The Giddy Delights of Trompe L’Oeil Candy

At the wedding banquet of King Henry IV and Joan of Navarre in 1403, showstopping sugar sculptures were carted out after each of the six courses. Some were shaped like animals; others were recreations of architectural marvels. All of them were as finely chiseled as any likeness carved from stone. Called sotelte (or “subtleties”) in…

Hot Honey Is King of Condiments

In a world gone mad for condiments, hot honey is king. You can taste it in a Sweetgreen bowl and KFC chicken nuggets, crunch on it in Utz potato chips and pretzels, and savor it in limited-edition ice cream pints. You can buy bottles of it in bulk at Costco, relish it on ricotta toast…

Chicken So Good It Was Kept Secret

Hello! Mia here. Melissa Clark and I swapped days this week, and she’ll be with you on Saturday with a very special Cooking newsletter. My colleague Priya Krishna has a wonderful new article for The New York Times, writing about how cooking has connected her and her mother. Priya writes: “There’s something about cooking together…

Best Mother’s Day Breakfast Ideas

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and while moms everywhere insist they “don’t want anything,” they would almost certainly appreciate a good breakfast. (She might also like a stripy tote bag or an ikebana kit, but since we’re New York Times Cooking, we’re going to stick to food.) If your mom is the savory-over-sweet type, you…

French Toast Recipes for Mother’s Day Brunch

Humans have been rehabilitating rock-hard, stale loaves into edible food since bread was first invented. But the recipe that has become irrevocably rooted in American breakfast culture is French toast. Based on the French “pain perdu,” or lost bread, French toast is traditionally made from old, leftover slices softened in a mix of milk and…

Why Tiny Drinks Are on the Rise

Toward the end of the night at Theodora, an elegant Mediterranean restaurant that opened in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood in February, diners at the polished concrete chef’s counter are often treated to the last thing they might expect in such a setting: a shot. It’s a ritual, explains Maggie Dahill, 27, Theodora’s beverage director, designed…