The afternoon is waning, and I happen to mention to my administrative assistant that I’ve signed up for an evening class on blue cheese.She raises one eyebrow slightly. “Oh,” she says, followed by a moment of discomforting silence. “Blue cheese certainly has an interesting flavor.”Few people are ambiguous about blue cheese. They either love it or hate it. I fall into the love category. For me, it
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Enchanted Egg Cake
The Easter season always inspires my memories of the Enchanted Egg. While I can barely remember the story, the image is fixed in my mind, an icon of the spring celebration. It was an exquisitely-decorated egg with a mysterious hole at one end. Peer into the hole, and inside you’d discover an enchanted world of eternal springtime.The legend of the Enchanted Egg appears to spring from a children’s
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Asparagus Tart and Rites of Spring
March seems just a little early for a change of seasons. There’s still a distinct chill in the air, but now and then, I will encounter a tantalizing hint of spring. A bashful lavender crocus pokes through the once-frozen ground. If I am particularly alert, I might spot a robin. And, of course, there is the appearance of a massive flock of canary-yellow Marshmallow Peeps in the supermarket.For me,
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Torta di Ricotta (Ricotta Cake)
I’ll always have Tuscany.I’ll never forget my culinary travels through Italy in 2006. From Emilia-Romagna to Florence, the ingredients of the land defined what we cooked and ate.At Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda, one of the rare wineries in Tuscany owned by a woman and staffed by women, I would walk in the vineyards – bursting with dark grapes – with the sun beating on my neck. In the evening we
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Spring Forward: Lamb Stew with Dill, Sweet Peas and Root Vegetables
The following is a public service announcement from Culinary Types: Check the time. Did you set your clocks ahead one hour last night?Here in the United States, we just marked the return of Daylight Savings Time. The “Spring Forward” event, which used to happen in … the Spring … has now been moved forward by an act of Congress so that we can lose an extra hour of sleep and enjoy an extra hour
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Decluttering the Imperfect Pantry
No doubt you visit Culinary Types to meet some fascinating epicureans, sample some witty prose, or feast on a banquet of food history.A visit to my kitchen is a far more frightening scenario. Something along the lines of Jacques Pepin meets Jackson Pollack.There comes a time in every chef’s life journey when he must admit that the kitchen system just isn’t working anymore and needs a complete
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