The approach taken by Hotel Chocolat has been to increase the amount of chocolate and decrease the sugar in its confections since it began in London in 2014. Angus Thirlwell, a founder, even bought a cacao plantation on St. Lucia in the Caribbean, which is the source for some of its cacao; most comes from…
If you make your own tortillas and tostadas, there’s a new masa harina to consider. (Masa harina, the corn flour used for tortillas, has been nixtamalized, or treated with slaked lime to remove the corn hulls, soften it and improve the digestibility of its nutrients.) Masienda, a company that specializes in products made from heirloom…
We have our blue crabs, but invasive green crabs from Europe, which have been in our waters for two centuries (uninvited arrivals by ship) are predators that attack the blues, especially the soft-shells. They also wreck the eelgrass and other beneficial maritime environments. The idea now is to eat the green crabs as a way…
HOUSTON — This city’s Second Ward is full of temptations for Adán Medrano, a writer and chef who lives just a few miles southeast. The Mexican-American neighborhood is home to the perfect flaky tortillas at Doña María Mexican Cafe, scratch-made in flour or corn, and ready to be folded around eggs with the fine threads…
LONDON — It’s a fine line, when you cook, between success and failure. I am always surprised by how tipping the balance in a dish can so easily transform it from delectable to inedible. How many times have you oversalted or undercooked a dish? When did you last lament wasting a fistful of pine nuts or…
Good morning. There are hard-boiled eggs everywhere anointed with dye, and a ham in the fridge holding strong against late-night sandwiches, struggling against its eventual calling as the backbone of an exquisite split-pea soup. (Of course it’s a spiral-cut ham. Have you not been paying attention?) That’s the view from the land of khakis and…
Hi and welcome to Five Weeknight Dishes, food for busy people who still want something good to eat. Easter and Passover converge this weekend, and if you celebrate I hope the week ahead brings you Cadbury creme eggs (do we like those?) and leftover ham, Hillel sandwiches and matzo lasagna (it’s a thing, and it…
People have been eating from bowls since the dawn of civilization, long before “bowl food,” and there is no denying the age-old pleasure of it. It is a comforting way to dine. A bowl of rice with vegetables makes a nutritious, delicious meal, especially if the rice is whole grain. Of course, there’s nothing wrong…
As a lover of sour lemon and lime desserts, I’m always on the lookout for other ingredients to satisfy my tangy cravings. Rhubarb, passion fruit, gooseberry and red currant all visit my kitchen when they come into season. But only tamarind has permanently moved in. Tamarind, specifically the paste, has taken up residence in my…
The study subjects had been thin all their lives, and not because they had unusual metabolisms. They just did not care much about food. They never ate enormous amounts, never obsessed on the next meal. Now, a group of researchers in Britain may have found the reason. The people carry a genetic alteration that mutes…