Some people have apple pie — for me, peach cobbler is the ultimate comfort dessert. When I was a kid, my parents would send me off to Kansas City for a week every summer to spend time with my Aunt Tommie and Uncle Slick, where I played kickball with the neighborhood kids, caught fireflies in […]

I totally forgot to post about this, but a while back I bought some sea beans from Far West Fungi’s little storefront at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. I’ve been fascinated by these things ever since I discovered them at Fairway in Manhattan (go Harlem!). These weird little sprigs of vegetables are crisp like […]

What do you do after, in an attempt to schedule a trip home to see the parents after having moved to a new town, in between friends’ weddings in the old town and an upcoming holiday you’d like to spend with your spouse, you accidentally buy a ticket departing on said spouse’s birthday?
Chocolate ganache may […]

The British have a strange tendency to give their food the most unappealing names. Maybe they just don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. But really — bubble and squeak? Spotted dick? At least one person has theorized that the bad reputation of British cuisine comes from the names, not the food itself.
Yet after the […]

I got this jar of fish from a Cambodian supermarket in Long Beach. I was looking for fish paste, an essential Cambodian ingredient, to go with my new Cambodian cookbook. Overwhelmed by the variety of goopy fish concoctions in jars, I enlisted the woman from the in-house snack stand.She was very enthusiastic, and pointed me […]

I was at the supermarket last Friday, picking up some herbs to finish off this dish, when the cashier asked me, “Did he treat you right yesterday?” I stared at him blankly. What was yesterday?? Then it came to me: Valentine’s Day. Watching me, he shook his head in sympathy.
Yes, I spent Valentine’s Day alone, […]

Pity Belgium, at least for its status in the States. The food product it’s best known for, the Brussels sprout, is routinely invoked as the object of children’s disdain (personally, I was rather fond of it). Meanwhile, its best known food product has been coopted and dubbed “French” fries.
Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Hercules Poirot hailed from Belgium, but […]

Baked Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
adapted from The Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo
Dough:
One 1/4-ounce envelope active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water (110 F)
2 cups bread flour
1 large egg, beaten
3 TB lard or oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp scallion-infused oil or plain oil (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar […]

Here’s the recipe Cynthia used for Chinese BBQ pork, with some modifications.  
Roast Pork (Char Siu)
adapted from The Key to Chinese Cooking, by Irene Kuo
Cantonese barbecue meat is characterized by its deep red color, sweet 
flavor, and charred edges. Thinly sliced pieces are perfect as a 
stand-alone appetizer. The meat can also be added to fried rice, lo 
mein […]

I’ve fallen prey to Anglophilia. It’s a recurring condition, and I can’t remember what the trigger was this time: the return (and conclusion) of “Life on Mars,” re-reading a Georgette Heyer novel, or booking my flight to India, with a 19-hour layover in London (St. John, here I come!).
PBS’ Austen-o-thon, featuring BBC miniseries of all […]