There’s never been a better time to be a chocolate lover. Raw materials are selected and processed with more care, and the fine chocolate market for both plain and flavored bars has …
Most sparkling wine is not Champagne, and most “pancake syrup” is not maple syrup. Maple syrup comes only from the sap of sugar maple trees, and like kangaroos or gorillas, Mother Nature …
It was December of 2008 and renowned chef Thomas Keller was on the “CBS Morning Show” demonstrating a seemingly arcane cooking method he used at his restaurants called sous vide (pronounced …
Moments after dispatching an encroaching thug in the film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service , James Bond, portrayed by George Lazenby, helps himself to a mouthful of caviar and declares it, …
There isn’t an exact consensus as to what makes for a truly authentic dish of paella, but there is certainly no shortage of strong opinions. Ask a Spaniard from Valencia—the purported …
If men involve themselves in culinary purchases it is usually with huge outdoor barbecues meant to instill grill envy in their neighbors or cast-iron, gas-driven ranges that lend the …
You call yourself a coffee connoisseur yet you're still slashing away at your gourmet beans with a blade grinder? Time to abandon the coffee philistines and step up to a burr grinder.
If you've been underwhelmed after trying Spain's much-hyped Jamon Iberico, there's a reason: you probably weren't tasting the best. Banned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture until a …
Sunday dinner was looming, and this was an important one, celebrating my lovely wife's birthday with a large contingent of family. I offered to prepare the feast. "What would you like?" I …
You can't smoke a cigar in a Paris restaurant anymore these days—it's against the law. But if you dine at the renowned two-Michelin-star Maison Rostang, you can at least sample the taste of …
With many foods, fresh is considered best as we buy produce that's been raced to market and carefully check sell-by dates on dairy products. Yet the true royalty of the meat world is aged …
In another incarnation I traveled the competitive barbecue circuit for a couple of years while researching a book about the delicious craziness of that world. Along the way I witnessed some …
It's a running joke. When I go to a restaurant that has octopus on the menu, my friends laugh and say, "Well, we know what he is going to order." It's no use protesting. I love that ugly, …
Marketers have no shortage of cooking gizmo and gimmicks—juicers and boilers, choppers and graters—designed for some very specific task, but destined to wind up on a shelf. Men who cook …
Thanksgiving meat preferences are limited by custom to two: white turkey meat or dark. By December's holidays, one might be ready for a respite from eating of the big bird, whatever the …
They say where there's smoke, there's Bluetooth. Wait, that's not it. Yeah, actually, now it is. Now that Masterbuilt, a leader in making stuff to cook things outside (and some inside), has …
The origins of Eggs Benedict, as with so many recipes, are by time obscured. Competing claims have it invented for a bored Delmonico’s patron, as a hangover cure for a breakfaster at The …
Outside of Miami and the New York metro area—and maybe Cuba—it's not easy to get great Cuban food. No matter. Every year, I have a whole hog (lechon asado) party in my southern California …
