(image courtesy flickr user CTB4) In celebration: what seems to be the best-worded king cake recipe on the Internet, excerpted from the original 1901 version of the Picayune’s Creole Cookbook. As an aside — the level of culinary knowledge/fortitude assumed in this recipe is fascinating, especially when compared to similar recipes from now. As anotherRead more »

At dinner last night at a new Italian restaurant near where my parents live (which is otherwise impeccable and a gift to the region), I had a fairly bizarre wine-ordering experience. I told the well-meaning woman tasked with wine service that I was looking for a red from Trentino, it didn’t have to be fromRead more »

To do our jobs, we have to be a little obsessed with food—okay, maybe a lot. My latest obsession is all things Chinese, especially hand-pulled noodles. This amazing process turns a lump of supple dough into ethereal noodles in a matter of minutes, just by repeatedly pulling and stretching the dough by hand. I eatRead more »

We’re trying something these days called “Will my 4 year old eat it?” — closely followed by “Will my 1 year old eat it?” Last night’s first installment: Collard Greens. 4 year old: she loves bacon and she’ll eat spinach, so I gave it a go with collard greens and bacon. She was really intoRead more »

There’s a fantastic, and balanced, piece in today’s Village Voice about foie gras — the author, Sarah DiGregorio, visited Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the nation’s largest foie gras farm, to make up her own mind about the process; she’s also interviewed veterinarians and advocates on either side. She brought a photographer along with her toRead more »

At least my parents will have paneer: Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

Those squirrel-flavored chips have finally been released to what seems like questionable fanfare; the Guardian’s Charlie Brooker offers tasting notes: To lend the enterprise some gravitas, on the Walkers website you can watch kitchen surrealist Heston Blumenthal discussing the new flavours as though he genuinely believes they’re edible. But are they? As the nation’s foremostRead more »

Let it not be said I am one to back down from a dare: From: Alford, Katherine Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 12:01 PM To: Bhattacharya, Rupa Subject: FW: today’s wwftd is… deipnetic I dare you to get that in the blog! —– Original Message —– From: wwftd master To: wwftd minions Sent: Sunday, FebruaryRead more »

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} This past Sunday, a group of us were invited to participate in the annual Valentine’s Tea event at the James Beard House. Among the visiting chefs were AmandaRead more »

Excerpted from a WSJ article on cocktail databases for iPhones: Based on a German-language cocktail Web site, Cocktails is only nominally in English, and a testament to the limitations of automated computer translation. Take the recipe for a fruity, creamy Saint-Tropez. The directions are a triumph of bone-crushing German syntax: “Carefully Grenadinesirup the glasses backRead more »