The Magic of Meringues

There are few transformations in cooking as miraculous as turning an egg into a meringue. With only some sugar, air and a small amount of effort, a bowl of modest egg whites can become extravagantly glossy and puffed, ready to dress up all manner of swoopy, fancy confections — festooned on cakes, piped into pavlovas…

How to Make the Best Meringues

Humble and mysterious, an unbroken egg is “one of the most private things in the world,” the food writer M.F.K. Fisher wrote. But once cracked open, it reveals itself to be a flamboyant shape-shifter. Depending on how you handle them, egg whites can metamorphose from a dense, viscous liquid into various altered states: soft and…

Coffee Grown in the Shadow of Volcanoes

In regions where coffee is grown in mineral-rich volcanic soil, the complexity of the beans receives a boost. Volcanica Coffee, a roasting company based in Suwanee, Ga., focuses on just that, with more than 100 mostly single-origin coffees from dozens of locations around the world where volcanoes loom. It recently introduced several so-called “natural” coffees,…

Spanish Sausages for the Big Game

In search of sausages for the Bengals vs. the Rams? Cúrate Bar de Tapas, a Spanish restaurant in Asheville, N.C., has added an online marketplace for nationwide shipping; sausages are a specialty. They have assembled a package of their own deliciously meaty butifarra, rich morcilla casera, spicy chorizo and ruddy, spiraled chistorra ($65). Sear the…

A Heart-Shaped Croissant From Ladurée

Heart-shaped everything — bagels, pizza, cheese and even Dutch ovens — is the Valentine’s Day signature. Now Ladurée, the Paris-based bakery, confectioner and restaurant, has created its first heart-shaped croissant, a generous, properly flaky beauty with a ruby glaze and nubbins of rose. It will be sold at the pastry counter in the bakery’s New…