For the Love of Ramen Ivan Orkin’s path to culinary greatness is somewhat like folklore. A Jewish guy from Long Island falls in love with Japanese culture and cuisine, marries a Japanese woman and moves to Tokyo. In 2007, he opens a ramen shop as a gaijin (foreigner) in a city where residents are passionately… Read More →
The Second City Chicago’s food scene is dynamic. There is a willingness from chefs and diners alike to experiment with food, which means every time I visit something new and exciting is happening. From classic Chicago deep-dish pizza joints to once-in-a-lifetime culinary experiences, Chicago holds strong as one of America’s most diverse and fascinating food… Read More →
Monday’s Mixed Bag By Andrew Zimmern AFAR, one of the best travel magazines out there, has launched new Travel Awards. Check it out if you ever intend to leave home this year. Speaking of leaving home, I am always asked about my obsessive use of my iPhone 24/7. I love being connected and many apps… Read More →
Welcome to Miami Miami exudes joy. With warm weather, a rapidly growing food scene, and such a creative spirit, it has become one of my favorite travel destinations. People are living out loud in Miami, and everything from the music to the food and the attitude about life is a reflection of that. And although… Read More →
A Battle-Tested Classic By Andrew Zimmern This was all I ever wanted to eat growing up and I still crave it more than I care to admit. This Eastern European cabbage soup is really more of a schi than a borscht, but why quibble over names? In America in the ’60s, unless you were Russian, this… Read More →
Indulge in Montréal Montréal is not only one of the most beautiful and captivating cities in North America, it’s also one of the most exciting places to eat and indulge. Our neighbor to the north celebrates foods like poutine (French fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy), maple syrup and decadent foie gras, so a… Read More →
This Year’s Required Reading There have been too many wonderful cookbooks published in 2013 to mention, but here are 25 of my favorite. No matter what type of cook you consider yourself to be, these are cookbooks that should be in your library. From recipes for simple weeknight meals to authentic Asian dishes and impress-your-guests… Read More →
L.A. Recommendations From Michelin-starred fine dining to Korean barbecue and taco food trucks, Los Angeles has one of the most exciting and diverse food scenes in the country. Here’s a snapshot of my favorite L.A. eateries and hotels – there are probably a hundred more that should be on the list, but I’m only vouching… Read More →
Khao Niaw Sankhaya Turian By Andy Ricker Durian has a powerful aroma. Westerners, who tend to shun the fruit, would probably choose a stronger term. In Southeast Asia, however, durian is considered the queen of fruit and it fetches a high price. Yet even where durian has fans, it’s not always welcome. Cabs, trains, and… Read More →
Artisan Chinese Tea A recent addition to Minneapolis’ Seward neighborhood, Verdant Tea Tasting Room & Tea Bar offers a curated selection of artisan, seasonal Chinese teas from small family farms. Owners Lily and David Duckler are obsessed with tea and the hospitality culture that revolves around it. They spend a lot of time in China each year… Read More →
A Classic Combination By Andrew Zimmern Family meal night across America just got easier, and so did entertaining on a budget. Ratatouille paired with roast chicken pieces is a classic combination that even your kids will devour. If you care to, this dish works equally well with turkey quarters on the grill: Use the same… Read More →
Discovering Culinary Extremes An author, prolific poet, teacher and staff writer for The New Yorker, Dana Goodyear is one of the most authoritative voices in food journalism today. In her new book, Anything That Moves, Goodyear explores the remaking of America’s modern food culture, following intrepid eaters and chefs to the margins of the culinary world. Below,… Read More →
Eating Queens Queens-based food writer Joe DiStefano has been covering the borough’s ethnic food beat for more than a decade. When it comes to ethnic diversity, some estimates name Queens as number one in the world – it’s so rich that DiStefano has made exploring the borough his life’s work. He’s our go-to guide for… Read More →
Stellar Spiced Orange Duck By Andrew Zimmern When I was growing up in NYC in the ’60s, my dad would take me out every week for roast duck at any of the half dozen amazing Czech and Eastern European restaurants that helped define the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan for generations. Those days are gone: The… Read More →
Divulging the Food Network Allen Salkin’s new book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network is a fascinating chronicle of the evolution of a television network, from a scrappy start-up to an influential powerhouse that turned food into a cash cow and chefs into celebrities. The former New York Times reporter paints a behind-the-scenes picture, including… Read More →
Kielbasa & Pea Soup By Andrew Zimmern Whether you’re at the game or at home on the couch, this one-pot meal is fantastic football food. I bring this to almost every tailgate I attend. My grandma started making a version of this almost 50 years ago, using kosher hot dogs and her mom’s pea soup… Read More →
Make This With Your Kids By Andrew Zimmern Homemade tortillas are on a whole different level from their store-bought siblings, especially when mixed with bacon fat and the green bite of fresh scallion. Don’t be intimidated—they’re fun to make and fairly simple. Rene Ortiz inspired this grilled lamb recipe, which has a roll-your-own element that… Read More →
The Ultimate Grab-’n’-Go Breakfast By Joanne Chang We offer so many mouthwatering buttery, sugary, fruity, chocolaty sweet breakfast treats in the morning that it can be almost impossible to choose just one. That is, unless you’re one of those people who need to start off the day with eggs or bacon or anything not sweet.… Read More →
Boston’s Pastry Perfectionist A Harvard-educated consultant-turned-pastry chef, Joanne Chang is an empire building restaurateur with four acclaimed Flour bakeries in Boston, and the popular pan-Asian Myers+Chang. Not making a trip to Boston any time soon? Try your hand at making the infamous, Throwdown-winning sticky buns at home from her cookbook Flour, Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery+Cafe (or… Read More →
Doyenne of Fine Dining By Bob & Sue Anne Sophie Pic is hitting her stride as one of France’s finest chefs, fully earning her designation as the only female 3-star Michelin chef in France. Our recent meal there with Burgundy winemaker Alex Gambal was made memorable by a number of stunning courses: poached langoustines in… Read More →
Living the Sweet Life in Paris A veteran pastry chef who spent 13 years working for Alice Waters at Berkley’s famed Chez Panisse, David Lebovitz has written six cookbooks including the best-selling The Perfect Scoop and The Sweet Life in Paris (stay tuned for the upcoming My Paris Kitchen, due out in 2014). After choosing the expat life in Paris… Read More →
Mejillones By Andrew Zimmern My childhood summers were spent on the South Fork of Long Island, New York, where we clammed in the bay, crabbed in the salt ponds with heads of snapper, blues and porgies, and foraged for ropes of mussels. My dad would hold on to my ankles and lower me between the… Read More →
Burma: Rivers of Flavor By Naomi Duguid This dish can be cooked in a bowl set in a steamer or in a tightly covered pot. The chicken is chopped into small pieces, on the bone. It cooks more quickly than it would in large pieces, and more surface area is exposed to the flavor paste… Read More →
Exploring the World Through Food Naomi Duguid is a culinary anthropologist, translating her cultural encounters abroad into stories, photographic essays and recipes for the adventurous cook. A writer, photographer, traveler and cook, Naomi has co-authored six award-winning books including Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through South-East Asia and Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Stories from… Read More →
Bringing Thai to the Twin Cities Supenn Harrison introduced Minnesota to the flavors of her native Thailand when she opened her first Sawatdee restaurant in 1983. Thirty years later her story is one of great success – she’s the owner of seven acclaimed Thai restaurants, a cooking class instructor, the recipient of numerous awards and… Read More →
Spanish Dove Salad By Hank Shaw This is something of a pantry dish that comes together very rapidly if you have the ingredients on hand. The hardest part of putting this together is the garlic: I use my own preserved garlic, and if you have some use it — it makes the dish. But it is… Read More →
Road Trip Fork on the Road Andrew and Molly are on the road on this week’s Go Fork Yourself. On a three-hour car ride to Iowa, they chat about road food, cars, GPS, and where you’ll find the cleanest pit stops. Questions We want to include your listener questions in upcoming podcasts. If you want… Read More →
Everyone’s favorite brood just popped out of the ground. Hordes of Brood II cicadas are emerging from their subterranean home this spring along the East Coast. Although many species of cicadas emerge each year in the United States, this brood of cicadas is the offspring of those last seen in 1996, now popping out as soil… Read More →
King of Fruits Is it rotten onions? Funky garbage fumes? A dirty gym sock after a high school basketball tourney? No, that could simply be fresh fruit. Durian, known in Asia as the “king of fruits,” is crowned with a spiky exterior and filled with stinky fruit flesh. This fruit from the durian tree is… Read More →
Congratulations JBF Award Winners! I just returned from the James Beard Foundation Awards in NYC, the nation’s most prestigious awards ceremony honoring professionals in the food and beverage biz. Winners of the Foundation’s annual Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards were presented on May 3, at Gotham Hall in New York City, during a ceremony hosted… Read More →
