Sandwiches from the Subway chain are sold everywhere. But not this one. The M.T.A. is now promoting the 1904, a new, limited edition sandwich to commemorate the opening of the first line of the New York Subway or Rapid Transit System on Oct. 27, 1904. The sandwich was created in collaboration with Alidoro, an Italian sandwich shop with five Manhattan locations, including one in the Moynihan Train Hall, and also with Katz’s Delicatessen, founded in 1888 (as Iceland Brothers) and predating the subway system. The 1904 combines Katz’s pastrami, garlic confit cream, Calabrian pepper-Dijon slaw and aged provolone on a sourdough rye long roll. It’s served warm, wrapped into a fanciful version of the subway map. The bread is baked in the Bronx by Newlight Breadworks, accessible by subway. The sandwich will be sold from Wednesday until the end of October at all Alidoro locations, $14 or $17 with cookies or chips, and it can be ordered for shipping nationwide.
An Update for Marcella Hazan
In what kind of shape is your copy of Marcella Hazan’s authoritative “The Classic Italian Cook Book”? Dog-eared? Stained with tomato? Or maybe you never owned a copy of that cookbook; its sequel, “More Classic Italian Cooking”; or “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking,” an updated combination of the two, all by the Italian cooking expert who died in 2013. Either way, now is the moment for a reset or a gift with the publication of the elegant 30th anniversary edition of “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.” It includes a foreword by Lidia Bastianich and another, a brief biography, by Ms. Hazan’s husband, Victor Hazan, and the author’s own explanation from 1991 of how and why she reworked two volumes into “Essentials.” What she had to say thirty years ago still applies, though she never addressed using pasta water as a finish. But you’ll find her beloved tomato sauce.
“Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: 30th Anniversary Edition” by Marcella Hazan. (Knopf, $40).
Duck Fat With a Little More Flavor
Using duck fat is more about texture than flavor. The substantial richness of the rendered fat of a duck can greatly enhance a sauté or stew. There are several companies that sell plain duck fat, but now there’s a new line of seasoned varieties. Jeffrey Ingledue and Ryan Kirch, two New Jersey entrepreneurs, enlisted a chef, Chris Holland, to develop the products. They are made in the Hudson Valley, and the Pekin variety ducks are raised in Pennsylvania. The seasonings — porcini, herbs, and garlic — are nicely subtle and would be a challenge to achieve in a home kitchen; the one spiked with chile has fire. Any of them can ennoble roasted or sautéed potatoes. The company also sells plain duck fat.
Duck Phat, $15.99 for six ounces seasoned, $21.99 for two six-ounce jars plain, duckphat.com.
Stock Up Your Pantry
Food52, the reliable digital source for cookware, household goods, gadgets, recipes and cooking hacks, has now turned its spotlight on its own line of food products. It is introducing high-quality, shelf-stable pantry items that home cooks rely on, like dry pastas, rice, flour, chocolate, canned tomatoes, coffees and vinegars. Finding sources took 18 months. The results include an impressive array of flours tailored to various baking needs. Similarly finely tuned are the various culinary chocolates in convenient dime-size discs, including 49 percent dark milk chocolate. The organic peanut butter is first-rate. In addition to canned San Marzano tomatoes there are harder-to-find small Datterinis, red and gold. Prices are reasonable; shipping is free for orders of at least $149.
For the Love of Baguettes
Jin Ahn, an owner of Noreetuh, a Hawaiian restaurant in the East Village, and the chef Jonghun Won, the owner of La Tabatiere, a bakery in Closter, N.J., first met while working at Jungsik in TriBeCa. Both share a passion for French baguettes, freshly baked. The inevitable result, Pavé, is a small Midtown bakery-cafe that specializes in French-inspired sandwiches on crusty baguette rolls that are baked throughout the day. “It’s fresh bread the old-fashioned way,” Mr. Ahn said. The partners also hired Peter Hong, a chef who was at Gramercy Tavern. Mr. Won is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who trained at Balthazar. Pavé also sells other baked goods like madeleines, cookies and focaccia laden with vegetables. They’re still working on their croissant.
Pavé, 20 West 46th Street, 646-454-1387, pave46.com.
This Icelandic Gin Will Win Over Whiskey Fans
Old Tom, a somewhat mellow style of gin that edges in the direction of whiskey, faded from the scene after Prohibition. Today’s craft cocktail acolytes have rediscovered it, and a new Icelandic gin company, Himbrimi, is ready with its signature Old Tom. Designed as a sipping gin, but one that could reshape your old fashioned, it’s made with wildflowers, herbs, juniper and a smidgen of honey in Icelandic spring water. Herbal and earthy, the juniper says gin but the honey and spice make you wonder. The brand is named for the Icelandic word for loon. Himbrimi also offers Winterbird London dry gin, also made in Reykjavik with most of the same ingredients except for the honey; it’s distilled differently so it’s clear, not amber. Its floral notes and bracing hints of citrus are subdued, to complement your martini.
Himbrimi Old Tom Gin, $69.99; Himbrimi Winterbird London Dry Gin, $39.99, himbrimi.com.
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