The science of cocoa powder
Not all cocoa powders are made the same. You might be familiar with the terms Dutch-process and natural, but beyond those two main characteristics lies another world of nuance. There are different "dutching" processes,…
Darcie
Tomato, tomahto
Here in the northern U.S., we have reached peak tomato. My garden is churning out ripe tomatoes at a frantic pace as the light gets shorter and shorter each day. I have already eaten more than my fair share of BLTs,…
Food news antipasto
This week brings us plenty of news about several celebrity chefs/cookbook authors and their restaurant openings and closings. First up is that Gordon Ramsay is at long last opening another restaurant in Scotland, 17…
Father's Day recipes
Sunday is Father's Day in Australia and New Zealand, but even if you don't live in those countries, it's a good excuse to celebrate the special men or father figures in your life. If you plan on making something special…
Michel Roux Jr's new travel program showcases French country cooking
The past couple of years have been rough on Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. He lost both his father Albert Roux (early this year) and his uncle Michel (in 2020), in addition to the pandemic wreaking havoc on the…
A new Oxford Companion is on the way
The Oxford Companion series offers authoritative, highly researched deep dives into subjects like cheese, wine, and beer. Next month we welcome a new volume to these reference works: The Oxford Companion to Spirits and…
The New Yorker special culinary archival issue
Run, don't walk, to your local newsstand and buy a copy of this week's The New Yorker (or sign up for a free trial). The current issue is a tantalizing smorgasbord of food and drink writing, culled from the magazine's…
Food news antipasto
From baking to operating a cookery school to writing several bestselling cookbooks, John Whaite is living his best life. He will soon add another accomplishment to his impressive career: the 2012 Great British Bake Off…
Emily Dickinson, food writer
Emily Dickinson was never famous in her lifetime, with only a handful of her poems published while she lived, and all of those anonymously. The prolific poet's works were only discovered and published after her death at…
A simple cookie
A chocolate chip cookie, no matter how large, is not going to solve the world's problems. I know that it cannot fix the fact that I missed a meeting with my supervisor earlier today, much less undo the tremendous damage…
Don't say cheese, say formaggio
I'll never forget the first time I walked in to the Dean & Deluca in Georgetown (Washington, DC). I was at the beginning of my culinary awakening, when I first became aware of the vast world of food beyond what I had…
A tart and a tale
As I doom-scrolled through Twitter today, a tweet about Mayukh Sen's recent column for The New Yorker caught my eye, and I'm glad I clicked through. In the article, Sen shares a recipe for a late-summer tart by the…