How about some old school Jewish bakery items while you’re down on the Lower East Side or in the East Village? For the former hood, I recommend just about anything at Gertel’s, on Hester Street, and, in the East...

As a little kid, I remember liking white flour all by itself. My grandmother was terrified that it would turn into glue in my stomach. I also loved the taste of envelope glue.

Hah—sounds like my family! People outside the family have commented on that too. (We’re Jewish, not Chinese, but that could explain things.)

As a kid, one of my favorites was an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich using muenster on a hearty Jewish rye. The flavor of the cheese changes completely went toasted – or in this case, broiled – and the entire...

1) Corned beef sliced thick on a good (toasted) bakery jewish rye, swiss cheese, coleslaw, mayo on the coleslaw side, spicy Guildens brown mustard on the corned beef side, and a halfsour or garlic pickle along side. And a couple...

to the parts that did very quickly. I was steps from Stop-N-Shop, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Shaws, and Natural Frontier. Tons of culinary diversity: pub grub, Indian, Sushi, Mexican, Thai, bakeries, Jewish Delis, Italian,...

startch and water, used for thickening anything from gravies and stir fries to puddings and pie fillings." Oh wait a minute...! It JUST occurred to me...!!! Can you tell I’m not Jewish? I don’t know for sure, but...

See, I don’t think my grandmother would care about what is “authentic” Mexican food. I certainly don’t. I also don’t step into another culture and start talking about what is “authentic.”...