When In Rome When we went to Italy last year, half the fun was researching what food we could expect to discover, and one ingredient that quickly rose to the top of the list was artichokes. They were everywhere, especially in Rome, where they distinguished Jewish style as opposed to, I guess, Roman style....
Mendocino County is as breathtaking as ever, but we recently stumbled across something that took us by surprise. My mother-in-law, who accompanied us on this trip, had heard of a restaurant called 10,000 Buddhas that intrigued her and she wanted us to go there for lunch. She said it was a Buddhist restaurant close...
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...
I had read about Asafetida in Madhur Japher’s tome on Indian cooking and seen it referenced in many other Indian recipes and so confidently picked up a container so that my future Indian cooking endeavors might taste that much more authentic. However, I was unprepared for what was to come…. What is It? According...
A recent post on Hungarian paprika hinted at the possibilities of paprika’s use expands beyond the political confines of Hungary. The bright red colour of ground paprika leaves a lasting impression for anyone visiting the spice markets from Morocco to Turkey to Iraq to Northern India. In these regions, the spice is prized as much for...
Last month, Jenn at Breadplusbutter kindly recognized me with a friendship award. I wracked my brain to come up with someway to creatively insert this recognition and show that I really deserved it, I lost count of the times I stopped started, deleted my way through a multitude of ideas. Then it hit me, duh –...
