Paper Palate

I have said many times that the culinary history of the South is America’s culinary history. Without Southern cooks it is likely that no definable American cuisine could be discerned. Recently, Bon Appétit restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton took an expedition to North Carolina and was surprised with what he found.
Many of you may recognize Knowlton from […]

People who know me will send me lists to make me happy; it does not take very much to make me smile. So you can imagine how broad I beamed when I received, in the post, the 50 Best Cookbooks list published in the Independent on Sunday before last. And now I am pasting the link […]

“He is passionate about fine British food and has ensured that his menus are a showcase for the best British ingredients. The perception of British food is changing, not only because there are so many fantastic restaurants and chefs producing world class food, but also because more and more of us are waking up to […]

Far be it from me to tell anyone what to name their recipes, but if you’re going to refer to it as “extraordinary,” it darn well better be.  And these?  Not so much.  The 1-1/2 cups of butter was not even enough to elevate them to extraordinary status. To my assistant sous chef and I, they […]

With an increasingly busy schedule this fall, I am sure I’ll be relying on my favorite kitchen tool – the pressure cooker! I fell in love with the pressure cooker almost a year ago. A friend had been telling me about all these fantastic meals she prepared in hers. She finally convinced me to come for dinner and […]

If there is one cookbook deserving a coveted spot in your collection, it is The Tante Marie’s Cooking School Cookbook.
Authored by Mary Risley, who began her culinary career teaching cooking from her San Francisco flat in 1973, The Tante Marie’s Cooking School Cookbook is the result of her 30 years of experience since.
Hailing from an era […]

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) has created a great new resource for those interested in the food publishing game, including 25 classes covering all aspects of culinary media. Read on:
The Institute of Culinary Education Launches Center for Food Media.
    NEW YORK, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ — The Institute of Culinary Education
is launching today the Center for Food […]

My first exposure to Fuschia Dunlop came courtesy of National Public Radio. I was driving home, listening to All Things Considered. On the program, she was describing eating the famous Sichuan hot pot. She went into detail about how the pepper-laden oil slowly got hotter until her lips grew numb and her shirt was soaked through with sweat. There […]

As a single-subject cookbook, Gene Opton’s Honey: A Connoisseur’s Guide with Recipes is all about one thing. Each of the eighty-plus recipes featured in the book incorporates honey. But you’ll find a lot more than recipes in this slender volume. You learn how to taste a spoonful of honey to tease out the subtle nuances of flavor that distinguish varietals produced from different flower […]

British food magazine Taste Italia is packed with delicious-sounding recipes illustrated by gorgeous photos. American readers can order the magazine, but as with other imported goods, you can expect to pay a premium for it (59.95 in British pounds, to be exact). Happily, you can now subscribe to Taste Italia online, in a digital edition available from Exact Editions, […]