Think Outside the Banana. Eat the Peel.

In November, the British cookbook author and food personality Nigella Lawson shocked her nation when she demonstrated a recipe from her latest cookbook, “Cook, Eat, Repeat,” on her BBC television show of the same name. It wasn’t Royal Family-level scandalous. Still, based on public reaction, you’d think she’d caused a major controversy. And all because…

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Roman Treats Worth the Trip

Bake a lineup of lovely pastries, and the incentive is to share. Via Vai, an Italian restaurant in Astoria, Queens, now offers assorted simple, traditional and inviting sweet and savory items to-go from the executive chef and owner, Antonio Morichini. The pastries are not suitable for shipping, but would be worth a detour to pick…

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A Lighter Cast Iron Frying Pan

A handsome new cast-iron skillet designed and made in Japan by Vermicular has a great deal going for it. It’s lighter than typical cast-iron cookware and has a special kind of enamel coating that is textured (though the manufacturer recommends not using metal utensils that might degrade the finish). It is acid-resistant and an extremely…

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A Sweet Vermouth Made in New York

There’s a newcomer in the local vermouth category: Method Spirits Sweet Vermouth. Decidedly in the Italian style, but concocted from herbs and botanicals — both local and imported — and distilled from spirits produced in the Finger Lakes region of New York, the vermouth is the work of Cory Fitzsimmons, a former head bartender at…

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