I recently had a revelation – We’ve been robbed! Robbed of some incredibly tasty opportunities, I know I am not alone in that for most of my life I ate one kind of dessert banana. Oh yeah, I’d sampled other bananas when I traveled, and was blown away by how sweet and tasty it...
Nice Butcher – “Miss, what sort of chorizo do you want – Spanish, Mexican or Portuguese?” Me – to self ”Oh gosh, I have to choose? Geeze, I thought ordering the sausage would be the easy part of this dish. What are the differences? How do I find out what I need without sounding...
The custom of eating pork on New Year’s is based on the notion that pigs symbolize progress or prosperity for many cultures – not a connection that may immediately come to mind. The animal pushes forward, rooting in the ground before moving, symbolizing progress. In Italy, the fatty meat also symbolizes the fattening of...
A topic smoldering in the back of my mind for some months as I’ve seen variations on this theme for months because of numerous holidays. When is bread more than bread? Or perhaps a bit more generally, when do baked goods serve a higher purpose? I’ve unearth a few instances, and I am sure...
Like much of life, fortified wines were born from necessity. In this case, to preserve European wines on long trade voyages in the 16th and 17th centuries. Brandy was added either before or during the fermentation process to stabilize the wines, and improve their shelf life. As might be imagined, traditional wines did not store well in the...
