And so closes the second year of the pandemic, 12 months more of worry, of working from home, of trying to make each meal feel like something new. The articles that readers of the Food section and New York Times Cooking craved this year acknowledged this new reality. Many of our most-read stories offered tips…
I used to be convinced that the only way to get truly crisp tofu was to fry it. I’d roasted it and broiled it, but I was never able to achieve those burnished, crisp corners that a pan full of screaming-hot oil reliably delivered. Then I tried a technique from Jenny Rosenstrach’s excellent cookbook, “The…
How to Decant Wine With Sediment Drinking sediment is not harmful, but it’s unpleasant, like having a mouthful of grit. To decant, make sure to stand the bottle upright long enough for the sediment to settle to the bottom. If you don’t have time for that, pour carefully and let any sediment settle in the…
The very first time I boiled a whole chicken, nearly 10 years ago, I was overwhelmed by how much it perfumed my apartment with the scent of my mother’s kitchen. I wasn’t trying to recreate her samgyetang, but I did, by accident. Fortified with ginseng and jujubes, this Korean chicken soup is a garlic lover’s…
Twenty twenty-one was the year we cautiously returned to dining at our favorite restaurants and hosting loved ones at our own tables. For those not still recovering from numerous failed focaccia attempts, it was also a chance to try new recipes — we’re fond of Roxane Gay’s take on a basil-y chicken Milanese, and Batsheva…
Good morning. I probably spend about 20 percent of my time in the kitchen thinking about how much better life would be if I had a new stove. A different stove, at any rate, one without balking burners and rusting-through grate supporters, one without pinholes in the oven floor, one where if you set the…
Year-end lists can be very revealing. Take, for instance, Spotify’s personalized lists of users’ most-played songs and artists, all of which can be telling. Was there a lot of upbeat pop or groovy disco? Or was it all Death Cab for Cutie, a sign that the vibes were not quite so high? Whatever the case,…
The first time I made hoshigaki, the Japanese dried persimmons that are massaged every day or so to even out their shape and moisture and to soften the fibers inside, was at the cooking instructor Sonoko Sakai’s home in the Highland Park part of town. Standing around a table in the garden, we washed, trimmed…
Opening Noda After four years at 6 West 28th Street, this Japanese omakase restaurant, which was awarded one star in the 2021 Michelin Guide, has moved to a somewhat larger location. In addition to 10 seats at a lavishly decorated sushi bar, there are four tables in a lounge. The new restaurant includes a binchotan…
Last year at this time, optimistic trend forecasters predicted that the cork would burst from the bottle by summer. With vaccines in arms, food culture would vibrate in a robust economy. American menus would be full of innovation driven by waves of international travel, and a new generation of digital-native cooks would rewrite the rules.…