Paper Palate

David Kamp’s The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation makes for a good light read for anyone interested in the subject of food, its follies and fights in the United States. It glides the decades and personalities of the food world with personal stories, quirky accounts and riffs of all our […]

“Hey Mario! Thanks for the ride over here today!” It was John Besh yelling over the crowd to Mario Batali. Even after an Iron Chef showdown in which John Besh upset Pig Master Batali, the two seem to remain on good speaking terms. 
Batali shuffled his neon orange clogs over to Besh, pushing me aside, so […]

Char-Broil recently invited the Well Fed crew to the unveiling of their 2007 product line for some lessons and lunch. Upon arrival, the hearts of all women jumped with the knowledge that Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor were filming a movie in arms reach, and were spotted crossing the path of a nearby grill. But […]

Oh the stealth sweetness that is ginger. The magical rhizome with many health powers that packs an unassuming punch. This Summer, I fell in love all over again with this little warty guy�
It was the perfect summer beverage: ginger beer. It is refreshing, tingly, sweet, sour, spicy and an able bodied mixer. I experimented […]

Grilling season may be coming to an end (except for those diehards who continue well into the freeze), but with the plethora of articles out there, you would think the season has just begun.
Last weekend�s Chicago Tribune brings us great rubs to round off the season, garden grilling secrets, saucy toppings and indoor […]

It�s quite appropriate that I write today�s Chicago Tribune pick on locale. I am currently back in the sweet city where I grew up and content to be getting my rare and necessary fast food fix: deep dish pizza (Ranalli�s); Vienna all-Beef hot dogs (Wiener�s Circle); ribs (grillin� �em) and custard (Scooter�s) (A friend recently […]

A few weeks ago I sat with a friend on a bench outside a favorite bakery. Dutifully, we stuffed our faces with chocolate cupcakes crowned thickly with buttermilk icing. As I finished the last bite, wiping renegade frosting off the wrapper and licking my finger clean, my friend caught my action and laughed: […]

I have a problem: I am easily distracted by large quantities of something I love. My eyes glaze over, I am unable to keep a train of thought going, I begin to mumble and I lose all sense of time. Put a plate of cookies in front of me mid-conversation and words […]

Here is the classic chocolate chip cookie. The dough is not overwhelmingly sweet, yet so full of chocolate chips that this cookie truly makes a satisfying treat. Though the Boston Globe pictured these cookies as wrinkly little disks, mine came out of the oven full and pillowy (did they photograph the wrong cookie?). Regardless, they […]

There is one post-Katrina loss I kick myself for not thinking of: the fact that thousands of family recipes are gone forever. Being an avid photographer, I sadly reflected about family photos after the disaster. Finally coming to terms with the understanding that generations-old recipes have been wind swept and water logged is […]