Cabbages aren’t exactly the hottest item on the vegetable menu: they don’t have the slim elegance of a green bean or the curvy voluptuousness of an eggplant. From Sauerkraut to Asian cabbage-parcel soups, however, they do feature prominently in most world cuisines. (To achieve the latter, stuff a leaf, tie it off with chives, and [...]
Things are not always as they seem, not even in the world of cheese. Having grown up eating my share of pizza, I thought I knew what mozzarella tasted like, but when I took my first bite of mozzarella di bufalo — made of 100% buffalo milk — I realized I’d been missing out on [...]
Driven by the craze for polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, we’re so busy making a mad dash for the flaxseed oil that we’re ignoring another oil that’s a great source of omega-3s and compliments everything from pancakes to salads: walnut oil. Although flaxseed is higher in omega-3s than any other oil, walnut oil isn’t too far behind. [...]
While many cultures have a “little bites” tradition — Middle Eastern mezze, Russian zakuski, Italian antipasto — it seems like the Spaniards are the most passionate about theirs. Tapas bars are everywhere you look in Spain, and diners are just as likely to make a full meal of tapas as they are to sit down [...]
Americans eat oats for breakfast and in the occasional cookie. Scots eat them for breakfast, too…and for lunch and dinner and everything in between. They eat them in scones and stews and porridges and even with fish. And why not? Not only are oats one of the most nutrient-rich grains on the planet, they have [...]
You can’t go wrong with a classy cheese. It can be goat cheese, sheep cheese, cow cheese, yellow cheese, white cheese, orange cheese…it can have gray ash or dried cherries or dried herbs in it. It can even have blue mold in it. Whatever its story, top-notch cheeses always have a welcome placemat on my [...]
How do volcanoes fit into the culinary scene, you ask? Good question. Sulfur.
Turns out that the sodium sulfide present in “black” salt ( it’s actually pinkish) tricks the tongue into thinking that you’re eating hard-boiled eggs. (They also contain sulfur and therefore possess that signature scent…and since so much of our sense of taste comes [...]
Who says pumpkin is only for pies? It’s a squash, after all, and we use every other kind of squash — acorn, butternut, spaghetti — in savory dishes. It’s a shame that zucchinis are the only squashes that have managed to make the jump from savory (in countless Mediterranean dishes) to sweet (quickbreads and fritters). [...]
Hey, we’re all hanging onto our pocketbooks for dear life nowadays, so why not make the most of your groceries? Fresh beets are the perfect example of a food that has hidden potential — namely, two ingredients for the price of one. No sense in throwing away the tasty greens when you can use them [...]
