CookShelfWe've written before about La Pitchoune, Julia and Paul Child's home in Provence, France. The house is now available for rent through Airbnb, and Julia Moskin of The New York Times recently rented it for a week and…
Eating seasonally didn't used to be a conscious decision - the food on one's plate was almost all local, so one naturally followed the seasons when preparing meals. In the era of supermarket produce flown in from all…
In many different posts over the past three years I have mentioned traveling vicariously through cooking. Cookbooks and recipe blogs allows us to experience foods - or at least their approximation - of places we'll…
Rye whiskey was arguably once the most popular spirit in the United States. Unlike its cousin bourbon, rye didn't recover following Prohibition until the recent cocktail revival also reversed its decline. On The Daily…
Some vegetables are easy and comfortable. We don't give a second thought to purchasing potatoes, carrots, onions, and the like because we know we can use them in myriad ways and they'll always perform. Other vegetables,…
It seems like every popular documentary has its devotees - but also those who feel that the show can be a bit too precious. When that happens, the documentary can get its own "mockumentary". Programs about cooking are…
All around the world, cultures and countries have foods that are beloved that are considered disgusting to outsiders. These delicacies may inspire native eaters - at least some of them - but non-natives often can't wrap…
A good knife is one of a cook's most indispensable tools. When shopping for a new knife, the choices can be almost overwhelming. There are many sizes, styles, handles, and other options to sift through. So how do you…
The world is sitting on huge stockpiles of cheese. That is bad news for dairy farmers, and only slightly good news for cheese lovers. The surplus is especially large in the United States, where over 1.3 billion pounds…
You might not have heard of Lillian Gilbreth, but your cooking might owe a lot to this pioneering woman. She was not a chef or even a talented home cook. Rather, Gilbreth was an industrial psychologist and engineer…
When you eat a corn tortilla - whether it's wrapped around a filling to make a taco, fried crispy and topped as a tostada, or in any of the other myriad forms it takes - you probably think of it as a simple food.…
People across the globe have been watching the Rio Olympics, cheering on their local favorites and witnessing awe-inspiring performances from the world's top athletes. Hosting viewing parties for friends and family is a…
