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

When savory meets sweet

August 30, 2019 by
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Sweet and savory generally occupy different areas on restaurant menus and different courses in our meals. But when they come together, the results can be wonderful. I was reminded of this by an article on the James Beard Foundation's website that explains how to make ensaymada, an irresistable Filipino pastry that deftly combines the two tastes. The recipe they use… read more

Are green onions and scallions the same thing?

August 29, 2019 by
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Green onion salad
When I come across a recipe that calls for scallions, I automatically substitute green onions. I've been under the impression that these are two different names for the same vegetable. And then there are chives, which are different but similar enough to cause confusion. So what are the differences between these three alliums? Food & Wine has the answer. Saute… read more

Let them eat cake…scraps

August 28, 2019 by
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Gelato
If you bake a lot of cakes (or even just a few now and then), you might have encountered this dilemma - the cakes are domed and won't stack, so you trim the tops off to level them. This results in small scraps of lovely cake that you really can't do anything with - right? Wrong, says Stella Parks. She… read more

Get your grill on with these tips

August 27, 2019 by
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Pumpkin spice is in the air, and that can only mean one thing: winter is coming (at least in the northern hemisphere). Yes, I know, fall/autumn has not even started, but the long Labor Day weekend in the U.S. marks the unofficial end of summer, and pumpkin spice flavors appeared today in local Starbucks locations, both harbingers of fall. Don't… read more

Farmers’ market advice from the pros

August 26, 2019 by
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Farmers' markets hold such promise. Wandering through the stalls can make you feel like the proverbial kid in a candy shop. In much the same way, they can be a bit overwhelming. Sometimes it's difficult to tell which vendors have the best tomatoes, peaches, or melons. Karen Beverlin does not have that problem. A veteran produce buyer, she knows her… read more

Food news antipasto

August 25, 2019 by
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tomato tart
Time again for the food news that piqued my interest but did not warrant a lengthy post. This week we begin with a tip to prevent sogginess when baking with tomatoes. Since it's peak tomato season in much of the northern latitudes, this is timely. Tiffany Hopkins of Epicurious tells us the secret is to properly salt the tomatoes to… read more

Jamie Oliver’s humbling interview

August 24, 2019 by
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When Jamie Oliver burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, his star ascended with astonishing speed. The young chef quickly established a media empire through television programs and a string of successful cookbooks. Not content to limit himself to being a TV host, he tackled childhood obesity and worked to improve school lunches. It seemed as though Oliver was… read more

Counting the days to GBBO

August 23, 2019 by
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There are precious few bits of good news these days. The world's lungs are on fire, stock markets around the world have more ups and downs than an M.C. Escher staircase, and my scale continues to mock me on a daily basis. That is why I am counting down the days to Season 7 of The Great British Bake Off… read more

ATK and Christopher Kimball settle lawsuit

August 22, 2019 by
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The feud between America's Test Kitchen and Christopher Kimball appears to be over. Today the parties announced a settlement in the three-year legal battle that began when Kimball was forced out (or resigned, depending on your point of view) of ATK and started his own (very similar) company. The details of the agreement were not disclosed, but we do know… read more
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