There is something of the religious ritual in my wife’s preparation of rice. The grains are taken from a special wooden box that lives under the sink and placed into a colander. She inspects them carefully for any defects or stray material. With the water on, she rhythmically sifts the rice, cleaning each grain, washing …
It has only been about a decade since New York City’s food culture joined the rest of the world in celebrating the humble egg as anything but fodder for breakfast / brunch. How it took so long is a matter of debate. Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of the utterly …
Years ago in New York my wife and I had dinner at Una Pizza Napoletana, which had just opened in the East Village. There was a huge buzz about the place and the lines followed. Even at 6pm, we had to wait for about an hour. The restaurant was dominated by a custom-made pizza oven …
Given that my twin obsessions are Jamaican music and food, I am surprised that I did not find out about Yahman Rahmen on my own. In fact, it took an American (an American who neither lives in Japan nor cares about Jamaican music) to point out its existence about a mile and half from my …
Life lessons and cooking lessons are often one and the same. After all, cooking is but a reflection of our instinct to nurture or at least our hope to nurture. Aside from physical affection, cooking is our most direct form of communication — what comes from our hands goes straight into the belly. One of …
Fucking white people and their mayonnaise and white bread. It is one of the most common stereotypes of the WASP — Diane Keaton ordered a Pastrami with mayo on white bread; Woody Allen converted to Christianity in Crimes and Misdemeanors and came home from the grocery with Wonder Bread and some Hellman’s; Meg Ryan ordered …
It takes just the smell of cheap red wine bubbling in a braise of chicken and bacon to transport me back nearly 30 years to 1991 and one of my most memorable meals. I was done with college, and clutching the money awarded to me for my thesis paper (The Mildred S. Binyon Award for …
