A handsome new cast-iron skillet designed and made in Japan by Vermicular has a great deal going for it. It’s lighter than typical cast-iron cookware and has a special kind of enamel coating that is textured (though the manufacturer recommends not using metal utensils that might degrade the finish). It is acid-resistant and an extremely…
Armando Manni has been pressing extra-virgin olive oils in Tuscany since 2001. To avoid mishandling during distribution and retail sale, he ships them directly to chefs and consumers. Until now he’s made two oils, one that’s exceedingly rich and another, somewhat lighter one, both of which have been recognized for quality by the University of…
In 2014 a herd of black Spanish Ibérico pigs, the black variety that forages on acorns, were brought to the United States with government approval. Some of them were sent to Trails End Ranch in Texas Hill Country. Now some of the pork can land on your table. Texas Iberico, a joint project of Ashly…
There’s a newcomer in the local vermouth category: Method Spirits Sweet Vermouth. Decidedly in the Italian style, but concocted from herbs and botanicals — both local and imported — and distilled from spirits produced in the Finger Lakes region of New York, the vermouth is the work of Cory Fitzsimmons, a former head bartender at…
That the U.S. Department of Agriculture and art could be on speaking terms seems astonishing. Yet from 1886 to 1942 the agency commissioned artists to document fruits and nuts grown in the United States, to record the varieties and help with identification at a time when the use of color photography was not widespread. The…
Warm weather is here and so is day drinking, to be done outdoors in the sun. Look to north-central Italy for inspiration. Lambrusco — gently sparkling, low alcohol and often budget friendly — has long been Emilia-Romagna’s go-to for alfresco drinking. This season, make it yours as well. While the popularity of mass-market Lambrusco in…
The magnetism of a good mug is hardly a new phenomenon. But during the pandemic, many ceramic artists have seen the kind of customer excitement more associated with clothing lines or concert tickets. Some pieces are selling out within seconds of being posted on websites and Instagram pages. Lalese Stamps of Lolly Lolly Ceramics said…
Gone are the days when the most complicated choice you had to make in the milk section of the dairy aisle was reduced fat or whole. Now, you’ll find carton after carton of dairy-like beverages made from foods you never thought could be “milked” — almonds, oats, rice, peas. While cow’s milk is still the…
The road ends, and the old Soviet car I’m in — a Lada Niva — begins to shake on the unpaved lane. In the darkness, Erdni, the driver, somehow manages to maneuver between large gullies and mounds of sand that seem impossible to discern. After a couple hours of driving east from the Russian city…
Good morning. How are you? I drove out to the woods the other day before dawn and was in them as the sun started its ascent. I walked in silence that was not silent at all: bird calls; wind in the canopy; the splash of my boots in a puddle. I was hungry as I…