All opinions and histories could be valid. There’s a tradition of preserving food. Traditions for enhancing, covering up, fillling in, etc. Heck, Lobster was considered vermin and fed to prisoners because it was so cheap...

ordered was Shirley aka The Sergeant of Arms’s pork chops. It is my opinion that this contributed to her Shirley ‘The Hammer’ demeanor throughout the day, culminating in her breaking a wine bottle over the head...

such as cheese, wine, certain meats. We have the French system of AOC food products, the Italian DOCC system for wines, etc. When you buy an AOC cheese, or an AOC poulet de Bresse, you know that you are getting a product that has...

prior to adding tomatoes for a marinara. Crushed garlic simply burns in such a recipe whereas slivers of garlic cooked shortly to translucence releases the flavor needed to enhance the sauce. Depends upon the way the flavor is to...

cost of the gold leaf that offends you, or that that a precious metal gold is used in food? There are many cultures where gold and silver foil are used in food. These are very small amounts, and often serve no particular purpose...

't (thankfully) permeate the meat. The mince pie with Mexican chocolate, rum and pear brandy was fabulous. But, by far, the hit of the dinner were the caramel cranberries enhanced with canela and vanilla :-). The rest? How can...

summer’s bounty, whether dried, preserved, pickled, or fermented. Couldn’t live without cheese, wine, kosher pickles, peach jam, raisins, the list is so long.

I read an article in "Food and Wine" by Jennifer 8 Lee a couple of months ago where she discusses the Chinese view of desserts. By her own admission, Chinese desserts (other than just plain old fruit) aren’t very good. Her...

I think this was from Food and Wine. Roast either anaheim or poblanos and make a sauce out of 3/4 of the chilis and some cilantro, etc. Awesome!

, in the same way I would be willing to generalize that french or italian cuisine is not spicy. When I lived in Rome I used to have a Roman friend who didn’t like garlic, basil, parsley, wine, or coffee, and I used to joke...

courtesy to be an enjoyable dining companion (her judjements of what you ordered shock me). How she could have thought her behavior in any way enhanced the dining experience you, her companion is beyond me. I completely aggree...

rolls or long rolls as you prefer. If you wish, you can also order freshly shucked oysters (malapagues right now) & clams on the half shell from the fish guy adjoining. While they’re preparing your order, select a bottle of...

no taste, and all canned goods, as well as packaged items have more flavor enhancers than the “essence corridor” in New Jersey can produce, simply because no natural taste is left in the raw item. Let’s face it,...

alcohol, although this difference might not be as pronounced as that between American and British barley wines. (I speak here of ‘regular’ IPAs, not the double and imperial versions. Weyerbacher recently came out with...

demi, and reduced it to 1 1/2 qts stock enhanced with venison trimmings, smoked pheasant drumsticks, leeks, and mushroom stems. I then added 2 cups of tawny port, 1 star anise, 3 cloves, a cinnamon stick and a dozen peppercorns,...