A well-organized pantry. No matter what you have in the way of expensive appliances, counters, etc., you will be using staples, spices and the like every single day. You need a place to see what you have, store your extras, and...

bagette. THE HAM: Sweet ham (Jamon dulce), carved in thick slices and smoked and raw sugar ironed (yes ironed with an ancient imetal ron, red hot over charcoal). THE FRESH HAM: (Pierna de puerco) Baked slowly and spiced with secret...

of Vietnamese ham (like in a bahn mi sandwich), cilantro, and dried deep fried shallots. Nuoc cham (fish sauce) was offered on the side, as were jars of extra shallots swimming in oil. Delicious. I’ve never had this or seen...

Very interesting. I don’t know where to begin. When our family cooks (and that includes our 5 year old son)our first goal is to make something we will all eat at dinner. When we make curry or chili, I have to dial down the...

seen anywhere else (like rice with meat and spices, cooked by steaming it in a paper bag), closed last year.

that met my exalted standards, but any sign that people up there eat at all— no Dominick’s, no Applebee’s, no McDonald’s, any of that. For that matter, I don’t know where they get their clothes dry...

's Ocean Club For a great meal try: Pinot Provence & Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa. Bluefin, Sage (on the coast), Basilic in Newport Beach. 230 Forest, Sun Dried Tomatoe Cafe, Picayo in Laguna Beach Zov’s in Tustin Soon you will...

is more likely to find something tastes too much, and get overwhelmed. Hence why supertasters may avoid overly spiced or seasoned foods, because their palates get overwhelmed with sensation.

than buy something deliciously gloppy from the cafeteria —spices used so anemically as to be barely there at all. —fresh squeezed orange juice with the revolting “pulp” left in it. (I don’t care if it...

not have the ultra succulence of those gems at the taco table on Vermont between Pico and Venice. Chicken taco— dry, chewy and bland. Chorizo taco— FANTASTIC. Super flavor that busted your tastebuds wide open. Barely...

This is the first time I tried rabbit, so I really had nothing to compare it to. It didn’t taste like chicken. The people in the group who had more experience with rabbit said it was an excellent version. Rabbit supposedly...

in the first place? I looked up a recipe for vatapa (dried shrimp and peanut sauce) and again am struck at how many African dishes are reminiscent of this combination. Also, curiously, the kare-kare you tried at the Filipino place...

another wonderful experience at The Roadhouse and the deli Friday night I am inspired to sing their praises yet again. There are few places in the country where one can find such extensive offerings of meats, cheeses, honey, oil,...

I’ve wondered whether duck sauce was originally some kind of American substitute for hoisin sauce, as in Peking Duck. Whatever the etymology it lost any connection with duck and was mostly used for dipping dry “chow...

I hear ya nomad, after a trip to Italy it was hell having to drink american style coffee and have dry pasta again... and don’t even get me started on the meats and cheeses, and oooooh the pastries... weeps softly