My first taste of Thailand, many moons ago, left me with vivid memories. Arriving in Bangkok around midnight, after a seemingly interminable flight, the temperature was unbelievably hot, and the air was cloying and steamy. I was happy to be there, despite feeling somewhat wilted, and very hungry. A recommended restaurant near the hotel looked…
AMSTERDAM — Edibles is the word most often used for foods that make marijuana and other hallucinogens go down easy. Think pot brownies and space cakes — not exactly famous for pleasing the palate. But for two Amsterdam-based chefs, it was high time to go beyond simply edible, and to use mind-altering ingredients to create…
Hi and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes. Have you seen our special climate change issue? I’m so proud of it, especially this Q. and A., which answers all the questions we hear about how to cook, shop and eat in our changing world. There are some real revelations in there. For starters, cheese has higher…
There are so many reasons to adore shakshuka, but that savory gush of runny egg yolk is high on the list. That dish, a North African staple, involves poaching eggs in a quickly simmered, heavily spiced tomato-pepper sauce. This recipe retains shakshuka’s eggy allure, but instead of being red, spicy and tangy, it’s green, mellow…
The scent of lily of the valley cannot be easily bottled. For decades companies that make soap, lotions and perfumes have relied on a chemical called bourgeonal to imbue their products with the sweet smell of the little white flowers. A tiny drop can be extraordinarily intense. If you can smell it at all, that…
There is a point at which a restaurant with an open kitchen becomes more kitchen than restaurant, and diners feel more like lucky house guests than paying customers. To conjure this effect, fine-dining establishments may send people home with a ribbon-tied Ball jar of quirkily flavored granola. Mama’s Noodle House, a small Chinese restaurant in…
To wit: Some foods have a bigger impact on climate change than others; plants have the smallest impact. Also, what you eat matters more than where it comes from, which may upset your mantra of local-organic-is-best. You don’t have to become a vegan to make a difference! Just decreasing the amount of meat you eat…
As a tourist, I am predictable: I am sugar-driven. Guava Danish and hot churros in Mexico City. Shaved ice and slippery mochi in Tokyo. The first time I went to Sydney, I rode a bus to Bondi Beach with a bag of Australian supermarket sweets on my lap. I toured the botanical gardens and walked…
So, you’re concerned about the environment and interested in changing your diet. That is an important first step. As Julia Moskin and Brad Plumer reported, “the world’s food system is responsible for about one-quarter of the planet-warming greenhouse gases that humans generate each year.” To help reduce your climate impact, we have dozens of recipes…
PORTLAND, Me. — It was a sharp, windy March day, but the gray water of Casco Bay glimmered green in the sun. On his lobster boat, the Pull N’ Pray, Justin Papkee scanned the surface of the ocean, searching for his buoys. But he wasn’t looking for lobster traps. Mr. Papkee was farming, not fishing: His…