In his informative book, “Fromages,” Dominique Bouchait explains French cheeses, dividing them into “families,” according to how they’re made, like cooked and uncooked or blue-veined. But what he says about the French varieties applies to cheeses from anywhere. Though Mr. Bouchait — a master cheesemaker based in southwest France — focuses on the 45 French…
Cédric Grolet — the award-winning pastry chef at Le Meurice, one of Paris’s grand hotels — will take up residence at Dominique Ansel’s bakery in SoHo from Friday through Sunday. He will work with Mr. Ansel and his staff to make some of his dazzling confections mimicking fruits and nuts — lemons, strawberries and hazelnuts,…
There are wine classes galore in New York, but Charlie Bird restaurant in SoHo offers an insider’s approach: The tastings, intended for staff, are open to the public free of charge, once a week with a reservation. Grant Reynolds, the wine director and a partner, runs the lively program. Three wines are usually sampled and…
Durham’s Tracklements, in Ann Arbor, Mich., uses various cures to produce its smoked salmon and other fish. Traditionally, gravlax is salmon cured with salt and spices. Tracklements adds smoking to the process, resulting in salmon that’s mild (though rich), with a hint of smoke. Another new smoked salmon on the roster is cured with ras-el-hanout,…
Sweet does not begin to describe these new nonalcoholic mixers, with a vinegar base, from Andy Ricker of the Pok Pok restaurants in Portland, Ore. Originally formulated as Asian-style “drinking vinegars,” Mr. Ricker now calls them cordials, to combine with sparkling water for a dry refresher, or to use in cocktails. I’d go even further…
Soba, the nutty-tasting buckwheat noodle, will be the subject of a demonstration by Shuichi Kotani, the founder and chief executive of Worldwide-Soba, a factory and consulting company in Flushing, Queens. The particular techniques and equipment involved in producing handmade soba will be explained, and there will be a tasting after the demonstration. Making Soba: A…
The golden promises of the air fryer were just too tempting to ignore. Browned and crisp French fries, craggy chicken wings coated in hot sauce, breaded calamari that crunches audibly when you bite down — all without the unctuous mess, wafting odor and calorie count of deep-frying. Home cooks celebrated the appliance not just for…
The air fryer — the latest “it” kitchen appliance — is a wildly popular countertop convection oven that uses circulating hot air to cook food quickly. I put one through its paces to see if it could really mimic the taste of deep-fried foods without all the fat. I also picked up a few tips along…
Hi and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. I was so delighted by all the sauce-related email I received in response to last week’s newsletter: You love your sauces, and I see you. We’re going to dive right into the recipes this week, but just two small things before we do: I was honored to judge…
It’s science time in Candy Land. On Twitter this week, a scientist at West Virginia University shared his latest experiment: Sugar-coated marshmallow bunnies inoculated with a dozen kinds of fungi, and thousands of people are eager to see the results. But why? Welcome to the weird world of #fungalpeeps in which Matthew Kasson, the mycologist…