all of the blackened-beyond-hope nuts I had to throw in the trash. Too many times I forgot about the nuts in the oven or I turned my back on a hot skillet, and in both scenarios I ended up with scorched almonds, pecans,… read more

Nigella on privacy, performance, and cooking for one

April 15, 2021 by
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The list of food celebrities who are commonly referred to by a single name is relatively short: think Ottolenghi, Ina, Jamie, and Nigella. All of these are beloved authors as their numbers in the EYB Library can attest. Recently The New Yorker's Helen Rosner sat down with perhaps the most widely-known of these cookbook authors, Nigella Lawson. In a wide-ranging… read more

Free “Baker’s Helper” conversion charts available for download

April 13, 2021 by
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Update: Rick has revised his conversion charts. Head over to Rick's site to download the new version. Rick has also scheduled his first set of classes which we have added to our calendar. Be sure to check out all the amazing desserts he will be featuring. We will be sure to keep our calendar updated as well when new classes… read more

Ramadan recipes at the ready

April 12, 2021 by
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Tonight marks the start of Ramadan, which runs through May 12 this year. During this month of spiritual reflection and self-improvement, Muslims will abstain from both food and drink from dawn to sunset. As with most religious holidays, traditional foods play an important role, both for pre-dawn meal (suhoor) and the meal consumed after sunset (iftar). There are a variety… read more

Food news antipasto

April 11, 2021 by
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For the past few months, Jay Rayner has been focusing on classic cookbooks that have had a significant and lasting impact on the way he cooks. For his last column in the series, instead of focusing on a cookbook, he turns his attention to a collection most of us have tucked away somewhere: a binder or scrapbook filled with clippings… read more

Giving up on “the one”

April 10, 2021 by
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If offered a tray of bars and cookies with one choice being a brownie, it's a safe bet to assume that is what I will choose to eat. My preference is for a fudgy brownie as opposed to a cakey one, but I am not a snob and will eat whichever is available. For years I have tried brownie recipes… read more

An unsung culinary influencer

April 8, 2021 by
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Craig Claiborne's legacy will not soon be forgotten: he has earned a spot in the food writer hall of fame. The long-time NYT food editor is perhaps best known for 1961's The New York Times Cook Book. No one writes a book like that alone, and as the old saying goes, 'behind every successful man there is a strong woman.'… read more

Are we primed for a return of the automat?

April 7, 2021 by
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You might expect that the intersection of contactless delivery, cutting-edge technology, and food occurred in the age of COVID-19, but instead this combination dates all the way back to 1895 when the automat concept was invented in Berlin. Automats quickly made their way to North America thanks to Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, who opened their first such outlet in… read more

Older generations view cooking with a different perspective

April 5, 2021 by
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While late Boomers, GenX, and Millenials have picked up cooking as a passionate hobby, for many people in earlier generations cooking is viewed as a chore or a duty, or as a way to give pleasure to others and not necessarily to oneself. When lockdowns began over a year ago, millions of elderly people - many of them living alone… read more

Food news antipasto

April 4, 2021 by
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carton of eggs
Are you the type of person who eats their chocolate Easter bunny ears first or tail first? Whichever way you do it, you are participating in the biggest US chocolate holiday by far: Easter dwarfs Valentine's Day and Christmas in terms of chocolates sold. To keep you in the chocolate mood without adding any calories, The Guardian's Annalisa Barbieri investigates… read more

Small cakes make a big impression

April 3, 2021 by
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I'm known as the office baker, and pre-pandemic I would bring in a cake, cookies, and other treats on a weekly basis. Having dozens of eager recipients helped me maintain my waistline while still indulging in my favorite hobby. For the past year, however, visits to the office have been few and far between as we have been fortunate enough… read more

Tips for a spring (or fall) pantry cleaning

April 3, 2021 by
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Most of us have been cooking more at home for the better part of a year now, and as a result our pantry might be looking a little rough. The change of season beckons us to do a thorough cleaning, but what's the best way to go about it? The Guardian's Felicity Cloake and others answer the question with tips… read more

‘Fooling’ around with food

April 1, 2021 by
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Normally we would feature a blog post for April Fools' Day that shared the funniest or most clever pranks that food websites or celebrities pulled on their fans. It seems that there are far fewer of these in 2021, perhaps because it seems wrong to try to fool us after everything we have been through in the past year. Instead,… read more

In defense of chocolate chips

March 31, 2021 by
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Chocolate chunks have been replacing chocolate chips in cookie recipes over the past few years. There are several reasons for this, but chief among them is that chocolate chunks allow the cookies to become flatter and therefore more Instagram-able. In defense of this theory, I submit as Exhibit No. 1 Sarah Kieffer's infamous (and fantastic) pan-banging Chocolate chip cookies, which set… read more

Free cookbook for those who have COVID-related smell and taste issues

March 29, 2021 by
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Millions of people around the world have reported that losing their sense of smell and taste was the first sign they noticed of a COVID-19 infection. For a large percentage of those people, the damage to their gustatory system was persistent, lasting for weeks or even months. Some have yet to recover their sense of taste. This loss can be… read more
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