In the fervor of June, heirloom watermelon varieties flourish in backyard gardens and family-run microfarms throughout the American South. Their scarlet-colored flesh, stippled with black seeds, is a striking relic of summers past in comparison with the seedless supermarket varieties. “I don’t believe in seedless watermelon — that is against my religion,” said Gabrielle E.W.…
Steelhead is actually a rainbow trout with wanderlust. The fish, with orange-pink flesh like salmon, goes out to sea then returns to a river to spawn. It also grows much bigger than a typical trout. Steelhead are now being raised sustainably in tanks on land in Hudson, N.Y. Though a bit more delicate than Atlantic…
Graduation, Father’s Day, a wedding, all occasions that warrant raising a glass of bubbly. This year perhaps a splurge is in order. Champagne Louis Roederer recently released the 2013 Cristal, the company’s tête de cuvée first created in 1876 for Czar Alexander II and not made annually. Using biodynamic grapes from old vines in a…
If you want a manageable city … Topeka, Kansas For a city with a spirit of social justice and an array of cultural offerings, try Topeka. The city opened Evergy Plaza in 2020, a central hub with free Wi-Fi where people can work or enjoy a monthly concert series, complete with food trucks and pop-up…
The dried threads of autumn crocus, only three per flower, make saffron, the intense, precious seasoning originally native to Eurasia. Now, in Afghanistan, Tahmina Ghaffer, originally from Kabul, has hired women farmers specifically to hand-harvest saffron in the Herat region to sell under the new Moonflowers label. The company donates one percent of its profits…
In November 2019, Doreen Winkler started selling orange wines by subscription. Its success led her to open a wine shop specializing in the wines, which are white wines given enough skin contact to add a ruddy blush to the color. Orange Glou, the shop, is opening Friday with 100 different wines from many regions priced…
Since 1992, the Italian coffee company Illy has commissioned artists to decorate special editions of their espresso and cappuccino cups. More than 100 painters, sculptors and even filmmakers have participated. The latest is the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, who has splashed the ceramic cups and saucers with color and gilding. The designs were…
Nothing bears the trademark of the pastry chef Christina Tosi more than her cereal milk flavor. Often available as soft-serve at her Milk Bar confectionaries, cereal milk is now an ice cream, available by the pint. Cereal milk is not an alternate vegan ingredient made by pressing and hydrating Froot Loops or the like. It’s…
Mr. Nayak has divided the dishes that could be eaten as main courses among four categories: signature, classic, grilled and rice. The last one is where you’ll find pulaos and biryanis, but not the simple $5 bowl of steamed basmati. (That goes under “accompaniments.”) If I’d come up with the kofta korma, I’d call them…
Some may be structured and tannic enough to wait a few years before drinking. Others are easygoing and ready to drink upon release. The best are fine and transparently express their origins, often with sweet, earthy and bitter flavors of cherries and flowers. Long gone are the days in the 1960s when the local wine…