VIVRE POUR MANGER

Looking for a laugh, I picked up an old cookbook from my South Dakota grandmother this weekend, “The German-Russian Pioneer Cook Book.” I have three editions of this cookbook, all originally typed on a typewriter, two plastic spiral-bound with laminated cardstock front and back covers and one bound with binder rings. In addition to some [...]

While on vacation in Kenya with my sister, we stumbled upon (and later, because of) a fantastic cocktail. Simple to construct, lots of flavour and extremely refreshing. It’s called Dawa…

All measurements can be adjusted as you like. These are so delicious that I can barely stop myself from drinking them in one long pull, especially the strawberry one when made with fresh sweet berries.
Mint Lassi

1 cup loosely packed mint
1/2 tsp toasted fennel seeds or less
1 cup plain yogurt
sugar to taste, I usually add 1-2 [...]

Step 1: Impulse-buy a juicy and red quarter of a watermelon.

I have to say that there is no food with higher deliciousness for effort than risotto. Admittedly, it does take some time. But for the total amount of effort input, there is no food that packs the same kind of tastiness. Do not endeavour to make risotto unless you have a solid 35-45 minutes. But [...]

Fiddleheads are local food that announce the arrival of spring. Sprouts of ostrich ferns picked in the wild, they are a culinary and mathematical delight–such taste and the Golden Mean. Fiddleheads are similar to their fern-cousin asparagus, but their the texture and delicacy are closer to spinach.

At a New Year’s party in Berlin, I was happily playing sous-chef for Tiffany. As a token North American, I was told to make “some sort of dip” for a crudité platter. In fairly short order, I assembled something passable from convenience store cheese that resembled a plasticine version of Boursin, sour cream, and sundry seasonings. [...]

Witchcraft essentially. Science actually. Since I stumbled upon this recipe two months ago, I’ve made bread more than a half-dozen times. It must have been over eight years since I last baked proper bread. Sure, some easy pizza dough there, a foccacia here. But not proper bread.

Oh my, this is a good drink.

juice of two limes
dash of salt
pint (500ml) of soda water

I had heard about Brazilian “cheese bread,” or pão de queijo, but had never tried it until my friend Rick found frozen ones at the grocery store a few months ago. Last week he talked the Brazilian couple who cleans his house into giving us a lesson on how to make the gougère-like rolls. They are [...]